were indeed much to be wished that
competent Hebrew scholars, instead of devoting themselves to the inane
obscurity of the Rabbins, would employ their learning upon the history of
the Jews in the Middle Ages. Much curious and interesting knowledge
might be disinterred from the piles of Hebrew manuscripts that now lie
amid the dust and spiders' webs of the Escurial. Above all things the
itineraries of the Jewish travellers should be explored, as containing
probably the most minute and accurate description of the social state of
Europe at that period. Both for their personal security and for the
despatch of their affairs, it was essential for the Jews to obtain and
circulate the most exact information of the markets and population of the
cities on their route. They required to know whom to shun and whom to
seek; the towns in which the Jews' quarter was most commodious and
secure; and the intervening tracts, often many days' journey in extent,
which were most free from robbers or feudal oppressors. The following
draft of instructions for a Spanish Jew, whose occasions led him from
Spain to Greece, will afford the reader some conception of the historical
value of such itineraries. Its date is apparently not later than the
sixteenth century:--

"Whoever wants to go from Saragossa, Huesca, Teruel, or any other
town in Arragon, to Constantinople, the great city where the Turk
reigns, must follow the route herein contained, and beware of the
dangers that we are going to specify. The fugitive must first of all
go to Jaca, where they will ask him the object of his voyage; he must
say that he escapes to France, on account of his creditors, and he
will not be disturbed. Thence he will go to Canfranc, and thence to
Oleron, the first town in France, where, if questioned respecting the
object of his voyage, he must say that he is going on a pilgrimage to
Our Lady of Loretto. From Oleron to Pau, to Tarbes, to Toulouse, to
Gaillac, to Villefranche, and to Lyons: in this latter place the
traveller will be obliged to show whatever money he carries, and pay
one out of every forty pieces, whether silver or gold. At Lyons he
will ask his way to Milan, and say that he is going to visit St. Mark
of Venice; but when within five leagues of the former city, he must
leave it on the right, and pass behind the mountain, so as not to
enter the territory of the emperor. From