ii s. v. MAR. 16, 1912.] NOTES AND QUEK1ES. 211
not expressed any disapprobation of his receiving them with his head covered; and that, therefore the petitioner hoped the Court would perceive that he appeared before them in that manner from motives of piety, &c., &c. Lord George had a long beard, and when his hat was taken of put on a night cap.…"
James Picciotto, in his 'Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History,' writes:—
"Lord George Gordon rigorously underwent all the rites imposed upon proselytes before he was admitted within the pale of Judaism. He was received into the Covenant of Abraham in the City of Birmingham, under the agency of Rabbi Jacob of Birmingham. Subsequently he returned to London; and having meanwhile acquired some knowledge of the Hebrew language and of Jewish ceremonies, he attended the Hambro Synagogue.[1] He was there called to the Law and honoured with a Meshabarach (benediction), when he offered 100l. to the Synagogue …"
"This singular proselyte was very regular in his Jewish observances in prison. Every morning he was seen with phylacteries between his eyes and opposite to his heart; every Saturday he held public service in his room with the aid of ten Polish Jews. His Saturday's bread was baked 'more Judaico'; he ate Jewish meat; he drank Jewish wine. On his prison wall were inscribed the ten commandments; by their side hung a bag containing his Talith and his phylacteries … A contemporary periodical says that 'his last moments were embittered by the knowledge that he would not be buried among the Jews; to his religion he was warmly attached.' Lord George Gordon, we must add, does not lie in a Jewish 'House of Life,' as a Jewish cemetery is called; he was interred in St. James' burialground in the Hampstead Road."—Pp. 185-8.
There is a very quaint chap-book in the British Museum entitled:—
"The Christian turned Jew, being the most Remarkable Life and Adventures of Lord G. G., with the letter sent to him by a certain Great Lady, since his confinement."
I have a broadside doggerel, 'The Christian turned Jew,' probably unique. It is headed by a woodcut of the "Noble Proselyte," which is really a portrait of Henry VIII. I think the lines worth preserving in the columns of 'N. & Q.':—
George G…… by profession was once a Christian sound,
Think what a strange digression, the like was never found,
So rivetted within his head the Jewish tenets seem,
That mother kirk would find out work, the sinner to reclaim.
Doodle Doodle do, what will this world come to,
Who, by his look, would e'er have took G…… for a Jew.
This strange eccentric's been too apt to change his road,
In Birmingham, not long since, took up his snug abode,
The man of faith, in modern gait, would think his Lordship mad,
To see him run from Calvin John, and join the tribe of Gad.
Doodle doodle do, what will this world come to,
Twelve years ago would any one have taken him for a Jew;
To London when they brought him, his charge to undergo,
The rabbies fondly sought him, their homage to avow,
There's some who came, that knew his fame, with joy and rapture said,
Be slander dumb, there's Moses come, just risen from the dead.
Doodle doodle do, George G……'s turn'd a Jew,
His Christian flock gave such a shock, they knew not what to do.
Altho' the laws may curb him, and perhaps fears him alarm,
'Twere a pity to disturb him, he means no kind of harm,
To Newgate tho' compell'd to go, from what to sense appear'd.
At joaks and scoffs he only laughs, and stroaks his comely beard.
Doodle doodle do, my tale tho' strange is true,
And certainly Lord G…… must be the jewel of a Jew.
The following items in my collection illustrate Lord George Gordon's conversion to Judaism:
1. [Lord George Gordon.]
Mezzotint engraving, 11 X 8J. Proof before letters. He is represented in this portrait as a Jew, with a long, pointed beard and a large slouched hat.
In a contemporary hand on the margin : " Lord George Gordon : during the loiter part of his imprisonment, he (suffered his beard to f/rotc, and dressed himself in this peculiar habit."
Not recorded in Chaloner Smith.
2. Lord George Gordon.
From a miniature painted by Mr. Polack. G. Wilson sculp. Pub. as the Act directs by G. Wilson, No. 21, Duke's Court, St. Martin's Lane.
Line engraving, printed in colours, 3JX 2J, oval.
These two portraits are of the greatest rarity, if not unique, the family having purchased all the impressions possible and had them destroyed.
3. [Lord George Gordon.]
As a Jew, with beard and slouched hat. On the reverse, " Lord George Gordon 1780." Copper token.
. Ld Geo Gordon Died in Newgate Nov 1 1793.
On the reverse. The beginning of Oppression. A man with a club is represented as having killed another, under which are the words Cain and Abel.
Copper token, similar portrait to above.
- ↑ The Hazan (reader or precentor) at the time Rev. Aaron Barnett, grandfather of John Barnett the composer, from whom he received the customary tuition of a proselyte.
