Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 5.djvu/186

 DRACH

152

DRACHMA

very devout Catholic, he resigned his position on the staff of the paper in ISoO in consequence of its hostil- ity to what was termed "papal aggression", and de- voted the remainder of his career to preparing draw- ings for book illustration and to painting in water- colour. His chief series of illustrations were those for "The Newcomes", "The King of the Golden River", "In Fairyland", and "The Foreign Tour of Brown, Jones and Robinson". His water-colour drawings were marked by much poetic feeling, and were exe- cuted in harmonious low-toned schemes of colour. His genius has been weU described as " kindly, frolic- some, graceful and sportive". He was full of imagi- nation and delighted in romantic fancy, while his caricatures are exquisitely drawn, amusing and grace- ful, lacking perhaps the strength of his father's works but far exceeding them in charm and in quality of amusement. There are many of his drawings in the British Museum, and some of his sketch-books are in the Fitzwilliam Museum at Cambridge.

The Month (London, March, 1SS4) ; Everitt, English Cari- caturists (London, 1SS6); Bixyon, Drawims in the British Museum (London, 19001; Dobson, in Diet. Xal. Biog., s. v.

George Chakles Williamson.

Drach, DA^^D Paul, convert from Judaism, b. at Strasburg, (5 ilarch, 1791; d. end of January, 1S6S, at Rome. Rosenthal's "Convertitenbilder" " (III, 4S) prefaces the autobiography of Drach with the follow- ing words: "The conversion of this learned Jewish proseljie is imdoubtedly one of the most important conversions effected by the grace of God during this century in France and became the source of salvation to many of his coreligionists. " This conversion, affecting one who enjoyed the highest esteem as an author and a learned rabbi, produced a most profound impression on all active and earnest minds of the ris- ing generation, and incited them to the study of the more serious problems of Ufe. His endeavours to lead his coreligionists to the living fountain of truth, to the acknowledgment of Jesus as the real and true Messias, crj'stallized in numerous writings and were blessed by God. Herein lies the net result of this scholar's conversion.

Drach received his first instruction at the hands of his father, a renowned Hebraist and Talmudic scholar, whose linguistic talents the son inherited. At the age of twelve Drach entered the first division of the Tal- mudic school in Edendorf near Strasburg. This course of study, lasting ordinarily for three years, he completed in one year, and entered the second division of the Talmudic school in Bischheim in the following year. He graduated in eighteen months and then matriculated in Westhofen to quahfy as a teacher of the Talmud. When only sixteen years of age he ac- cepted the position of instructor at Rappottsweiler, remaining there three years; afterwards he followed the same profession in Colmar. Here the ambitious youth devoted himself zealously to the study of secu- lar sciences to which he had already seriously applied himself while prosecuting his Talmudic studies. Hav- ing obtained the rather unwilling permission of his father, he went to Paris, where he received a call to a prominent position in the Central Jewish Consistory and at the same time fulfilled the duties of tutor in the household of a distinguished Jew. The marked re- sults of his method of teaching induced even Christian families to entrust their children to his care. It was under these circumstances that he received the first impulse towards a change of his reUgious views which ultimately resulted in his conversion. He writes: "Stirred by the edifjang examples of Cathohc piety continually set before me to the furtherance of my own salvation, the tendency towards Christianity, born in earlier life, acquired such strength that I re- sisted no longer." He now applied himself studiously to patristic theology and specialized in the study of the Septuagint with a view towards ascertaining the truth

of the tmanimous reproach of the Fathers, viz. that the Jews had falsified the Hebrew text. These stud- ies resulted in his unquestioned belief in the Divinity and Messialiship of Jesus Christ. On Maundy Thurs- day, 1S23, he renounced Judaism in the presence of Archbishop Quelen, in Paris, was baptized the fol- lowing (Holy) Saturday, and on Easter morning re- ceived his first Holy Communion and the Sacrament of Confirmation. 'Two daughters and an infant son were also baptized. His wife, the only member of the family who adhered stanchly to the old faith, ab- ducted the children. Thej' were returned, however, after two years.

.\f ter a few years Drach went to Rome, where he was appointed hbrarian of the Propaganda (IS'27), which office he held at his death. Among the many con- verts who trace their conversion to the influence of Drach's example are the Libermanu brothers; Franz Maria Paul Libermann was especially indebted to Drach for his sound ativice and active assistance in the establishment of the "Congregation of the Immacu- late Heart of Marj'". Of Drach's numerous \\Titings the following deserves particular mention: " Lettres d'un rabbin convert! aux Israelites, ses freres" (Paris, 1S25). He also published the " Bible de Vence ", with annotations (Paris, 1S27-1S33) in 27 volumes oc- tavo. He remodelled the Hebrew-Latin Dictionary of Geseuius, and published a Catholic Hebrew- Chaldaic dictionary of the Old Testament (ed. Migne, Paris, 1S48). He wrote, moreover, " Du divorce dans la synagogue" (Rome, 1840); "Harmonic entre r^ghse et la synagogue" (Paris. 1S44); and "La Cabale des Hebreux" (Rome, 1864).

Paul Afgustin, son of the preceding, b. 12 Aug., 1817; d. 29 Oct., 189.5; canon of Notre-Dame and exegete of importance. He studied at the Propa- ganda College in Rome and was ordained priest there in 1846. We owe to him a large French Bible com- mentarj' (La Sainte Bible. Paris, 1869) in which he himself wrote on the Pauline Epistles (1S71), the Catholic Epistles (1879), and the .\pocalypse (1879).

Rosenthal, Convertitenbilder, III. 4S; Grube in Kirchenlex., Ill, 2011: HuRTER. Xomcndator: Pitra, Life of the Yen. Ser- vant of God, From Maria Paul Libermann, Ger. tr. Muller (Stuttgart, 1S93).

N. Scheid.

Drachma (Gr. Spaxnv), a Greek silver coin. The Greeks derived the word from dpdaa-ofmi, " to grip", "to take a handful"; cf. SpdtiMx. manipuhis, "a handful". Thus the term originally signified a handful of grain (Liddell and Scott; Riehm, "Handworterbuch"; Smith. "Diet, of .\ntiq."). But in Vigouroux, "Diet, de la Bible", the term is derived from darag-mnnn, the name of a Persian coin equivalent to the Hebrew darku, means "degree", "division". Thus the words darag-mana and drachma would signify a part of a mina. The darag-mana was also called a Daric be- cause it was first struck by the emperor Darius Hystas- pis. The drachma contained six oboli. It was the fourth part of a stater, the himdredth part of a mina, and the six-thousandth part of a talent. The precise value of the drachma differed at various times. The two principal standards of currency in the Grecian states were the Attic and the .Eginetan. The Attic drachma had the greater circulation after the time of Alexander the Great. Its weight was about 66 grains, its value was a little less than twenty cents (nine pence, three farthings), and its size was about that of a quar- ter. On the one side it had the head of Minerva, and on the reverse her emblem, the owl. surrounded by a crown of laurels. The .Eginetan drachma weighed about 93 grains and was equivalent to one and two- third Attic drachmas. It was current in the Pelopon- nesus(Corinthexcepted. Riehm. " Handworterb. "land in Macedonia imtil .\lexander the Great . The drachma is mentioned in the Old Testament (II Machabees,
 * 1D3"n, dtirkemon. The Persian word darag, Assyrian