The life of this remarkable man naturally falls into three periods—his early years as a Jew; his missionary efforts amongst his brethren; and his last years quietly and uneventfully passed in country parishes in England. Our chief concern is with the middle period, to which, however, we can do but scant justice, as its constant and restless action and stirring adventures overwhelm us with an embarrassment of riches.
"Wolff," as he was simply called, after his grandfather, was born at Weilersbach, a small Bavarian village, in 1795, or 1796,[25] of Jewish parents, his father, whose name was David, belonging to the tribe of Levi. He was the rabbi of the small Jewish community of the place, numbering fifteen families, but soon after the birth of his son he removed to Halle. In his very early years the boy received a strict Jewish education, and at the age of six recited the Hebrew prayer-book every day. He was then sent to a Christian school, but apparently only to learn German. When Wolff was eleven years old he was placed at the Protestant Lyceum at Stuttgart, but growing dissatisfied with it, he went to reside with his cousin, Moses Cohen, at Bamberg, and entered the Roman Catholic Lyceum of that place. He there made up his mind to become a Christian and a missionary like Francis Xavier. But he was unsettled in the extreme in his search after the truth, and wandered to Würzburg, Frankfort-on-the-Main, Halle, Prague, Vienna, Pressburg, back again to Vienna, Mölk, Munich, Anspach, Saxe Weimar, Heidelberg, Soleure, and finally arrived at Prague. There he was baptized by the Abbot of the Benedictine Monastery Emaus, in the year 1812, at the age of seventeen, receiving the name of "Joseph." At his confirmation shortly afterwards he received the two further names of "Stanilaus Wenceslaus," which, however, he never used.
Joseph Wolff was by this time proficient in the Latin, Persian, Chaldean, and Syriac languages, and entered the University of Vienna to study Arabic, Ecclesiastical History, and Divinity. There he remained two years. In 1814 he resided with Count Stollberg, and, like every one else, was much exercised at Napoleon's escape from Elba. In 1815 Wolff entered the Lutheran University of Tübingen to pursue his studies in Oriental languages and theology; but he left the next year on a pilgrimage to Rome, travelling on foot through Switzerland and Italy until he reached the Eternal City. Being introduced to Pope Pius VII., he shewed him a Hebrew Bible which had been the companion of his travels. Wolff entered the Collegio Romano, and in 1817 the Propaganda, from which his Protestant leanings, and neglect of scholastic divinity for the Bible, caused his expulsion in 1818. Wolff now returned to Vienna, lamenting that his missionary aspirations had been frustrated. In his distress of mind he wrote to Hoffbauer, Vicar-General of the Liguorians, who received him into his monastery. Wolff was not happy there for more than a few months, and leaving Vienna, travelled through Austria to the Benedictine monastery of Krems-Münster, where he was well received by the monks. Too restless to remain long in any place, Wolff travelled through Bavaria, Switzerland, and France, entering first this monastery and then that. At Paris he met with Robert Haldane, who exercised a powerful religious influence over him; and with whom he journeyed to London.
We naturally find our interest in this talented and eager youth increasing on his arrival in England, in 1819, at the age of twenty-four, when he came under the notice of Mr. Henry Drummond, the Rev. Charles Simeon, the Rev. Lewis Way, and other well-known friends of Israel. Wolff made his way, as almost every baptized or enquiring Jew did when first arriving in this country, to "Palestine Place," the missionary headquarters of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, where all were sure of a hearty welcome. He attended the service in the Episcopal Jews' Chapel, conducted by the chaplain, the Rev. Charles Sleech Hawtrey, and, to use his own words, was "enchanted with the devotion and beauty of the ritual." Henceforth he considered himself a member of the Church of England. The Society sent him to Cambridge to be trained as a missionary, and to study theology under Simeon (himself of Jewish extraction), and other Oriental languages under Professor Lee. Two years' residence there, and a short course at the London Society's Seminary in Sussex, were sufficient for the zealous young convert who was longing for active missionary service abroad. Mr. Drummond sent him forth on his career. His feverish anxiety to be thus employed is seen in his selection of the words of Francis Xavier, "Who would not travel over land and sea to be instrumental in the salvation of one soul?" as the motto for the title page of his "Travels." Wolff left England in April, 1821, and with passing calls at Gibraltar, and Malta (where he baptized a Jew) in due time he reached Alexandria. He spent three months amongst the Jews of that city and of Cairo, preaching in their synagogues, and distributing New Testaments. A visit which he paid to the Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, is interesting from the fact that the monks promised to pray for the conversion of the Jews.
Wolff's eyes, however, were fixed on the Holy City, and his work in Egypt was regarded by himself as a "preparation for preaching the Gospel of Christ at Jerusalem." He did so first in the synagogue of the Karaites; and afterwards made daily efforts for three or four months to reach the Sephardim, Ashkenazim and Chassidim, both by word of mouth and circulation of the Holy Scriptures.
Towards the end of 1822, Wolff visited Antioch and Aleppo, just before the terrible earthquake visitation of the latter city, when hundreds of Jews confessed that the truth of the Gospel could not be denied. In the spring of 1823 he was again in Egypt following up his previous work, and going on to Jerusalem for Easter. His three months' labour there amongst the Jews, thus described by himself, "I lodged among them, and was engaged in preaching the Gospel from morning to night, and often all night," cleared the way for subsequent efforts.
In the same year Wolff visited Damascus, where the Jews eagerly accepted the Arabic Bibles which he had with him, and Aleppo, where he was again well received.
Wolff's account of his visit to Bagdad in 1824, and other cities of Mesopotamia, is most interesting reading. He seems to have visited the scattered communities of Jews, amongst all of whom he had easy access. At Mosul he was shewn a Hebrew translation of the New Testament which had been made by a rabbi a hundred years previously. Left as a precious heirloom to the rabbinical college, it had remained neglected until Wolff pointed out its priceless value. At Orfa, the ancient "Ur of the Chaldees," Wolff found about fifty Jewish families, and some Jacobites, or Syrian Christians, claiming to be lineally descended from Jews who received Christianity through the preaching of St. James at Jerusalem. Their peculiar ceremonies, as also their features, gave colour to their claim to be literal as well as spiritual children of Abraham.
In 1825 Wolff visited the various Jewish communities of Persia, who, perhaps, have better grounds than any other people to be regarded as descendants of the "Lost Ten Tribes." In 1827 and 1828 Wolff visited the Ionian Islands and Asia Minor. At Smyrna he awakened, as indeed he did everywhere, a widespread enquiry into Christianity on the part of the Jews.
Probably the most romantic and thrilling of all Wolff's experiences were those which he encountered at Bokhara in 1832. "Adventures to the adventurous" is a truism, and Wolff was bold and daring to the last degree, otherwise he would not have accomplished his purpose. He dressed as a Turkoman, and so obtained an audience of the king, when he was denounced as a Russian spy by the Jews. By his wonderful adroitness he overcame all opposition, and received permission to evangelize the Jews, but was forbidden to hold religious converse with Moslems. He took lodgings at the house of a Jew, and was visited by his brethren, who asserted that their forefathers had been carried from Samaria by the Kings of Assyria and brought to Haran (Isa. xxxvii. 12), i.e., Bokhara. The three months spent there by Wolff, especially amongst the learned class, were fruitful, and he baptized as many as twenty. These men had all remained faithful when he visited Bokhara again in 1844. That second visit, more hazardous even than the first, was made with the purpose of ascertaining the fate of Colonel Stoddart and Captain Conolly,—two Englishmen, who, as subsequently transpired, had been murdered. Wolff's arrival in the city was witnessed by 20,000 persons shouting "welcome" to the enterprising traveller, whose costume—gown, hood, and shovel-hat—roused no small astonishment. Wolff obtained permission from the king for the Jews to repair their ancient synagogue.[26]