JEWS

were carried captive in two divisions the Israeli tes in 722 B.C. by Sargon, and the kingdom of Judah in 588 B.C. by Nebuchadnezzar. The first return, under Zerubbabel, was about 538 B.C., and the second, under Ezra, about 458 B.C. The eventual dispersion practically dates from the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in A.D. 70. The first nation in modern times to put them on an equality with other citizens was the French after the Revolution. Their admi ion into the British Parliament dates from 1858. In modem times, too, they have produced some of the greatest men in the arts and literature, e.g. Spinoza, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendel hon, Heine, Meyer beer; and the individual vitality is proved by the almost entire absence of stillborn children. They number probably about 10,000,000 throughout the world.