GEORGE PSALMANAZAR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1941, Page 6

GEORGE PSALMANAZAR

LANGUAGE & RELIGION OF HIS OWN. A native of the south of France, he was a literary impostor. Born about 1679, no one knows his real name, but his assumed name comes from the second book of Kings, a variation of the title of an Assyrian prince. He had a flair for languages, and at the early age of 16 obtained a faked passport, to assist him in reaching Rome, declaring that he was a student in theology, of Irish extraction, who was leaving his country for the sake of his religion. But he changed his plans and set off to Germany, begging his way, but suffering much because people did not believe his story. Wishing to be in the public eye, he called himself a native of Japan converted to Christianity, and 1 lived on raw flesh, roots, and herbs in | accordance with what he represented to be the customs of his native land. He invented a language making it read from right to left, as in Hebrew; and after adopting his curious name, he invented a religion of his own, saying it was the one customary in Japan. He enlisted in the Dutch army, and defended his supposed religion against that of the chaplain, who discovered his lies but wickedly suggested to the youth a way in which he might use his dishonesty to the profit of them both. Making up a story saying he was a native of Formosa captured by Jesuits, but remaining faithful to his own religion till converted by the chaplain to Christianity, he was brought to London. Archbishop Tillotson and others of the clergy opening a fund for his maintenance and further education as a worthy convert. A Jesuit missionary to Formosa declared Psalmanazar’s description of his country to be false, but he publicly . held his own against the truth, and [ was assisted by the Earl of Pembroke. ; a very generous patron. His patrons , deserted him later however, and he j was ridiculed by the theatre. < During an illness he repented, writ- , ing his full confessions for publication ( after his death. Late in life he lived in Clerkpnwell and bore an irreproachable reputation. Dr. Johnson was one of his friends, and is said never to have thought of contradicting him. He died in 1763 when about 84.