r, at least, concealed them as best
they could. Years afterwards, Boerne spent his ridicule upon the
Jewesses of the Berlin _salons_, with their enormous racial noses and
their great gold crosses at their throats, pressing into Trinity church
to hear Schleiermacher preach. But justice compels us to say that these
women did not know Judaism, or knew it only in its slave's garb. Had
they had a conception of its high ethical standard, of the wealth of its
poetic and philosophic thoughts, being women of rare mental gifts and
broad liberality, they certainly would not have abandoned Judaism. But
the Judaism of their Berlin, as represented by its religious teachers
and the leaders of the Jewish community, most of them, according to
Mendelssohn's own account, immigrant Poles, could not appeal to women of
keen, intellectual sympathies, and tastes conforming to the ideals of
the new era.

As for Mendelssohn's friends who flocked to his hospitable home--their
names are household words in the history of German literature. Nicolai
and Lessing must be mentioned before all others, but no one came to
Berlin without seeking Moses Mendelssohn--Goethe, Herder, Wieland,
Hennings, Abt, Campe, Moritz, Jerusalem. Joachim Campe has left an
account of his visit at Mendelssohn's house, which is probably a just
picture of its attractions.[82] He says: "On a Friday afternoon, my wife
and myself, together with some of the distinguished representatives of
Berlin scholarship, visited Mendelssohn. We were chatting over our
coffee, when Mendelssohn, about an hour before sundown, rose from his
seat with the words: 'Ladies and gentlemen, I must leave you to receive
the Sabbath. I shall be with you again presently; meantime my wife will
enjoy your company doubly.' All eyes followed our amiable
philosopher-host with reverent admiration as he withdrew to an adjoining
room to recite the customary prayers. At the end of half an hour he
returned, his face radiant, and seating himself, he said to his wife:
'Now I am again at my post, and shall try for once to do the honors in
your place. Our friends will certainly excuse you, while you fulfil your
religious duties.' Mendelssohn's wife excused herself, joined her
family, consecrated the Sabbath by lighting the Sabbath lamp, and
returned to us. We stayed on for some hours." Is it possible to conceive
of a more touching picture?

When Duchess Dorothea of Kurland, and her sister Elise von der Recke
were living a