ALEXANDER, Bishop Michael Solomon Born

[s. 32] : He was brought up in in Pru ian Poland, 1799. the strictest principles of Rabbinical Judaism. teacher of the Talmud When he was 16 he was a and the German language. At the age of 21 he went to England, having not the slightest acquaintance with Christianity, not even knowing He settled the existence of the New Testament. in a country town as tutor in a Jewish family. Whilst there the sight of a handbill of the London Society for the Conversion of the Jews aroused his curiosity, and he obtained and read the New Testament. Shortly afterwards he accepted the post of Rabbi at Norwich and subsequently at Plymouth. There in the providence of God, he became acquainted with the Rev. B. B. Golding, curate of Stone house, to whom he gave le ons in Hebrew, and through whom, after much inward conflict, he almost came to a conviction of the truth of Christianity. He used to steal silently down to Stone house Church on Sunday evenings, and, under the shadow of its walls, would stand riveted to the spot, while he listened to the songs of Christian praise, in which he dared not as yet His congregation heard of his leanings take part. towards Christianity, and he was suspended from his duties as Rabbi. Further trials awaited him, but the Lord strengthened his faith and on June 2, 1825, ill St. Andrew’s Church, Plymouth, he was baptized in the presence of 1,000 people. His wife’s baptism followed six months later. In 1827 he was ordained deacon in Dublin, where he had settled in order to gain a livelihood as a teach Here, through his consistent er of Hebrew. Christian character, he made many friendships. Eventually he became a mi ionary of the Society, laboring first in Danzig and later in London, where he held the post of Profe or of Hebrew and Rabbinical Literature in King’s College, until 1841, when he was consecrated the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem. His work there was full of ble ing, two prominent Jerusalem 14 It was a great blow to. rabbis being baptized. 1845, Bishop the Society’s mi ion there when, Alexander suddenly died, his last act being one of prayer, before he retired to sleep to awake in another world. One of his grandchildren is a m CMS mi ionary in Japan. 32