DURY, JOHN:
English divine of the seventeenth century. During his travels abroad he met Manasseh ben Israel in 1644, and heard from him an account of Antonio de Montesino's alleged discovery of the Ten Tribes in America. In 1649 he addressed a further inquiry to Manasseh on the subject, which resulted in the publication of "The Hope of Israel." Dury was also author of a pamphlet issued in 1656 entitled "A Case of Conscience: Whether It Be Lawful to Admit Jews into a Christian Commonwealth." To a question put to him by Samuel Hartleb, as to the general lawfulness of their admission, Dury replied in the affirmative; but from the point of view of expediency he considered that circumstances as to a particular time and place might render their admission unwise.
- Worthington's Diary, i. 78,83;
- Jewish Chronicle (London), Feb. 10, 1899;
- Rev. S. Levy, in Trans. Hist. Soc. Eng. iv.
