Israel and the gentiles : contributions to the history of the Jews from the earliest times to the present day

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ISRAEL AND THE GENTILES.

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ISEAEL AND THE GENTILES.

CONTRIBUTIONS

TO TRB

HISTORY OF THE JEWS

FROM THE EARLIBST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY.

BY

DR. ISAAC DA COSTA,

OP AMSTERDAM.

' A travera tant d'^U, d'Ages de lieoz divert,
Avec leur vieille loi parcourant Tunlvers,
Seals ils tont demeures sur ta bate profbnde,
Comma cea rleax rochers contemporaint du monde."

Deli LLC.

LONDON:

JAMES NISBET AND CO., 21, BERNERS STREET.

HDCCCL.

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MACXITTOaH, PRINTER.
QREAT NEW-«TREET, X.OKOOK.

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TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

It is, I believe, customary for- a translator to
say a few words in introducing an author
whose work is in this manner ushered before
the public in a new garb ; and I cannot thus
mention Dr. Da Costa, without expressing my
wish that the reader of his book may, even in
a small degree, participate in the vivid enjoy-
ments which I myself have derived from the
gifted writer's own conversation and corre-
spondence.

In the author of " Israel and the Gentiles,"
it is not only the poet and the man of letters
with whom we become acquainted, neither
is it human wisdom alone that flows with
eloquence from his lips. We recognise in
him the devoted Christian, the true servant of
his "elder brother according to the flesh,"
whom he worships as Messiah, his King, and
his God. We behold in him one who has
left riches and honour, and counted them as

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VI TEANSLATOE S PEEFACE.

nought SO jbhat he might win Christ, and
whose life is spent in diffusing around him
the light of the knowledge of God.

These sketches, as Dr. Da Costa himself
has remarked, are incomplete, especially the
latter part, where he could hardly have can-
vassed the characters of distinguished men
who are still aUve. With respect to the want
of strict chronological arrangement which
may he ohservahle in some parts of the work,
he wishes to state his conviction, that history
ought to follow the connexion of circumstances
rather than the precise sequence of time ; and
he has chosen, therefore, to place facts and
opinions in certain groups, in preference to a
close adherence to the ordinary more exact
method. It is, perhaps, necessary to mention
that one or two passages of Scripture have
been translated afresh from the original
Hebrew, instead of being copied from the
authorized version.

MART J. KENNEDY.

44, Norfolk Square^ Brighton,
December 10, 1849.

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PREFACE.

It may, perhaps, not be quite without interest
to my English readers to know that I am, by
birth, a descendant of one of those Jewish
families who, in the seventeenth century,
sought refuge in the Netherlands from the
persecutions of Spain and Portugal. From my
earliest youth the history of my forefathers
has been an object of meditation and study ;
the modem part, especially, first drew my
attention, and both my heart and imagination
were captivated by the task of exploring the
annals of Israel's dispersion and exile.

I sought eagerly for an answer to the
important question, What can be the reason
of my people's continuing to be a nation, after
having lost all the requisites usually essential
to a national existence? Through the merciful

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Vlll PREFACE.

guidance of the God of my fathers,tlie attempt
to solve this question became, in his hand, the
means of leading me to the knowledge of His
blessed Son, the Lord Jesus. I will not here
relate the various circumstances which con-
tributed to prepare my mind to receive con-
viction and faith ; this instance will suffice for
our present purpose.

Amid the atmosphere of incredulity and
false religious opinion in which I lived, my
researches into the records of my ancestors,
and of my nation, brought me, by degrees, to
acknowledge the historical truth of the Old
and, subsequently, of the New Testament. I
was led insensibly, from thought to thought,
from induction to induction, till I came to the"
simple and certain conclusion, that the
wonderful and unprecedented circumstance
of the existence of the Jewish nation and
their varied doctrines, during the space of
3,000 or 4,000 years, could oijy be accounted
for by admitting these three truths: — Their
election by God as his people, on account
of that Just One who W£is to be born of the
seed of Abraham ; their present misery, be-
cause of their rejection of Messiah; and the
divine origin of the prophecies, foretelling
their long period of suffering, as well as their

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PREFACE. IX

future restoratiou and conversion. Thus, from
mere family interests, was I led, by the provi-
dence of God, to trace the history of my
people up to the call of Abraham, and to
follow it from thence to the coming of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the light of the
Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel.

More than a quarter of a century has now
elapsed since the epoch which decided the fate
of my whole life, and yet Israel's history,
as written in the book of books, or found in
the scattered records of their 1800 years of
exile, has never ceased to occupy my thoughts,
and to employ a portion of my time. While
entering into the details of this wondrous
history, I have discovered more and more
its perfect harmony with J;he dispensations of
God, and the declarations of His Word ; and
the Jewish nation has been brought to my
view more strikingly as an abiding testimony
to the truth of the Christian religion, a living
commentary upon the Scriptures, a certain
pledge of the entire ftilfilment of prophecy.

The sketch of Jewish history presented in
these pages, and viewed in the light of Chris-
tian truth, may perhaps appear as foolishness,
and an offence to my brethren concerning the
flesh; but in taking up the book, they will

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X PREFACE.

find, nevertheless, that it still bears the im-
press of its author's Israelitish origin.

Surely, in confessing myself, by the grace of
God, a^ disciple of Jesus Christ, I did not
cease — nay, then I only began, to rejoice that
I was indeed a Jew.

And now, let my book speak for itself; in
giving it the title of a sketch, I have dis-
avowed every pretension to its being considered
a regular history, or even an attempt at one.
A universal history of the Jews in modem
times, relating their wanderings, and entering
into the details of their manners, customs,
literature, and biography, on the scale of
Basnage, but written in a more correct and
interesting manner, with the additional light
which time and science have now thrown
upon the subject, is still to be desired. What
is here brought forward, can only be consi-
dered as the contribution of a stone to the
building, for we have but attempted a glance,
into the chaos of materials, though a glance
happily directed, may, perhaps, lead to a dis-
covery valuable to science, or the confirmation
of faith.

In my " Lectures on Jewish History," which
form the groundwork of this sketch, I have
endeavoured to notice especially the relations

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FBEFACE. XI

of my people with all the nations of the
world, from the earliest days of their existence
to the present time ; to remark upon what the
Gentiles are for the Jews, either as means of
instruction or of chastisement, and what Israel
has been, and still is, for the Gentiles, either
as witnesses to the truth, and victims of their
own unbelief, or as the people kept apart, to
impart light and salvation to the Gentiles.

The subject will be divided into four parts.
The First Book will give a glance over the
principal features of the Jewish history, both
in Palestine and beyond its borders, before
the destruction of Jerusalem, with a short
account of the subsequent fate of that city.

The Second Book gives a view of the Jev^dsh
people in their double captivity of the East
and West, from the fall of their temple and
country, to the close of the Middle Ages.

The Third Book wiU contain a history of
the Jewish exiles in Spain and Portugal. If
this part appear to be more elaborately
worked out than the rest, it is not only on
account of the numerous sources of informa-
tion to which the author's birth and parentage
gave him access ; but also because a multitude
of facts, not generally known, form character-

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XU FEEFACE.

istic features in the records of this portion of
Israel's exiles.

The Fourth Book views the position of the
Jews, in their connexion with the Beformation
of the sixteenth century, the revolution of the
eighteenth, and the great social and political
movements of the present day; with the
glorious advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
King of the Jews, and the establishment of
his kingdom.

May the Lord bless the reading of these
pages to all who take them in hand, whether
Jew or Christian, Israelite or Grentile ! Amen.

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INTRODUCTION.

From a very early period of the world's his-
tory, we find a people living amidst the
nations, and conversing with them in close
connexion, yet kept completely apart, and
preserved unmixed, by means of characteristics
exclusively their own.

This people is the only nation that can,
vnth certainty, trace its origin, through one
family, to a single individual. They call
themselves the children of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. A doubt has never been raised as
to the reality of this origin, so strongly has it
been established by the records of tradition
and history. Yet, although no nation dis*
putes with them this honour, no one envies
them its possession, so entirely has the hatred
of all degraded a title of the highest honour
into a sign of reproach, contempt, and ex«
elusion*

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2 INTRODUCTION.

As children of Abraham, guardians and
confessors of the law of Moses and the predic-
tions of the prophets, they bear by a personal
mark the testimony of their genealogy, in
the ordinance of circumcision. As disciples of
Moses, they have now for thirty-four centuries
raised the cry, " Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God is one God;'* and every Sabbath-day,
even to the present time, Moses and the pro-
phets are read in their synagogues, in the
same order as when the Apostle St. James
mentions the fact 1800 years ago, as already,
in his time, an ancient custom.

They are an Eastern nation, and after hun-
dreds and thousands of years, though natu-
ralized in the west, they still bear the features
of an Oriental extraction. Their strongly-
marked countenance exhibits, on the one
hand, their relationship with the Arabs of the
desert, the children of Abraham by Ishmael ;
and bears, on the other, in its deeply-stamped
impress of suffering, a memorial of the cruelty
and oppression of a long succession of ages.

They have ever been a people of sojauvners ;
their first father sojourned in the country pro**
mised to his posterity, and when themselves
settled in Canaan, their religion still led them
to preserve the feeling that they were but

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INTRODUCTION. 8

'* sojourners in the land," Long before the
fall of Jerusalem, and their entire dispersion,
numbers of them already sojourned in Assyria,
Babylonia, and Persia ; thus we read of Daniel
and Nehemiah, at the Courts of those nations;
and in later times, we find Israelites estab*
lished in Egypt and Macedonia, and enrolled
as Roman citizens, both in the great city itself,
and in the provinces. Since the final destruc-
tion of Jerusalem, they have become acclima*
tized tq, every region, and while scattered
among every diversity of nation, have assumed
something of the character of the people
among whom they dwelt. Nevertheless, a
principle of unity has prevailed throughout
the whole dispersion of Israel, and they have
remained in every climate, and among every
nation, representatives of what all mankind
really are — descendants of one &mily and one
father.

Two powerful religions derive, though in a
very different manner, their origin from the
existence of this people. Both in the Gospel
of truth, and the imposture of the Koran, the
Others of Israel are recognised as the fathers
of their respective fSsuth. In both these creeds
the prophets of Israel are honoured as men of
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4 IKTROpUCTION.

God, and the City of Jerusalem as a holy city.
But neither from this high antiquity, nor from
the possession of a history full of touching and
sublime incidents, and still shadowing forth
the distant fiiture, has any benefit accrued to
the Israelite, either in the East or West
The names even which God gave to his ancient
people, S3 honourable memorials, the nations,
both Mahometans and professing Christians,
have turned into a by-word, so that Israelite
has become a term of reproach, and Jew (son
of Judah) a contemptuous epithet.

What a theme for anxious contemplation to
the whole world, is the people whose history
spreads over 4000 out of the whole 6000
years that contain the records of the human
race I while even the modem part of it can be
traced back during a period of 1800 years !

Were there now in existence even a single
individual who could with certainty trace his
pedigree from one of the ancient Greek or
Roman families, with what care and interest
would such a circumstance be investigated, as
a living remnant of antiquity ! And yet Israel,
the very Israel whose annals extend to the
most remote periods of sacred and profane his-
tory, still remains, not as a remnant only, con«

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INTRODUpriOK. 5

sisting of a few solitary individuals or families,
but the whole body of the 'people still exists,
scattered over every part of our globe.

To the Ghristian especially, how deeply in-
teresting a subject for meditation and study t
In this people he beholds involuntary wit-
nesses to the truth of all that Gbd has spoken
to man, from the beginning, and through suc-
cessive ages, concerning his Anointed. He
sees in this people the very flesh and blood
from which Jesus Christ himself, as the Son
of man, became incarnate. He sees a living
proof of the truth of prophecies fulfilled, and
of those yet unaccomplished, as well as a
visible monument of the historic realities upon
which the Christian feith is based.

The marked distiuction of the Jewish people
from every other nation, is a result of the sepa-
ration ordained and established by Grod him-
self between them and all the other families of
the earth, who were, nevertheless, to be blessed
in their seed. Their religious worship, their
customs, their feasts, and their fasts, are all
abiding monuments of the authenticity of the
Old Testament.

Their constant expectation of the Messiah, is
an effect of the reality of the promise given, and
ofttimes repeated, to their fathers, woven, as it

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6 INTBOpUCTION.

were, into the very tissae of that Scripture which
was gradually enrolled during the whole na-
tional existence of the people of Israel. Their
final dispersion, and prolonged misery, during
the eighteen centuries in which they have
existed, without King, without temple, with-
out sacrifice, without country, — ^but also with-
out teraphim, and without idols, shows the
Divine origin of their own fulfilled prophecies
respecting Him whom they have waited for,
and yet rejected, — whom they have pierced,
and whom they will one day adore.

Still continuing a people, though deprived
of all the usual essentials of a national exist-
ence, they have survived the most powerful
nations and dynasties of the world, while sunk
to the lowest depth of humiliation under the
very feet of the Oentiles. The Infidel even
must acknowledge, that in this there is some-
thing strange^ startling, wonderful! but the
Christian recognises with a feeling of rever-
ence, in the imperishable endurance of this
despised and often despicable people, the
finger of that God by whose word alone they
have been preserved, though, according to the
principles of human reason, and all the known
laws and processes of nature, they must infal-
libly have perished. In meditating on this

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INTBODUCTIOK. 7

subject, the Christian is led back to a contem«
plation of other harmonies subsisting in God's
varied dealings with his people in former ages.
How perfect, for instance, is the coincidence
of the seed given to Abraham, not according
to the course of nature, but in fulfilment of the
Divine promise, and the birth of a Saviour,
fulfilling to the very letter the word spoken by
the ^ophet, '' Behold, a virgin shall conceive ! '*
As the Israelites are the only people able to
trace their origin from a single family, and a
single patriarch, and thus follow up their
descent from the father of mankind ; so, on
the other hand, are they the only people who
have preserved, through a succession of cen*
turies, a definite expectation of their future
destiAy, to which they have clung through
every period of their long dispersion. This
expectation rests upon the same prophetic
Scriptures which foretold and described their
present state of exile and suffering, which also
announced the painful death and future glory
of the Messiah, and with that glory connects
the blessings of a spiritual and national resto-
ration for Israel, light over the whole world,
and peace upon all nations united with the
andent people of God, beneath the sceptre of
the Son of David and the Son of God. The

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8 INTEODUCTlONi

Gospel confirms the prophecies and seals afresh
these promises. The Apostle St. Paul, in the
eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Romans,
beautifully concentrates, as in a focus, the pro-
phetic rays of the Old Testament, when he
says, "If the casting away of them be the
reconciling of the world, what shall the receiv-
ing of them be, but life from the dead ] The
fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and so
all Israel shall be saved.*' In these few words
a key is given by which the future destiny of
the nations is laid open to us, while the pro-
phecies of the Old and New Testament com-
bine to form a complete commentary upon
these words, which are, in fact, the centre of
the whole future history of Israel and the
Gentiles. Surely, when we rightly regard the
annals of this people, reaching backward to
the most remote antiquity, and looking for-
ward to a* futurity which has been long pre-
dicted, with its course lighted up by the
gradual fulfilment of prophecy, we should not
overlook the details of its darkest and saddest
periods. It is, without doubt, a history of
sorrows, and of almost unprecedented misery ;
for it tells of a people of sorrows on account
of their sins. But should not this very pecu-
liarity give it fresh interest in the eyes of the

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INTBOBUCTION. 9

Christian, who rests his salvation, his hope,
his ally upon a Man of sorrows also, but of
sorrow without sin ?

In our days especially, the most striking
circumstances and the most startling signs of
the times concur to increase, in a remarkable
degree, feelings of interest in the Jewish
people. The times in which we live are such,
that no one can deny their portent of a future,
to which each day seems ready to give birth.
A great inquiry agitates the minds and stirs
the hearts of many as to what will be the final
issue of all the revolutionary movements and
complications which are now taking place,
while, at the same time, the opposite prin-
ciples of faith and Infidelity, superstition and
science, combine to multiply daily changes in
our moral and social life. The Christian
alone knows the result to which all this tends,
while, in singleness of heart, he examines and
ponders the prophetic words of his Lord and
Saviour, — that he shall come on the clouds of
heaven, and then shall be fulfilled all that the
prophets and holy men of the Old Testament
have spoken concerning the Messiah of Israel,
the Desire of aU nations. He shall reign as
King over the house of Jacob ; the Lord God
shall give him the throne of his father David.
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10 INTRODUCTION.

He shall reign from sea to sea, and from the
river to the ends of the earth. Under his
sceptre shall the twelve tribes of Israel be
again united ; all the nations of the earth shall
share in their peace and glory, and bovF toge-
ther in submiBsion to that sceptre of justice,
truth, and love. The whole earth shall be
covered with the knowledge of God, and the
light of his glory; the wicked, and all the
powers of wickedness, shall be destroyed, and
the prince of this world cast out. Jerusalem
shall rise, covered with glory, from her state
of humiliation, as the dead who have believed
in Christ come forth from their graves. The
last book of the Bible sums up all these bless*
ings in its closing words : ^^ I Jesus am the root
and offspring of David, and the bright and
morning star. Behold, I came quickly.''

Never, tiU our days, has the attention of
men been so forcibly drawn to the Scripture
prophecies of the Old and New Testament, nor
the hearts of Christians so prepared to look
for their accomplishment. This diligent search,
this waking up of attention, forms the charac-
teristic of a new era in the Christian Church,
and the period from which we may date its
commencement, is the latter part of the eigh-
teenth century, at precisely the same period

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INTKODUCTIOlf. 11

'when the epoch of revolutiond began in the
history of the world. This coincidence is the
more worthy of remark, because at the mo-
ment when Infidelity is shaking the very
foundation of the Papacy, and under the guise
of philosophy and rationalism, threatening
to undermine and endanger the Protestant
Churches,-*-behold at once a fresh banner
raised, and a new rallying point marked out,
to direct the ^th, the zeal, and the exertions
of the Christian. On all sides, voices are
heard, calling to a deeper and more careful
investigation of the Revelation of St. John,
and to more literal and faithful interpreta^
tions of the prophecies of Israel, which pro-
mise not only individual conversion and future
bliss, but also the visible glory of Christ, and
his reign upon earth, over Israel and all the
nations. All this has naturally led to a deeper
interest in the history and the fate of Israel ;
and this interest is a more remarkable sign of
the times, because it coincides with the striv*
ing of spirit which is now taking place
among the ancient people themselves. All
the changes that have occurred in Europe,
since the latter part of the eighteenth century,
and those which are even now happening, com-
bine to alter the whole social and political posi-^

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12 INTEODUCTIOK.

tion of the Jewish people, and to form a new era
in the annals of Israel's exile. The Talmud,
which like a massive wall defended the Jew
from every Christian influence, is now tottering
and giving way in many places. In the midst
of Israel, voices are heard asking for a modified
and more popular form of worship, in imitation
of the Christian nations among whom they
dwell. Hence has arisen in some of the
people, an almost total negligence of the
memorials and traditions of their fathers;
while to others, an increasing opportunity is
afforded for the study and reception of the
Gospel. For several years past, the number
of Jewish converts to the Christian faith, from
all classes, has been great; still greater has
been the increase of closer ties than the mere
commercial relation formerly subsisting be*
tween the Jew and the people of the country
in which he lived.

Among the Jews themselves, fresh vigour
displays itself in every department of the arts
and sciences ; in Germany, the sons of Israel
are distinguished professors of philosophy,
letters, astronomy, and jurisprudence. Like
their fore&thers, before the catastrophe which
put an end to their political existence, the
descendants of Abraham for the last half-

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INTRODUCTION* 13

century have again borne arms with honour.
The poetic harp of Israel sounds for the first
time to European accents, and Israelitish
names are found among the greatest masters
of music in our day. In almost every part of
Europe, Israelites afford to the country of
their sojourn the benefit, not of riches only,
but of talent, genius, and learning. In Ger*
many, they are obtaining a release from every
legal restraint, and in England, from whence
they were in the thirteenth century ignomini*
ously expelled, they have received an all but
complete emancipation. All this yet forms no
part of Israel's restoration, but may not the
Christian view these facts as already a ^^ shaking
of the bones " t (Ezek. xxxvii.)

The Romish Church has always thought of
the Jewish people as a great multitude, destined
in the latter days to be gathered into the
bosom of the mother Church of the Gentiles.
Protestantism long looked coldly and with
indifference upon the future hopes and pro-
mised conversion of God*s ancient people. It
remained for the revival of Gospel truth in
our days to encourage a deeper search into
unfulfilled prophecy, and thus bring Israel
more clearly to view, as the people long dis-
persed, but destined to be again gathered, and

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16 INTBODUCTIOK.

considering the Israelites in their relations
with Egypt, and afterwards with the different
nations and tribes of Asia, with whom they
were brought in contact, either as neighbours
and enemies, or by the bonds of alliance and
relationship with Midian, Edom, Moab, Am^p^
mon, the Philistines, the Syrians, the Assyrians,
and under the four great monarchies of Babylon,
Persia, Macedonia, and Rome. After viewing
the Israelites in connexion with the Gospel,
in the fulness of time, we shall follow them
into their dispersion and captivity in the East
and West ; in the Eoman empire, in Europe,
and Asia; in connexion with the Parthians
and the Persians, the Ostrogoths, and the
Visigoths; with Arabia, and the rise of Ma-
hometanism, the Franks, the Germans, the
Normans, the English, the Poles, and the
Sclavonian nations in general. We shall
particularly notice their relations with Spain
and Portugal, and afterwards with the Low
Countries, Great Britain, France, Italy, and
America ; and view them, lastly, in respect to
their position at the present time, and their
own future expectations.

We shall contemplate Israel in this picture
as the people of the greatest privileges, and
the darkest transgressions ; the deepest tribu^

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'1^ i

INTRODUCTION. 17

latdon, and the brightest hopes : but the object
most prominently brought forward will be the
alternate power of the principles of attraction
and repulsion, shown forth in its effects upon
every relation of Israel with the nations of the
world. There has long been a gulf fixed
between the two, but, reconciled and united
by the cross of Christ, they will one day enjoy
together their respective privileges, united for
ever, yet never confounded.

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BOOK L

THE ISRAELITES IN EGYPT.

A VERY interesting period in the history of the
Israelites first brings them into contact with
the Egyptians, for in the country of the latter,
the family became a people, and changed their
wandering and pastoral life for the labours
of agriculture. Jacob came into Egypt with
seventy persons, under one Pharaoh, and six
hundred thousand children of Israel left the
country, some centuries after, in the reign of
another. Before their entrance, the Israelites
had given to Egypt a Joseph, who by his
wisdom had preserved both the king and
country ; in return, Egypt, and Pharaoh's
house, gave them a Moses. But Moses, in the
palace of Pharaoh, was not alone brought up
in " all the wisdom " of one of the most cele-
brated nations in the world — the whole people
of Israel shared in this education. If we look
only upon the oppression and bondage which
marked the later days of the sojourn of the

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ISRAEL ANJ> EGYPT. 19

Israelites in Egypt, we receive a very incom-
plete idea of the whole period; this slavery
and oppression was but a conseqaence of the
rapid increase and great prosperity of the
children of Israel. In 1 Chron. iv. 18, a
glimpse is afforded us of the earlier and
happier days of their abode on the banks of
the Nile.

Nothing can be more simple and natural
than the conclusion, that to highly civilized
Egypt, the children of Israel (under the
powerful guidance of the God of their fathers)
were indebted for all the advantages of civili-
zation; and especially for the use of the
alphabet, an indispensable requisite for the
reception of their future legislature, and the
preservation of Divine revelation. We may
notice another very important point, in observ-
ing the dose connexion of the children of
Israel, while becoming a people, with the
country of Mitzraim. It is, if we may so
express it, the Egyptian peculiarity of Moses,
their legislator and leader, and the Egyptian
character that pervades the whole Pentateuch.
Moses himself was, in some sense, an Egyptian ;
not only was he called so by Jethro's daughters,
whom he delivered from the hands of the shep-
herds, but the Egyptian character was very

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20 I8&AEL AND EGYPT*

strongly and decidedly stamped upon his person
and upon all his actions. Brought up in the
house of Pharaoh's daughter, and at the court
of the king, trained in all the wisdom which
at that time distinguished the Egyptians from
every other nation, the influence of this educa^
tion clung to him through life, and entered
into his Divine calling.

God often prepares his chosen instruments
by human means for their ultimate destination
in his service. Thus was St. Paul made ready
by Pharisaical Judaism for the labour which
fell to his share after his conversion to Christ!**
anity; and thus, in a yet more wonderful
manner, was the education Moses received in
an idolatrous country overruled to prepare him
for a high calling in the service of the living
God. A most highly civilized nation, deeply
versed in law and political wisdom, arts,
sciences, and mechanics, was appointed to
train him who should become, under the power
and guidance of God, their ruler, king, guide,
architect, historian, and poet.

The statute laws of Israel recognise the
relation subsisting between the Egyptians and
the people of God, in a remarkable passage,
in which, while the nations who had ill-treated
or were likely to injure the Israelites, were

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ISRAEL AIXD EGYPT. 21

excluded from communion with God, an ex-
ception is made in favour of the Edomite,
"for he is thy brother," and the Egyptian,
" because thou wast a stranger in his land."
(Dent, xxiii. 7.)

During the whole succeeding history we
may observe a balance preserved in the rela-
tionship between Israel and Egypt. No return
to Egypt was permitted, yet no enmity might
be shown to the Egyptians. The wife of that
king in whose reign the kingdom of Israel
reached the height of its prosperity was a
daughter of Pharaoh. In later times, under
the successors of Solomon, it was equally dan-
gerous for Judah to have the Egyptians as
allies or enemies. Josiah fell in battle against
Fharaoh-Necho, whom he had provoked to the
war ; and, on the other hand, little help was
gained by his successors in their alliance with
Egypt against Babylon. When Jerusalem
had been taken, the temple destroyed, and the
inhabitants carried captive to Babylon, the
measure of Jeremiah's affliction was filled up
by the sinful remnant, who returned to their
ancient house of bondage and compelled the
prophet to accompany them thither.

In the Old Testament prophecies we find, in
connexion with the complete restoration of

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22 ISRAEL AND EOYFT.

Israel, promises of blessing for Egypt, from
whence 3300 years since the Lord brought
forth his people, and "out of which" also
1800 years ago "He hath called his Son."
" In that day," saith the Prophet Isaiah (of a
time to which no past epoch can refer) — " in
that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in
the midst of the land of E^ypt, and a pillar at
the border thereof to the Lord/ And it shall
be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord
of Hosts in the land of Egypt ; for they shall
cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors,
and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great
one, and he shall deliver them* And the Lord
shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians
shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do
sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a
vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the
Lord shall smite Egypt; he shall smite and
heal it, and they shall return even to the Lord,
and he shall be intreated of them, and shall
heal them. In that day shall there be a high-
way out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians
shall come into Elgjrpt, and the Egyptians shall
serve with the Assyrians. In that day shaU
Israel be the third with Egypt, and with
Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the
land. Whom the Lord of Hosts shaU bless,

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ISRAEL AND EGYPT. 23

sayings Blessed be Egypt my people, and
Assyria the work of mine hands, and Israel
mine inheritance." (Isa. xix. 19 — 26.)

With a strong hand, and a stretched-ont
arm, God led his people ont of Egypt. Soon
after their departure thence, the Israelites
received the pledge of their existence as a
people in the Divine Law given from Mount
Sinai ; they then began their forty years* wan*
derings in the wilderness. How striking must
have been the appearance of the twelve tribes
of Israel, encamped in the desert, each around
its own banner, their four sides facing the four
quarters of the world, whose salvation and
glory were represented by the tabernacle, with
its holy vessels and symbolic services! Yet
the people were destined to undergo many
chastenings at the hand of God ; as the vine
branch is purged that it may bring forth more
fruit, so were the murmurers cut off from the
midst of Israel, till a fresh generation arose, to
whom the promises were frilfiUed.

Moses witnessed the first victory of the
children of Israel beyond the Jordan, when
Beuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
took possession of the land of Basan and of
the Amorites. The passage of the river, so
striking an event in the history of Israel, was

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24 ISRAEL XSB THE GENTILES

reseryed for Joshua. With him began the
Heroic age, which comprehended four hundred
and fifty years, including David, and his con-
temporaries in age and war.

The relations between Israel and the sur-
rounding nations in the times of Moses, Joshua,
the judges, and the kings, were appointed by
Qod himself, and made a part of the laws and
constitution of the state. The land promised
to their fathers was given to the Israelites on
the condition of their keeping it and them-
selves free from idolatry, and thus continuing
the people of the only living and true God.
From the beginning they neglected this
charge ; they spared the nations God had sent
them to punish, and even joined with them in
serving their gods. Thus were Canaanites
left in the midst of Israel, who became, in the
hand of God, a pricking brier and a rod of
chastisement for his unfaithful and disobedient
people. Jerusalem remained in possession of
the Jebusites till the time of David, who, with
his valiant men, took the fortress of Zion, and
established there the royal residence and the
abode of the Ark of God.

Even the evil of a permanent remnant of
the nations of Canaan existing in the land,
after its conquest by Israel, was turned to

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BEFORE THE FIRST CAPTIVITY. 25

good by the hand of God, and made use of for
their benefit, "that the generations of the
children of Israel might know, to teach them
war, at the least such as knew nothing thereof
before." (Judges iii. 2.) The Israehtes were
destined from the first to become a warlike
people ; this character is implied in the whole
Mosaic code, and it continued to belong to
the Jewish people until their complete down-
fell, at the final destruction of their city and
temple. This character disappeared for many
centuries, when Israel became a homeless
wanderer over the face of the globe.

The peaceful reign of Solomon brings us
both to the height of Israel's prosperity and
grandeur, and to the commencement of its
decline. The evil influence of strangers and
idolatrous nations, which the ever-drawn sword
of the man after God's own heart had kept for
a time at bay, then began its work of destruc*
tion. By imitating these nations in many
ways, and especially in their varied idolatries,
the children of Jacob drew down upon them-
selves all those misfortunes and judgments,
which the wrath of God inflicted for their
punishment. Their princes set the example
of dangerous and unhallowed connexions,

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26 ISRAEL AND THE GENTILES

which led to the introduction of foreign cus-
toms and the most horrible practices.

In those days the children of Israel were,
both in word and deed, just the reverse of
what they became in later times; viz., the
witnesses and preachers of the only true God,
in the midst of, and in opposition to, all the
false religions of the world. This position
they assumed afler the Babylonian captivity,
and this truly Israelitish calling was shown
forth later in all its fulness, at the preaching
of the Cross. We look to see it once more
shine forth in times of prophecy yet unfulfilled.

However wide the separation formerly estab*
lished between the Israelites and the other
nations, the Psalms and Prophecies ever look
forward to the union of these two great divi-
sions of the descendants of Adam under a
single sceptre. The address which is contained
in the few words of the 117th Psalm is the
theme of numerous songs of praise, and predic-
tions of future glory : — " O praise the Lord, all
ye nations, praise him, all ye people. For his
merciful kindness is great towards us, and the
truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise
ye the Lord." For centuries the Israelites
were led by God to expect a future conversion

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BEFORB THE FIRST CAPTIVITY. 27

of the Gentiles; and in a similar manner,
nnder the present New Testament dispensa^
tion, believers in Christ among the Grentiles
look forward to the complete and national con*
version of Israel. The prophecies contain as
many predictions which refer to the Gentiles,
as to the Israelites themselves,* — not to that
day alone still to come \^hich shall behold
them ranged under the banner of the Son of
Jesse, — they also tell of God's varied dealings
with them, and his judgments upon them, at
times and in circumstances long preceding it,
and thus exemplify what the Apostle St. Paul
says: "Is he the God of the Jews only? Is
he not of the Gentiles also % Yes, of the Gen*
tiles also." (Rom. iii. 29.)

We have now taken a general view of the
relations between the Israelites and the Asiatic
nations around them, before the first destrue*
tion of Jerusalem ; the more particular relation
subsisting between them, and same of these na^
tions, is interesting for many reasons. We will
notice, first, the relative position of the Israelites
and Edomites, the descendants of Jacob and
Esau, whose history, as it were, began in the
womb of their mother, Rebecca, where already

• Isa. XV., XTiii., xix., xxiii. ; Jer. xlvi., xlvii., xlviii.,
xlix.> L ; Eaeek. xxv., zxvii., xxiz., xxzL ; Dan. ii, viL .
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28 ISRAEL AND EDOM.

the £Etthers of the two nations struggled to-
gether; and it was said to the mother, the
^' Great shall serve the Little'" (Esau) the Greats
by priority of birth, by physical force, and by
rapidly becoming a powerful and warlike
nation, was compelled to give place to (Jacob)
the Little, because of the promise of that seed,
in whom all the families of the earth should
'be blessed. In later times, the brother nation
rivalled Edom in the number of its people,
and the extent of its conquests. In those
days, however, no war was allowed between
two nations so closely allied by blood. Thus
the people of God were forbidden by Moses
to make an attack upon the Edomites, though,
on their approach to the promised land, the
latter had refused to the people of Jacob a
passage through their country, and water to
drink, for money. Afterwards, in accordance
vnth Balaam's prophecy, the country of the
Edomites became, especially in David's time,
an hereditary possession of the children of
Israel. Under David's successors, Edom soon
rebelled ; more than once reconquered, it was
first in alliance, and afterwards at enmity, viith
Judah. God threatened Edom with great
judgments, because in the day of the ruin of
the children of Judah (their brethren) ^Hhey

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ISRAEL AND EDOH. 29

rejoiced and did shoot out the Up in the day
of their distress." Obadiah, Jeremiah, and
Ezekiel prophesied to this effect, in the later
times, as had done before, Isaiah, Joel, and
Amos, and as did Malachi, after the return
from Babylon.

The discoveries lately made in Idumea, and
its capital Petra, verify the descriptions given
by the prophets of its former magnificence;
while they testify, at the same time, to the
literal fulfilment of all the judgments pro«
nounced against it. We cannot but be struck
by the comment which the gigantic architect
tural remains of Edom now make upon those
prophecies, of which one of the most remark*
able was uttered by Jeremiah: — "Thy ter-
ribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride
of thine heart. Oh thou that dwellest in the
clefts of the rock, that boldest the height of
the hills; though thou shouldest make thy
nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee
down from thence, saith the Lord." (Jer.
xUx. 16.)

In the latter days of Judah's existence as a
nation, we may observe a very different con-
nexion subsisting between the Jews and the
Edomites. Under the Maccabees the descend-
ants of the Great (Esau), were still subjected
to those of the Little (Jacob). But, at last,

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80 ISRAEL AND EDOM.

Edom in his turn subjected his younger
brother; and the decline of the Asmonean
dynasty prepared the way for the glory, and
finally the dominion, of Antipater the Edomite,
and his son, Herod the Great When the Son
of David was bom in the stable of Bethlehem,
the persecuting Edomite was king at Jeru-
salem, and thus was fulfilled the very length
and breadth of the prophecy spoken in the
house of the Patriarch, " the Great shall serve
the Little/' The Star of Jacob, the King of
Israel, in the] humility of his human nature,
was then made manifest as that Little one,
to which all that is Great in this world must
one day be subjected and pay homage.

The people of Israel were allied in a degree
with Moab and Ammon, the descendants of
Lot, Abraham's nephew. On their entrance
into Canaan, the inheritance of these nations
was spared by the command of God ; yet the
Moabites were greatly terrified at the approach
of the children of Israel, and Balak their
king hired a false prophet to curse the
people, and sent the daughters of his land to
seduce them to sin. (Numb, xxii., xxv.) The
curse intended by Balaam, was changed by the
power of God, who holds in his hand the very
thoughts of evil men, into a prophecy of bless-
ing and glory. Thus the dawn of the glorious

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ISRAEL AND THE PHCBNICIANS. 31

Star of Jacob was announced against his own
will, by the mouth of a heathen, as well as
the future humiliation of Moab, and the in-
creasing prosperity, of Israel. The Ammon*
ites and Moabites, on account of their dis-
graceful origin, were not admitted into the
congregation of the Lord till the tenth genera^
tion« Nevertheless, there is in Christ recon-
ciliation between Moab and Israel, and it was
carried into effect many centuries before the
birth of our Saviour. In the time of the Judges,
a daughter of Moab, having faith in the God of
Israel, acted with kindness and fidelity to a
widow of Judah, and, by her means, the
genealogy of the king of Israel still transmits
on its records the name of a Moabitess. In
the same genealogy, we find the name of
another daughter of Canaan, Kahab, of Jeri-
cho, who, at the glorious victory of the chil-
dren of Israel, was made the first-fruits of the
Gentiles who should be blessed in the seed of
Abraham, and by her subsequent marriage
to Salmon, of the tribe of Judah, she also
became an ancestress of the incarnate Messiah,
the Son of David. (Matt. i. 6.)

Among the nations of Canaan, the Phoenici-
ans have afforded most matter of interest to uni-
versal history. We also find them, for many

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32 ISRAEL AND THE FHSNICIANS.

succeeding centuries, in close alliance with the
people of Israel. The language of the Phoeni-
cians, notwithstanding their descent from an*
other son of Noah, (the Israelites from Shem,
the Phoenicians from Ham), was nearly allied
to that of the Israelites, and the art of writing
came to that people either through the Egyp-
tians, or at once from the Phoenicians, its
inventors. With Tyre and Sidon, the chief
cities of this celebrated commercial nation,
the Israelites, after their settlement in Canaan,
were either at open war, or engaged in com-
mercial relations. The Sidonians were early
mentioned as enemies and persecutors, from
whom the Lord delivered his people, after he
had chastened them by their means. (Judg.
X. 1—12.)

The kings of Tyre supplied David with
cedar wood ; and workmen to build his house,
and also assisted Solomon in building the
temple. But these commercial connections
with the Phoenician cities communicated also
idolatry and immorality, and were the means
of bringing the iniquities of the Sidonian
Jezebel and Athaliah upon the kingdoms of
Israel and Judah.

The high exaltation and deep debasement
of Tyre were both spoken of by the prophets

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ISRAEL AND THE FHOSNICIANS. 33

of Israel. Of ancient Tyre, taken by Nebu-
chadnezzar, and modem Tyre, humbled by
Alexander the Great, there remains scarcely
a ruin. It is become literally ^^a place to
spread nets on," as foretold by Ezekiel. But,
for the inhabitants of Tyre, as well as for the
Phoenicians in general, better things have been
foretold by men of God in Israel. The Psalm«
ist says, ^' I will make mention of Bahab and
Babylon, as them that know me; behold
Fhilistia and Tyre with Ethiopia." (Psalm
IxxxviL 4.) As in the days of Elijah a widow
of Sarepta, a city of Sidon, found grace in the
sight of the God of Israel, so in the time of
our Saviour a Syro-Phoenician, or Canaanitish,
woman, also sought and found it at the feet
of Jesus. (St. Mark vii. 26.) When the
Gospel was preached, the inhabitants of Tyre
and Sidon gladly received what was first
offered to the Jews, and soon after we find
recorded the brotherly love and consolation
received by the Apostle of the Gentiles, from
the Christian communities of Tyre, Sidon,
and Ptolemais. (Acts ?xi. 2 — 7, xxvii. 3.)
Thus, the Gospel brought not Japhet alone,
but also Canaan, into the tents of Shem.

The connexion between the Israelites and
the Syrians is an abiding feature in the history
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34 ISRAEL AND STRIA.

of the former people. Syria, situated between
Palestine and Mesopotamia, bore at first, in
common with the latter, the name of Aram.
It was in remembrance of this part of Syria,
(Fadan Aram, between the Euphrates and
Tigris), that the Israelite, each year, at the
feast of first-fruits, confessed before God that
he was the son of a ** Syrian, ready to perish."
(Dent. xxvi. 6.) With Aram, more properly
speaking, that is to say, Syria beyond the
Euphrates, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah
were in turns bound by treaties of alliance, or
at open war. Macedonian Syria subsequently
subdued the Jewish people, and continued to
persecute and oppress them, until the heroic
Maccabees restored their country to liberty.

The children of Abraham were also closely
united to Dam'ascus, the celebrated city of
Ceelo-Syria. Abraham probably dwelt there
for some time; there, at least, was bom his
faithfrd servant, called in Scripture, Eliezer,
of Damascus. Although, in the time of tiiie
first temple, idolatry and enmity against the
Jewish people existed at Damascus, when the
Gk)spel was preached, we find that a Jewish
synagogue had long been established there,
and from it arose a small body of Christians.
While Saul of Tarsus was hastening to destroy

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ISRAEL WITH AS8TEIA AND BABYLON. 35

this way, it was before the gates of Damascus
that he was converted to the &ith he had per*
secuted, and within its walls he first preached
the Gospel.

In quite a different maimer from any we
have yet considered, were the Israelites con-
nected with the two most ancient Asiatic
monarchies. The Assyrians and Babylonians
were in God's hand a rod of chastisement for
his people. What the kingdom of the ten
tribes suffered from the Assyrians, was in-
flicted in later times by the Babylonians upon
the people of Judah. Both these kingdoms
received their punishment fix)m God, by the
hand of the same nations with whose idols
they had so long defiled themselves, and pro-
yoked the Lord to anger. Shalmanezer, king
of the Assyrians, carried captive great part of
the ten tribes into his own country, and Sen-
nacherib, his successor, had prepared a similar
&te for Judah ; but he was utterly overthrown
before Jerusalem, because Hezekiah and Isaiah
had made supplication unto Him that dwelleth
between the cherubim. . Two centuries after,
Babylon carried into effect what Assyria had
threatened. The city of Jerusalem was taken,
the Temple destroyed, and the greater part of
the people carried captive to Babylon. This

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36 ISRAEL WITH ASSYRIA

event begins a new era in the hbtory of the
Jews.

The ancient division of the people of Israel
into the ten and the two tribes (Ephraim and
Judah), which no doubt had its origin in
an earlier part of the history, before their
separation under Rehoboam and Jeroboam,
has subsisted from the conquests of Assyria
and Babylon to the present time. Their re*
union, as one people, containing the twelve
tribes, under one shepherd— Messiah, the Son
of David, is a divine blessing foretold by the
prophets, which cannot be said to be in any
way realized by the partial return of the people
of Judah from Babylon.

We may, however, look upon these facts as
well ascertained; first, that some of the ten
tribes returned to their own country, and
settled there again after the time of Shalma-
nezer, and that parts of Galilee also were
inhabited by their descendants. It is, how-
ever, equally testified by prophecy, history,
and tradition, that a body of Israelites of the
ten tribes have been perpetuated on some
part of the surface of our globe ; thus, in our
days, there is a dispersion both of Judah
and Ephraim drawing near the time of their
reunion and re-establishment as a nation.

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AND BABYLON. 37

Though the ratdonalism of our days has led
some of the Jews even to douht this separate
existence of the ten tribes, yet against a single
line of the Talmud to that effect is arrayed
the whole testimony of Josephus, and the
enduring tradition constantly handed down
among themselves. This tradition, founded
upon the prophecy of Ezekiel (xxxvii.), which
foretels the reunion of the twelve tribes, even
fixes the abode of these Israelites in some iso-
lated spot, in a remote part of Asia, beyond
the imaginary river Sabbation.

The Portuguese Jewish Rabbi, Menasseh
ben Israel, in his " Hope of Israel," written in
1650, was of the same opinion as the cele*
brated Spanish traveller, Antonio de Monte-
sino (also a Jew)^ that a part of the ten tribes
was to be met with among the Indians of
North America. In our days, the well-known
missionary and preacher, Joseph Wolff, thinks
he has met with this remn^t among the
handsome and warlike tribes of Affghanistan
and Great Bucharia. No researches, how-
ever, have had more successful results than
those of the American missionary, Dr. Grant,
in his travels in the year 1834. According to
his observations, the Nestorians, inhabiting
the inaccessible mountains of Kurdistan (the

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38 THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIYITT.

ancient Assyria), are, in their religion, the
same as the Nestorian Christians mentioned
in the history of the Church, but by descent
no other than Israelites of the ten tribes car*
ried into Assyria 720 years before the birth
of Christ Their customs, their ceremonies,
their countenances, and their names, at once
show that these Nestorian mountaineers belong
to the Israelitish family, while the country,
by its identity with the Assyria of the Bible,
{^ves presumptive evidence of their being the
colony formed by Shalmanezer.

The captivity of the two tribes at Babylon
forms a remarkable epoch, productive of strik-
ing consequences in the history of the people.
For this reason, the genealogy of Christ, in
the Gospel of St. Matthew, is interrupted by
the notice of this event. (Matt. i. 11, 12.)
Ftom that time, a sensible and decided change
took place, both in the moral and political
position of the Jewish people. Idolatry, the
besetting sin of past generations, had perished;
and their outward character was, in many
respects, improved.

It was in Babylon that the peculiar relation
first subsisted between the Jews and the people
of the land of their exile, which has continued
unchanged through the whole of their dis-

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THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. 39

persion, enabling them to accommodate
themselves to a residence among strangers,
and adopt their names and habits without
ceasing to be Jews. The nobles of Judah
became, by degrees, reconciled to their resi*
dence in the Boyal City of Babylon. The
Chaldee of their captivity mingled itself with
their patriarchal Hebrew, and this memorial
of their long and interesting abode in the
country remains in their Liturgies to the
present day. In the Prophet Daniel, there is
a mixture of the Chaldee element, both in his
historico-prophetic writings, and in the varied
course of his whole life. He, as well as three
other young men of princely birth in Judea,
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were reck-
oned among the rulers and sages of the King
of Babylon. They all four bore, besides their
Jewish name, a Babylonian surname. So in the
same manner we find afterwards Jews bearing
the Greel^ names of Philip and Alexander,
and the Roman names of Mark, Paul, and
flavins ; and subsequently, in Spain and Por-
tugal, joining their Oriental appellation to the
surname of a Spanish or Portuguese family.
Daniel, called at Babylon Belteshazzar, gave
glory to the God of Israel, by confessing him
to be the only and true God, in the midst of

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40 THE JEWS IN BABYLON.

the idolatrous city, and before all his enemies.
By turns persecuted and raised to the highest
honours, he was more than once Prime Minis-
ter of the State, and at the same time the
chosen prophet of God, His prophecies,
written while he held so striking a position
with regard to the Israelites and the Gentiles,
bear that original and universally historical
character which distinguishes, in particular,
the visions of the four great monarchies
(chapters iL and viii.), and can only be com-
pared to its strongly-marked parallel in the
New Testament, the Eevelation of St. John.

Jewish tradition informs us, that it was,
with few exceptions, the less noble families
who took advantage of the edict of Cyrus, and
listened to the voice of ZerubbabeL Accord-
ingly, we find that the Jewish population, who
continued at Babylon, soon became numerous,
flourishing, and of some importimce in the
country. Colonies from Babylon, if we may
believe the traditions of the Spaniards and
Jews, settled upon the shores of Hesperia, and
founded there cities, of whose names the
Hebrew origin may still be traced, as Toledo,
Escalonia, Maqueda, &c. It is certain, that
in later times the celebrated Rabbinical schools
of Spain descended from, and became the

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CTBUS. — THE JEWS IN PERSIA. 41

successors of, those at Babylon. After the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Bomans, the
patriarch, or prince of the captivity at Babylon,
was considered of higher rank, and held in
more esteem by the dispersed people, than he
who held the same office in Palestine; and
finally, the Talmud which is called Babylonian
is both more considerable, and in higher repute
among the Jewish theologians, than the Tal-
mud of Jerusalem.

At all times, the Jews have met with more
favour from kings than from their subjects.
On their side they have, during the whole of
their captivity, shown themselves faithful to
the ruling power, and generally prepossessed
in favour of a monarchical form of Govern-
ment.

Cyrus appears at the head of the great
kings and conquerors who have shown peculiar
favour to the Jewish people. He was spoken
of by name, and commended by the prophet,
as the chosen instrument of their deliverance
from the Babylonian captivity. (Isa. xlv. 1 ;
£sd. i.) A Persian tradition even says, that
he was the son of a Jewess. Under his
auspices, the temple of Jerusalem was rebuilt
by Zerubbabel (called at Babylon Shesbazzar),
the son of Salathiel, of the Royal family of

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42 THE JEWS AND PERSIANS.

David. The great amount of the Jewish
population in the Persian dominions, and the
power they possessed, is clearly shown in the
Book of Esther, when, hy the peculiar custom
of the Medes and Persians, the King, being
unable to revoke the decree he had once
made, sent letters, " and granted to the Jews
which were in every city to gather themselves
together, and to stand for their life, to destroy^
to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power
of the people and provinces that would assault
them, both little ones and women, and to take
the spoil of them for a prey," (Esther viii. 2.)
Mordecai soon after became Prime Minister of
the same King, Ahasuerus (probably the Xerxes
of Grecian history), as Daniel had been before
him, at Babylon. Under Artaxerxes, the son
and successor of Xerxes, the office of cup-
bearer to the King was filled by Nehemiah,
whose heart was so deeply affected towards
the city of the sepulchre of his fathers, while
he was performing the duties of his office
before the King and Queen. (Neh. ii. 17.)
This Artaxerxes, according to Oriental tradi-
tion, was also of Jewish birth by the mother's
side.

The mutual influence exercised upon one
another by the two nations, may be noticed in

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THE JEWS, ETa 43

sacceeding ages. It is more than probable
that the books, or at least the reminiscences of
Daniel, were known to Zoroaster, as we find
in the Persian religion mnch that is spiritual,
and little of the idolatry prevalent among the
nations of antiquity. On the other hand, we
may observe, that, after the residence of the
Jews in Persia, Persian words were introduced
into the language, and Persian names used to
designate Jewish offices.

The appearance of Alexander the Great, as
conqueror and ruler of the world, made a
marked impression upon the destiny of the
Jewish people, by bringing them in contact
with the most highly civilized nations of an*
tiquity.

To call Alexander great as a conqueror
only, is not to do him justice ; he deserves this
title of distinction among the princes of an-
tiquity in a fiir higher sense of the word. His
ambition, and even his excesses, must not
blind the eyes of the impartial historian to the
glorious ideas he had formed, of which his
actions and projects testify, for the peace, the
welfare, and the civilization of the world. To
bring the whole of Asia into subjection, not to
the arras only, but to the civilization of the
Greeks, was an idea worthy of a conqueror,

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44 THE JEWS tJMSEB

the disciple of Aristotle, the admirer of Homer
and Pindar, the friend and protector of Apel-
les; whose powerful genius and enlightened
observation could at once admire and adopt all
that was great and beautiful No one can
fail to see the greatness and human wisdom of
the project he formed, in fixing upon Babylon
for the metropolis of the Grecian monarchy,
and founding the city of Alexandria, between
the Nile and the Mediterranean, in the place
of Tyre, which he had overthrown. But this
height of worldly greatness was destined to
fall before reaching its complete elevation.
The hero and prince had raised himself as a
god, and he died from excesses which sank
him below the brute. His great projects were
left unfinished, and yet made serviceable to
those designs of God's providence for which
his whole career had laid the foundation.
We need not, then, be surprised to find this
period of the world's history prove eventful to
the Jewish people. The Jews in Palestine
found favour with Alexander, not only on
account of their inviolable fidelity to Darius
Codomanus, the last Persian King, but also
because he knew the service they might render
to his monarchy by carrying out his plans in
all the countries where they were settled.

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THE GRECIAN MONARCHY. 45

From the time of Alexander, a new era
began in the history of the world in general,
and of the Jews in particular. The latter
became acquainted with the language, litera-
ture, and philosophy of the Greeks ; while, on
the other hand, the influence of their religion
and principles was felt in the Grecian and
Boman world. The Jews began to divide
themselves into Hebrews and Hellenists ; they
multiplied synagogues in all parts of the world,
and a Greek translation, called the Septuagint,
was made of their sacred books. Thus, in
three different ways, was preparation made for
the diffusion of that Gospel which should come
from the Jews. A single glance into Bible
History suffices to show that these synagogues
became, under Divine providence, the means
by which a knowledge of the only true God
was spread in some degree among the nations.
From thence, also, 'did the apostles (especially
the apostle of the Gentiles) declare among
many nations the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Acts ix. 20; xiii. 5—14; xiv. 1—10, 17;
xviii. 4 — 19 ; xix. 8.

At the time of the birth of Christ and the
setting forth of the Gospel, Greek was the
universal language, and, therefore, the means
best fitted to convey the message and doctrines

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46 THE JEWS IN MACEDONIAN EGYPT.

of salvation to both Jew and Gentile, Greek
and barbarian. Thus the revealed will of
God, hitherto only expressed in Hebrew, was
at the new dispensation written in Greek,
the " new wine was put into new bottles." The
language had been for centuries in a process of
formation, while men of the greatest genius,
talent, and discrimination, had gradually
brought it to express with the greatest
accuracy the thoughts and ideas of men. But
the beautiful Greek language was destined to
undergo a yet further preparation before it
could express the fulness of Divine thought,
and convey the richness of Divine revelation.
It had to be imbued and penetrated with the
spirit of the Hebrew, before it became the dialect
in which the whole of the New Testament was
embodied ;* and this had been accomplished
in the translation of the sacred writings of the
Jews, made by command of Ptolemy Fhila*
delphus, king of Egypt, which was known to,
and constancy quoted by the apostles, and

* Many learned men have expressed an opinion that Sc
Matthew wrote his Gospel in Hebrew, but I must differ
from them for reasons which I have fullj stated else*
where. However it may be, part of those who attribute
to St. Matthew a Gospel in Hebrew, state that he is also
the author of that which bears his name in Greek.

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THE JEWS IN MACEDONIAN EGYPT. 47

which remains to our days one of the most
valuable aids for the criticism of the Old
Testament.

These events bring us to a period in the
Macedonian empire, long after the death of
Alexander and the division of the monarchy.
We find in the kingdom of the Ptolemies in
Egypt and the Seleucidse in Syria, much to
interest us, in connexion with the people of
Israel. The first encounter of the Ptolemies
with the Jewish people was not a friendly one,
for the Jews remaining faithful to Laomedon of
Mitylene, to whom the countries of Syria,
Phoenicia, and Palestine had been allotted,
resisted the victorious arms of Ptolemy Soter,
the son of Lagus. Jerusalem was besieged
and taken on the Sabbath-day, the Jews having
interpreted the law in its strictest sense, and
refused to defend themselves. Ptolemy who
possessed great political tact, as well as talent
for war, used his victory with wisdom and
moderation. He put a stop to all ill-treatment
of the vanquished, and taking some thousands
of the inhabitants of Palestine into Egypt, he
confirmed to them all the privileges which
were before granted to them at Alexandria
by the founders of that city ; he also placed

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48 THE JEWS IN MACEDONIAN EGYPT.

many of these new colonists in important
situations in the army and the governments.
Under his successors, the Jews, except during
the reign of Fhilopater, continued to prosper
and distinguish themselves in Egypt. In the
reigns of Ptolemy Philometer and Cleopatra
especially, they rendered important services in
the war, in which the names of Dositheus and
Onias became illustrious. That of Onias has
also passed down to posterity in connexion
with the Jewish temple built by him in the
country of Heliopolis, in imitation of the
temple at Jerusalem. This temple — a thorn in
the eyes to the Jews at Palestine — lasted but
little longer than the temple at Jerusalem,
being destroyed by Vespasian with the city of
Onion, soon after the catastrophe of the latter.
The distmguishing characteristic of the Jews
in Egypt, under the dominion of the Ptolemies,
was their acquaintance with Grecian civilization,
literature, and philosophy. Many learned Jews,
among whom we may mention Philo, devoted
themselves to the exclusive study of Greek
literature, and communicating through that
language to the Gentiles the Mosaic history
and Jewish traditions, became rather Greeks
than Jews. Among these Egyptian Jews the

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rHE JEWS IN ALEXANDRIA. 49

use of their national Hebrew was by degrees
laid aside, and the Septuagint version substi-
tuted for their original Scriptures.

The privileges granted to the Jews by
Alexander, and his successors the Ptolemies,
were afterwards confirmed by Julius Cssar,
in recompense for the great services rendered
him by the Jews of Palestine under Antipater,
the &ther of Herod, and by those of Onion in
Egypt. Even after his time, the Jews con-
tinued prosperous at Alexandria, both in their
commercial and political relations, and the fall
of Jerusalem made but little change in their
situation. We find under the first Christian
emperors, that a great number of Jews were
living at Alexandria, and often joining in the
disputes between the Church and the Arians.
When the city was taken by the Saracens,
about the middle of the seventh century, the
conquerors found nearly 40,000 Jews settled
there and prospering. From that time the
history of the Jews of Alexandria merges into
that of the Arabians ; they had survived even
the Boman Empire !

We have found the Jews under the third
monarchy, that of Alexander and his successors,
mixed up in many memorable events with the
kingdoms of Egypt and Syria. They also in-

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50 ISRAEL AND ROME.

habited the city of Rome, long before Vespasian
led captive within its walls, the sad remnant
who survived the destruction of their city and
temple. It is most probable that the Jews
first came to Rome and settled in many parts
of Italy, after the victories of the Roman
republic in the East, over Macedonia and
Greece, and its wars in Syria, when alliance
was made between Rome and Judea, a little
before the time of the Maccabees. It is
certain, that in the time of Julius Csssar and
Cicero, the Jews at Rome were both numerous
and influential. This great orator, when plead-
ing for Flaccus, makes mention of the immense
sums sent to Jerusalem by the Jews at Rome,
for the support and embellishment of the
temple. So much were the Jews attached to
the person and government of Julius Ca^ar,
that at Rome they testified their horror of his
assassination by a revolt. We find the Jews
at Rome mingling with every class of society,
as conjurors, freed men, actors, and Roman
citizens. Some think, that Aristius Fuscus, to
whom the poet Horace addressed an ode, and
whom he mentions in his letters and satires as
an intimate fiiend, was a Roman Jew. Under
the Emperor Augustus, ample privileges were
granted to the Jews who lived at Rome, and full

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ISRAEL AND ROME. 51

liberty given them to build synagogues. These
" strangers of Rome " are especially mentioned
in the Acts of the Apostles, among the wit-
nesses of the miracle on the day of Pentecost.
Under Tiberius they were treated with harsh-
ness, probably because of the imposition prac-
tised by four Jews upon a noble proselyte.
Under Caligula and Claudius they were, toge-
ther with the Christians, banished and recalled
by turns. We find from Josephus that when
he visited Some for the first time, in the reign
of Nero, he found Jews prospering and in
favour at court, especially with Poppea, the
emperor's wife, who seems to have been in
some degree a proselyte.

The last period of the history of the
Jews in their own country extends over
600 years (from 630 a.c, to 70 a.d.), during
which stood the second temple, built by
Zerubbabel, and enlarged and embellished
by Herod. We have noticed that a change
took place in the whole state of religion and
politics among the Jews, on their return from
the Babylonian captivity. Their outward
character was improved, but tradition had
sprung up by the side of truth, and nearly
overpowered it; a knowledge of the Jewish
religion had spread abrotid, while the spirit of
D 2

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52 THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AT THE

heathen philosophy mixed itself in a degree
even with sacred things. The temple was
rebuilt ; but, as if in rivalry of the sanctuary, a
temple was raised by the Samaritans on Mount
Gerizim, and another in Egypt by the Helle-
nist Jews. The entire change in the form of
government is not less worthy of notice ; mon-
archy had disappeared, and the house of David
no longer occupied the highest rank, after
Zerubbabel (a scion of that house) had estab-
lished a republican form of government. An
aristocracy, generally under the power of the
high priesthood, took the place of monarchy.
In subsequent years, except during the time
of the Maccabees, the republic of Judea was
usually dependent upon one of the great
powers which succeeded the Babylonian em-
pire. Under the Persian monarchy, from the
days of Nehemiah, the Jews suffered neither
oppression nor exaction, and if in later times
they were treated with greater harshness, it
was occasioned 'by their own feuds and dis-
putes for the priesthood. We have before
mentioned the fidelity of the Jews to Darius
Codomanus, on account of which they refused
to supply Alexander's army with provisions
while carrying on the siege of Tyre. The
powerful monarch determined to chastise them

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TIME OF THE SECOND TElfPLE. 53

as soon as the capital of Phcenicia was taken ;
but he gave up the project, and loaded the
Jews with fevours, in consequence of having
seen in a dream the high priest, who really
went out to meet him and to deprecate his
wrath. These circumstances are related in
Josephus's history. The same author gives us
an account of some Jewish soldiers in Alex-
ander's army, who refused their assistance in
removing the remains of an idol temple at
Babylon, and the clemency showed by the
king towards them. After the death of Alex-
ander (323 A.c.) and the division of his empire,
Palestine and Syria remained for nearly a cen-
tury subject to the Egyptian monarchy. In
the year 202 A.c. the Jews became subjects
of Antiochus the Great, whose rule at first
seemed preferable to that of Ptolemy Philo-
pater; but the sceptre of Syria began to weigh
heavily on Judea, when swayed by Antiochus
Epiphanes, sumamed Epimanes on account of
his cruelty, the son of Antiochus the Great.
Before this intervention of the king of Syria,
a decidedly Grecian party was formed in
Judea, at the head of which Joshua, the
brother of the high priest, had placed himself,
and with its assistance he easily obtained his
brother's dignity; but Menelaus, a younger

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54 THE JEWS IN PALESTINE AT THE

brother, soon revolted against Joshua, who
had taken the Greek name of Jason. The
two, while separately striving to obtain their
elder brother's office, were acting on the same
principle, and animated by the same desire, of
establishing Gentile customs among the Jews.
The very same year (172 a.c.) the Jewish
Sanhedrim was established at Jerusalem. By
these constant feuds the Jewish people brought
upon themselves cruel oppression and persecu-
tion. Antiochus, on his return from a war in
Egypt, took the part of Menelaus, marched
with him at once to Jerusalem, took the city,
and gave it up to carnage and rapine (this
was but a beginning of the barbarities he
afterwards inflicted). He profaned the temple,
stripped it of its treasures, and then dedicated
it to Jupiter Olympus, leaving a Phrygian,
named Philip, governor of the country. He
forbade the observance of sabbaths and feasts,
and the rite of circumcision, and compelled
the people to defile themselves by eating pork.
Jerusalem was in his days made desolate, and
the caves of the surrounding mountains filled
with fugitives.

In the midst of this night of darkness and
gloom, the God of their fathers again rekindled
the light of Israel. At Modin, in the western

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TIMB OF THE SEOOND TEMPLE. 55

part of Judea, an aged priestt named Matta-
thias, of Jozareb, rose like a second Fhinehas,
supported by his five heroic sons, Simon, Jona-
than, Judah, Eleazer, and John. Mattathias
gave the signal, by killing a Jew in the act of
offering sacrifice to an idol (a.c. 168); and
soon, throughout all Jndea, under his com-
mand and that of his sons, a guerilla warfare
began with the Syrian forces. On the death
of the heroic fitther, his son Judas (the Macca-
bee), the third in age, but the first of his sons
in valour and talent, took the command.
With a very small army he performed great
exploits, and gained a succession of victories,
which brought by degrees the different towns
and fortresses into his possession. The Syrians
were many times defeated, with immense loss,
and Jerusalem at length regained. In the
year 165 a.c. the Temple was purified, and
dedicated afresh with great pomp. The Feast
of Dedication, or Feast of Lights, is kept by
the Jews to this day, in remembrance of the
event. (St. John x. 22.) The warlike career of
the noble Maccabee was again crowned with
success, when he turned his victorious arms
against the Edomites, the Ammonites, and
the Gileadites. After some less successful
struggles, in which he was opposed by the

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56 JUDEA UNDER THE MACCABEES.

king of Syria in person, the dty of Jerusalem
was declared, by a treaty of capitulation, a
dependency of Syria. Not long after this
event, the brave Maccabee ended his career
by a glorious death; being attacked by the
Syrians under Bacchides, with an army of
2,200 men. He resisted this force with only
800 followers, and fell in a desperate battle
between Lachish and Ashdod (the Thermopylae
of Judah). His youngest brother, Jonathan,
the next in valour, succeeded him, and carried
on, for five memorable years, the work of
Judea's deliverance. Under Simon, the eldest,
who succeeded his younger brothers, the inde*
pendence of the Jewish state was established,
and the supreme authority, with the office of
high priest, vested in the family of the Asmo-
neans. Simon, as well as his brother
Jonathan, perished by the treachery of his
enemies; he was succeeded by his son John
Hyrcanus, who showed himself by his virtue,
talent, and valour, a worthy scion of the Mac-
cabees. He continued the work his father
had begun, and subjected the Edomites, who
from that time became participators of the
religion and institutions of the Jews.

In the latter part of the reign of Hyrcanus
the Great, an important change took place, in

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JUDEA UNDER THE MACCABEES. 57

the connexion between the reigning power and
the two great religious sects of Judea. This
prince separated himself entirely from the
Pharisees, on account of an insult which they
offered to him in public ; and both he and his
sons, Aristobulus and Alexander Janneus, suc-
cessively ranged themselves on the side of the
Pharisees. The reign of Aristobulus was short,
and offers nothing worthy of note ; the domi-
nion of his brother Alexander Janneus, which
continued twenty-seven years, was marked by
disturbance and cruelty. At his death he
desired his Queen Alexandra to effect a recon-
ciliation with the Pharisees, for the sake of
his sons. From that time the two religious
sects again sided with political parties, the
Pharisees taking the part of Hyrcanus II., the
Sadducees that of Aristobulus II., his younger
but more valiant brother. These intestine
divisions hastened the down£Bdl of the Asmo-
nean dynasty, and brought the Jewish state,
first under the influence, and then under the
rule, of the Herods.

The Jews, under Judas Maccabeus, had
sent ambassadors and made alliance with the
Bomans against the king of Syria, in the year
161 A.c. This treaty was confirmed in the
time of his brother Simon, and contained the
d3

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58 THE J£W8 AMD BOMAN8.

following artides: — The condition of matoal
assistance in war; a prohibition to the sur-
rounding nations to supply the enemies of
Judea with com; and an enrolment of the
Jews as friends and allies of the Roman
people, by a decree of the Senate written upon
brass.

Thus a friendly relation subsisted for many
years, the Romans never interfering in the
affidrs of Judea, till Aristobulus II. called in
the aid of Fompey against Hyrcanus II., who,
with an army of Arabs, was approaching the
walls of Jerusalem. Aristobulus tried to gain
the favour of Fompey, after his deliverance
from this danger, by sending him presents (in
particular the golden vine), and by agreeing
with his rival to submit to the tribunal of Rome
the decision between their respective claims.
Without waiting for, or regarding this deci-
sion, however, he assumed the tide of king,
and thus brought upon himself the wrath of
Fompey, who immediately marched against
Jerusalem, and by a concurrence of adverse
circumstances, succeeded with much difficulty
in making himself master of the city. He
spared the treasures laid up in the temple,
but entered the Holy of Holies. This first
conquest of the city and temple of Jerusalem

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ISRAEL AND ROME. 59

by the Komans took place, most likely, in the
same year that Amia, the daughter of Phanuel,
entered that temple to worship, day and night,
for sixty-three years, until she saw in the
arms of Simeon the child bom at Bethlehem,
and confessed him to be the Lord. (Luke iv.
36, 38.) The dominion of Judea thus fell to
the share of Hyrcanus IL, or rather to Anti-
pater the Edomite, who ruled in the name of
the feeble Asmonean prince. A few years
after, in the struggle that took place between
Fompey and Ceesar for the possession of Rome
and the whole world, Antipater rendered
many services to the latter.. He assisted
Caesar in Egypt, both by the influence which
he exerdsed in his favour with the Jews of
Onion, and also by succouring him with a
body of Israelitish troops, who rendered great
service in the siege and taking of Felusium.
Cffisar showed his gratitude by privileges con-
ferred on the Jews in Egypt, which were
publicly proclaimed at Alexandria ; by rebuild-
ing the fortifications of Jerusalem; and by
confirming the crown to Hyrcanus IL, under
the tutelage of Antipater.

From that time, a friendly relation was kept
up with Borne under Caesar, Anthony, and
Octavius, while Jerusalem was under the-

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60 ISRAEL AND ROME.

dominion of Antipater and his sons, Herod and
Phasael. Anthony raised the two latter, by a
decree, to the rank of tetrarchs of Judea, and
thus the foundation of the Asmonean mon-
archy was undermined. Antigonus, the
younger son of Aristobulus, (who with his
eldest son Alexander had already fallen in
tiieir efforts to regain the throne,) sought
assistance from the Parthians, who had long
been enemies of Rome. Facorus with his army
marched to Jerusalem, and made Hyrcanus II.
and Phasael prisoners. Phasael committed
suicide in prison, and Hyrcanus had his ears
cut off, to disable him from again claiming
the high priesthood and royal power. Herod
escaped to Rome, and was there proclaimed by
a decree of the senate, passed before Octayius
and Anthony, king of Judea. The Asmonean
family were set aside, and Antigonus declared
an enemy of the Romans. When the Parthians
were defeated, he was taken and crucified.
After much bloodshed, Herod obtained posses-
sion of Jerusalem, and his title to the throne
was confirmed by Octavius after the battle of
Actium. Thus, the grandson of an Idumean
idolater obtained the throne of the Asmoneans,
and reigned in the city of David over his
house and kingdom. Herod the Great reigned

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THE JEWS AT OUR SAYIOUR's BIRTH. 61

for nearly forty years over the Jewish people ;
his goyemment afforded some instances of
greatness of mind employed for the good of
his subjects, but it was sullied by a corrupt
form of worship, which mingled reverence for
the gods and demigods of the heathen with
the service of Jehovah, and by a series of
murders committed on the remaining members
of the Asmonean femily. He slew the high
priest Aristobulus, his brother-in-law, Hyrca-
nus II., his grandfather, his wife Mariamne,
and two of his sons, and massacred all the
children of Bethlehem, with the intention of
putting to death the new-bom King of the
Jews. •

It is written^ '^ The sceptre shall not depart
from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his

* GENBALOOT OF THE FAMILY OF THB MACCABEES, OB
A8MONEAN8.

MafttatblM, ion of John, grvadioo of AimoDiai.

n i — I — I — r^

Jdan. Jouthan. Jous, SlmoD. Btouar.

John HyreaniM the Greftt.

HyreaniM

r — I ' 1 — ^

' Hjrmniu II. AriMobaln II.

I ( 1 1 )

Alozandn, maniod to Alexander. Aotlgonui.

I

r

II.

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62 THE JEWS AND THE ROMANS

feet, until Shiloli com«, and to him shall the
gathering of the people be." (Gen. xlix. 10.)
And it was so, when in accordance with the
Word of God by his prophets, the promised
Messiah was born at Bethlehem. Judea,
though not independent, was still in existence
as a kingdom: there was still in Judah a
sceptre and a lawgiver. A few years after
the birth of the Shiloh, Judea became a
Boman province, without government or
jurisdiction of its own. When " the Saviour,
who is Christ the Lord," was born in Bethle-
hem of Judea, the whole civilised world spoke
one language — that of Greece, and acknow-
ledged one dominion — that of Rome. The
Emperor Augustus, after ages of warfare and
struggle, reigned in peace at Bome over the
whole world, the fourth monarchy foretold by
Daniel was at the height of its greatness.
Bome, with her million and a half of citizens,
extended her sway from the Atlantic to the
Euphrates, from the desert of Africa to the
banks of the Rhine, ruling over 120,000,000
of men, and 100,000 square miles, the bound-
aries of all her provinces being brought to
centre in a pillar in the midst of the imperial
city.

The birth of the Messiah at Bethlehem,

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AT THE TIME OF QUE SAYIOUE. 63

the City of David, according to the word
of the prophet, was closely connected in its
accomplishment with the extension of the
Roman dominion over the whole world. ^ And
it came to pass in those days, that there went
out a decree from Cffisar Augustas, that all
the world should he taxed. And all went to
be taxed, every one into his own city. And
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the
city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of
David, which is called Bethlehem ; (because
he was of the house and lineage of David : ) to
be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being
great with child. And so it was, that, while
they were there, the days were accomplished
that she should be delivered. And she brought
forth her firstborn son." (St. Luke ii.
1-7.)

The angel who announced his birth to the
Virgin of Nazareth said, that "God would
give him the throne of his father David;"
that he should " reign over the house of Jacob
for ever." (St. Luke i. 32, 33.) « Bom King
of the Jews," he was saluted as such by the
eastern magi, and was crucified with this
superscription. It was then " the fulness of
time," when the world was brought into the
presence of its Creator, and Israel before his

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64 THE JEWS AND THE ROMANS

King ; '* God was manifest in the flesh," and
thus was made manifest also what the world
was — what it had become through sin. Israel
filled up the measure of their iniquity by
condemning their Messiah ; Borne, as repre-
sentative of the Gentile world, executed the
bloody sentence. Jesus Christ prayed for his
murderers — for both Jew and Gentile — who in
sinfiil ignorance shed the blood that has pur-
chased for both, remission of sins by fidth in
his name. Yet he is still " King of the Jews,**
and will one day restore the kingdom. (Acts
i. 6, 7.) When the judgment of Grod for the
rejection of Messiah has been poured out, and
his people scattered to the furthest comers of
the earth, then will he gather again the twelve
tribes of Israel, and through them dispense
happiness to a renewed world, under the
dominion of the one Shepherd, the Lamb that
was slain, the Lion that hath conquered. He
had said to Jerusalem and to the Jewish
people, " Ye would not * receive me,' and now
behold your house is left unto you desolate ; "
and when, another time, he drew near and
" beheld the city, he wept over it, saying. If
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this
thy day, the things which belong unto thy
peace ! but now they are hid from thine eyes.

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AT THE TIME OF OUB SAVIOUR. 65

They shall lay thee even with the ground, and
thy children within thee ; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another ; because
thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."
(St. Luke xix. 41, 42, 44.) Yet with the
denunciation, he has given sure promise of
certain restoration : '^ Jerusalem shall be trod-
den down of the GentHes, until the times of
the Gentiles be fulfilled." (St. Luke xxi. 24.)
The sentence of Jerusalem was to receive its
execution from Rome. But the fearful judg-
ment was preceded by a period of unusual
peace and prosperity, such as the country had
not enjoyed since the days of Solomon. We
may note this, as one striking feature among
the many, that attract our attention, as we
contemplate the awM scene of the ruin of
Jerusalem and the Jewish people. The land
was at that time in a high state of cultivation,
rich in produce of all kinds, abundantly
sprinkled with towns and populous villages.
Tacitus and Josephus both speak in high
terms of the strength, martial courage, and
contempt of death, which characterized its
people. This prosperity, which had much
increased, even during the reign of Herod the
Great, must appear striking in its contrast on
the very eve of the day of destruction. Our

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66 JERUSALEM AND BOME.

Saviour's words were not spoken in vain, when
he likened the city to Sodom and Gotnorrah,
surprised by fire from heaven in the midst of
their daily occupations and enjoyments; and
does not his word foretel that thus it will be
also at the coming of the Son of Man t

Before, however, the iron hand of Rome
might bring desolation upon Judea and Jeru-
salem, they were destined to behold the
triumphs of the Gospel of Christ, and the
sufferings of its martyrs. Jerusalem should
yet witness the pouring out of the Holy Spirit
upon the disciples, the martyrdom of St.
Stephen, the conversion of St. Paul, the death of
the two James's, and the establishment of the
first Christian synod within its walls. When
the Gospel had " gone forth from Jerusalem,"
the day of judgment dawned upon the city
which had slain the prophets and the Messiah.
About seventy years after the birth of Christ,
and his presentation in the temple, about forty
yeai-s after he had foretold its final destruction,
the typical law having received at Golgotha
its entire fulfilment, and accomplished its
purpose in the kingdom of God, gave place to
the new covenant. In the year 68, the
apostles had most of them finished their course,
St. Paul and St. Peter had suffered martyrdom.

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JERUSALEM AND ROME* 67

and a violent persecution of the Christians
begun at Rome, under Nero ; St. John alone
had survived.

Judea became, after the death of Herod the
Great and the deposition of his son Archelaus,
a Roman province. Under Pontius Pilate,
the clouds seemed gathering for a storm of
insurrection, which was nearly breaking forth
when Cal^ula tried to compel the Jews to
place his statue in the temple, but his death
changed for a time the course of events and
lulled the rising tempest. Claudius, the suc-
cessor of Caligula, annexed the government of
Judea to that of Galilee, and gave the sceptre
to Herod Agrippa, so that the whole of
Palestine was once more united under a
descendant of Herod the Great.* At Herod
Agrippa's death, Galilee alone remained
under the joint government of his son Agrippa
and Bemice, while Judea fell completely into

* DeicendanU of Aniipater, the Bdomlta.

f i i i ^

PhaBMl. Herod the Ot. Joe^.

^ \ \ 1 1 ^

Ailitobalus. ArebeUiu. Herod Philip. Herod Aatlpai.
Slain 1>y Us (klher. Matt. U. 28. Mark vi. 17. Laheix.9.
I Luke ilL 1. xxUl. 7—12.

^ 1 ^

Herod AgrlpfMu
Aciizli.

n 1 i — N

Agrippa. Bamlca. DrualUa.

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68 JERUSALEM AND ROME.

the power of the Romans, and was governed
successively by Felix, Festus, Cuspius Fadus,
and Gessius Floras. It was under the op-
pressive rule of the latter, that the insurrection
began, which ended in the destruction of the
Jewish people.

(a.d. 66.) In Gessius Floras, we have a speci-
men of the grasping, covetous, and cruel Roman
governor; he loaded the people with taxes,
and treated them with contempt. Their exas-
peration first vented itself in ridicule, — some
one went round the city with a bag or basket,
and begged for a trifle for the poor governor.
This satire produced scenes of bloodshed, and
these again were but fresh signals for the
revolt which had long been ready to break
out. Floras entered the city with his soldiers,
and reeked his vengeance upon some thou-
sands of the inhabitants, whom he massacred
without regard to age, sex, or condition.
Even the intercession of Queen Bernice, who
was then visiting Jerusalem, was of no avail.
For a moment, it appeared possible that a
reconciliation might be effected between the
contending parties ; for, at the solicitation of
the priests and elders, the Jews reluctantly
consented to meet and salute the Roman
legions recalled from Ceesarea, as a means of

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JERUSALEM AND ROME. 69

re-establishing peace. A foreboding and dis-
dainful silence was, however, the only answer
vouchsafed by the Romans to their greeting.
Then a cry of indignation was raised by the
Jews, thus cruelly provoked. The legion drew
their swords, the Jews rose in a body and
occupied the citadel of Antonio, near the
Temple. Both parties appealed to Cestius,
the governor of Syria, and he, desiring to
reinstate florus, demanded an unconditional
submission. He was responded to with the
cry of "War, war, with Edom!"* repeated
from every part of the Jewish dominions.
Eang Agrippa, and the moderate party at
Jerusalem, tried to calm the minds of the
people, but Cestius came up to quell the in-
surrection by force. Afler seizing a few
strongholds, he was completely surrounded by
his enemies, who rose and seemed to multiply
on all sides; the Romans retired, weeping
with rage, having only escaped complete de-
struction by the successful result of a strata-
gem, (a.d. 68.) The tidings that Judea was
in a state of insurrection, struck terror into
the heart of Nero, in the midst of his fearful
debaucheries. He imagined that the safety

* Rome is designated as Edom by the Rabbinical
writers.

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70 FLAYIUS JOSEl^HUS.

of the empire was threatened, and sent Ves-
pasian, a man raised from the ranks by his
tried valonr and skill, at the head of a formid-
able army, accompanied by his son Titns, and
Trajan, 'father of the emperor of that name.
In the mean while, the insurrection was
spreading and becoming organized, amidst
the signs and foreboding of calamity foretold
by the Lord. The command of Upper and
Lower Galilee was intrusted to Josephus, the
son of Mattathias, sprung from a family be-
longing to the priesthood, and descended on
the mother's side from the Asmonean race.
This general, famed also as a cotemporary
historian, formed his plans of defence at Ga~
mala, where he awaited the Boman army,
who, with their auxiliary forces of Syrians,
Arabs, and Egyptian horsemen, marched
against him, under, the golden eagle of the
Caesars. The towns of Galilee were first at-
tacked, and Josephus sustained a siege of
forty-seven days at Jotapater, with a courage
and military skill which has obtained uni-
versal admiration. He was at length obliged
to abandon his position, after 4000 Jews (ac-
cording to his usually exaggerated calculation)
had perished in the defence and capture of
the town. Josephus held out for some time

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FtAYins J08EFHU8. 71

longer, having concealed himself with forty of
his soldiers in a subterranean passage. Hav*
ing escaped alive, almost by miracle, he sur-
rendered himself to Vespasian, and foretold
to the future emperor the high destiny that
awaited him. Though guarded for some time
as a prisoner, he was subsequently released,
and treated with peculiar favour by the two
generals, from whom he received the name of
Flavins. From that time he never bore arms
against the Bomans, but acted to the end as
a mediator, endeavouring, in concert with
King Agrippa, to use his influence in bring-
ing about a capitulation upon equitable terms.
He survived the destruction of Jerusalem,
his life, and all his property being secured to
him by favour of the emperor. He wrote a
" History of the War between the Jews and
the Bomans," a ** History of the Jewish
Nation,*' and memoirs of his own life, all in-
teresting sources of information, and mostly
to be depended upon as faithful recitals of
the almost unexampled events which came
within his own observation. He exhibits more
partiality to the conqueror than to his own
people, without quite losing sight of his own
nationality. When, however, his national pride
appears, it is mingled with too much self-

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72 FLAYIUS JOSEPHUS.

complacency. We may easUy conceive the
treatment such a character would meet with
from its cotemporaries, especially the Zealots.
By their party, his conduct during the siege
of Jerusalem was looked upon as open
treachery against his country and his people.
The fresh interest taken in our time, in all
that concerns the Jewish people, has essen-
tially modified the opinion which the Chris-
tian world had formed of Josephus. His
History was long considered only as the tes-
timony of an unconverted Jew, who witnessed
and described the misfortunes of his country.

In our days, a different view, in many
respects, is taken of the subject. Modem
Jewish criticism complains that in taking for
granted the whole testimony of Josephus, we
only hear one side of the question.* Those
who take this view endeavour to establish, by
means of Josephus's works, the arguments
and reasons of his political antagonists,
especially those of John of Giscala, the
famous Zealot, the memoirs of whose party
have not passed down to us. Josephus is
blamed by Christians also for his want of
patriotism, and his prejudice in favour of the

* '^ A History of the Boman Dominion in Judea, and
the Destruction of Jerusalem, bj Salvador." Paris, 1847.

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FLAT1D8 J08EPHUS. 73

most cruel enemies of his nation. It is no
longer thought to add to his credit, who, taking
no Christian view of the subject, was ignorant
of the greatest and real crime of Israel, that
he displayed so much severity towards his
countrymen, and so much admiratioif for the
desolators of Jerusalem,* In making these
remarks, we do not mean to detract from the
great value of Josephus's testimony, or to over-
look the evident guidance of God, in appoint-
ing that the crimes and wickedness of which
the nation were guilty should be recorded by
the pen of a cotemporary Jewish historian.
The tendency of Christians in our days is to
sympathize with the sufferings of the Jewish
people, while recognising in them judgments
inflicted by God himself. Thus they can no
longer look with undivided admiration upon
the authors of aU this misery, or disregard the
bravery, and even, humanly speaking, the jus^
tice of catise on the Jewish side, in their
struggle with Rome. If, however, we consider
the circumstances in which Josephus was
placed, and the peculiar features of his cha-
racter, we shall no longer be surprised at his
own conduct, or the views he was led to take
of the events before him.

* See Charlotte Elizabeth's <' Judea Capta."

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74 THE THREE PARTIES.

During the war between the Jews and the
Romans, we may notice among the former,
three distinct parties: — the aristocratic, or
Conservatiye party, who desired peace; that
of the Zealots, whose aim was entire deliver-
ance from the Soman power ; lastly, that of
the Sicarii, or ultra-Revolutionists, men of
bloodshed and pillage. We find, long before
this time, both in the history of Josephus, and
even in the gospels, these three difierent
parties beginning to manifest themselves.*
It was but natural that all should feel equal
hatred and aversion to the Roman dominion,
modified, however, by the difference of rank
and situation. Nor was it less in accordance
with the spirit of the times, that these three
parties, stirred up by fierce and angry discus^
sions, should be as ready to draw their swords
upon one another, as to use their united efforts
against the common enemy. Josephus be«
longed by birth, rank, and natural disposition,
to the first of these, the aristocracy of the
country.

Sharing but feebly, even in a worldly-
minded manner, the national expectation
of a Messiah, he could not oppose to Roman
tyranny the zeal, or rather, fanaticism,
* St John xi. 48, 49; Acts v. S6; xzi. 32; xziii. 12.

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JERUSALEM AND ROME. 75

of the Zealots, or religious Jews, who were iu
constant expectation of a Messiah, whose
earthly rule should be established, they
imagined, by force of arms.

As long as Josephus considered that
oppression and ill-treatment gave the Jews
just cause of complaint and resistance, he
exhausted in their defence all the enthusiasm
he possessed, and exerted the great talents
with which he was really endowed ; but when
Gessius Florus and Gallus Cestius were re-
placed by Vespasian and Titus, we cannot be
surprised at his taking quite a different view
of affairs, and choosing for himself the position
he afterwards occupied, between the Romans
and his fellow-countrymen, which he sustained
with dignity amidst the reproaches and vocife-
rations of his enemies.

He knew the inexhaustible resources of
Bome, and, more than ever convinced, after
the siege and taking of Jotapata, that the
courage of the Jews, though desperate in its
character, could not cope with the science and
discipline of the Soman army, he only sought
the means of saving his country by a padfica-
tion, which he continued to the last to
offer and recommend to his countrymen, in
the name of the Roman General. In taking
X 2

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76 JERUSALEM AMD ROME.

a view of these events, though we may reproach
Josephus with the want of true patriotism, we
should not overlook the value of his testimony,
the real superiority of which we are daUy
better able to appreciate. His topographical
knowledge of the country and the holy city,
his acquaintance with the military tactics,
both of the Jews and Romans, and his skill in
the art of fortification, place Josephus on a
line of equality with writers such as Vigetius
and Polybius.

To return to the history. In Galilee,
Gamala also fell into the hands of the Ro-
mans, after a heroic defence, in which both
Vespasian and his son were wounded. The
way to Jerusalem was now open, but import-
ant tidings from Italy arrested, for a time,
the progress of the Roman arms in Palestine.
Nero had been declared by the Roman Senate
an enemy of the State, and had killed himself;
Galba and Otho, having reigned each a few
days, were succeeded by Vitellius, proclaimed
Emperor by the Roman legions in Germany.
During these revolutions, Vespasian remained
in camp, under the walls of Ceesarea. It is
most probable, that, during this involuntary
armistice, the Christians at Jerusalem, obeying
the injunctions of our Lord, escaped to PeUa,

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JERUSALEM AND ROME. 77

among the mountains. (St. Luke xx. 20^ 21.)
Vespasiam was soon after proclaimed Emperor
by the troops before Gaesarea, and hastened, in
consequence, to Borne, leaving the command
of the war, and the siege of Jerusalem, to his
son Titus.

It was in the spring of the year 70, that
Titus, assembling his legions at Ceesarea, gave
orders to the fifth legion to march upon Em-
maus — to the tenth, to fall upon Jericho, and to
the twelfth, (still burning with desire to efface
their defeat under Cestius) to post itself upon
the Mount of Olives. The feast of the Pass-
over was at hand, and an immense multitude
of Israelites were assembled at Jerusalem ; so
that when Titus and his allies marched against
the city, it contained, according to Josephus,
2,700,000 persons. At first, the attack and
defence were carried on with equal fury ; but
to the violent and repeated sallies of the be-
sieged, which had surprised and scattered the
tenth legion, the Komans subsequently opposed
a determination to remain immovable as the
solid rock, which stands unshaken amidst the
raging billows that break upon it. Brilliant
and imposing in appearance, with its formidable
array of warlike engines, was the army which
Titus posted upon the north side of Jerusalem.

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78 SIEGE OF JERUSALEM.

From thence he overlooked the beautiful city,
seated on her two mountains, and the valley
between them filled with citizens, all armed,
all on the watch. On the east side, the upper
town was at once adorned and defended by
the Temple, and the tower of Antonia. The
lower town had before been partially demo-
lished in the time of the Maccabees. On the
south side was Zion, the city of David, while
a triple wall, defended by ninety towers, sur-
rounded the whole extent. of the city. The
siege lasted five months; at the end of the first,
the Roman cohorts, after many bloody con-
flicts, took possession of the first wall, and the
northern suburb of Bezetha fell into the hands
of Titus. Five days after, the second wall
was taken by the Roman General, who made
way through the breach with 2,000 men, and
subdued the new town, which formed the
centre of industry and commerce at Jerusalem.
Then began the second and more dreadful
part of the siege. For two months (from the
end of April to the beginning of July) the
Romans had been casting up works against
the tower of Antonia, from which the Roman
governor of Jerusalem formerly overlooked the
Temple, and put a check on the whole force of
the people. (Acts xxL 34.) Titus again

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8IEOE OF JERUSALEM* 79

attempted to persuade the Jews to capitulate.
He sent Josephus to them, with proposals of
clemency ; but the Zealots received him with
derision, and with showers of stones. A fearful
series of crucifixions of the Jewish prisoners
then took place by command of Titus, but this
also failed to make any impression upon the
besieged. They even gained ground against
the Romans, and it seemed for a moment pos-
sible that the tide of war might even yet be
turned. The Jews contrived, by a successful
mining operation, and an attack conducted
simultaneously by Simon, the son of Oioras,
and John, of Giscala, to destroy the engines of
the besiegers, and even subject them to a con-
siderable defeat. While affairs were in this
state, the plan formed by Titus was adopted
in a council of war held by the captains : his
proposal took a middle line, between those
who desired an immediate attack and those
who would reduce the city by famine alone.
It was to compass the whole city with a wall,
surmounted by thirteen towers, at a little dis-
tance from the third and last wall remaining
to the Jews. This work, which, under ordinary
circumstances, would have^taken three months
to complete, was actually raised in three days,
by the incredible activity of the Romans.

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80 8IEOE OF JERUSALEM.

Thus unexpectedly were the words of our
Lord, in his address to Jerusalem, literally
fulfilled. (Luke xix.) " For ♦ the days shall
come that thine enemies shall cast a trench
about thee, and keep thee in on every side,
and thy children within thee." From that
time the miseries endured by the besieged are
beyond recital ; then was fulfilled, to the very
letter, the heart-rending prophecy, " the pitiful
women have sodden their own children ;*' then
was there indeed Woe upon Jerusalem.

After many fearful struggles, the citadel of
Antonia was taken and demolished by the
Romans, and Titus stationed his victorious
army upon Mount Moriah. He once more
made an offer of pardon, which was answered
as usual by an obstinate rejection, and the
same day the Romans planted their formidable
battering rams against the Temple. For six
days the indomitable courage of its defenders,
and the immense solidity of its waUs, resisted
every effort. At length, however, the sanc-
tuary itself was carried; and though the
day before Titus, in a council of war, had
given the. strictest injunctions that the
Temple should be preserved; yet in the

• Tl€pipaXowrw ol €)(Bpoi ^nm yapoKd. croc, iceu ircpua;fcX«MraiKri
<rc, Kox <rvyi(ov<rt o-e muro^cv.

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SIEGE OF JERUSALEM. 81

fury and confusion of the conflict, a burning
torch was thrown by one of the Boman soldiers
into a chamber near the Holy of Holies, and
the fire which ensued defied every effort to
subdue it. Thus were fulfilled the words of
Daniel : " The people of the prince that shall
come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ;
and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and
unto the end of the war desolations are de-
termined." (Dan. ix. 26.) On the fourteenth
day of the seventieth year did the daily
sacrifice cease in Israel. It was on the ninth
of Ab that Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first
Temple, and on the same day, 168 years after,
the golden eagle of Rome was raised on the
site of the second Temple. In this extremity,
the besieged began to entertain thoughts of a
surrender, and demanded a parley. They
offered to abandon the city to the conquerors
on condition of being allowed to leave it
themselves with their wives and children. The
besiegers on their side were now inflexible, and
the Jews throwing themselves into the royal
palace, defended the upper town with the same
desperate courage with which they had dis-
puted every inch of the lower. Another
victory was gained by the Romans with in-
credible effort and fearful bloodshed, and on
£ 3

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82 THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM.

the 8th of September the sun rose upon the
smoking ruins alone of the city, deluged with
the blood of its inhabitants. The end was
come. Many days were devoted to wreaking
vengeance on the vanquished, pillaging the
city, and crucifying the remaining inhabitants.
After the taking of Jerusalem, many strong-
holds, such as Herodion, Macaira, and Massada,
fell into the hands of the Komans, after being
defended by the Jews to the last extremity,
and not then surrendered, but abandoned to
the enemy, who found in them only the dead
bodies of their inhabitants, who had put one
another to death.

When Titus, standing upon the ruins of the
prostrate city, contemplated his triumph, he is
said to have exclaimed, '^ It is in truth a god
who has given us the victory and driven the
Jews from a position from which no human
power could ever have dislodged them." Jo-
sephus, who relates this circumstance, states
also, that 1,100,000 men perished during this
fatal war, either in its conflicts, sieges, and
assaults, or by the hand of the executioner.
An immense multitude of prisoners, men,
women, and children, were either sold into
slavery, crucified, or thrown to wild beasts.
The General was lavish in praise of the valour

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THE TRIUMPH OF TITITS. 83

of his legions, and a solemn triumph was
decreed to him hy the Senate*

Three days before the close of the memorable
year 70, the Emperor Vespasian and his son
Titus, habited in purple, and crowned with
laurel, entered Rome by the gate of triumph,
followed by their proud warriors, and by the
acclamations of the delighted populace, on
their way to the temple of victory. Among
the trophies carried before and after the
triumphal car of the victor, besides many
designs representing various passages of the
war, were the holy vessels of the Temple at
Jerusalem, its golden table, its seven-branched
candlestick, and the book of the law of Moses.
The strongest and finest looking of the
prisoners were led chained to the car of
triumph ; among them was Simon, the son of
Gioras, who, amidst the shouts of the brutal
multitude, was beaten and slain by the lictors
on the Tarpeian rock, and John of Giscala,
who was doomed to a perpetual imprison-
ment

Vespasian dedicated a temple to the goddess
of peace in honour of this day, and bronze and
marble were employed to immortalize his
triumph. Few are unacquainted with the Roman
medal, representing Judea as a weeping female,
resting her head on her hand, at the foot of the

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84 THE TRIUMPH OF TITUS.

palm of her country, while the fierce Roman
soldier stands by unmoved.

A faithful representation of the holy vessels
of the Temple still remains to us in the sculp-
tures decorating the marble arch, called by the
name of the Victor, by the erection of which
the vain-glory of the Eoman Emperor has
transmitted to posterity a most interesting
memorial of the dreadful conflict between
Rome and Jerusalem, and given an involuntary
testimony of the truth of Holy Scripture, in
which those fearful judgments had been long
before predicted.

Even to this day, the Jews in every country
of their exile and dispersion have continued to
observe the 9th day of the month Ab, in
memorial of both the first and second
destruction of their city and sanctuary. Next
to the great day of atonement, it is the most
strictly kept of their fasts. Even the day
before, the pious Israelite takes nothing beyond
what absolute necessity requires : he seats
himself on the ground, either at home or in
the synagogue, by the dim light of a small
candle, and the evening service commences
with the 138th Psalm:— *' By the waters of
Babylon we sat down and wept." Mournful
and penitential psalms are chanted in succession
throughout the day, especially the Lamentations

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THE FEAST OF AB. 85

of Jeremiah, of which so many striking features,
once fulfilled in the taking of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians, were still more signally ac-
complished, in its destruction by the RoraansI*
Let us look at one touching passage, taken
from the mournful prophet of Israel, which is
repeated on the fast of Ab in the synagogues
of the dispersed and captive nation : —

1 How is the gold tarnished !
The good pure gold changed !

The stones of the sanctuary poured out at the
end of every street ;

2 The precious sons of Zion,
Likened unto refined gold.

How are they counted as earthen vessels,
"Work of the hands of the potter !

3 Even the jackals draw out the breast,
They give suck to their young ;

The daughter of my people is cruel.
Like the ostriches of the desert.

4 The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to its

jaws for thirst,
The little children ask bread — ^no one breaketh it
to them.
* In the synagogue of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews,
since their expulsion from the country in the fifteenth
century, these chapters of Jeremiah are read with their
Jadeo-Spanish translation, as if to connect the remem-
brance of the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of
Rome with the banishment of the Jews from their
adopted country by the Jnguisitian of Rome,

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86 THE FEAST OF AB.

5 Thej that fed upon dainties^ — are desolate in

the streets.
Brought up upon couches of scarlet, — they lie
upon dunghills.

6 And the iniquity of the daughter of my people

is become greater than the sin of Sodom.
Whose overthrow was sudden.
And no hand undermined her.

7 Her princes were purer than snow.
They were whiter than milk,
They were more ruddy than rubies,
Their body as a sapphire,

8 Their faces are darker than blackness.
They are not recognised in the streets ;
Their skin cleaveth to the bones.
They are withered as a stick.

9 The slain with the sword were happier than those

slain with hunger,
For they died pierced through, — ^but these for
lack of the finiits of the field.

10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden

their children.
They were their sustenance in the destruction of
the daughter of my people.

1 1 Jehovah hath spent his wfath.

He hath poured out the fury of his anger.
And hath kindled a fire in Zion,
It hath consumed her foundations.

12 The kings of the earth had not believed.
Nor the inhabitants of the world.

That an adversary or an enemy would come into
the gates of Jerusalem.

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JERUSALEM. 87

13 For the sins of her prophets.
The iniquity of her priesthood.

Who shed the blood of the righteous in the midst
of her.

14 Thej wandered as the blind in the streets,
They were defiled with blood,

So that men could not touch their garments.

15 Depart, O unclean, they cry to them. Depart,

depart, approach not !
For they were made desolate, they also wandered.
And it was said by the nations, They shall not

continue to sojourn.

16 The wrath of Jehovah hath scattered them.
He will no more look upon them.

They have not shown honour to the priests.
They have not respected the aged.

17 Our eyes are still dim.

With looking for our help in vain,
In watching we have watched,
For a nation that cannot save.

18 They have constantly laid a snare
For all that walk in our streets ;

Our end is near, they have filled our days.
For our end is come.

19 They that pursued us were swifter than the

ei^Ies of heaven.
They chased us upon the mountains.
They laid wait for us in the wilderness.

Lam. iv. 1 — 19.

Jerusalem had fallen, and the prediction of

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88 JERUSALEM.

Jesus concerning the city, its Temple, and its
inhabitants was accomplished. But the pro-
phecies of misery were not completely fulfilled,
the sentence not executed to the utmost, nor
the history of Jerusalem yet ended.

The Temple was burned, the town and its
inhabitants destroyed, the " city of the great
king " had become a ruin. But to this ruin a
history belongs, which has not yet come to a
close; a history which bears the annals of
more than 1800 years. The prophecies of
God's Word also speak of this ruin, these dry
bones which shall one day live. *^ Jerusalem
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until
the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke
xxi. 24.) The subject we have taken in hand
requires us to give a short view of this treading
underfoot^ to which it was subjected successively
by Christians, Persians, Saracens, Egyptians,
Franks, and Turks.

Our sketch will begin in the time of Titus,
Trajan, and Adrian, and extend to the times
of Mehemet Ali and Abdoul ; from the days of
Simon, the son of Gioras, and John of Giscala
to those of Sir Moses Montefiore; and the
foundation in these latter days of a Protestant
Christian Bishopric at Jerusalem.

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JERUSALEM. 89

We have already mentioned, that the pro-
phecies concerning Jerusalem, and the exist*
ence of Judea, were not entirely accomplished.
Truly, according to the words of our Saviour,
on the Mount of Olives, one stone of the
Temple and its magnificent buildings had not
been left upon another; but, in Jerusalem
itself, there still remained standing three out
of the ninety towers which formerly guarded
its walls. The towers of Hippicus, Phasael, and
Mariamne still remained, and after the days of
Vespasian and Titus became again strongholds
of the people of Israel, not yet entirely dis-
couraged by their preceding overthrow.

It is also very remarkable, that, among the
judgments which should follow the rejection of
Messiah, our Lord had foretold the appearance
of false prophets and false Christs; and this
sign of the times had as yet been wanting.
No one heading the revolts against Nero and
the Vespasians ever assumed the title of
Messiah, or King of Israel ! But exactly half a
century after the destruction of Jerusalem, a
similar insurrection under the conduct of a
pseudo-Messiah exhibits a yet more formidable
struggle between the Jewish people and the
Romans, with a more completely decisive issue.
In this point of view the revolt under Bar

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90 * BAR COCHBA.

Cochba* and his companion, or Prophet Akiba,
is a marked epoch in the history of Israers
overthrow as a nation by the Roman Emperor.

It is, however, to be regretted that after the
complete annals of the first destruction of
Jerusalem, given us by Josephus, an eye-
witness, we have no regular or detailed narra-
tive ; so that the account of the revolt under
Bar Cochba comes down to us more as a kind
of legend than as matter of history. The
Danish Bishop Munster, celebrated for his
research into the history of the Jews after
their rejection of the Messiah, notwithstanding
the interesting result of his inquiries, remarks
upon the numerous blanks which occur at this
period, and expresses a doubt of their being
ever filled up. The following particulars,
however, seem to be well authenticated.

In the reign of the Emperor Trajan, the
first outbreaks began of a fresh revolt of the
Jews against the Romans. In the year a.d.
116, the Emperor, having been victorious in
person over all the Asiatic powers, and ex-
tended his dominion nearly to the capital of
Farthia, was reposing, like Alexander the

* In later years, the Jews recognising the deception
practised upon them, sumomed him Bar Coziba, or, son of
a lie.

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BAR COCHBA. 91

Great, at Babylon, after his daring and suc-
cessful exploits; when the announcement
reached him on the spot, that a general revolt
was breaking out among the Jews, all along
the coast of the Mediterranean, in Cyprus,
Egypt, and Cyrene. In the latter province
an almost incredible amount of Greeks and
Eomans are said to have perished by the hands
of the Jews. The insurrection spread to the
banks of the Euphrates, and the Romans feared
an alliance between the Jews and Farthians,
which, in fact, soon took place. Trajan removed
to Antioch, but, being taken ill there, died on
his way to Rome. JSlius Adrian, a relation
of his, also of Spanish extraction, succeeded
him. During the first years of his reign, the
General Martins Turbo quelled the disturb-
ances among the Jews of Asia and Egypt,
which were only a prelude to the general
insurrection in Palestine during the last years
of the reign of Adrian. It was about the year
A.D. 133, nearly twenty years after the insur-
rection quelled by Martins Turbo, and sixty
years after the destruction of Jerusalem, that
the approach of the seventieth year, so happy
a period at the time of the first captivity,
brought to maturity a plan which had long
been forming in the hearts of the people.

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92 BAR COCHBA.

The elders of Israel, who had in their youthful
days heheld the glory of the Temple, flattered
themselves and the people with the hope that
they should soon witness the re-establishment
of their nation, and the rebuilding of their
city and temple.

Adrian, always, and not without cause, mis-
trustful of the Jews, kindled by his very pre-
cautions the spark which set the whole country
in a blaze; when he decreed that Jerusalem
should be made a Roman colony, with the
name of JElia Capitolina, and prohibited the
ceremony of circumcision. About this time
the Emperor visited in person the provinces of
Syria and Egypt. A profound stillness then
reigned in Palestine, but hardly had Adrian
reached the more remote Asiatic provinces,
when the insurrection broke out with incon-
ceivable fury. Bether, or Bethhoron, to the
north-west of Jerusalem, became the head-
quarters of revolt, and the seat of its leader
Bar Cochba. There, many thousands of the
Jewish people flocked to him from all parts,
and declared him their Prince and Messiah of
the house of David. From thence he extended
his conquests as far as Syria, persecuted the
Christians, who refused to join the insurrec-
tion, and took possession of Jerusalem, where

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JERUSALEM. 93

he changed the form of the Samaritan coins,
hy the addition of his own name, with the title
of Nasi, or Prince.

This guerilla warfare continued for four
years. The slaughter then made among the
Romans was quite unprecedented, to judge
from the expressions of their own writers,
who describe this war " as a shaking of the
whole earth." They even assert, that on this
occasion the Emperor omitted the formulary
with which his communications to the Senate
were usually headed, viz., " I and the army fare^
well." Jerusalem was ere long retaken by
Titus Annius Bufus, who subsequently gained
possession of fifty strongholds, and 980 town-
ships, including Bether. By a last effort, in
which the Emperor exerted, as it were, all his
strength, the war was brought to a close ; and
after incredible exertions and immense loss,
the ancient and tenacious enemy of Rome was
effectually crushed.

Titus had destroyed the capital of Judea,
but Adrian made the whole country of Pales-
tine a desolation, and completed the expulsion
of its inhabitants and their dispersion over all
the earth, a.d. 136. Aft;er this last conflict,
we hear no more of Bar Cochba, though it is
uncertain if he fell by the hands of the Romans

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9d JERUSALEM.

or of his own countrymen. Akiba was taken
and executed ; tradition relates that he suffered
by torture. About 680,000 Jews perished in
the four years of this murderous warfare, and
thousands of prisoners were sold at the very
lowest price ; others found a reiuge in foreign
lands, a great number of whom joined the
Jewish colonies already established in Spain.

wMia Capitolina had risen into a city, but
Mount Zion was no longer within the walls of
this heathen Jerusalem; a temple to Jupiter
Capitolinus occupied the spot where the house
of Jehovah formerly stood ; and over the Beth-
lehem gate was placed the image of a pig, the
abomination of the Jews, but a favourite device
of the Romans. At Golgotha, a statue of
Venus was erected; at Bethlehem, a temple
to Adonis. The Jews were forbidden on pain
of death to approach or inhabit ^lia Capito*
Una ; this decree remained in force '200 years.

From the time of Antoninus, the successor
of Adrian, the ordinance of circumcision was
allowed to the Jews themselves, but not to
proselytes. Jerusalem being thus made entirely
a Roman town, the Jews fixed the head quar-
ters of their national religion at Tiberias,
where they first committed to writing the
Mishna, or oral law. The Christians consoled

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JERUSALEM. 95

themselyes with the expectation of the New
Jerusalem from heaven, foretold in the wrifr-
ings of the Jewish prophets, and of St. John,
the prophetic apostle. Christianity, sprung
from among the Jews, had hy this time gained
a spiritual victory over the nation which had
materially subdued them and the world.

A Christian hishop was ordained for j£lia,
who, in process of time, ventured to call him-
self the Bishop of Jerusalem, and in the days
of Constantine he received the title and autho-
rity of Patriarch. One hishop of JElia suf-
fered martyrdom under the Emperor Decius.

The effects of the Emperor Constantino's
conversion to Christianity were of course
speedily felt at the JElia Capitolina ; the city
resumed its ancient name, but became from
that time a Christian, or rather Romish Jeru-
salem. The Emperor *s mother, Helena, found-
ed churches at Bethlehem and on the Mount
of Olives. The Emperor himself was pre-
sent at the consecration of the church at Jeru-
salem, when Eusebius, Bishop of Csesarea,
addressed the multitude, (a.d. 335.) Later
writers speak of thirty churches built by the
Empress Helena in different parts of the Holy
Land; Jerusalem became again the metro-

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96 JERUSALEM.

polls of Christian piety, but also a stronghold
of antichristian superstition.

The discovery of the holy sepulchre, and
the real or pretended remains of the cross,
opened a door to image worship, which soon
clouded, like a swarm of locusts, the whole
atmosphere of the Christian world, and hid
from many eyes the beams of its sun.

When Julian the Apostate succeeded Con-
stantine, Jerusalem was again brought into
notice by a strange league formed between
the Imperial heathen philosopher and the dis-
persed people of Judea, to belie, if possible,
the fulfilment of the prophecies, by rebuilding
the Temple. Authorized and encouraged by
Julian, the Jews from all parts assembled at
Jerusalem, and commenced the work of re-
storing their sanctuary; men, women, and
children, in their festival garments, began the
work, and with tools richly adorned, laboured
at preparing the foundations, when, all at
once, balls of subterranean fire burst from the
spot, accompanied with an earthquake and
hurricanes of wind, which compelled them to
discontinue the work. Every hope of resum-
ing it was soon crushed by the death
of the Emperor Julian, (a.d. 410.) This

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JERUSALEM. 97

fact is related by Ammianus Marcellinus, a
historian of the time, allowed by all to be an
impartial writer; and Jost, one of the latest
Jewish historians, though he tries to account
for the event as a natural phenomenon, proves,
by 80 doing, that the fact really did occur,
and that it is impossible to deny it. After
the death of Julian, the emperors who suc-
ceeded him were all, by profession, Christian.
Under their rule, Jerusalem became the object
of innumerable pilgrimages to Christians,
Jews, and, in later times, Mahometans. This
age of pilgrimages, which began 1500 years
ago, is interesting to look back upon, espe-
cially as we may include in it the Crusades,
which were, in fact, a kind of warlike pilgrim-
age. In those early times, also, an immense
number of pilgrims, hermits, and monks es-
tablished themselves at Jerusalem and in the
neighbourhood ; 11,000 of such inhabitants are
said to have stationed themselves in cells and
caves of the rock, near the brook Kedron.
The adoration of relics increased so rapidly,
and the disinterment of bones in the Holy
Land was carried to auch an absurd extent,
that Gregory Nazianzen, Basil, and even
Jerome, were compelled to raise their voices
against it.

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98 JERUSALEM.

During the reign of Justinian, in the sixth
century, our attention is again drawn to the
Jews at Jerusalem, who, with the Samaritans,
raised a fearful rebellion, which was again
crushed, after many difficulties and much loss
of life. At this time, the city itself was pros-
pering, and the riches and luxury of its
inhabitants were displayed in its edifices.

(a.d. 614.) Under Heraclius, one of the suc-
cessors of Justinian, Chosroes, King of Persia,
who inherited the animosity which the Par-
thians had formerly exhibited towards the
Roman Empire, appeared with a great army
in Palestine. Jerusalem was soon taken by
him, amidst the plaudits of the Jews, ever on
friendly terms with the enemies of Kome and
the Christians, of whom 90,000 are said to
have been put to death. In the year 629 He-
raclius retook the Holy City, carried back the
cross to the church at Golgotha on his shoul-
ders, and banished the Jews. Ere long, how-
ever, the clouds began to gather for a fresh
tempest, which threatened to overwhelm both
Jerusalem and the Christian Church. Maho-
met, the false prophet of Arabia, was laying
the foundation of his new religion, and pro-
pagating an imposture which yet retained
enough of truth to cause his followers to look

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JERUSALEM. 99

at once with reverence and cupidity upon the
spot which had held the temple of Solomon
and the tomh of Issa (Jesus), and to call Jeru-
salem the noble, the blessed, and the holy
city, the house of the sanctuary. Mahomet
himself did not extend his conquests so far,
but his successors made themselves masters of
all Palestine, with its ancient capital.

In the year a.d. 636, the white banner
of the false prophet floated over the walls of
Jerusalem. For ten days the Caliph Omar
had assaulted the town, which was defended
by Artabanus, while the Patriarch Sophro-
nius stirred up the Christian inhabitants to a
bold resistance. By the treaty of capitulation,
Christians were allowed to remain in the
town, but subjected to humiliating conditions.
Omar founded a mosque upon Mount Moriah,
and even thought for a moment of making
the city the capital of his caliphate ; but he
eventually returned to Medina, and Jerusalem
remained, as before, the widowed city.

In the year 799, we find Charlemagne Em-
peror over Western Christendom, and Haroun-
al-Ilaschid Caliph of Eastern Mahometanism.
The Emperor sent, as ambassador to the
Caliph, a Jew, of the name of Isaac, well
known to the historians of his time, and

p 2

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100 JEKUSALEH.

Al-Raschid delivered to Charlemagne the keys
of the holy sepulchre. Pilgrimages to Jerusalem
were undertaken from all parts of Europe ;
and this city of all nations became known as
far as China.

At the close of the first 1000 years after
the Christian era, the relative situation of the
Christian nations of Europe and the Mahome-
tan powers of Asia was entirely changed. At
this epoch, looked upon by many as the time
of the end, the sceptre of the East was swayed
by Hakim Beararillah, the Nero of the Arabs ;
who ferociously persecuted both Jews and
Christians, leading the latter to believe that
he was indeed the Antichrist

About this time, a desire began to manifest
itself throughout European Christendom to
rescue the Holy City from the hands of the
Infidels. Towards the close of the eleventh
century, when the power of the Seldjukian
Turks had succeeded to the expiring dominion
of the two Caliphates, and their black banner
waved over the City of Jerusalem, the first
army of the Crusaders set forth for the Holy
Land. The recital of all that the hermit Peter,
and thousands of other pilgrims, had endured
in the city of the holy sepulchre, related with
zeal and indignation in all parts of Europe,

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JERUSALEM. 101

touched the hearts and roused the spirit of all
Christendom.

The proposition of Urban 11. , in two great
Councils held at Placentia and Clermont, was
received with the cry, " It is the will of God !
It is the will of God !" An instant resolution
was made, by great and small, princes, nobles,
monks, freemen, and slaves, to bind the cross
on their garments, and march to conquer the
Holy City, and rescue the sacred tomb from
the hands of the Infidels. Nine Crusades were
undertaken, in the course of two centuries,
against the Mahometans of Asia and Africa ;
which were important in their results to the
nations of the West, though their effects in
the East were insignificant and transitory.
We will not enter into a detailed account of
the Crusades, but in imagination cast a glance
at the majestic army which marched from
Europe, in the year 1097, enrolling in its
ranks the flower of the nobility of France,
England, and Italy, and headed by the noble*
hearted Godfrey de Bouillon, of whom it is
recorded, that he refused to wear a crown of
gold where his Saviour had been crowned with
thorns.

The Crusades afford an instance of the em-
pire which Jerusalem, though solitary and

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102 JERUSALEM.

widowed, maintained over the heart and feel-
ings of the nations : and we shall do well to
notice the results which that influence pro-
duced upon the Christian states of Europe,
especially if we compare it with what was
actually effected by them in the East. There,
indeed, a few reminiscences, a few ruined
buildings, are all that have survived! — while
the effects produced by the Crusades, in every
department of political and social life in
Europe, have become matter of history. Among
the attempts which characterize that age as a
time of preparation for greater things, we may
observe roads and canals made to facilitate
mutual commercial intercourse between na-
tions, an increased knowledge of geography
and navigation, and a general impulse given,
which urged men to fresh undertakings and
more diligent investigations. The bonds of
slavery were loosed, and citizens and yeomen
rose to a state of influence and prosperity.
Many heroic qualities were then displayed by
the, nobles, drawn forth by that spirit of chi-
valry which distinguished the age, and which,
though not exclusively produced by the Cru-
sades, was a fruit of Northern energy ripened
beneath an Oriental sun.

The grand military orders, which especially

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JERUSALEM. 103

embody the spirit of the age, all took their
rise during the Crusades, and were instituted
in Palestine: hence their names, as the
Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, the Tem-
plars, &c. The heraldry of the European
nobility, though perhaps a little anterior in
its origin, was subjected to form and rule
during the time of the Crusades. We may
date from thence the frequent use of the lion
and the cross ; the one bringing to mind the
ancient banner of Judah — the other a symbol
of the Saviour's deepest humiliation, borne as a
mark of honour.

We have mentioned, that just before the
Crusades began, the black banner of the Seld-
jukian Turks was raised over Jerusalem, but
the Egyptian Fatimites retook the town a
little before its siege by the Crusaders.

The first view of Jerusalem from the summit
of that Mount of Olives from whence our
Saviour had predicted the destruction of its
city and temple, produced an effect upon the
hardest and most hardened; all burst into
tears. Even the beautiful poetry of Tasso
must give place to Jacques de Vitry's touch-
ing account in prose " of the Christian Knight
kneeling in an ecstasy of devotion at the sight
of the city, princess of nations, hereditary

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104 J£RU8ALEM.

possession of the patriarchs, nurse of the pro-
phets, mother of the faith, cradle of salvation,
honoured hy angels, visited hy all nations,
chosen and sanctified by the Saviour, because
there he himself hath stood."

The Crusaders took the city the 11th of June,
of the year 1097, and attempted to establish a
kingdom of Jerusalem on its site. But such
a kingdom, founded upon the principles of the
feudal system, was not a plant " which the
Lord had planted." In 1187 the Holy Qty
fell again into the hands of the Mahometans,
and a third crusade was undertaken to recon-
quer it from the Kurds under Soliman, brother
of Malek Adhel ; at the head of which were
Philip Augustus of France, Richard Cceur
de Lion of England, and Frederic Barbarossa.
The result of the attempt was little answerable
to the valour of its leaders. In the succeeding
century, expectations were again raised by
Frederic IL, to be again disappointed. He
sought the conquest of Jerusalem as a point
of honour alone, and obtained it with great
concessions on the side of the Christians.
Afterwards the town was repeatedly captured
and re-captured by Saracens and Christians,
till the year 1243, when it fell finally into the
hands of the Txirks. European enthusiasm in

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JERUSALEll. 105

the cause had by that time so entirely evapo-
rated, that Louis IX. of France refused a
permission to visit the holy sepulchre; and
two centuries after, Philip the Good of Bur-
gundy found it impossible in any degree to
revive a crusading spirit, though Constanti-
nople itself was threatened by the Turks.

The empty title of " King of Jerusalem "
remained with the Crown of Sicily, and has
passed in succession by marriage to the king-
doms of Austria and Sardinia. But the chil-
dren of the kingdom — the Jews, — what had
become of themt The Crusaders usually
commenced their expeditions to the Holy
Land with a general massacre of the Jews;
and when they took Jerusalem, the Israelites
residing in it became a chief object of murder
and pillage.

Jerusalem, under the Turks, continued
accessible both to Jews and Christians, though
the attempt to visit it was not always a safe
vone.

In 1516, Jerusalem was once more retaken
by its ancient masters the Ottomans, under
Selim L, and from that time it has formed a
part of the pachalic of Damascus.

Between 1649 and 1666, a.d., a false Christ
appeared for a short time at Jerusalem, and
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106 JERUSALEM.

drew together a large body of followers ; but
Sabbatai Sevi himself dispelled the illusion,
by embracing Islamism, shortly after which
he was put to death.

As lately as during the eighteenth century,
secret chapters were held at Jerusalem, and
several European noblemen created Knights of
the Holy Sepulchre, The close of the same
century beheld Napoleon passing by Jerusa-
lem without approaching it, in his expedition
from Egypt into Syria.

The nineteenth century presents us with a
fresh series of travellers in the East, and
visitors to Jerusalem. Since Chateaubriand,
in 1806, performed a pilgrimage to the banks
of the Jordan in the style of a knight-errant,
hundreds of wanderers have followed in his
steps, and have echoed the sentiments which
he noted down in his journal: — "At the first
sight of Jerusalem, every reminiscence of its
history seemed to pass in review before me,
from the time of Abraham to that of Godfrey •
de Bouillon ; the site of the temple lay before
me, but not one stone was left upon another."
Truly imposing is the aspect which the city
now presents! Its buildings, its ruins, and
its memorials, connected with so many people,
periods, and hallowed associations! The

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JERU8ALEM. 107

mosque of Omar now stands where once was
raised the temple of Solomon. David's tomb
remains, beside a convent of Minorites. The
site of Herod's Palace and the traditional
abode of Pontius Pilate are still pointed out,
while we must not entirely overlook the resi-
dence of the Protestant Bishop of Jerusalem,
and the English Church, in which its own
services are read in the Hebrew tongue. The
Mahometans, Christians, and Jews have each
their separate quarter ; here, as elsewhere, the
most despised and miserable belongs to the
Jews. Yes ! even in the city of their kings,
the children of the kingdom are cast into outer
darkness. But it will not be always thus.
Hear, O Israel, the words of your Prophet,
and lay to heart, O Christians, the declaration
of your Lord ! " Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled.'* (Luke xxi. 24.)

1 For Zion's sake I will not hold my peace,
Because of Jerusalem I will not rest,

Until her righteousness come forth with brightness,
And her salvation, as a light that burneth.

2 And the nations shall see thy righteousness,
And all kings thy glory.

A new name is given to thee,

The mouth of Jehovah hath proclaimed it.

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108 JERUSALEM.

3 And thou shalt be a crown of beauty in the baud

of Jehovahj
And a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4 Thou shalt no more be spoken of as a forsaken one,
And thy land shall no more be spoken of as a

desolation ;
But thou shalt be called My delight is in her,
And thy land Married.
For Jehovah delighteth in thee, and thy land

shall be married.

5 As a young man marrieth a virgin,
Shall thy builder-up marry thee.

And with the rejoicing of a bridegroom over his

bride,
Shall thy God rejoice over thee.

6 I have set a watchman upon thy walls, O Jeru-

salem !
All day and all night continuously they shall not
hold their peace.

0 remembrancers of Jehovah, let there be no rest

to you,

7 And give no rest to Him,

Until he raise up, and make Jerusalem a praise
in the land.

8 Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand,
And by the arm of his strength,

1 will no more make thy com food for thine

enemies.
And the sons of the strangers shall no more drink
thy new wine, for which thou hast laboured.

9 But those that reaped it shall eat it, and praise

Jehovah.

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JERUSALEM. 109

And those that have laid it up shall drink it in
the courts of my sanctuary.

10 Pass — ^pass through the gates !
Prepare the way for the people !
Raise up, raise up the highway !
Make it free from stones.

Set a banner on high above the nations !

1 1 Behold ! Jehovah hath proclaimed it to the ends

of the earth.
Say to the daughter of Zion, Behold thy salvation

cometh !
Behold his reward is with him !
His work before him !

12 And they shall call thee the holy people ;
The redeemed of Jehovah.

And thou shalt be called she that is sought for ^
A city not forsaken.

Isaiah Ixii.

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BOOK 11.

INTRODUCTION.

The fall of Jerusalem and the dispersion of
her people was now complete, manifesting an
awful accomplishment of the words of the
apostle, "Behold the severity of God upon
them which fell." (Rom. xi. 22.) The fuU
weight of judgment brought upon the chosen
people was felt even in the light in which the
death-struggles of Judea with Rome were
viewed by succeeding generations. The des-
perate resistance of Carthage and Numantia,
and their ineffectual attempts against the same
Rome, the oppressor of the world, have ever
met with sympathy and applause. Not so
Jerusalem, and the Jewish nation! A few
partial commendations have been bestowed by
men conversant with the art of war, upon the
defence of Jerifealem and many of the Jewish
fortresses,* which were carried on with admir.

♦ "The siege of Massada by the Romans (says
the Chevalier Folard, in the Appendix to Calmet's

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INTEODUCTION. Ill

able skill and bravery. History is compelled,
-mth apparent unwillingness, to bear testimony
to the bold resistance made by the Jews to the
dominion of Rome ; * and this forced homage
is soon lost sight of, amid the hatred felt by
all for the unhappy remnant of the conquered
people. Who among Christians even, before
our days, has not preferred to take from his
Josephus a fresh stone to cast at the deeply
humbled nation, rather than to extract
anything from its pages which might prove

Dictionary, Commentary on Polybius, Attaque et Defense
des Flcu:eSy iii. 63), is one of the most remarkable
ever recorded in history. The strength and advan-
tageous situation of the place, the courage and vigorous
resistance of the besieged, the valour and skill of the
Roman General, all combined in causing an erection of
works, and a display of skill, of which we meet with few
examples in ancient history. Even in modem times, the
most memorable sieges since the fourteenth century have
afforded nothing to equal it. . . . The defence of Jerusalem
and that of Jotapata are still more worthy of admiration ;
indeed, in point of military works nothing was ever pro-
duced to surpass them. It was a masterpiece of Roman
patience and intelligence, while the skill and courage of
the Jews were not less to be admired. They fought
as men in despair ; but they put in practice every
resource of genius and art, to sell their lives with glory
and at the dearest price."

♦ Tacit. Hist. v. 10. " Augebat iras quod soli Judaei
non cessissent."

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112 INTRODUCTION.

the Jewish nation to be in any degree worthy
of admiration^ It is as if a stigma, like
the line of bastardy in heraldry, was drawn
through everything belonging to Israel that
could excite either interest or sympathy. In
this was manifest the severity of God towards
a nation fallen on account of their sins ; and
this sin against God remained, although, look-
ing upon them as man with man, we must
acknowledge their heroism, and even the
justice of their cause. Thus does the injustice
of man often put in execution the just decrees
of God.

And yet, without metropolis, without temple,
without country, the Jewish people continued
a nation, after all the events we have related.
This wonderful dispensation was in itself a part
of God*s dealings with them, though destined
in time to come to produce a quite different
result. We will now observe the means em-
ployed by the providence of God to effect the
national preservation of Israel, up to the
present time.

Even under the tyrannical reign of Adrian
the Jews steadily observed the rite of circum-
cision. As disciples of Moses, and children of
the prophets and sacred writers, they at all
times and in all places carried with them their

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TIBERIAS. 113

Scriptures in the original language, handing
them down from generation to generation. They
tried to make amends to themselves for the
loss of their city and temple in various ways ;
and manifested afresh their remarkable perse-
verance of character and ingenuity of mind by
the measures they took to form a completely
new centre of nationality.

Directly after the triumph of Titus, the
great council of the Israelitish Rabbins was
established at Tiberias, in Galilee. The school
of Scribes, instituted in that city, soon took the
place of that Temple whose restoration has
never ceased to be the object of their hopes
and prayers. The celebrated revolt of Bar
Cochebas and Akiba sprung, in great measure,
from thence. Tiberias had become a kind of
Jerusalem, where, instead of a building of wood
and stone, workmen were employed in construct-
ing another edifice, which has now endured for
many centuries. This was the Mishna, and
eventually the Talmud ; the so-called Oral Law
reduced to writing, arranged, commented upon,
and explained; which became in the course
of a few centuries a complete Digest, or Ency-
clopaedia, of the law, the religion and the
nationality of the Jews. We behold in the
Mishna and Gemara a painful yet wonderful

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114 MISHNA AND TALMUD.

phenomenon. The very " traditions of the
elders," against which our Saviour when on
earth constantly raised his voice — the tradi-
tions which for some hundred years had nulli-
fied the Word of God, disguised the Law
and the Prophets, and cast a veil over
the predictions which were fulfilled in Jesus
Christ — these same traditions were built up
into an impenetrable wall, behind which
the Israelite should continue with systematic
obstinacy to shut himself out from belief in
his King and Saviour.

The Oral Law contained all the precepts
which (according to the legends of the Rab-
bins) Moses received from the Lord, during
the forty days he remained on the Mount,
which were transmitted by Moses to Joshua,
and thus handed down from generation to
generation. This Oral Law (against the very
nature of its aim and destination, as the Jews
themselves acknowledge) was committed to
writing after the fall of Jerusalem. The
first idea of such an undertaking is thought
by many to have originated with the Rabbi
Akiba, but universal tradition attributes both
the plan and its accomplishment to Rabbi
Judah the Holy (Hakkadosh), often called, for
distinction's sake, the JRabbi. Born in the

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THE TALMUD. 115

days of Adrian, a period so unpropitious to his
countrymen, he held in Palestine the dignity of
Nasi (or prince), that is to say, spiritual head
of the synagogues in that country. About the
year a.d. 190, he completed a collection of all
the oral or traditional commandments, called
the Mishna, or Second Law^ and arranged them
in the form of six treatises. The later Rabbins
have exhausted their ingenuity in making
commentaries upon, and additions to, this work.
The whole collection of these commentaries
is named Gemara (completeness). With the
Mishna, its text book, it forms the Talmuds ;
of these the Jerusalem Talmud is the prior in
date, having been completed towards the end
of the third century in Palestine; while the
Babylonian Talmud, compiled in the schools of
Babylon and Persia, takes its date from the
year 500.

In the new form which it had now assumed,
tradition became more than ever the veil that
hides from Israel the simple meaning of the
Old Testament. From its very beginning it
had been raised to an equality with, and even
above, the written Word of God. Expressions
are not wanting to denote, in the metaphorical
language of the Babbins, this fancied su-
periority. " Holy Scripture," says a Babbinical

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116 THE TALMUD.

adage, " may be compared to fresh water, but
the Mishna is wine, and the Gemara refined
wine." Thus the religion of the modern Jews
became, in its very essence, pharisaical. The
Sadducees, at least as a separate and numerous
sect, disappeared soon after the ruin of Jeru-
salem. The few who remained, and the Ka-
raites, a later sect, who recognise the authority
of Scripture alone, independent of all tradi-
tional interpretation, have never succeeded in
displacing the system of Phariseeism, which
has been acknowledged by both Jew and
Christian to be the only modem Judaism
really in existence. The Talmud became, in
the opinion of the dispersed Jews, as inseparable
a part of their religion as the Church of Rome
and the Pope are, in the eyes of Roman
Catholics, of the Christian faith. Romanism
and Rabbinism are, in this and many other
points, very nearly connected.

Still Christians will not find these Talmuds
entirely useless and unworthy of notice. As
presenting a faithful transcript of the Jewish
mind in the first centuries of Christianity, and
as documents containing innumerable details
which throw light upon the manners, customs,
antiquities, and social relations of the Jews,
the Talmud is a most curious monument*

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THE TALMUD. 117

raised with astonishing labour, yet made up of
puerilities. like the present position of the
Jew, away from his country, far from his
Messiah, and in disobedience to his God, the
Talmud itself is a chaos, in which the most
opposite elements are found in juxtaposition.
It is a book which seems in some parts entirely
devoid of common sense, and in others filled
with deep meaning, abounding with absurd
subtleties and legdljinessej full of foolish tales,
and wild imaginations; but also containing
aphorisms and parables, which, except in their
lack of the simple and sublime character of
Holy. Writ, resemble in a degree the parables
and sentences of the New Testament.

The Talmud is an immense heap of rubbish,
at the bottom of which a few bright pearls of
Eastern wisdom are to be found. No book
has ever expressed more faithfully the spirit of
its authors. This we notice the more, when
comparing the Talmud with the Bible; — the
Bible, that Book of books, given to, and by
means of the Israel of God ; — the Talmud, the
book composed by Israel without their God, in
the time of their dispersion, their misery, and
their degeneracy. The Talmud is not the
only national work of which the Jews, during
their present captivity, can boast; from the

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118 MASOBAH AKD CABBALA.

very first we find ranked witli it two other
works of tradition — the "Masorah," and
"Cabbala."

The Masorah is well known, on account of
the great service it has rendered in the pre-
servation and critical knowledge of the Old
Testament, by its vowels, accents, and notes.
This is not the less valuable, even though its
authors have also bestowed much useless
labour upon numbering each verse, each word,
and even each letter of the Bible ; and have
derived many wild and absurd meanings from
the insertion of a larger or smaller letter in
the text, or a greater or less space between
the chapters.

The science of the Cabbala is a species of
Oriental " Theosophy^'' by which all kinds of
mystical fancies and even magical powers
were deduced from the words, letters, and
numbers of Scripture: it is composed of a
mass of futilities, through which, however,
shine some rays of bright Scriptural and even
Evangelical light.

The sons of Israel then, entered upon the
many centuries of their dispersion, armed with
this triple panoply of tradition, and by its
means preserved their nationality through the
time of their deepest humiliation and misery.

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CAPTITITY IN THE EAST AND WEST. 119

The dispersed Jews, even before the fall of
Jerusalem, had classed themselves under three
different designations. The Eabbins under-
stand by the "Captivity of the East," the
remains of the ten tribes; by that " of Egypt,"
the Jews under the dominion of the Ptolemies,
particularly those of Alexandria; by that "of
the West," the Jews dispersed over every part
of the Roman Empire.

In the sketch we shall give, we need only
a twofold division. With the history of the
dispersion and fate of Israel in the East, and
in the West, in Asia, and in Europe, are con-
nected the annals of the wandering and suffer-
ing Jews in all parts of the world. Both in
the East and West, but especially in Europe,
their history records little else than a con-
tinuation of misery, humiliation, and degene-
racy. Yet we must not imagine that the
Jews fell at once into this condition. History
shows us that the judgment of God upon
great cities, condemned on account of their
sins, advances upon them slowly and by
degrees, till the time of its complete accom-
plishment. It has been the same with the
prophecies against rebellious and unbelieving
Israel. Because pf their sins^ (as they them-
selves confess at great length in their daily

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120 THE JEWS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

prayers, only omitting the greatest of all sins —
their rejection of the Saviour) judgment has
come upon them gradually, waxing stronger
and stronger, and fulfilling more and more ex-
actly to the letter the prophecies of the Lord.
In the Roman Empire, after the reign of
Vespasian and Adrian, the position of the Jews
was not only tolerable, but in many respects
prosperous. Until the time of Constantine's
reign and conversion, we find them in general
honoured and distinguished, rather than de-
spised or oppressed. They are often noticed
as having obtained considerable influence over
the people, and at the court ; which they made
use of to the disadvantage of Christianity,
equally an object of hatred to the Jew and the
Roman. The Emperor Caracalla's favourite
was a Jew — Alexander Severus ; the Emperor,
who erected a temple in honour of all deities
and heroes, including both Abraham and
Jesus Christ, added to his titles that of " Ruler
of the Synagogue." The Emperor Decius,
when enacting a bloody edict against the
Christians, commanded the Roman proconsuls
and pontifices to spare the Jewish synagogues.
It is said that the persecution of the Christians
under the Emperor Yalentinian originated in
the influence exercised by an Egyptian Ruler

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THB JEWS IN THE BOMAN EMFIBK 121

of the Synagogue. Be this as it may, after
the days of Titus, Trajan, and Adrian, the
feelings of the Gentiles, especially of their phi-
losophers, were entirely changed with regard
to the Jews. Moses and the Law were appre-
ciated and honoured, amid a system of
Paganism, which could not maintain its
ground without a struggle in the minds of
such men as Plotinus, Porphyry, and Jamhli-
cus. On their side, also, many of the Jews
had long ceased to ohject to the alliance, and
even the intermixture of their sacred writings,
with the philosophy of Pythagoras and Plato,
the poetry of Homer, and the traditions of
Herodotus.

We shall not, then, be surprised to find the
Kabbins speaking of this period with some
satisfiiction, and appljring to it the passage of
Daniel, '^ Now when they shall &11, they shall
be holpen with a little help." • Nor is it to
be wondered at, that the Jews should look on
with a kind of triumph, and in their hatred to
Christianity behold with joy the disciples of
Jesus compelled to assemble in the catacombs,
while their synagogues existed and flourished
in every part of the territory of Edom, and
iheir schools at Jamnia and Tiberias increased
* DaD. zL 34.
G

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122 THE JEW8 IN THE SOMAN EMPIRE

in authority and power, under the acknow-
ledged rule of a patriarch of the nation.

A complete reverse took place, when the
Emperor of Rome knelt before the Cross, and
the Empire became a Christian state. From
this epoch we may date the first period of
humiliation, during which the Jews were
visibly sinking into a state of continually pro-
gressive oppression and misery. The second
marked period in their state of moral and
political degradation extends from the com-
mencement of the middle ages to the death
of Charlemagne, and the incursions of the
Normans in Europe. This period, which
closes with the discovery of America, the
reign of Charles Y., and the Reformation,
was for the Jews over the whole world, with
the single exception of those in Spain and
Portugal, a time of the deepest misery, oppres-
sion, and decay. Thus the period of cruel
oppression of the Jews in the West began with
the triumph of Christianity over Paganism,
just as in the East, three centuries later, it
may be dated from the rise and triumph of
the Mahometan power. The combination of
events is striking. From the midst of that
very Jerusalem, which the iron arm of Rome
had crushed, arose the Gospel, whose spiritual

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TTNDEB C0N8TANTIME. 123

weapons should in a few years gain the victory
over Rome.

A poet of that period complains of the great
inflaence possessed by the conqaered Jews
over their !Roman conquerors.* In a higher
sense than he imagined, this was indeed the
case, for the Gospel^ which sprung from the
JewSy had gained possession of the heights and
strongholds of Rome. From that moment,
however, an entire change took place in the
relation subsisting between the Roman Empire
and people; i.e., the Christians and the Jews,
enemies of the Oospel.

At the fall of Jerusalem, and the disappear-
ance of Israel as inhabitants of the land of
their fitthers, the last Mnk was broken which
bound the Christian Church to the people
jErom whom it sprung. The Jewish Christians
became an insignificant sect, or were merged
in the Church of the Oentiles, whose " times
had begun.'* From that epoch we find Judaism
directly and decidedly opposed to Christianity
and its professors; and a great share was
taken by Jews in the persecutions of the
Christians by Pagan Rome. We may give as
an instance the martyrdom of the venerable
Polycarp, in the time of the Emperor Marcus
* 'VicioTesqae suos natio victa premit— >iRt<<iKtt#.
G 2

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124 THE JEWS IN THE BOMAK EMPIRE

Amelias. Their position, as we have already
said, changed entirely after the conyersion of
Constantine. The Jews then became a con-
demned and persecuted sect. The equality of
rights to which they had been admitted under
the pagan emperors was by degrees restricted,
their admission to civil and military dignities
first limited to the more onerous posts, and at
length entirely forbidden. A gleam of hope
shone upon them in the days of Julian the
Apostate, but they were only the more ill-
treated under his Christian successors. Till
the reign of Theodosius, in the fourth century,
however, their position in the Empire was
such as could well be borne. In the C!ode of
Theodosius II. their patriarchs and rulers of
the synagogue are made honourable mention
of, and entitied ** Viri spectaHssimt illustres^
clarisstmi.'' Entire liberty and protection was
granted them in the observance of their cere-
monies, their feasts, and their Sabbaths. Their
synagogues were protected by law against the
fanatics, who, in some parts of Asia and Italy,
attacked and set them on fire. Throughout
the Empire, the property of the Jews, their
slaves, and their lands, were secured to them ;
only the Christians were exhorted to hold no
intercourse with the unbelieving people, and

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AFTER CONST ANTINE. 125

to beware of the doctrines of the synagogue.
The laws, however, could not prevent the zeal
of several bishops from sturring up and encou-
raging the hatred of the populace against the
Jews. Even Ambrose imputed as a crime to
the Emperor Theodosius that he had sentenced
some Asiatic bishops and monks to rebuild, at
their own expense, a synagogue which they
had demolished I

The fifth century proved yet more disastrous
to the Jews. The Roman Empire had, from
the year 395, been divided into the Eastern, or
Greek Empire, of which Constantinople was
the capital ; and the Western Empire, of which
Some and Italy still formed the centre. In
both these divisions the position and treatment
of the Jews became worse and worse. The
guides of the Christian Church, and still more
the common people, retained but a faint im-
pression of the Gospel-promise to Israel, of
their national conversion in the latter days ; at
least, they had entirely forgotten the expres^
sion joined to that promise, ^^ beloved for the
fathers' sake:' ♦ The Fathers of the Church,
such as Augustine, Chrysostom, and Jerome,
in their application of the Old Testament to
the case of the Jews, confined themselves to
* Bom. xi. 28.

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126 THE BOMAN EMPIBE AFTEB CONSTANTINE.

its threatenings, even though the Romish
Church down to the present day offers special
prayer for their conversion.

In the time, however, of the Fathers whom
we have mentioned, great attention was still
paid to the ancient language of Israel, and
more than one learned ecclesiastic had recourse
to a Jewish Eabhi as his instructor.

In the West, even under Honorius, its first
Emperor, oppressive laws began to be put in
force against the Jews. During this century,
Church history boasts of the conversion of a
great number of Jews in the islands of Minorca
and Candia. In the year 471, the downfall of
the old Roman Empire in the West soon
brought the Jews into contact with the people
of the North, who had already begun to over-
run Southern Europe, to renew its population,
and to form new states, destined to continue
for many successive centuries.

In the East^ that is to say, in the eastern
part of the Roman Empire, soon after called
the Empire of Oreece, or Byzantium, the
position of the Jews became particuleirly un-
favourable. The honours paid by Arcadius
(in the fifth century) to the holy men of the
Old Testament, conferred little benefit on their
natural descendants. The Emperor trans-

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THE JEWS IN THE GBEEK EMPIRE. 127

ported what were considered to be the remains
of the Prophet Samael from Judea to Thrace.
A multitude, both of Jews and Christians,
joined the festive procession, and when the
golden urn containing the ashes was carried
through the Jewish quarter at Constantinople,
there also the houses were adorned with flowers
and garlands. Judaism, however, continued
at this very time to be detested, especially
because of the influence which the synagogue
was reputed to have had upon Nestorius and
his heresy.

The Government of the Emperor Justin,
and Code of Justinian, soon permanently fixed
the social relations of the Jews in the Byzan-
tine Empire. Justin (a.d. 623) excluded all
Jews, Samaritans, and Pagans, from holding
any office or dignity in the State. In the
reign of Justinian, the enactments against the
Jews were confirmed, and made more onerous.
The Emperor, laying it down as a principle
that civil rights coidd only belong to those
who professed the orthodox faith, entirely
excluded the Jews in his Code (codex) and his
edicts (novellee). Anything which could in
the least interfere with the festivals of the
Christian Church was strictly forbidden them,
all discussion with Christians looked upon as

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128 THE JEWS IN THE GREEK EBIFIRE.

a crime, and proselytism punished with death.
Even their right of holding property was re-
stricted in many ways, especially in the matter
of wills. The Emperor declared himself with
especial severity ^against the traditions and
precepts of the Talmud.

No wonder, then, that during the reign of
Justinian many rebellions broke out among
his Jewish subjects, — the dying throes, as it
were, of their national existence. Already, in
530, a false Messiah, named Julianus, arose,
who was beheaded a year or two after, and
his followers dispersed. Some years later, in
566, a terrible insurrection of the Jews and
Samaritans broke out at Cesarea; but such
severe penalties were inflicted as to render a
repetition of it almost impossible. Once more
only, during the reign of Justinian, a fearful
commotion was caused at Constantinople by
the sight of the sacred vessels, spoils irom the
Temple at Jerusalem, which, having been
carried to Rome by Titus, were removed into
Africa when Rome was stormed by Genseric,
and finally brought by Belisarius (a.d. 636),
to the capital of the Oreek Empire. So violent
was the outbreak of feeling on this occasion,
that the Emperor was obliged to send the
holy vessels from Constantinople to Jerusalem ;

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THB JEWS IN THE GREEK EMFIBE* 129

since which time all trace of these relics has
been lost

From the reign of Justinian, the position of
the Jews in the Greek Empire became such as
to prevent their possessing any degree of po»
litical importance. Yet their theological and
masoretic studies were still carried on with
diligence in the country of their fathers,
(which, together with Syria, was included in
this portion of the empire,) and in the city of
Tiberias, from which the Mishna had for«
merly been propagated. But even there the
last surviving gleam of their ancient glory
was soon extinguished. From the year 429,
the dignity of patriarch ceased to exist, and
thus the link was broken which connected the
different synagogues of the Eastern Empire-
Many Jews, devoted to the study of the Tal*
mud, quitted Palestine and the Byzantine
Empire to seek refuge in Persia and Baby-
lonia, where more £Eivour was shown to the
Israelite. When, many centuries after,
(a.d. 1455,) Constantinople fell into the
hands of the Turks, some of the Jewish exiles
from Spain and Portugal took refuge in the
ancient capital of the Eastern Empire, where
the number of their descendants is now
considerable.

Q 3

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130 THE JEWS IN

In the far East, beyond the bonndariea of
the Grecian Empire, the Jews continued in
a, comparatively speaking, prosperous condi-
tion, until the triumph of the Koran was
complete. One consequence of the emigra*
tion of learned Kabbins and youthful students
from the Holy Land to the schools of Babylon
and Persia, which took place in the fifth cen-
tury, was, that revision and extension of the
Gemara which bears the name of the Baby-
lonian Talmud (a.d. 500).

The proper title of the Patriarch of Baby-
lon was B^sh-Glutha, prince, or chief of the
captivity. We find indications of the exist-
ence of such a title as early as the second
century. The office of Resh-Glutha was at
first rather that of a civil governor than an
ecclesiastical superior ; for his situation placed
him in a position to mediate between the
heads of the synagogue and the Persian or
Parthian kings. The dignity itself took its
rise while the Parthians reigned in Persia;
but it continued under the new dynasty of the
Sassanides, and only came to an end many
years later, under the dominion of the caliphs.
The position implied something of worldly
state, resembling that of a Viceroy, who had
under him the Babbins of the different syna-

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PEB8IA AND BABYLONIA. 181

gogues, like dependent satraps. When the
Babylonian Talmud was completed, those who
held this dignity were no longer connected
with any religious office, and were often pos-
sessed with a more or less hostile feeling
towards theologians. The office was pur-
chased for a certain sum of money from the
kings of Persia, and subsequently from the
Mahometan caliphs, though tradition relates,
that it long remained in a family sprung from
the house of David. The dignity of Besh-
Glutha ceased entirely towards the middle of
the eleventh century, in the person of Hizkiah,
slain by the redoubted caliph, Beamrillah.
A shadow of the office seems to have remained
in the East in the twelfth century; and in
Spain, among many other hereditary remi-
niscences of the Babylonian Jews, we find in
the middle ages the " Prince of the Captivity"
bearing the title of " Babbino-Mayor."

The great mass of the Jewish population in
Persia and Babylon had, no doubt, remained
there from the time of their removal by
Nebuchadnezzar. We have noticed, in a
former part of the book, how large a portion
of the Jews neglected to avail themselves of
the permission granted by Cyrus to return to
Jerusalem, and to rebuild the Temple. We

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133 THE JEWS IN FEB8IA AND BABYLONIA.

see also by the Book of Esther, that in the
reign of Ahasaerus they were both numerous
and powerful. Several firesh colonies joined
them even before the destruction of Jerusalem
by Titus, and many more after that epoch.

We have also noticed before, that a common
hatred of the dominion of Rome naturally led
to a warm fellow-feeling between the Jews and
the kingdom of Parthia, which, in the year
A.D. 230, made way for a new or second
Persian kingdom, when Artaxerxes, a Persian
descendant of Sassan, (from whom the dynasty
of the Sassanides took its name,) made him-
self master of the throne of the Parthian
Arsacidae. This Artaxerxes (Ardscher Babe-
gan), famed in Boman history on account of
the war carried on in Asia between him and
Alexander Severus, was the father of Sapor
(Schabur), a still more deadly enemy of the
Boman name. Both these princes are men-
tioned as having been friends and favourers of
the Jews in their dominions. Three centuries
later, Chosroes I., sumamed the Great, in the
fiflh year of the reign of Justinian (a.d. 531),
encouraged by joint promises of assistance
from the Jews and Samaritans, declared war
against the Byzantine Empire. Their hopes
were, however, for the present, crushed, by a

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THE JEWS IK PK18IA. 138

brilliant victory gained by the Romans.
Choo^oes IL, grandson of the former, made
war against Heraclins with better success.
The result of this campaign, in which his
army was reinforced by a body of 25,000 Jews^
was the capture of Jerusalem (a.d. 625);
which was, however, retaken by Heraclius four
years later. From that time we find no more
mention of the Jews in connexion with the
military exploits of the Parthians. When
this kingdom also fell, in process of time, into
the hands of the caliphs, the Jews met by
turns with good and ill treatment from their
new rulers. The Abassides generally looked
with fstvour upon the learned men of the
Jewish nation. The physician of the Caliph
Almawjor, for instance, was a Jew. Less
fortunate under his successors, the Jews were
again protected and raised in position by
Haroun-al-Baschid, the noble contemporary of
Charlemagne, in the eighth century. Afrer
his time, they had much to suffer from the
vexatious imposition of taxes and fines. The
downfall of the caliphs brought no favourable
change to the Jews; their troubles, on the
contrary, were so greatly increased, that the
celebrated schools at Pumbeditha and Sora at
length entirely disappeared, and the succession

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134 THE JEWS m ABABIA.

of their learned men was continued henceforth
in Spain. Thus the rise of the Mahometan
power in Asia gave the signal that the time
for their greatest oppression and degradation
in the East also was arrived.

The Peninsula of Arabia, of which the
northern part (Arabia Fetrea) is associated in
the Bible with the wanderings of the Israelites,
has gained since the seventh century universal
celebrity. From the midst of that country,
the descendants of Ishmael rushed in every
direction over the then known and civilized
world, to pursue their fanatical conquests.
In the regions of Arabia, Israelites also had
dwelt from time immemorial, and they con-
tinued numerous and powerful until the rise
of Mahomet, and the propagation of his doc«
trines. Before Mahomet's time, the Arabs
had always remained a people apart, whom
even Alexander and the !Romans had passed
by, or attacked in skirmishes only. They
were divided into two great branches; the
Bedouins of the desert, who assert their
special claim to be the descendants of Ishmael,
the son of Abraham and Hagar, and the
inhabitants of the cities, who had for ages
been engaged in commerce, conveying their
merchandise in caravans from India and

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THE JEWS IN ARABIA. 135

Persia to the westernmost extremity of Asia.
When Mahomet first appeared, the population
of the Peninsula consisted of Jews, Christians,
worshippers of the sun after the manner of
the Persians, and a sect professing Ish«
maelitism, a corrupt and degenerate ofiset of
the religion of Abraham.

The Jewish inhabitants of Arabia date their
establishment in the country, according to
some, from the visit of the Queen of Sheba to
Solomon. In the history of the Peninsula,
before the time of Mahomet, we find them
spoken of as numerous, free, and powerful,
holding castles and fortresses, and forming,
consequently, a marked feature in the Arabian
population. History even mentions, with cer«r
tainty as to the fact, though with great ob-
scurity as to the details, the existence in
Arabia of a Jewish kingdom under Jewish
kings. About 150 years before the Christian
era, we find mention made of Abu Caab Asaad,
a Jew either by birth or religion, as a contem-
porary of John Hyrcanus at Jerusalem. He
is reckoned as the thirty-third king of the
Joktanides, called in Yemen, Sabeers, or
Homentes.

It is a fact, incontestably proved, that in
much later times Jewish kings have reigned

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136 THE JEWS AND KAHOMET.

in Arabia. The last king of Yemen, Du-
naan, or Dhu-Nowas, in the sixth century,
was a Jew.

When Mahomet made his appearance, at
first only as a poet and reformer, he found the
Arabian Jews in general fitvourably disposed
towards him. Some of these tribes, Jews both
by religion and birth, as, for example, the
KasErady, Al Aws, Koreidha, and Al Nadir,
who all trace their origin to Harun Ibn Amram
(Aaron, the son of Amram), ranged them-
selves on his side, and he bestowed upon them
the name of ** Auxiliaries.'* He even modided
some of his precepts out of consideration for
the Jews of Medina. They soon ceased,
however, to look upon him as a prophet sent
from God, because he did not preserve all the
institutions of Moses, and was not descended
from the house of David. If this be true, it
would seem to prove that the Jews in that
country had thought for a moment that Ma^
homet might possibly be the Messiah. From
that time (624), war broke out between Ma-
homet and his adherents and the Jewish tribes
of Arabia. The dan of the Beni>Keinouka
was besieged in a fortress near Medina, and
overcome by the warrior-prophet. The same
&te awaited the other tribes, one after the

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THE JEWS AND MAHOMETANS. 137

other; the conqueror slew the men by hun-
dreds, and took the women and children for a
spoil. His last campaign against the Jews
ended more happily for the cause than for the
person of the Prophet. Among the strong-
holds of the Jews of Cheibar, which fell after
a stout resistance, the Castle Kamress was
bravely defended by an Israelitish Chief,
named Marhaba, of colossal stature and
distinguished valour, who fell in single com-
bat with a Mussulman of rank. When, at
the taking of this castle, his niece Zeinah
became the prisoner of Mahomet, she avenged
the death of her relation and her people by
administering to him a slow poison, which so
undermined his constitution that he died of its
effects a few years after, a.d. 632.

From the moment that the Jews declared
themselves against Mahomet, they became the
especial objects of his hatred. In his wrath
he bestowed on them the appellations of
" unbelievers," " murderers of the prophets,"
"cursed of God,*' "falsifiers of revelation,"
and as such he treated them. Though from
that time no actual persecution was carried
on, a feeling of enmity has ever existed be-
tween the Mussulman and the Jew. In cer-
tain exceptional cases, indeed, Mahometan

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138 THE JBWS AND MAHOMETANS.

princes have at times granted them protection,
and even &yonr, — nay, we find in the thir-
teenth century a Jewish Grand Vizier at Bag-
dad, named Saddeddulat But popular hatred
and -contempt has ever been the portion of
Israel under the crescent as well as the cross :
as in Christian Europe, so in Mahometan Asia
and Africa, the Jew was compelled to bear a
distinctive mark in his garments — here the
yellow hat, there the black turban.

And yet Mahometanism itself was derived
from the Old Testament, and was still more
closely connected with modem Judaism ! To
be descended from Abraham was reckoned a
high honour, alike by the Arabians, by Ma-
homet himself, and by the Saracen Mussul-
mans ; and this they possessed in common with
the sons of Israel. The Jewish prophets (in-
cluding therein especially Jesus, or Issah)
were reckoned by the followers of Mahomet as
holy men ; Jerusalem was entitled El Kods, a
holy city, — Sinai, a holy mountain ; and they
look upon the valley of Jehoshaphat as the
spot where Jesus, the Judge of the nations,
with Mahomet at his side, will judge the
world, seated upon a stone, which the Ma-
hometan points out to the traveller. But a
still closer connexion with the Talmud and

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THE JEWS AND MAHOMETANS. 139

the Jewish traditions has been of late found to
exist in the Koran. It has long been matter
of difficulty to reconcile the undoubted marks
of a biblical influence in the composition of
the Koran, with its author's palpable igno-
rance of the real contents of the Bible. The
kind of half-knowledge it manifests, both of
men and facts in tide Old Testament, and of
our Saviour's life in the New, has been attri-
buted to a supposed intimacy of Mahomet with
the historians. New light, however, has
been thrown upon the subject, since attention
has been drawn to a person who is entitled to
a distinguished place in the biography of the
founder of Islamism. Warakha Ibn Naufal
was nearly related to Kadisha, the first wife
of Mahomet. An Ishmaelite by birth, but
disgusted with the idolatry of his nation and
contemporaries, he sought for a purer faith, —
first in the bosom of Pharisaical Judaism, and
later ^ in the deeply degenerate Christianity of
the East.

At last he attached himself to Mahomet,
and soon obtained considerable influence over
the Prophet of Mecca and his doctrines. It is
more than probable, that by Warakha Ibn
Naufal's acquaintance with the holy writings of

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140 THE JEWS AND MAHOMETANS.

both the Jews and Christians, and also with
the Rabbinical traditions, many circumstances
were brought to the knowledge of Mahomet
which subsequently found their way, with
more or less adulteration, into the Koran.
At least the biblical legends of this singular
book are also to be met with in the Talmud
and other ancient writings of the Jews. The
Koran may be looked upon, in some respects,
as a kind of " military Mishna.''

We will once more take a glance at the
Jews in Asia, after its conquest by Mahomet,
and specially in Arabia, the birth-place of his
new religion. There, too, since the time of
Mahomet, their condition grew worse and
worse. In other parts, they dwelt more scat-
tered ; but in Southern Arabia, especially in
Yemen, they were more closely drawn to-
gether, and separated from the rest of the
population. In the mountainous country of
Cheibar, to the north-east of Medina, travellers
have related, that there still exist three dif-
ferent tribes of Jews, so detested by the Ma-
hometans, that ^^ Beni Cheiba " is, with them,
a term of reproach. Because these Jews
(from dwelling in the desert), have little or no
communication with their countrymen, they

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THE JEWS ON THE KALABAB COAST. 141

have been thought by some to be Karaites.
At Aden, on the coast, the Jewish population
is at the present time very numerous.*

Beyond the boundaries of either the old
Roman or the Byzantine Empire, Jews have,
in early times, been met with, both in the
most remote parts of the interior of Asia, and
upon the coast of Malabar. The annals of
these latter seem to trace back their arrival in
the country to the time of the conquest of
Jerusalem by Titus. Others explain these
records as referring rather to the arrival of a
Jewish colony in the fifth century, in conse-
quence of a persecution raised in Persia. The
title of these documents given to the leaders
of the colony confirms the later date. He was
called '^ Babbana," Joseph ; and this form of
the title of ^* master" among the Jews takes
its date from that very epoch. Although in
their features and colour these Indian Jews
exactly resemble the other inhabitants of the
country, still, their customs, their prayers, and
their observance of the rules of the Talmud,
give evident tokens of their origin and religion.
Towards the close of the seventeenth century,

* The Jews of Aden were visited in 1843 by Dr.
^Tdaon. (See "^ Lands of the BibV voL i., p. 16.)
Their numbers then amounted to 1,070.

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142 THE JEWS IK INDIA.

the Jews of Cochin held some correspondence
with the Portuguese Synagogue at Amster-
dam, and information was ^ven of a series of
Jewish kings who had successively reigned in
the country ; by which, however, in all probap
bility were only meant a sort of governors,
possessing their own jurisdiction and laws.
It appears beyond a doubt that the Jews there
have enjoyed extraordinary prosperity, and
have had cities and strongholds in their pos-
session. Some English authorities in recent
times have mentioned yet another race of Jews
in India, in the neighbourhood of the Mah-
rattas. They call themselves Beni-Israel, but
acknowledge no relationship with the Jews of
Malabar, Persia, or Arabia. The Israelitish
features of their countenance (we are assured)
distinguish them completely from the Ma-
hometans and Hindoos. They invoke the
name of Jehovah, practise circumcision on the
eighth day, and observe the feasts and fasts,
especially the great Day of Atonement. They
do not possess the prophetical Scriptures, nor
are they acquainted with the history of their
own nation since the time of the Babylonish
captivity, so that they neither observe the
Feast of Purim, nor keep up any remembrance
of the destruction of the Second Temple. They

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THE JEWS IN CHINA. 143

are accused of occasionally mingling Indian
superstitions and idolatries with the worship
of the God of their fathers, but at the same
time they bear a high character for their
industry, activity, and military talent. They
rarely serve in the native infantry without
attaining the rank of officers.

At Bombay, too, there are more than 5,000
Jews, chiefly occupied in agriculture and the
manufacture of oil, while those who live in the
city are employed as masons and carpenters.
They use the Liturgy of the Sephardim, which
they have received from their neighbours, but
possess no manuscript of the law. Their
entire rejection of the appellation of Yehudi,
or Jew, together vnth. other circumstances
noted by Dr. Wilson in his visit to Bombay,
lead him to the conclusion, that the Beni-Israel
of Bombay were originally descended from
the captivity of the ten tribes.

In the far-distant regions of China, the
Jewish population has long existed. The first
discovery of this colony was made by the
Jesuits, in 1642, who met with Jews at Fekin,
Nanking, and particularly at Kue-fung-foo,
the capital of the province of Ho-nun. Later
missionaries of the same Society, sent out in

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144 THE JEWS IN CHINA.

1720, better acquainted with the Hebrew
tongue, confirmed the details which had before
been given. Learned men in France, among
whom we may mention the Orientalist, De
Sacy, gave their attention to the subject, and
made it matter of research and examination.
Thus the following conclusions have been
established. Between the time of Ezra and
the destruction of the Second Temple, Jews
from Persia emigrated to China, and estab-
lished themselves in five of the principal cities
of that vast empire. This is confirmed by the
&ct, that the Chinese Jews are well acquainted
with Ezra, whom they regard with almost as
much veneration as Moses, while they appear to
be quite ignorant of the pharisaical traditions
of the Talmud. Their Persian origin (pro-
bably by way of Chorazan and Samarcand) is
attested by the mixture of Persian words in
their language. The whole population of the
Chinese Jews sprang from seven tribes, or £Eimi-
lies, whose names (Sing-tschao-ti, Sing-kao-ti,
Sing-gnai-ti, Sing-king-ti, Sing-tschi-ti, Sing-
thschan-ti, Sing-U-ti,) seem to be derived from
those of the different emperors under whom,
at successive periods, these &milies established
themselves in China. To the first of these
emigrations we certainly cannot assign a later

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THE JEWS IN CHINA. 146

date than the early part of the second century
before the birth of Christ.

The Jews in China, in common with Maho-
metans and Christians, bear the name of
Hwwy-Hwwy, but are distinguished by the
significant epithet of Taou-kinkeaou, the people
that cut out the sinew. (Gen. xxxii. 32.) The
synagogue at Kae-fdng-foo possessed a beauti-
ful manuscript copy of the books of Moses;
and by way of Haphtorah, a collection of pas-
sages selected from the books of Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, Kings, and the Prophets, the
books of Esther and Nehemiah, and some
other historical books. It possessed also a
book of commentaries, and numerous copies of
their ritual. The rite of Circumcision, the
Sabbath, the Passover, the Feast of Taber-
nacles, and the great Day of Atonement, are
observed by them. They do not pronounce
the name of Jehovah, but substitute that of
the Lard. They have no knowledge whatever
of the name or history of our Saviour. The
inscriptions in their synagogue, and especially
the ** Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is
one God," are written both in Hebrew and
Chinese. The Hebrew language, which is
still knovra imperfectly by some, is also imper-
fectly pronounced, because the Chinese Ian-

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146 THE JEWS IN CHINA.

guage does not possess all the sounds necessary
for the correct pronunciation of Hebrew.

Among these Jews some learned men were
met with, great admirers of Confucius, and
others who, by the universal toleration allowed,
had risen to the rank of mandarins ; one espe-
cially, named Chao, was much praised for
having rebuilt at his own expense a syna^
gogue destroyed by fire.

A great number of the Chinese Jews seem
to have &llen away to Mahometanism. But
the Jesuits having been driven out of China,
in the year 1723, all sources of information on
the subject were closed ; it is only since the
year 1816, that by the researches of the mis-
sionary, Dr. Morrison, we have again received
some tidings of the people that cut out the
sinew. The events of the last few years, as
regards China, encourage us to look for many
discoveries in this interesting field of research.
At any rate, we are well assured of the fact,
that the Israelites, during their banishment in
the East, penetrated the wall of China.

We will now turn our attention to the cap-
tivity of Israel in the West.

We have already mentioned the evil effects
resulting to the Jews, from the conversion of
the Roman Emperors to Christianity. In the'

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THE JEWS AND THE GOTHS. 147

Western Empire this unfavourable change
began to show itself in the days of Honorius,
and would probably have produced the same
consequences which had occurred in the East,
if the storm that burst over Eome towards the
close of the fifth century, had not changed in
a degree the position, both of the Jews and of
their oppressors. The Northern nations, so
long as they professed Arianism in preference
to the Catholic faith, showed themselves mer*
ciful to their Jewish subjects* This was espe-
cially the case with the Goths. When, at the
period we have mentioned, the dominion of
the Ostrogoths, under their king, Theodoric,
succeeded that of Odoacer and the Heruli in
Italy and the West, the Jews had every reason
to Jje satisfied with their new sovereign.
Without concealing his desire for their con-
version to Christianity, (at least to what he
looked upon as such), he manifested more
than once in his edicts and decrees, the un*
willingness he felt to make use of any coercion
or violence to efiect it* Whether from the
private feelings of the king, or the influence
of his minister, Cassiodorus, the justice ex-
tended to the Jews in his days was well
worthy of imitation. He wrote with kindness
to those of Genoa, giving them permission to
P2

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148 THE JEWS AND THE GOTHS.

rebuild their synagogue, when their liberty to
do so was contested by the magistrates of the
city. He granted them many rights and pri*
vileges, as well as at Milan and at Rome, and
severely rebuked his people for having burnt
a Jewish synagogue.

Thus the Goths in the West, like the
Persians in the East, found faithful allies in
the Jews of that period. When Justinian, by
his general, Narses, conquered Italy from the
Ostrogoths, (a.d. 555,) its Jewish population
made a most determined resistance to the
great enemy of their nation. At Naples, in
particular, they distinguished themselves in
their opposition to the Imperial troops; and
when the town was captured, vengeance fell
heavily on the Israelites who had taken so
large a share in its defence.

The Visigoths also, at the commencement
of the same century, (a.d. 518,) received
assistance from the Jews, in their defence of
Aries, in Provence, against the Franks under
Clovis. In Spain, the kings of the Visigoths
treated them with favour, till about the year
600, their king, Reccared, having abandoned
Arianism to embrace the religion of Rome,
made a beginning of that peculiar system of
conduct towards the Jews, which, in after ages,

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THE JEWS AND THE FRANKS. 149

led to their total expulsion from the Peninsula.
The conquest of the country by the Saracens,
in 700, established for a time quite a different
relation between the Jews and the other in-
habitants of the land.

The dominion of the Franks, was in early
times, less merciful to the exiles of Palestine
than that of the Goths. The Merovingian
line at least treated them with peculiar rigour.
As early as the year 540, King Childebert
forbade the Jews to appear in the streets of
Paris, during the whole of Easter week. A
little later, Clotaire II. deprived them of the
power of holding any dignity or office of state,
whether civil or military. King Dagobert, at
the instigation, it is said, of the Emperor
Heraclius, (a.d. 629,) compelled the Jews to
receive baptism, under a threat of banishment
in a body, but the effect of this menace
speedily passed away. We find them soon
after in Languedoc, possessing a flourishing
maritime trade (including, alas ! the disgraceful
traffic in slaves), and in a condition to equip
fleets. In the same century th^ir academy at
Lunel was already in some repute.

Under the dynasty of the Carlovingians in
France, we find the Jews of the eighth and
ninth century enjoying so great a degree pf

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150 THE JEWS AND CHAELEMAGNE.

prosperity that the Romish bishops took alarm,
and thought it necessary to enter a protest.

Pepin le Bref, son of Charles Martel, and
father of Charlemagne, had already granted
the Jews many privileges, especially the power
of holding land. Their prosperity and influ-
ence increased considerably in the kingdom of
the Franks under Charlemagne.

This great man, so remarkable in many
ways, as one who gave a distinctive character
to the age in which he lived, justly deserves
the praise of posterity, as a sovereign and a
legislator. He is not the less worthy of
admiration for the eflfbrts he made, and the
principles he maintained, on the subjects of
Christianity, the Church, and education. It
is true, that, like all the men of his time, he
was a devoted adherent to the Church of
Rome ; and on this account he contributed, in
no small degree, to extend both the temporal
and spiritual power of its bishop. And yet,
with this faith in, and zeal for, Catholicism,
there was in Charlemagne, what we might call
a germ of Protestantism, which manifested
itself in a desire for the general diffusion of
learning, both in colleges and among the people,
and in the successful efforts he made to further
the diffusion, the translation, and the reading

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THE JEWS AND CHARLEMAGNE. 151

of the Scriptures. He also made a vigorous
opposition, even in defiance of Borne, to the
worship of images, established about the same
period in the East, by a Council* which may
justly be termed Antichristian.

It was either his own Christian principles,
joined to an enlightened system of politics, or
perhaps a feeling of sympathy with the de-
clared adversaries of every kind of imagcr
worship, which led this monarch to show
peculiar favour to the Jews. From whatever
cause it may have arisen, there is but one
voice on the subject; every historian bears
witness to the wise benevolence of Charle*
magne towards the Jewish people, and to the
remarkable degree of liberty and prosperity
which they enjoyed during his reign, and that
of his son, Louis le D6bonnaire,

The embassy, entrusted by Charlemagne to
the Counts Sigismund and Lanfred, jointly with
the Jew Isaac, (a.d, 797,) but mainly owing its
success to the latter, at the Court of the Caliph
Haroun al Baschid, is a fact generally known.
Isaac spent four years at Bagdad in the fulfil*
ment of this mission, and returned to Europe
with magnificent presents for the Emperor,
among which were an elephant and a costly
• The Second Council of Nice, 737.

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152 THE JEWS AND LOUIS LE DEBONNAIRE.

timepiece. The same Jew afterwards made a
similar expedition in the Emperor's behalf to
the Court of Persia. It is possible that policy
had some share in these arrangements, and
that Charlemagne, in his projects against the
Byzantine Empire, looked upon the wandering
son of Israel, as the fittest agent between
Western Christianity and Eastern Mahomet-
anism. Even this gives proof of the enlight*
ened views taken by the great Emperor, and his
entire freedom from narrow-minded prejudice.
Louis le D6bonnaire, the son and successor
of Charlemagne, though possessing less talent
and greatness of mind than his father, followed
out his example in treating the Jews with
benevolence. In his case, deep attachment to
the Christian religion and to the Church, did
not serve as a pretext for oppressing and
trampling upon God's ancient people in their
miserable unbelief. As far as the interests of
Christianity and the Church, and the spirit of
the age allowed him, he showed a marked
goodwill towards the Jews, both by his laws
and actions; in some respects, even more so
than his father. A Jew, named Zedekiah,
(who was disgraced and put to death under
one of his successors,) was his first physician.
He constantly protected them from all ill-

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THE JEWS AND LOUIS LE DEBONNAIRE. 153

treatment and injustice. He confirmed to
them many privileges and immunities, (for
instance, the right of holding land and possess*
ing slaves,) and allowed them to refuse the
ordeal hy fire or water, so much in use among
the Christians of that age. He freed them
from the grinding taxes known hy the bar-
barous appellations of Paraverdum^'^ Mansion
naticum,^ Telonium.X All these immunities
were confirmed to the Jews by the Emperor
and King in the year 830, in the form of a
most gracious edict addressed to two Israelites,
Domat Rabbi and his grandson, Samuel. The
Jews of that period had almost entire posses-
sion of the trade with Venice and the Levant,
and had thus acquired great power, especially
in the south of France. At Narbonne, for
instance, for many years after, one of the two
chief magistrates was by prescriptive right a
Jew. On their account, the fairs, which had
before been held on a Saturday, were, by the
Imperial Commissaries, changed to another day
of the week. Lyons was at that period the

* A tax for exemption frpm the obligation of furnish-
ing post-horses for the high roads.

f A tax for exemption Q-om the obligation to lod^e
soldiers.

X CqBton»^taxes on imports bj sea.
h3

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154 THE JEWS AND LOUIS L£ DEBONNAIRE.

centre of their industry and commerce, they
inhabited the best part of the town, and pos-
sessed a very fine synagogue. It was to no
purpose that the clergy in their councils fretted
and remonstrated against so much favour being
shown to the Jews. Even Agobard, Bishop
of Lyons, found no opportunity at court for
venting his vehement complaints; though,
according to his account, the influence of the
Jews in his time was so great, that they openly
boasted of possessing the monarch's decided
preference, and declared that some Christians
found more interest in the conversation and
teaching of the Rabbins, than of their own
priests. We find, in a letter from the bishop
we have just named, a singular complaint,
especially in that age; he says, "that the
country people looked upon the Jews as the
only people of God!" Some persons, there-
fore, must have considered that the Jews held
a purer faith than the Eoman Catholics them-
selves. We read about this time (a.d. 839)
of a deacon, named Bodo, who was admitted
to Judaism by the rite of circumcision.

The position of the Jews underwent an
entire change at the downfall of the Carlovin-
gian dynasty, which began to decay after the
death of Louis le D6bonnaire. The invasion

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THE JEWS AND THE NORMANS. 155

of the Normans, who, in the latter years of
the reign of Charlemagne, began to overrun
Europe, was partly the cause, and partly the
signal for a complete change of the whole
state of things in that quarter of the world.
The whole sur&ce of affairs in Germany,
France, and to a certain extent in Italy and
England also, was (if we may so express it)
completely flooded, and its aspect from that
time entirely changed. An age of barbarism
spread over the whole face of Christianity,
during which the power of kings, the com*
mercial prosperity of nations, their internal
and external means of communication, and in
a word, all general peace and order were in^
volved in one common ruin. During this age
of almost revolutionary anarchy, the feudal
system developed itself. This striking charac-
teristic of the middle ages, the sole remedy for
so many existing evils, became so firmly estab*
lished that its remains still exist, and continue,
though with a decreasing power, to exert their
influence over the institutions of the present
time. To the Jews, this new system was in
every way injurious. With the growth of the
feudal system in Europe, the rise of the Cape-
tiau dynasty in France, and the establishment
of the Duke of Normandy on the throne of

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156 THE JEWS AI^O THE N0BMAH8.

England, commenced a period of seven cen#
tunes, the time of the most crael oppression
and deepest debasement which that unhappy
nation ever underwent.

No greater contrast can possibly be imagined
than that between the Norman and the Jew,
during the time of the middle ages, It has
been generally remarked, that the Jews, during
the whole period of their dispersion, have
found themselves less at home in the north of
Europe than in any part of the globe. But,
as opposed to the celebrated Norman race,
who, in the ninth century, invaded and
renewed the whole European population, we
may especially look upon the Jews as the com*
plete antipodes of the nations of Christendom.
Thus it was no mere matter of chance which
made the period of Norman glory, the time of
lowest degradation to the Jews. It formed
part of a regular system, because what was
most opposed to the Jews, and most detested
by them, was the special object of reverence
and devotion to the Normans, whose submis-
sion to the Papal power, both spiritual and
temporal, was absolute and entire. We may
easily recal to mind an instance of most
bigoted submission to the Papacy, coupled
with cruel enmity to the Jews, in King Johu^

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THE JEWS AND THE CRUSADES. 157

sornamed Lackland, who gave up his kingdom
to the Pope, to receive it again as a vassal ;
whilst the sufferings of the Jews in his
reign have been painted both in history and
romance.

The period during which Romeand the Papacy
were most highly exalted, from the time of
Gregory VII., in the eleventh century, corre-
sponds in part with the age of the Qrusades ;
which commenced towards the close of the
same century, and lasted, at intervals, for a
space of 200 years. No act of the Christians
ever displayed such unaccountable hatred to
the remnant of Israel as the Crusades. While
preparing for an expedition to the Israelites'
own fatherland, the crusaders consecrated each
attempt to conquer the city of the Temple, and
the tomb of the Saviour of the world, the
King of the Jews, by first drawing their
swords in Europe upon the defenceless exiles
of Palestine. A furious band, under the
notorious Gauthier Sans avoir^ signalized their
unhallowed zeal by most revolting deeds of
violence and murder perpetrated on the Jews
of Treves. The bishop of that town thought
it right to refuse protection to these unfortu-
nate people, and rather to make use of the
opportunity for compelling them to receive

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158 THE JEWS AND BERNARD,

baptism. Driven to desperation by this craelty,
men slew their children and themselves with
their own hands, and women threw themselves
from the bridges into the river. From Treves
the fire of persecution spread to Cologne,
Mentz, Worms, and Spires, where the Jews
fought desperately, and sold their lives dearly.
Persecution raged on the banks of the Danube
as well as the Rhine, We find mentioned in
some records, that a massacre took place in
Bavaria of as many as 12,000 Jews. In fact,
the period of the Crusades was the beginning
of a long continuance of oppression, murders,
and bodily tortures, inflicted upon the Jews
in almost every part of Christendom.

In the midst of these horrible atrocities and
crying oppression, it is gratifying to hear one
voice at least raised to protest against these
crimes, — a voice expressive of Christian bene-
volence towards the objects of so much hatred
and cruelty. Impartiality requires us to state,
that such a voice more than once issued from
Rome by the mouth, of her popes. Gregory
IX. in 1240, and Innocent IV. in 1260, are
specially noticed as pleading the cause of the
Jews in their day with nations and kings.
But none delivered a testimony so entirely
just, merciful, and in accordance with the

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ABBOT OP CLAIRVAULX. 159

spirit of the Gospel, as the celebrated Bernard,
Abbot of Clairvaulx, in France, a man eminent
both for the sanctity of his life, and the spiritu-
ality of his writings, from whence he was
sumamed the last of the Fathers, His high
character, which had secured almost universal
respect, enabled him to exercise considerable
influence, both in the Christian Church and
over the crowned heads of Europe. To this
influence may be chiefly traced the commence-
ment of the second Crusade, in the year 1146,
in which the Emperor Conrad III, and King
Louis VII, of France took part.

Again, men calling themselves Christians,
were preparing to open the campaign with a
massacre of the Jews, An unworthy monk,
named Sadulphus, stirred up the populace of
Cologne, Strasburg, and other towns of Ger-
many against them. Let us hear how the
Abbot of Clairvaulx speaks to the sanguinary
and seditious monk, and pleads the cause of
the menaced Israelites; first, in an epistle to
the clergy and laity of what was then called
Eastern France, and afterwards in a letter
addressed to Henry, Archbishop of Mentz:* —

" For the rest, brethren, I exhort you, yet

* St Bemardi (Abbatis Claravallensis) EpistoleB, 132
et 133.

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160 THE ^BWS AND THE

not I alone, but the Apostle of Ood vnth me,
* not to believe every spirit.* We have heard,
and we rejoice, that the zeal for Ood is strong
in you; but it is well that the discretion of
wisdom should not be wanting. The Jews
ought not to be persecuted, they ought not to
be put to death, they ought not to be driven
into banishment Consult Holy Scripture. I
know that it is prophesied in the Psalms con*
ceming the Jews — ^God,* saith the Church,
*will make me triumph over mine enemies,
slay them not, lest my people forget/ These
men are liviag monuments to remind us of the
sufferings of our Lord. For this cause they
are dispersed into all countries, that, while
they suffer the just punishment of their
heinous sin, they may be witnesses of our
redemption. Therefore, in the same psalm,
the Church adds, * Scatter them by thy power,
and put them down, O Lord, our protector.' ♦
Thus it is they are scattered, they are put
down, they endure a hard bondage under
Christian princes, yet in the evening-tide of
the world they will be converted, and he will
remember them."

Addressing himself to Eadulphus, he thus

♦ This is the version of the Vulgate, of which the
writer makes use.

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ABBOT OF CLATRVAULX. 161

speaks: — "Are you greater than our father
Abraham, who laid down the sword at God's
command, which he had drawn in obedience
to Him ? Are you greater than the prince of
the Apostles, who asked, ^ Lord, shall we
smite with the sword T But I think you are
filled with the wisdom of the Egyptians, which
is foolishness in the sight of God ; you are of
another mind from Him who said, *Put up
thy sword in the sheath, for he that taketh the
sword shall perish by the sword,' Does not
the Church, day by day, triumph more glori-
ously over the Jews, when she refutes and
converts them, than if she slew them at once
with the edge of the sword? Does she not
pray the Lord daily to take the veil from their
eyes, that they may be brought out of dark-
ness to the light of truth? The Church knows
that the Lord looketh with grace on those
who return good for evil, love for hatred.
What signify then the words, * Slay them nott*
What meaneth the promise, * When the ful-
ness of the Gentiles shall be come in, then all
Israel shall be saved'? What the promise,
*The Lord will build Jerusalem, He shall
gather together the outcasts of Israel'? Are
you the man who will make the prophets liars,
and bring to nought the whole treasure of

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162 THE JEWS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

mercy and grace in Christ Jesus? You are
in truth like your master, who was a murderer
from the beginning!"

It was not only such occasional outbreaks of
popular fury, which rendered the position of
the Jews in the middle ages so deeply and
hopelessly miserable ; the place assigned to
them in the social edifice of those times was
such, as naturally to produce a condition,
wherein contempt and debasement were by
turns the cause and effect of one another.
The organization of the feudal system formed
the sole barrier against the tide of anarchy
and social disruption with which, after the
reign of Charlemagne, the whole Continent of
Europe was threatened. This system estab-
lished a kind of political hierarchy in» every
part of Europe, in which the very lowest and
most degraded position was assigned to the
Jews. Henceforth they became the Pariahs
of the West. That any place at all, even the
most abject, was assigned to them, was a sort
of favour, owing to a peculiar circumstance,
which, in its turn, contributed not a little to
their humiliation and degeneracy.

The Romans had early looked upon com-
merce as imbecoming the dignity of a warlike
and conquering nation. The northern tribes,

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COMMERCE, ETC., OF THE JEWS. 163

who, in their migrations during the fifth and
succeeding centuries, had taken the place of
the Romans, manifested still greater contempt
for all matters of finance and traffic. The
free men possessed the land, the rest of the
population were either peasants, serfs, or
inhabitants of the towns ; the latter, for a
long time, were rather artisans than men of
commerce or capital. Thus all trading, bank*
ing, and financial operations fell, as it were,
naturally into the hands of the Jews, who,
considering themselves as strangers, and
looked upon as enemies by Christians, were
more and more completely shut out from the
possession of land, and the practice of agricul-
ture. Commerce itself, in the situation in
which the Jews of that time were placed, soon
took a more ignoble turn, and sunk into petty
traffic, while their financial speculations not
unfrequently degenerated into usury. At
least the cry of hatred and indignation on this
account was first raised against them during
the middle ages.

To understand this accusation of usury, and
to pass sentence upon it with fairness, we must
take into account the habits of the age in
which it first arose, together with the natural
disposition and peculiar destiny of the Israelites

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164 COMMERCE AND USURY

themselves. They were not originally a com-
mercial nation, but shepherds and husbandmen;
and here we may again repeat the observa-
tion, that ** Israel is only really Israel in his
own country/' Their change of occupation,
when they became men of commerce instead
of husbandmen, must be viewed in close con-
nexion with their position as wanderers over
the earth.

It was when dispersed and scattered among
all nations, that they took advantage of their
very peculiar position for the purposes of
traffic.

But though the Israelites, closely connected
by ties of brotherhood, yet strangers in many
lands, began their commercial operations on a
large scale, they could not long preserve them
on the same footing, while the main body of
their population was sunk (as the penalty of
their sin) to the very lowest grade of society.

At length, being crushed and confined
within the very narrowest circle in which his
existence could be endured, by the Christian
nations, the Jew was forced, by a combination
of circumstances, to confine his inventive
genius to financial speculations exclusively.
We must not, however, imagine that every-
thing to which the name of usury was given

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OF THE JEWS. 165

in the middle ages, when the science of finance
was unknown, really deserved that eppella^
tion.* The prejudices of the time did not
aUow men to consider that property in money,
as well as in land, or any other possession,
ought to bring in some return to its owner.
The Jews, it is true, had a large share in
causing this misunderstanding, by the means
they employed to change a fair interest into a
detestable system of usury ; but Christians, on
the other hand, were no less to blame. The
historian and the impartial judge will thus
view both sides of the case, when considering
the financial operations of the Jews in the
midst of the Christian nations ; and in fairly
analyzing the charges against them, he will,
at any rate, acknowledge the science and
talents, as well as the cupidity and avarice,
vi^hich they displayed. We must recognise
the services rendered by the Jews, both to the
theory and practice of finance, while our feel*

* To jttdtiiy the Jews from the accusation of having
established an ahnost universal system of usury, I will
not repeat, for it is a truth no longer contested, that they
only gave in to this vice in those countries where the
ill-treatment of Christians compelled them to resort to
such expedients to preserve the fruit of their labours.-*
Beignotf ** Lea Jutfs ^Ocddentr

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166 COMMERCE, ETC., OF THE JEWS.

ings are revolted by the infamous abuse of
interest, which brings a curse like that of
leprosy upon every one who is guilty of it,
whether bearing the name of Jew or Christian.

The enormous rate of interest exacted by
the Jews of the middle ages cannot be de-
fended, but may be easily accounted for to
their own discredit, as well as to that of Chris-
tian nations and princes. Excluded by the
feudal system from every honourable and
legitimate career, his life continually threat-
ened, his property and means of subsistence
defenceless against injustice and oppression,
it is not to be wondered at that the Jew
employed without scruple the only weapons
which were left to him. He encountered
violence and force with artifice BXL'dL finesse^ he
opposed the law of the strongest with calcula*
tion and deep*laid schemes: in a word, he
brought to bear the power of gold against that
of iron. Injustice was practised on both sides,
in diametrically opposite ways ; and who shall
decide which was the most guilty, — the noble
baron who, from his fortress on the banks of
the Rhine, pillaged the vessel of the passing
navigator, or the oppressed Jew, who, with
as little mercy, ruined half Paris by his usury?

By their superiority in financial affairs, the

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CHARACTER OF THE OPPRESSED JEWS. 167

Jews excited popular fury to the very utmost.
Doubly detested, as the murderers of Christ
and the bloodsuckers of Christian wealth, they
were, in the middle ages, a special object of
severity to the laws, both ecclesiastical and
civil, — of hatred to the burghers,— and of vio-
lence to the populace. The sovereigns who
gave them protection, usually made use of
them as of a sponge, which they allowed to
fill with the money of their subjects, and then
squeezed its contents into the Eoyal treasury.
They were, however, sometimes obliged to
leave them to the mercy of their enemies, at a
period when a single sermon from a malevolent
or imprudent monk, or a single absurd report
of murder having been committed on a Chris-
tian child to celebrate their passover with his
blood, or even a mere outbreak of blind
fanaticism among the populace, was sufficient
to bring murder and pillage upon the whole of
a Jewish quarter.

All this, it is true, was in opposition to
existing laws, and might have been prosecuted
and punished by the courts of justice. But
the laws themselves were but little more
lenient to the Jew. They excluded him from
every dignity which might raise his position,
and from every employment which might

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168 CHABACTEB OF THE

ameliorate it. The Jews were debarred by law
from holding landed property, from exercising
any civil or military office, and even from the
right of citizenship ; while many humiliating
obligations were imposed upon them. They
were shut up vdthin the narrow bounds of a
peculiar quarter, often, as in many towns of
Italy and Rome in particular, locked up at
night like cattle in a yard. Open marks of
degradation were imposed upon them, such as
yellow clothes, peaked hats, and the like. In
Bohemia, there was an edict issued, prescribing
a peculiar manner of hanging the Jews, in
order that a distinction might be made be-
tween their body and that of the Christian
criminal who might share the same fate.*

Wa» 4t possible that such a classification
and such treatment should fail in producing
an effect upon the moral character of the Jews,
and tending at once to enervate and to harden
the subject of such cruel oppression 1 Can we
be surprised that he, whose toleration in the
society around him depended only on the little
money he possessed, should cling to that pos-
session with the greatest tenacity ? or that,
finding his activity compelled, as it were, to
centre on this point, he should have made it
* Ut a Christianis auspensis discemerenttir.

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OPPRESSED JEWS. 169

the one subject of delight, of absorbing in*
terest, and earthly pleasure ? Can we be sur*
prised that his outward appearance should
have suffered as well as his inward character ;
or that his countenance should come to wear
the expression of that '^ love of money which
is the root of all evil," — of that timidity and
trembling of heart which belongs to the man
who lives in the midst of distrust, aversion,
and hateful plots, — who feels no security for
his property, his life, or for what, to the heart
of the husband and the fitther, is as dear or
dearer than life ?

Let us compare these details of the sad con-
dition of the Israelites in the middle ages, with
the words written twenty-five centuries before
by their great prophet and historian, Moses, in
the Book of Deuteronomy (xxviii. 29). After
having drawn the terrible picture of their ruin
as a nation in the land of their fathers, he
concludes with the following words, which
evidently refer to their situation as wanderers
over the earth : — " And the Lord shall scatter
thee among all people, from the one end of
the earth even unto the oth^r ; and there thou
shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor
thy fiithers have known, even wood and stone.
And among these nations shalt thou find no

I

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170 CHARACTER OF THE

ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have
rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a
trembling heart, and failing of eyes^ and
sorrow of mind: and thy life shall hang in
doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day
and night, and shalt have none assurance of
thy life : in the morning thou shalt say,
Would God it were even ! and at even thou
shalt say, Would God it were morning! for
the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt
fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which
thou shalt see." (Deut. xxviii. 64 — 67.)
Here was again manifested the severity of God
upon them that fell* But ye, O nations of the
earth ! witnesses, and in great measure execu*
tioners of the Divine sentence, boast not your-
selves against this Israel, so heavily chastened,
but rather fear for yourselves ! Kejoice not at
the humiliation of the chosen people, but be
merciful, be just to them. Observe, espe-
cially, how the God of their fathers, while he
visits their transgression with most terrible
affliction, does not forget to show forth at the
same time his faithfulness and truth to the
posterity of Jacob. He will bless those who
do good to them, and will visit it upon those
who evil entreat them. Oppressed Israel still
survives I but where are the many nations

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OPPRESSED JEWS. 171

who have oppressed them 1 Even amid
their deepest degradation, God has not only
preserved to them a separate existence, bnt
has preserved them in a state that possesses
the greatest capability for restoration and
renewed life. The Israelite, despised till he
became despicable, has yet, by God's provi-
dential dealings, become in a manner indis*
pensable to the social existence of the world.
Alas ! up to this day, that people have supplied
the nations of the earth with silver and gold,
whose high calling it once was (and will be
again !) to scatter among them the riches of
the knowledge and the glory of God.

Yes, deep indeed was Israel's &11, and
grievous to all who love him are his wounds,
his misery, and his reproach. And yet, by
the side of his vices, odious in their nature,
and so greatly detested by the nations, there
were still to be found some virtues and good
qualities which the Israelite never lost, even
in the time of his greatest misery. Unhap-
pily hardened against faith in Christ Jesus, he
has ever continued constant to his belief in
Moses. He sometimes sets an example which
may make Christians blush, of temperance, of
chastity, obedience to lawful authority, mercy,
and benevolence. His activity is $qual to his

I 2

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172 CHARACTER OF THE

skill* Though cruellj tormented and pro-
yoked, he can yet forgive injuries. Beneath
the proof-armour of insensibility, put on as a
shield against the contempt of those around
him, he often possessed deep feelings of kind-
ness. Amid all his sufferings from without,
family peace, and a happy home, were usually
his portion. Wearied with long days and
weeks of labour and insult, he found repose in
the bosom of his family, by the light of his
Sabbath lamp. There, the Israelite, so con-*
stantly, so universally spumed, became again
a patriarch. He broke the bread, and blessed
the cup, after the manner of his forefathers,
aft;er the manner of that very Jesus and his
apostles, whom to his own sorrow, he so
blindly refuses to acknowledge. The very
expression of his countenance betrays, even in
its degeneracy, a far nobler origin than a care-
less and superficial world would care to recog*
nise, or even to look for. The Jewish skuU
and the Jevnsh countenance, in many a
maiden of that nation, offer even now, to a
Winckelman or a Lavater, a type of Oriental
beauty. Nor do we invariably find an Isaac
of York, beside an interesting Rebecca, nor a
Shylock of Venice, beside a fiedr Jessica,
^^ iCshamed to be her fiEither's child."

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. OPPRESSED JEWS* 173

Oftentimes the conntenance of the Israelite
himself brings before oar imagination one of
the noble or amia^ble characters of the Old
Testament, — nay, has furnished a model to
the painter, when representing the King of
Israel upon the cross.

The peculiar feature, both of Israel and his
history, consists in striking contrasts. The
most marked election, and the most terrible
reprobation ; the blessing of Abraham the
pastoral chief, and the curse of Judas's thirty
pieces of silver ; the rejection of the Messiah,
and yet the ever-abiding and close connexion
of the Messiah with the Jews.

We will now resume the thread of events.
Having sketched the social position of the Jews
in Europe during the middle ages, and noticed
the general features by which it was distin-
guished, we shall now draw from recorded facts
an account of what befell them in particular,
in the principal states of Christian Europe.

The Jews in France, so signally patronized
by the Carlovingian race, experienced very
different treatment after the extincdon of that
dynasty. The kings of the house of Caput
were, in general, little inclined to show them
favour. At the same time, nothing could b^
more variable than the different edicts pro-

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174 THE JEWS IN FRANCE.

mulgated in the different reigns concerning
the Jews. Towards the close of the eleventh
century they were banished, and afterwards
recalled by Philip I. In the reign of Philip
Augustus they were at first banished (1182),
and then re-admitted upon certain conditions,
one of which was the obligation to wear a
little wheel upon their dress as a mark.
Louis VIL (a.d. 1223) treated them all as his
serfs, and with one stroke of his pen remitted
to his Christian subjects all their debts to the
Jews. Louis IX. (St Louis) distinguished
himself above the rest by his hatred of the
Jews, on account of their usury, their blasphe*
mies, and their Talmud. Philip the Fair (in
the early part of the fourteenth century), well
known as the destroyer of the Knights Tem-
plars, displayed at the same time his hatred
to the Jewish people, and his love for their
money and possessions« He banished them
twice from the kingdom, in two succeeding
years (1306-7). They were treated un&ovur-
ably by his son, Louis X., while Philip V. the
Long, his brother and successor, granted them
favour and protection. In his reign, however,
(a.d. 1341,) we find again brought forward
against them the usual accusations of treason,
poisoning the wells, &c., &c. ; and on this

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THE JEWS IN FRAKCE. 175

account many were burnt, many massacred,
banished, or condemned to heavy fines. The
year 1850, in the reign of John II., was
the beginning of a time of rest for them.
During the general distress of the country,
and the captivity of the king in England, the
Jews in France enjoyed a little quiet, some
degree of favour from the States-General, and
of praise from historians. Charles V. confirmed
these privileges. In 1370 they were again
banished, but soon recalled under Charles VI.
and treated with more favour. The end of
this century witnessed a fresh decree for their
banishment, which, however, was never put
in execution, but all debts to them were
cancelled. Similar decrees of banishment
have since been often proclaimed, but allowed
either in part or entirely to fall to the ground.
The various enactments of ecclesiastical law
against the Jews, are more useful in furnishing
information as to the rights and privileges
which in France and elsewhere they formerly
enjoyed, than of any penalties and disqualifica*
tions which were carried out into actual execu*
tion against them. Thus, by the Council of
Yannes, a.d. 465, Christians, and especially
their clergy, were forbidden to eat with Jews.
The Second Council of Orleans, some years

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176 THE JEWS IN FRANCE.

later, prohibited marriage between Jews and
Christians. The Council of Beziers (a.d. 1246)
refused permission to consult a Jewish physi-
cian. The Council of Chateau-Gonthier ex-
cluded Jews from holding the office of bailli,
or any other which would give them the right
to punish Christians. It is precisely from
regulations such as these, which appear to
have been seldom put in execution, that we
learn in what position the Jews stood with
respect to the rest of the population, before
these different prohibitions were issued.

Nothing could be more variable than the
principles of legislation in France, during the
middle ages, with regard to the Jews. They
were banished, and again recalled ; usury was
at one time forbidden, at another allowed
under certain restrictions ; just as it happened
that the king, nobles, or chief citizens, wanted
the help of the Jews, or could do without
them. Above all, having no fixed position in
society, we find them treated at one time
as villeins belonging to the soil, "glebae
adscripti," or as slaves (servi)^ and as such,
sold or alienated with the domains of the kinjg;
or great vassals of the Crown, as a part of the
property. At another time, on the contrary,
they were in the possession of liberties and

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THE JEWS IX FRANCE. 177

privfleges, the protection of which was, in
France, entrusted to a particular oflSicer. The
first traces of this office appear under the
Carloyingian dynasty, when a certain Count
Everard is spoken of, in the year 828, as
** Magister Judeeorum," governor of, or agent
for, the Jews. In later times it was the pro*
tector or guardian-general of the Jews, upon
whose subordinates, called "guardians," the
Jews depended in matters of jurisdiction, both
civil and criminal, and to whom they addressed
their complaints. The "Protector of the
Jews" was, for many centuries, chosen from
among the highest nobility of the kingdom ;
thus, in 1357, the Count d'Etampes, a prince
of the blood, held this office, and in 1424
John de Forbin, brother of the governor of
Provence. That the office was a lucrative one
may be inferred from the nature of the times
and of the people. The "Protector," how-
ever, was not always the friend of the Jews;
nay, sometimes he was their bitter enemy.

It has been already remarked, that the
nearer we approach the Pyrenees the more
fevourable, generally speaking, was the posi-
tion of the Jews. In the south of France,
most of the trade, especially that with the
East, in spices, remained in their hands; at
I 3

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178 THE JEWS IN FRANCE.

Marseilles, for instance, formerly cdHed Hebraa^
or the Jewish, from the great business carried
on by Jews in that place. Nevertheless, in
these provinces even, local statutes placed
Jews on a level with the outcasts of society.
At Toulouse, as late as the thirteenth century,
a Jew was compelled to receive yearly in
Easter week a blow on the ^e before the
doors of the principal church, in remembrance
of a town which they had delivered up to the
Saracens. At Beziers, the bishop yearly on
Palm Sunday mounted the pulpit, and solemnly
exhorted the multitude to avenge the death of
the Saviour upon the Jews of the place. After
the year 1160, a sum of money was yearly
received as a substitute for the continuance of
this insulting usage.

The theol(^ical studies of the Jews and
their Hebrew learning, met with more favour
in the south of France, than in any of the other
provinces. In the north, except at Paris,
where there was a Rabbinical school of some
note, we find no trace of any similar institu-
tion ; whereas in the south, Montpellier, Mar*
seilles, Narbonne, Beziers, and other towns,
were celebrated for their synagogues and aca-
demies, as well as for their Rabbinical writers,
commentators, and grammarians. We may

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THE JEWS IN FRANCE. 179

name Grerson the elder and Jacob Bar Jekar,
in the eleventh century; and lastly, Rabbi
Solomon of Montpellier, in the twelfth, a
leader among those Rabbins who so strenuously
exerted themselves to oppose the philosophical
and anti-traditional tendencies of the celebrated
Maimonides^ of Cordova. The French syna*
gogues took the part of the traditional school,
against the majority of those in Spain and
Provence. Another French Rabbi, of no ordi-
nary celebrity, succeeded in reconciling the
synagogues of that country to the writings of
Maimonides. This was David, the son of
Joseph Kimchi, descended from a Spanish
femUy, which had produced many learned
men, who gained great reputation as a Hebrew
grammarian. His name ranks high both
among Jews and Christians, as a commentator
on the Old Testament, and the writings of the
earlier Rabbins. Lastly, Rabbi Solomon Ben
Isaac, who lived in the eleventh century, be-
longs to the learned Jews of France, though
the name of Yarchi, which he bears, is appa^
rently derived from the town of Luna, in Spain.
Besides his other writings, this Rabbi is famed
for his Commentaries upon aU the books of the
Old Testament Bom at Troyes, in Cham-
pagne (1105), he appears to have reached the

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180 'THE JEWS IN FttANCB.

age of sixty-five. Many writers have sketched
for him a life of adventures, of which a large
portion helong to the region of romance ; not
so, however, his travels for seven years, during
which he visited Germany, Italy, Greece,
Palestine, and Persia.

An interesting portion of the Jewish history
in the middle ages is connected with the king-
dom of Provence. There the influence of
Spain, always considerable in the south of
[France, stiU predominated, especially while
Provence continued an independent state.
The practice of medicine was chiefly in the
hands of Jews, in spite of the decree of the
Council. King R£n6, in the fifteenth century,
was surrounded by Jewish physicians and
astronomers or astrologers. When Provence
was incorporated with France, in the year
1481, the Jews were soon banished by an
edict of Louis XII. The descendants of some
of the Provencal Jews, having embraced Chris-
tianity, are met with in later times among the
nobility of that province.

In proportion as we advance towards the
north of Europe, we find the children of the
captivity less prosperous and less stationary.
Norway, Sweden, and Denmark had no
Jewish inhabitants during the middle ages.

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THB JEWS IN ENGLAND. 181

In the two former countries, a few wanderers
have settled since the time of the Reformation.
We find that in England they continued, till
near the end of the thirteenth century, in a
state of degradation and wretchedness, ren-
dered more striking by its contrast to the
wealth they actually possessed. Here, even
more than elsewhere, were the Jews, during
the middle ages, treated as cattle fattened for
the slaughter ; kings and people alike looked
upon them merely as subjects for extortion
and persecution. The Jews on their side,
next to the religion of their fathers, from
which men sought to tear them by force>
clung to nothing so much as their riches,
gained with much labour by banking and
usury. For many years the houses and syna-
gogues which they bought in the towns of
England, often taken from them for nothing,
or by a forced sale, bore marks of their wealth.
It is, however, unjust to say (as one historian
does), that no traces of schools or learned men
are to be found among the English Jews of
the middle ages. More exact research con-
firms the remarks of Rabbi Salomon Ben
Virga upon the learned men, and especially
the physicians, which that nation can boast of
in Great Britain, during the time of their

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182 THE JEWS IN ENGLAND^

greatest obscurity. It is certain that they
possessed extensive libraries, of which they
were stripped before their final expulsion.
History also records public disputations upon
religion between Bishops of the Church and
Jewish Doctors, giving manifest evidence
of the knowledge possessed by the English
Jews of that period, in matters of a higher
nature than mere worldly gain.

The first residence of the Jews in England
takej9 its date from the time of the Heptarchy,
and the first mention of their existence is made
in an ecclesiastical canon of Egbert, Arch*
bishop of York (a.d. 740), which forbade
Christians taking any part in the Jewish
festivals. The laws of Edward the Confessor
(a.d. 1041) declare them the property of the
king, in the same manner as in France. Many
Jews seem to have come over to England from
Normandy with William the Conqueror. We
find especial mention of them made in the
time of William Rufus, the second king of the
Norman line. This king, himself the enemy
of the clergy, and but little attached to the
Church, permitted the Jews to defend their
religion in public, as much as they pleased.
What, however, he liked best in them was
their wealth, which, for his own sake no less

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THE JEWS IN ENGLAND; 183

than theirs, he gave them every opportunity
of amassing, especially from the clergy. At
that time the Jews possessed in London and
elsewhere (as at Oxford and York) consider-
able mansions, resembling the castles of the
nobility in their exterior; and whole streets
were afterwards named from them.

It was under Henry II. and his sons (in the
twelfth century) that the cruel treatment and
plundering of the Jews reached its height
At the coronation of Richard Coeur-de-Iion,
they were cruelly persecuted and massacred
on a pretended charge of witchcraft. At
Stamford, they suffered grievously during the
same reign, from the knights preparing for the
Crusades. At York, the hatred of the populace
vented itself in a terrible attack upon the Jews,
which drove them to seek refuge in a royal
castle in the neighbourhood. When pursued
and besieged there, they fell into such despair
as to slay with their own hands their wives,
their children, and one another, abandoning
to the flames all the property they had brought
with them. King Eichard, whose treatment
of the Jews was, to a certain extent, regulated
by justice, punished the authors of this cruel
outrage. On his return from Palestine, and
subsequent escape from prison, he established

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184 THE JEWS IN ENGLAND;

" itinerant justicers," who were to go through
the kingdom and take cognizance of the afiiairs
of the Jews. But these are evident proofs
that their real good was not what the king
had in view ; he only thought to secure their
miserahle money, or rather the money of his
subjects, which the usury of this unhappy race
served to bring into his treasury.

The same system of policy, but accompa-
nied vnth greater meanness, was practised by
Richard's brother and successor. King John
began his reign (a.d. 1199) by granting to the
Jews all kinds of liberties and privileges ; but
he soon showed in what manner he meant to
exercise his goodwill. To dispose of the purses
and properties of the Jews, as presents to his
friends, or to enrich his own treasury, was but
a trifling indication of his royal purposes
towards them. Not content with appropriat-
ing to himself their known treasures, he com-
pelled them, by the most cruel torments (pull-
ing out their teeth or eyes), to reveal the
treasure which they had concealed. In this
manner he extorted from a Jew of. Bristol the
sum of 10,000 marcs of silver (a.d. 1210).

Henry TIT., the son and successor of John
(a.d. 1217 — 1272) treated the Jews upon the
same principles. Privileges and protection

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THE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 185

from the clergy and populace were granted to
the Jews, only to afford the king an opportu-
nity of enriching himself at their expense.
Their persecution consequently became still
more severe; and yet princes such as these
dfar^({ to found establishments for the conver-
sion of the Jews ! and conversions sometimes
took place, the sincerity of which, however,
can rarely be ascertained. Even these conver-
sions gave fresh occasion for the old accusa-
tions against them, — of murdering Christian
children, particularly those of their former
co-religionists.

The position of the Jews under all these
inflictions became so unbearable, that they
earnestly petitioned the king to allow them to
leave the country. This request was not
granted, and it was not till the year 1290 that
Edward I., in accordance with a proposal from
the Parliament, gave sentence for their per-
petual banishment. The Jews, with their
families, and all the moveable property they
had been able to rescue, quitted the country, to
the number of fifteen or sixteen thousand.
Even to the very last moment, however, such
exactions and cruelties were inflicted upon
them that many threw themselves into the sea,

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186 THE JEWS IN GEBMANT.

and others reached the Continent in a pitiable
state of misery and destitution.

Tradition assigns a very early date to the
establishment of the Jews in Germany. Some,
indeed, seem to have come there in the train
of the Roman armies, and to have settled in
the Roman colonies in those parts, especially
on the banks of the Mease and Rhine. An
edict of the Emperor Constantine shows that
in the year 321 they were already established
at Cologne. In that town they soon became
numerous, and prosperous in commerce, while
they continued to enjoy many important privi-
leges. The commencement of the middle ages
in Germany, as elsewhere, put an end to this,
comparatively speaking, &vourable position
of the Jews. From that time, there, as in
England, a series of oppression and degrada-
tion ensued, which is the more wearisome to
detail because in Germany it lasted longer,
and was not interrupted by any banishment.
On the other hand, the history of the German
Jews affords more proofs of learning and
intellectual culture than that of the English,
though far less than was manifested in France
or Italy. We find mention made of many
learned men who kept up the study of theo*

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THE JEW8 IN GERMANY. 187

logical learning and grammatical science.
The German Rabbins held frequent correspond-
ence with those of Spain, and this intercourse
was enlivened by an occasional interchange of
visits. The writings of Yarchi and other com-
mentators of the same stamp were known and
studied by the learned Jews of Germany.
We find mention made of many assemblies, or
general councils, held by the Jews, for discuss-
ing matters of religion or theology. Among
the German Rabbins of the middle ages, whose
names and works have been recorded by
various writers,* we may mention Rabbi
Petachia of Ratisbon, a celebrated traveller,
in the twelfth century. Soon after the inven-
tion of printing, the German Jews distin-
guished themselves by their editions of the
Hebrew Old Testament (1489), and of divers
Jewish authors and commentators. The de-
scendants of a rabbi famed among the Israelites
of his day (Rabbi Moses, of Spires) settled in
Lombardy, and distinguished themselves in
this line ; especially Rabbi Gerson, his great
nephew, who set up a press first at Venice
and afterwards at Constantinople.

About this period we read of the conversion
of some German Jews to the Christian faith.

• Wolf, Bartolocci, and others, in their " BibliothecaB
Babbinics.'*

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188 THE JEWS IN GERMANY.

One interesting case occurred at Cologne, in
the middle of the twelfth century, that of
Herman de Kappenberg, a monk of West-
phalia, who wrote a touching account of his
own conversion to Christianity.

In every other respect, Germany, during
these centuries, exercised a deadening and
crushing influence on the energies of the
exiles from Palestine. Rejected, excluded,
and excluding themselves from all that might
have led to a more honourable position, the
great mass of Jews in this country also seemed
to exist only for the payment of taxes and
fines, for which they sought to indemnify
themselves by extorting the greatest possible
amount of usury, to the increasing deteriora-
tion of their national character from genera-
tion to generation.

The Jews in Germany never had to com-
plain of oppression proceeding directly from
the Emperor, because they were placed in a
peculiar position with respect to the head of
that empire. The situation assigned to them
by the feudal system of Europe, without the
bounds as it were of the Christian body politic,
caused them to depend immediately upon the
Emperor, or rather the empire, and to bear
the appellation of '^ Servants of the Imperial

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THE JEWS IN GERMANY. 189

chamber."* This name is sometimes incor-
rectly considered to indicate either a state of
slavery, like that of ancient times, or of serf*
dom, as in the middle ages ; whereas this title
really denoted an exemption from any other
authority except the Imperial power. It has
also been thought that, at all events, the Em-
peror might dispose of the life and property of
every Jew within his dominions. But the
exercise of such a right would have been
absurdly inconsistent with the Emperor's own
interests ; on the contrary, together with his
rights over the Jews was connected the obliga-
tion of protecting them from and against all
others, and of maintaining their existence as a
synagogue and a nation. Upon these exclu-
sively Imperial rights over the Jews, no prince
or free town in Germany could encroach with-
out the Emperor's express permission; and
even with that permission, the protection
granted to that part of the population must be
scrupulously respected. Sometimes, too, the
Emperor, regarding himself as the head of the
feudal system throughout the Continent of
Europe, claimed rights over the Jews, even
beyond the limits of the Empire, e.y., in France
and Italy.

* Serri Camene Lnperialis et Gennanicae.

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190 THE JEWS IN GERMANY.

This direct and exclusive dependance of the
Jews upon the Imperial power might certainly
have operated to their advantage, by protect-
ing them from other hostile powers, and thus
have forwarded their attainment of liberty and
civilization. But we know that the Imperial
authority in Germany, though imposing in
name and splendid in appearance, was in
reality of little weight. It possessed neither
the power nor the promptitude to repress any
outbreak of popular fury caused by religious
fanaticism, or excited by the wealth and usury
of the Jews themselves.

Some frightful instances of such outrages
have been already specified, in the time of the
first Crusade. They were repeated more than
once in later times, with still more terrible
violence, throughout the empire and elsewhere.
The Jews in France and the Netherlands were
but just beginning to breathe after the fury of the
Pastoureaux (a set of fanatics of that time), who,
it is said, had put to death whole synagogues ;
when a new storm burst upon them from the
banks of the Rhine. A certain man, named
Armleder, an inn-keeper by profession, stirred
up (1337), upon some pretext, the populace
of those countries against the Jews, with so
much success, that in Alsace alone more than

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THE JEWS IN GERMANY. 191

1,500 of that nation fell victims. Some years
after, in 1348, a fresh pretext for killing the
Jews was found in an epidemic malady,
resembling, in a degree, the cholera morbus of
our days. Half Europe was visited with this
terrible scourge, and the populace cast the
whole blame of it on the Jews, declaring that
they had poisoned the wells. A general
massacre was the consequence, against which
princes, magistrates, bishops, and the Pope
himself, remonstrated in vain. In the south
of Germany, and in Switzerland, the persecu-
tion raged with most violence : Duke Albert,
of Austria, who wished to spare the Jews, was
compelled by force to condemn five hundred
of them to the flames. At Esslingen, they
shut themselves up in the synagogue, and
killed one another. At Basle, a house filled
with Jewish fugitives was burnt, and the
magistrates were compelled to promise with
an oath, that they would not allow any Jew
to establish himself in the city for the space of
200 years. From this time also they were no
longer tolerated at Zurich or Berne. At
Strasburg, they were broken on the wheel and
burnt by hundreds, and their synagogue de-
molished to make way for a chapel. From
the year 1389, all residence in that dty was

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192 THE JEWS IN THE N£T|1£RIAND8.

forbidden them, and (with the exception of a
few families), no Jew suffered to remain in the
place till the time of the French Revolution,
four hundred years after. In Frankfort, while
pillaging the houses of the Jews, a fire was
kindled, which destroyed a quarter of the city.
Impunity was almost everywhere granted to
the perpetrators of these atrocities by Imperial
edicts.

The history of the Jews in the Netherlands
during the middle ages is, on a smaller scale,
much like that of Germany and the north of
France. Jews, were early settled in the pro-
vinces of Belgium and the northern part of
the Netherlands. A few centuries later, a
celebrated writer on commerce* declared,
that the Jews formed an essential portion of
a mercantile nation; but at the period of
which I speak this principle was not under-
stood in a way to benefit the Israelitish exiles,
and their connexion, with either sovereigns
or people, was on a very different footing.
Nevertheless, the records of history bear wit-
ness to the fact, that after the invasion of the
Normans, the commerce in those provinces
was all carried on by Jews, and that the

* Becherches sur le Commerce, par Van den Oader-
menlen, t. zi. p. 133.

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THE JEWS IN THE NETHERLANDS, 193

entire failure of trade in Liege must be attri«
buted to their banishment from that renowned
Episcopal city.

Jews were already living in flanders at the
time of the Crusades. In later times, fugitives
from France and England established them«
selves in that country. They were driven out
in the twelfth century, but by the fourteenth
had already settled there again in great
numbers. In Brabant, they were sometimes
found useful and protected, sometimes se*
verely persecuted and oppressed. Their final
banishment from the duchy was caused by a
charge of sacrilege, an accusation which had
often before brought great numbers to the
stake. In 1370, the populace accused them
of having often pierced the holy wafer; the
memory of this fact, and the signal vengeance
which followed, has been preserved by Jubi-
lees, the last of which was celebrated in the
year 1820. The Jews also have perpetuated
the remembrance of this catastrophe in an
elegy, in which the first victim of it was said
to be a rich banker of Enghien, named Jona-
than.

In Guelderland, the Jews were numerous,
and enjoyed the protection of its counts (after-
wards dukes), especially at Zutphen, Does-

K

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194 THE JEWS IN THE NETHERLANDS.

burg, and Amheim. In the latter dty, about
the middle of the fifteenth century, a Jew was
appointed physician to the town, and the
magistrates strictly prohibited any ill-treat-
ment of them either in public or private. In
the same century, however, a noble lady of
Guelderland was burnt at Cologne for having
married a Jew, which, in some countries, was
a crime equivalent to adultery, according to
the laws of those days.

In Utrecht, and the different places belong-
ing to the Episcopate, the Jews resided till the
year 1444, at which time they were driven
completely out of the town. In later times»
till the revolution of 1795 in Holland, a resi*
dence in Utrecht was still forbidden, while in
the neighbouring village of Maarssen the Jews
were numerous and influential.

Holland, Zealand, and Friesland received,
about the same period, their Jewish population
from Hainault, where many Jews had sought
refuge after their banishment from France by
PhUip the Fair. We find William the Good,
in 1304, not only favouring the Jews, but
zealous for converting them by means of the
clergy. The Jews, in later times, are more
than once mentioned in the history of these
countries. The house of Burgundy seems to

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THB JEWS IN POLAND. 195

have been less favourably disposed towards
them, and, under Charles Y., theur sojourn in
Holland was forbidden by repeated edicts.
In subsequent years, the Jewish population in
Holland was much increased in consequence
of their banishment from Spain and Portugal ;
of which an account will be given in the next
Book.

We have not yet noticed the Sdavonian
nations in connexion with the Jews. It is
only in the centuries succeeding the middle
ages that this history acquires an especial
interest. But very few were settled in Russia
during this period, and they seem to have
come to Bohemia, Moravia, and Poland, as
emigrants fix>m France and Italy. They were
already to be found at Prague before the end
of the tenth century. Boleslaus II., soon
after the national reception of the Gospel,
granted them permission to build a synagogue,
in recompense for the assistance they gave in
his wars with the Pagan inhabitants.

The Jews have existed in Poland very early,
and in great numbers, and they are distin-
gtdshed by peculiar characteristics. Among
their coreligionists in other countries they
have the reputation of extraordinary sa-
gacity,— a sagacity which, at their nocturnal
K 2

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196 THE JEWS IN POLAND.

studies y they employ in elucidating the
Bible, Talmud, and Cabbala ; and which, in
their daily occupations^ they turn to account
by their clever and often cunning manage-
ment of trade, which in that country is
exclusively in their hands.

The beauty of the Polish Jews, both men
and women, is remarkable, partly as the cha-
racteristic feature of their nation, and partly as
an endowment which they share in common
with the population of that interesting country.
In the earlier centuries, the Jews enjoyed very
peculiar privileges and exceptions, for which
they were in great part indebted to Bolesk
iaus v., Duke of Poland (1264). His great*
grandson. King Cassimer, showed them still
greater favour, out of love, it is said, for
Esther, a beautiful Jewess. Synagogues,
academies, and Babbinical schools, have
always abounded in Poland; and the civil and
criminal Judicature over theu* own people was
granted to the Jewish synagogue. Banish-
ment and persecution rarely occurred, except
by an invasion of Tartars and Muscovites.
To the Jews in Poland belonged the peculiar
privilege, that any one of their nation who
embraced Christianity and distinguished him-
self in the army, became by right, a noble.

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THE JEWS IN ITALT. 197

To this day, many of the Polish nobility
acknowledge their descent from Jewish fami*
lies. Privileges elsewhere conferred upon the
nobility alone, were in this country granted
even to unbaptized Jews.

One peculiar feature in the history of the
Jewish population of Poland is, that some of
them belong to the sect called Karaites. It
appears that still greater favour was shown to
them than to the Rabbinical Jews, because of
their aversion to the Talmud, their nearer
approach to Christianity, and their esteem for
Jesus Christ as a teacher. The Karaites seem
tp have come into Poland from Tartary ; and
King Stephen, in the year 1578, published an
edict in their favour. Recent information on
the subject leads us to think that the Karaites
have been so highly praised, more from a feel-
ing of antipathy to the Talmudists, than be*
cause of any great superiority of virtue or
civilization on their part.

We shall conclude, with Italy, our survey
of Europe during the middle ages, — a country
well known from ancient times as the resi-
dence of a great number of Israelites. At
this period, Rome, under the temporal govern*
ment of the Popes, first engages our attention ;
and if, during the period of which we have

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198 THE JEWS IN ITALY.

been speaking, the Jews at Some were not in
a state of eminent prosperity, at least they
were free from great persecutions. They lived,
it is true, isolated in their ghettos, and neither
their Rabbins nor their Talmud gained them
any favour with the head of the Romish
Church ; nevertheless, the Popes generally
appeared kindly disposed towards them, both
in their own temporal dominions, and in those
of Roman Catholic Sovereigns. We have
already said, that they stood forth more than
once as protectors of the Israelites when
menaced and ill-treated throughout Christen-
dom. The Popes, however, did not all acj
upon the same principles; Gregory I. (the
Great), in the seventh century, proved himself
the friend of Israel, both in his writings and
decrees, because of the magnificent promises
given to the Church of Christ in charge for
the ancient people of God ; whence Gre-
gory VII. (the famous Hildebrand), in the
tenth century, was their enemy.

In the other great towns of Italy, the posi-
tion of the Jews varied ; but in general they
met with favour, especially at Leghorn and
Venice; to a less degree in Florence. At
Genoa, on the contrary, they were looked upon
with enmity. We hear hardly anything of

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THE JEWS IN ITALY. 199

the Jews in Italy before the tenth century ; in
the twelfth they began to gain influence and
importance by their wealth, owing mainly to
their commercial enterprise, but also to bank-
ing speculations, and sometimes (as in Ger-
many and elsewhere) to their hateful usury.
Nowhere, however, was there less reason for
complaint on this score than in Italy, since
Lombardy sent forth throughout Europe
bankers who far exceeded the Jews, both in
their cunning and their cupidity. Complaint
was more than once made in that age, that
where the Jews did not manage the financial
operations, nsury was carried on to a more
hateful excess by nominal Christians. It was
even reported that the magnificent city of
Florence owed much of her riches to this
iniquitous source. Though the oppression
suffered by the Jews in Italy was compara-
tively moderate, yet hiere, as elsewhere, their
unpopular practices brought upon them at
times bursts of popular fury. Towards the
ead of the fifteenth century^ Bemadino Tho-
mitano, a monk, of Feltre, more out of hatred
for their usury than their religious errors,
stirred up the populace against them. It is to
the indefatigable exertions of this monk we
are indebted for the institution of loan banks

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200 THE TEWS IN ITALT;

(monte di Pieiu), a name which still brings td
mind this Lombard origin.

Persecutions of the Jews have taken place
from time to time in the kingdom of Naples;
where they settled about the year 1200. The
Portuguese Jewish historian, Samuel Usque,
speaks of one in particular about the middle
of the eighteenth century, the result of which
was, the compidsory baptism of a great num-
ber of Jews, and the conversion of their syna^
gogue into a church dedicated to St. Catha^
rine.

Jewish literature, theology, and Hebrew
learning, prospered more in Italy than in
France during the middle ages. Eleazar Beii
Jacob Kalir was distinguished as a poet, and
many interesting pieces of his composition
have been preserved in the Jewish Liturgies
of Rome and elsewhere. He is supposed to
be a native of Cagliari, in Sardinia. In the
eleventh century, when the Jews and their
studies met with little consideration, Babbi
Nathan Ben Jechiel presided over the Hebrew
Academy at Rome, and undertook a work
which has attained celebrity even among
learned Christians of a much later date. His
Lexicon of the Talmud, entitled, ^^ Aruch,'' has
not only been highly extolled by Bartolocci,

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THE JEWS IN ITALT, 201

but evidently forms the groundwork of Box^
torf 's celebrated Chaldee, Talmudic, and Bab*
binical Lexicon.

In the thirteenth century, the era of revival
for classical literature in Italy, Jewish science
and poetry successfully developed itseIC
Emmanuel Ben Salomo, bom at Borne in the
beginning of this century, is looked upon as
one of the greatest and most elegant poets of
whom the Jewish nation, during their dis*
persion, can boast. His ** Mechabberoth," or
collection of poems, offers some specimens of
amatory verse, a kind of poetry little in use
among the Jews; and this, together with a
certain lightness of manner in applying texts
of Scripture to worldly subjects, has, perhaps,
injured his reputation among his own country,
men. Some have termed him the Voltaire of
the Jews, but we think he does not deserve
either the credit or the discredit of such a
comparison. He has written, besides, many
serious and even religious poems, as well as
commentaries on the Pentateuch, the Book of
Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, and other books of
Scripture.

To the following century belongs the foun*
dation, at Bologna, of a school, since much
celebrated, which owes its rise to the family of
k3

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202 THE JEWS IN ITALY.

the Hannaarim, of Bologna. The same fiEimily
also built, in that town, one of the finest syna^
gogues in Italy. In other respects, the four*
teenth century does not offer many instances
of literary reputation among the Italian Jews.
In the fifteenth century, on the contrary, the
studies of medicine and theology flourished
among them. Elias Leyita, a Jewish philoso*
pher and writer, who taught at Padua, stands,
as it were, on the boundary between the
middle ages and a new era in the history
both of Israel and the Gentiles. It is not
known with certainty, whether he was of Ger-
man or Italian birth, but his works on the
subject of the Masorah have gained for him
the highest celebrity. At the end of the
fifteenth, and beginning of the sixteenth cen*
tury, a new element streamed, as it were, into
the Jewish population of Italy, from Spain
and Portugal. In what manner the relics of
Jewish inhabitants, banished from the Penin*
sula, established themselves both here and in
other parts of Europe, transplanting at the
same time the flourishing science and learning
of their fathers, we shall relate in that portion
of the history of Israel's dispersion which we
have reserved for the third Book of this
Sketch.

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BOOK III.

The name of Sephardim (Spaniards) is still
borne by the descendants of those Jewish
fstmilies who, after an interesting and even
glorious sojourn of fourteen centuries, were
irrevocably banished from Spain in 1492, and
Portugal in 1497.

As the whole Jewish people during their
dispersion have preserved unchanged their
national faith and character in the midst of
the nations, so the Jews who emigrated from
the Spanish Peninsula preserve their original
identity amid their own brethren in all parts
of the world.

It is not a difference of fidth which dis-
tinguishes them from the rest of the children
of Jacob, but a diversity of historical remem-
brances.

We will now take into consideration the
peculiar associations connected with their
ancient residence in the Peninsula, which
have been preserved among the Spanish Jews,

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204 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS.

and which have caused the Sephardim to be
considered, and to consider themselves, as the
aristocracy of the dispersed people of Israel.
One of these distinctions is their daily use of
the language of the country of their formeir
glorious exile, which has been handed down
from generation to generation, in whatever
part of the world they may have subsequently
settled. To some of these Jews their own
Scriptures are more familiar in the older
Spanish than in the original Hebrew, and
their descendants long wrote both prose and
verse in Spanish, or Portuguese, while dwell-
ing in Italy, the Netherlands, England,
Africa, Constantinople, or even Jerusalem.

Until the commencement of this century,
the Sephardim used both these languages in
their domestic life and daily intercourse; in
the synagogue for all ceremonial arrange^
ments, and for every part of the worship not
included in the Liturgy ; in their private cor-
respondence, their commercial accounts, and
the public announcement of marriages or
deaths. Spain and Portugal were still to the
exiled Israelites what France, in later times,
^as to the Huguenots, when compelled to
quit their country in the reign of Louis IV.
To the Spanish Jew, the remembrance of the

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SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS* 205

epoch passed by his ancestors in that Penih*
sula is, to this hour, a terrible but imposing
recollection, clouded by an impression of
sombre grandeur.

The relation which subsisted between the
dispersed Israelites and the kingdom of Spais
is unlike any we have yet recorded in the
annals of '* Israel and the Gentiles." We
may almost liken this remarkable and deeply
interesting country to the spot of ground
which Gideon's fleece distinguished from all
the surrounding soiL The social position of
the Jews, and their national prosperity and
development in Spain and Portugal, differs
entirely from every position in which we have
viewed them in other countries of Christiaa
Europe during the middle ages. Not that in
this, their adopted country, the Jews com-»
pletely escaped the anathema which has
rested on their nation since its rejection of
their Messiah. History here, as elsewhere,
records persecution, oppression, and finally an
entire banishment, and mentions the usual
accusations, which were partly deserved and
partly without foundation. But even the
violence of this persecution and oppression
bore a more noble character, and was of a less
d^rading stamp than elsewhere. The Jewish
history of this country presents phenomena

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206 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESB JEWS.

which we do not recognise as possible to have
occurred in aay other part of the world.

We will mention, first, the view taken by a
modem writer deeply conversant with the
internal constitution of this kingdom,* and of
the peculiar position and destiny of the Jews
in Spain during the period which proved most
important to, and decisive of, the fate of
Israel.

'^This remarkable people, who seem to
have preserved their unity of character un-
broken amid the thousand fragments into
which they have been scattered, attained,
perhaps, to greater consideration in Spain
than in any other part of Europe. Under the
Visigothic Empire the Jews multiplied ex-
ceedingly in the country, and were permitted
to acquire considerable power and wealth.
After the Saracenic invasion, which the Jews,
perhaps with reason, are accused of having
facilitated, they resided in the conquered
cities, and were permitted to mingle with the
Arabs on nearly equal terms. Their common
Oriental origin produced a similarity of tastes,
to a certain extent not unfavourable to such

• Prescott's " History of the Reigns of Ferdinand and
Isabella." Part L, chap. vii.

Compare with Jost's ** Geschichte der IsraelUen/* vi.,
75,110,184,216,290,

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gPAKlStt AND PORTUOUESE JEWS, 20*7

ja coalition. At any rate, the early Spanish
Arabs were characterized by a spirit of tolera-
tion towards both Jews and Christians, — ^ the
people of the book/ as they were called,—*
which has scarcely been found among later
Moslems. The Jews, accordingly, under these
fevourable auspices, not only accumulated
wealth with their usual diligence, but gra»
dually rose to the highest civil dignity, and
made great advances in various departments
of letters. The schools of Cordova, Toledo,
Barcelona, and Granada, were crowded with
numerous disciples, who emulated the Ara^
bians in keeping alive the flame of learning
during the deep darkness of the middle ages.
Whatever may be thought of their success in
speculative philosophy, they cannot reasonably
be denied to have contributed largely to prac»
tical and experimental science. They were
diligent travellers in all parts of the known
world, compiling itineraries which have proved
of extensive use in later times, and bringing
home hoards of foreign specimens and Oriental
drugs that furnished important contributions
to the domestic pharmacopoeia. In the prac-
tice of medicine, indeed, they became so ex-
pert as, in a manner, to monopolize that pro-
fession. They made great proficiency in

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208 JSPAmSH AND PORTUGUESE J£W».

mathematics, and particularly in astronomy;
while, in the cultivation of elegant letters,
they revived the ancient glories of the Hebrew
muse. This was indeed the golden age of
modem Jewish literature. I'he ancient Cas*
tilians of the same period, very diflferent from
their Gothic ancestors, seem to have conceded
to the Israelites somewhat of the feelings of
respect which were extorted from them by the
superior civilization of the Spanish Arabs;
We find eminent Jews residing in the Courts
of the Christian princes, directing their studies,
attending them as physicians, or more fre«
quently administering their finainces*

" The new Christians^ or converts^ as those
who had renounced the faith of their fathers
were denominated, were occasionally preferred
to high ecclesiastical dignity, which they illus^
trated by their integrity and learning."

We will now proceed to exemplify the
truth of these remarks, by entering into the
requisite details concerning the position and
labours of the Jews in Spain and Portugal
during the period to which our attention is
now directed.

An interesting subject of inquiry naturally
suggests itself as to the immediate cause of so
great a difference between the position of the

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ISRAEL AND THE WEST. 209

Jews in this country, and in all other parts of
Europe.

From &cts considered individually as well
as in connexion with one another, a correct
answer to this inquiiy may easily he found.
We will first notice two points, well calculated
to throw light on the suhject, which are, the
situation and natural formation of the country
itself, and the very ancient period at which it
was first colonized hy the Jews.

Between Spain and Palestine there are
many striking points of resemhlance.* It has
been said with truth, that the Israelites in the
land of their fathers were placed on the con*
fines of the east and west. Palestine, by its
geographical position, and the customs of its
people, really belongs to the East ; yet Israel
turned, as it were, the face towards the West;
and bore many traits of European character.
The same observations may be reversed with
respect to Spain. By geographical position it
belongs to Europe ; but the derivation of the
greater part of its population is Asiatic. The
language also has preserved for centuries a cer-
tain mixture of the swelling style of Oriental
imagery. This we find in the poetry of Lucan
and Seneca, as well as in that of Lopedi Vega
^ See Briim. Description de la Terre Sainte.

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210 SPAIN AND THE EAST.

and Ezcilla ; and even in quite modem times
this flowery mode of expression may be traced
even in the records made during the wars
against Napoleon, and the struggle between
the Carlists and Christinos. From very
ancient times, many Oriental elements have
mingled with the Celtiberian nucleus of the
Spanish population. The PhGenician colonies
were numerous long before Rome or Carthage
sought the dominion of its shores. The
Gh>ths, penetrating by the Pyrenees, brought
to this country a mixture of northern blood ;
but they were rather encamped than estab-
lished here. Their kings did not style them-
selves kings of Spain, but of the Goths in
Spain. A little later, another Eastern people
mixed itsdf with the population already de-
rived from the same source ; for the Saracens,
invading Europe, penetrated beyond the Py-
renees, and finally established themselves tri-
umphantly in the Peninsula, which was only
reconquered by degrees by the Christian
natives.

One more Eastern nation occupied a place
amidst the different races of Celts, Phoenicians,
Saracens, and Moors. The arrival of the
Jews, and the establishment of their colonies
in the Peninsula, is carried back, both by

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ANTIQUITY OP THE JEWS IN SPAIN. 211

Jews and Christiaiis, to a period of great
antiquity. Without enlarging on the hypo*
thesis, that King Solomon possessed both
colonies and jurisdiction in Spain (supposed to
he the Tarshish of Scripture), tradition on
every side agrees in fixing the establishment
of Jews in this country at a date soon after
the destruction of the first temple. This tra-
dition, detailed and adorned by Spanish his-
torians and Jewish Rabbins, informs us, that
in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, in consequence
of an imaginary expedition made by this prince
into Spain, many £Etmilies of the tribe of Judah,
and of the house of David, established them-
selves in the country, and built cities, the
names of which still recal localities and remi*
niscences of Palestine.*

Church legends of the Soman Catholics in
Spain and Portugal declare, that the Apostle
St James (St. Jago di Compostella, accor^ng
to their tradition) preached the Gospel with

* We may add to those named in Book L, p. 40,
the following names of persons and places, in whidx the
relation between the Hebrew and the Spanish is most
apparent: — Yepes, (Joppa). Tavora, (Tabor). Ayila,
(Abila). Gaona, (Gaon). Correa, (Core). Zacuto,
(Zachut). Also Heneses, Calatajud, Geremias, Salema,
Corid, Bazan, and many others.

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212 ANTIQUITY OF THE

many signs and miracles in this country, and
converted great numbers of the descendants of
these Israelitish colonists, who formed the
body of the first Christian Church established
in the Peninsula, of which the Archbishop of
Braga was Primate.

The same traditions inform us, that the
Jews themselves presented to King Alphonso
VL, of Leon (and I. of Castile), when he con-
quered Toledo in the year 1806, the copy of a
letter* written by their ancestors in that town
to the High Priests and Scribes at Jerusalem,
dissuading them from the murder of the
Prophet of Nazareth, This letter, of which both
the language and contents sufficiently prove
the want of authenticity, has since been de-
posited in the archives of Toledo. Copies of
it have often been published, both in Latin
and Spanish. Some have imagined that the
Epistle to the Hebrews was written especially
to the Jews of Zamora.

In the more enlightened views now taken
of history, such tales would doubtless be
banished to the regions of fiible. And yet,
circumstances which have been preserved in

* This letter may be read in Spanish and Latin in
Wolf's "Bibliotheca iRabbinica," and in Spanish in
Southej's notes to his <* Boderick, the Last of the Goths.**

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JEWS IN SPAIK. 213

the legendary lore of nations, though clothed
with fable and exaggeration, are not, on that
account alone, to be rejected as imaginary or
untrue* We may prove that the form in
which they appear is that of fiction and rof
mance, without asserting as a consequence,
that the facts themselves are equally unworthy
of credit. The groundwork in the present
instance is, the simple &tct that the Jews were
settled in Spain long before the destruction of
the second temple; and this many circum*
stances prove. . We may mention, among
others, the coincidence in name of several
places in Spain with those of Palestine, a
coincidence which no hypothesis of a Fhoe*
nician or Arabic derivation could account for*
Another circumstance which helps to fix the
date of their settlement at a period previous to
the Christian era is, that the names of Philip,
Alexander, Mark, &c., though in general use
among the Jews of all parts of the world, were
never borne as their Jewish appellations by
those of Spain and Portugal. These names
were first introduced into Palestine when that
country was under the dominion of the Greeks
and Komans. If, then, they are not to be met
with among the Sephardim, may we not na-
turally conclude that their ancestors were at

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214 ANTIQUITY OF THE

that time already established in Spain I We
may consider the existence of synagogues in
Spain more than probable, when calling to
mind the passage in the Epistle to the Bo«
mans, in which St Paul announces his inten-
tion of Tisiting Spain also (Bom. xv. 24 — 28.)
We know it was generally the practice of the
Apostle to the Gentiles, to make use of the
synagogue as his means of communication,
and thus to act upon the principle he so often
inculcates, of preaching the Gospel to the Jew
Jirst^ and also to the Gentile. We may add
another circumstance, mentioned by Jose-
phus,* as bearing upon this point. He says
that Herod Antipas was banished, by order of
the Emperor, to Spain. The Emperor Adrian
also, afttt quelling the revolt of Bar Cochab,
permitted the Jews who had escaped, or were
made prisoners, to establish themselves in
Spain.

The result of these various traditions seems
to prove, that the Jews were already estab-
lished in the Peninsula before the time of the
Roman Emperors ; whether they arrived there
by way of Alexandria and Cyrene, or at once
from Palestine, and the more distant parts of
Asia. It is interesting to notice the claim
* Joseph, de BelL Jud., ii. 9^ sec. 6.

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JEWS IN SPAIK« 215

made by this portion of the dispersed of Judah
to belong to the house of Dayid. It is
endent that this claim cannot be supported by
any historical document; for the Israelites,
formerly the pec^le of genealogies par exeeh
lence^ have not, since their dispersion, con-
tinued their genealogical tables. The pre*
tensions, therefore, of these different families,
whether in Babylon or in Spain, can only be
looked upon as traditionary. But we are
wrong in supposing such a pretension inoom*
patible with the Gospel, — as if the accom-
plishment of prophecy concerning the Son of
David necessarily involved an extinction of all
other members of that ancient and regal
family. On the contrary, as the Jewish nation
has not ceased to eidst, since from them the
Saviour of the world came forth in the flesh,
so is it more than probable that since the
birth of the blessed *^Root of Jesse," this
house, like the whole nation, has been &r
rather preserved for a future period of con-
version and glory in the fulness df time.
The prophecies of the Old Testament mani-
festly allude to this. In the great day of
Israel's humiliation, before their King crucified
and glorified, the house of David is mentioned
among the families that will on that day

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218 LATSB COUNCILS AND LAWS

Until that time, the Visigoths in Spain had,
like the Ostrogoths in Italy, shown &voar
to the Jews. From henceforth the Romish
clergy and the Gothic kings seemed to vie
with each other in multiplying edicts and
laws against the Jews, laws which have been
rightly designated as barbaroud and absurd.
Like the edicts of Justinian in the East, they
excluded "the abominable sect" from all
power or jurisdiction over Christians; pro-
hibited their marriage with Christians, and
the celebration of their weddings, sabbaths,
and feasts, especially the Passover. Baptism
was forcibly administered, and compulsion
was used to make them eat pork. A fitting
prelude this to the system of the Inquisition,
established eight centuries later in the same
country! Yet, under the Roman Catholic
kings of the Visigoths, as in later times under
Ferdinand and Isabella, dislike was manifested
to the religion, but not, as elsewhere, to the
person of the Jew. An Israelite sincerely
converted to Christianity was, according to the
same laws of the Visigoths, recognised as a
noble, and endowed with many privileges.*

* Judaei, qui sincero animo Christiana sacra amplec-
terentur nobilitate atqne vectigalium immunitate donati.
«-<< Manana de Bebus Hispanias." vi. 18. The effect of

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CONCERNING THE JEWS IN SPAIN. 219

The severity of the laws against Jews who
were either unbaptized or baptized by force
was so great as entirely to prevent their being
put in force. Hence the continual repetition
of laws and enactments, the total inefficacy of
which soon became apparent. Those of the
seventh century offer an unparalleled specimen
of cruelty and instability. In the reign of
Sisebert (612 — 617) the Jews are commanded,
on pain of banishment, to embrace Christianity.
Under Sisenard, the fourth Council of Toledo
in the year 631 mitigated these measures of
compulsion, without rescinding any of the
penalties which had been previously enacted.
Chintilla, in 636, exiled the Jews, as Sisebert
had done; but they still remained in great
numbers under Wamba (672). In 680,
Erwig persecuted them ; Egiza banished them
upon the accusation of having entered into
league with the Saracens of Africa. Witiza
(in 700) recalled them, and loaded them with
favours. A violent civil war, in which Witiza

thifl law is noticed^ in Jke ye&r 1404, by the same histo-
rian (Bk. xix. 12). Compare with Fra. Juan Benite
Guardiola, in his ^' Tratado de la Nobleza de Espana :" —
" Los convertidos a nuestra santa f^ Catolica, que eran
antes nobles segun su ley o setta, ritienen la nobleza de
su linage, y no solo la ritienen mas aiin la acrecientan.
L 2

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220 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

lost both his crown and his life, raised Rodrigo
to the throne. With him, in the year 711,
after the famous battle of Xeres de la Frontera,
terminated the whole Gothic dominion, thus
making way for the complete triumph of the
Saracens over the Peninsula.

The Jews were suspected of having favoured
and assisted the Arabs in their conquest of
Spain. After all they had suffered in the pre-
ceding century from the kings of the Visi-
goths and the Roman Catholic clergy, neither
the suspicion nor the reality of such a co-
operation between Israel and Ishmael could
excite any feeling of astonishment. It is, on
the contrary, more than probable, judging
from what took place in the reign of Egiza,
the invasion and establishment of the Saracens
was, in many respects, a desirable event to the
Jews of Spain, and the general influence of
their dominion important in its results, not
only to Spain itself^ but also as it affected the
whole of Christian Europe.

The Ommiada Califs, in the south of Spain,
soon rivalled in splendour their adversaries,
the Abassides, who had succeeded them in
Asia. The history of those times abounds in
descriptions of the magnificence and prosperity
attained by the Arabian powers in the Peninsula,

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UNDER THE ARABS. 221

especially in the reign of Abderahman III,
(912—961.) In the neighbourhood of the
Guadalquiver alone, no less than twelve thou-
sand towns, villages, hamlets, and castles
might, it is said, be counted. Cordova, the
Arabian metropolis, is reported to have con-
tained two hundred thousand houses, six hun-
dred mosques, fifty hospitals, eighty public
academies, and nine hundred baths. Manu-
&ctures and every kind of industrial trade
flourished; while art and science were culti-
vated and protected by its liberal and noble-
minded princes. The Jews shared largely in
the splendour and prosperity of the Arabs.
They soon wrote and spoke in Arabic as well
as Hebrew, and are to this day looked upon
by the Christians of Spain and Portugal as
their first masters in every department of
science. To them in particular may be ap-
plied the saying, "That there were no dark
ages for Israel.",

In a political point of view, the dominion of
the Arabs in Spain was neither oppressive nor
injurious. The disciples of the Koran looked
with equal contempt upon the religion of the
Christian and the Jew; but to persecute for
religion's sake was not in accordance with the
principles of Islamism when its dominion was

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222 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

once firmly established in the country. The
Jews rarely suffered oppression from their
Arabic conquerors, yet we may mention a few
circumstances in which a contrary spirit was
manifested. For example, when, in the year
1064, Joseph, the son of Samuel Hallevi, was
suspected of endeavouring to propagate the
religion of Moses among the Moslim, and was
in consequence put to death at Granada, with
some hundreds of his coreligionists. And
again, in 1160, when the new dynasty of the
^mohades from Africa sought afresh to im-
pose Islamism by force upon the Christian
and Jewish portions of the population. These
and a few similar instances of persecution
were, however, but temporary, and confined to
peculiar localities. On the other hand, from
the commencement of the Saracen rule in
Spain, the Jews often gained access to the
Mahometan princes, and obtained their favour.
Thus the King, Abderahman, of whom we
have spoken, had entertained honourably at
his court Eabbi Chasdai Ben Isaac, the son of
Kabbi Isaac Ben Chasdai, one of the most
ancient Hebrew poets of Spain. Al Hakem
(975) protected the Jews and their learned
men, placed their principal works in his
library, and had the Talmud (or more likely

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UNDER THE ARABS. 223

a part of it) translated into Arabic. The
same favour towards science and literature in
general was displayed by the renowned warrior
and statesman, Al Manzor Mohammed Ben
Abi Amer, at Cordova, about the end of the
tenth and beginning of the eleventh century.
The Jews in the Arabic provinces were rarely
bankers, but merchants, trading on a large
scale to different parts of the East. They
acted as treasurers to the Califs, but more
frequently as physicians, philosophers, poets,
theologians ; in a word, as savans and men of
letters.

The history of the Jews in the Christian
states of the Peninsula presents us with a
view of less peaceful times, but with details of
still greater interest The Jewish inhabitants
of the southern part of Spain emigrated in
great numbers to Castile in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. They must, therefore, have
expected to meet with a favourable reception
in that province. Henceforward their syna-
gogues and schools increased in number and
importance, and their services became indis-
pensable to agriculture and manufactures.
Commerce was so entirely in their hands, that
even under Charles V., their descendants, well
known, though concealed under the appella*

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224: THE JEWS IN SPAIN

tion of new Christians, still conducted with
honour all the traffic carried on in the king-
dom of Spain. They filled places of trust and
importance at Court It is true, that here
also they belonged immediately and exclu-
sively to the King, much in the same way as
the Jews of Germany did to the Emperor;
but how diflferently was this power exerted!
A capitation tax was paid by the numerous
synagogues, and presents were made to the
Infant, the nobility, or the Church ; while in
every other respect the Jews lived like a
separate nation, framing and executing their
own civil and criminal jurisdiction.

As formerly in the East by the Besh
Glutha, so were they now governed by the
Eabbino mayor, an Israelite, usually in favour
at Court, and appointed by the King. This
Jewish magistrate exercised his right in the
King*s name, and sealed his decrees, which
the King alone could annul with the Royal
arms. He made journeys through the country
to take cognisance of all Jewish affairs, and
inquire into the disposal of the revenues of
the different synagogues. He had under
him a Vice Eabbino mayor, a chancellor, a
secretary, and several other officers. Two
different orders of Rabbins, or judges, acted

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WITH THE CHEISTIAN8. 225

under him in the towns and districts of the
kingdom. This order held good also in
Portugal, which, as well as Castile, had its
own prince of the captivity. The title of
Don, confined during the middle ages to the
nobility of rank in Spain, was also applied to
distinguished Jews, not only by their own
nation, but in public acts and Government
documents, as we find by the ancient chro-
nicles. Every kind of oflfice was open to
them, and they often served in the army. Of
this, a memorable instance is preserved in the
Arabic documents from which Don Jose An*
tonio Conde composed his " History of the
Saracen dominion in Spain. " ♦ King Alphonso
VI. (a.d. 1086) is said to have written a
letter to King Yuzef, chief of the Almora*
rides, in which he fixed on the following
Monday as the day for the battle of Talaca,
because Friday would not suit the Maho-
metans, Sunday the Christians, or Saturday
the Jews, of whom there were many in his
army. Jewish records mention, besides, a
member of the celebrated family of the Ya-
diias, in command of the Portuguese army in
the twelfth century. It is more than probable

* See "Historia de la Dominacion de los Ai*abes en
Espana." Madrid, 1820. Lib. ii. pp. 136, 137.
L 3

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226 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

also, that the Treasurer of Queen Isabella,
whom the Cardinal Mendoza, himself a great
warrior and statesman, presented to her
Majesty as the Judas Maccabeus of his
kingdom, on account of the extraordinary
valour displayed by him at the siege of
Malaga, was an Israelite at least by birth.*

To counterbalance all these distinctions and
privileges, persecution and oppression of the
Jews, * as we have before observed, arose in
moife than one quarter. While the King, the
great vassals of the Crown, and dignitaries of
the Church, either from self-interest or mofk
praiseworthy motives, protected and upheld
the Jews, that class of free burghers which
was represented in the Cortes, the inferior
clergy, and especially the common people
when stirred up by the religious orders, were
their inveterate enemies. It is well known
that the establishment of the Inquisition, and,
soon after, the entire expulsion of the Jews,
was effected by the hatred of the Dominicans.
Complaint was sometimes made before the
Cortes, and not without reason, of usury prac-
tised by the lower order of Jews, and of abuse
of power by those of higher rank. More
often, however, their wealth and influence,

* Zurita, Anales de Aragon. Lib. xz., c. 70. 1487.

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 227

the fruits of their skill and experience in
matters of state and finance, excited the envy
of the populace. This feeling of envy mani-
fested itself first by the usual accusations of
sacrilege and the murder of Christian chil-
dren, but soon broke out into open rage and
acts of violence. Amid the general prosperity
of the Jewish nation during these centuries,
the annals of different Christian kingdoms in
the Peninsula are, nevertheless, stained by the
relation of horrible cruelties practised at first
on the unbaptized Jews, and afterwards on the
new Christians. In 1212, a general massacre
of the Jews took place at Toledo, while a mul-
titude of foreign knights and soldiers were
assembled in that town preparatory to a cam-
paign against the Moors, which they thus
intended to enter on, as they had previously
done in Germany, before commencing their
crusades in the East. Twelve thousand Jews
were threatened with murder and pillage by
these foreign legions, as the secret allies of
the Saracens, or, at all events, enemies to
Christianity. Through the intervention of
Alphonso IX., sumamed the Good and the
Noble,* the design fell to the ground, after

* There is sometimes a little variation between dif-
ferent authors in the nnmbers of the kings of this name*

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228 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

some sanguinary skirmishes had taken place
between the inhabitants of the town and the
foreigners.

The Councils of the Church strove by sue*
cessive decrees to lessen the influence of the
Jews in the Peninsula. In the year 1313, the
Council of Zamora, in Leon, vehemently de-
manded the revival and enforcement of the
ancient ecclesiastical laws against the Jews,
which consisted in revoking their privileges;
excluding them from all public employment;
prohibiting all familiar intercourse between
Jews and Christians ; rejecting all Jewish
testimony against a Christian in a court of
justice ; prohibiting the Jews from having
Christian servants; forbidding their appear-
ance in public during the holy week ; obliging
them to wear a distinctive mark upon their
garments ; and excluding them from the prac-
tice of medicine* Moreover, tithes were

Here we speak of Alphonso IX., King of Castile, father
of Henry I., who was succeeded by his cousin, Ferdi-
nand nL The father of Ferdinand m. was also
Alphonso IX., but of Leon. Alphonso of Castile Is
sometimes reckoned as the Eighth instead of the Ninth ;
while Alphonso the Wise, commonly called the Tenth, is
sometimes styled the Eleyenth ; and the father of Peter
the Cruel, usually the Eleventh, is then called the
Twelfth.

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 229

imposed on their landed property ; their mag*
nificent synagogues stripped of their pomp and
adornments; and they were also prohibited
from taking interest. AU these decrees, how«
ever, proved fruitless. They only served to
show, even as late as the fourteenth century, the
small degree of power possessed by the clergy,
and the great influence exercised by the Jews.
A remonstrance, urged by the Cortes (in 1213),
against the election of Jews to public offices
was attended with rather more success, but
for a very brief period. A similar attempt
made by the Cortes of Madrid, in 1309,
fell entirely to the ground. Those of Burgos
decreed (probably with no better success), that
neither the nobility, the clergy, nor the Jews,
should henceforth be employed as receivers of
the taxes.

The kings of Castile and Arragon, with
very few exceptions, eminently befriended the
Jews during the four centuries which elapsed
between the reign of Ferdinand I. and the
Catholic Sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella.
Ferdinand I., the first of the race, was almost
the only one who showed enmity to the Jewish
people. He took the opportunity of an expe-
dition set on foot by the Saracen king of
Seville, Abul Cassem £bn Abud, surnamed

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230 THB JEWS IK SPAIN

Almotabad. The King of Castile began the
war in the year 1062, not long before his
death, and peace was soon re-established with
the Mahomedans. The plan he had pursued,
however, was, first to pillage and murder the
Jewish population, intending these outrages
either as a propitiatory commencement of a
war with the Infidels, to gain treasure where-
with to carry it on, or to wreak his vengeance
for ill-will manifested to the Christians by the
Jew, Rabbi Isaac Ben Baruch Ben Alkalia, of
Cordova, who occupied a distinguished post at
the Court of the King of Seville. This perse-
cution was marked by a peculiar incident ; for
on this occasion the clergy took the Jews
under their protection, and their conduct in so
doing was applauded by a special brief from
the Pope Alexander II.

Matters took quite a different turn in the
following reign ; for Alphonso VI. (who con-
quered Toledo from the Saracens) granted
many Taluable privileges to the Jews ; among
others, that of eligibility to the officia nobilia^
in spite of the remonstrances of Pope Gre-
gory VII. The same kindly feelings towards
that people prevailed without intermission in
the kings who reigned over Castile and Leon
during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 231

Alphonso IX., of Castile (a.d. 1158—1214),
sumamed, on account of his valour and other
excellences, the Good and the Noble, showed
them still greater favour, because of his love
for the fair Bachael. a damsel of that nation,
who was at last slain by several knights, who
conspired together to put her to death
(a.d. 1196). Ferdinand II. (of Castile, and
in. of Leon after 1250) sumamed, like his
nephew, Louis of France, the " Saint," is cele-
brated in the history both of the Christian
Church and the Spanish kingdoms, for the
recovery of Cordova and Seville from the
Mahomedans, in the years 1236 and 1248.

Very different, however, was his treatment
of the Jews from that of the French King
who bore the same epithet. After the con-
quest of Seville, the Castilian prince granted
them many fiivours, and large possessions in
land.* No king had ever before bestowed on

* In 1797, a member of the Royal Academy of His-
tory at Madrid, presented to that learned body some
remarks on the ancient synagogues of Seville, and
especially two waxen impressions from seals— one round,
the other square, bearing the arms of Castile. One bore
round the edge this inscription : ** The holy assembly of
the synagogue of Seville, which may God preserve, its
stronghold and Redeemer." The other bore simply the

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232 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

the Jews in his kingdom such high distinction,
or availed himself so much of their talents,
as Alphonso X., sumamed *^ the Wise/' and
"the Astronomer," the son of Ferdinand
(a.d. 1262—1284). This prince has been
sometimes unjustly reproached for devoting
more of bis time to study than to the affairs of his
kingdom ; but several victories, gained either
by himself or during his reign over the Ma-
homedans, and his labours in time of peace
for the prosperity and well-being of his
country, entirely acquit him of the charge.
To him the nation is indebted for a collection
of laws in the vernacular tongue, known by
the name of ^^ Las partidas." He took great
pains to introduce the Spanish language,
instead of Latin, into all the public acts.
The early efforts of Spanish national literature
owe much to this prince, who took great
pains to improve the language of his country :
for this purpose, he caused some of the writ-
ings of ancient authors to be translated into
Spanish; such as Gcero, Virgil, Ovid, and
the works of Boetius and Prudentius. With
the same view, and also a desire of promoting
healthful civilization among his people, he

names of "Todras and Levi, son of Samuel and Levi,
wliose soul rests in paradise, son of Israel Levi."

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WITH THE CHBI8TIANS. 233

formed a plan for translating the Bible into
the language of Castile, and the Old Testa*
ment. Learned Jews, selected by the King,
were appointed to perform the task. His
version, with the addition of a few corrections
and changes, is considered to be the same as
that printed in 1533 by the Jews in Italy,
which has since been known and celebrated as
the Bible of Ferrara. At all events, it is
quite certain that the old version was closely
followed by later translators.

The services of learned Jews were equally
in request to assist the seientific labours of
the King in mathematics and astronomy.
Rabbi Isaac Ben Lid, Precentor of the syna-
gogue, Rabbi Samuel, and his brother Rabbi
Jehuda Bar Moses Haccohen, with Rabbi
Zag, all natives or inhabitants of Toledo,
wrote several interesting works, giving a view
of the progress then made in astrology, the
use of the astrolabe, and mineralogy. Some
of these were translations from the Arabic of
Ali Aben Ragel, Avicenna, Averroes, and
others, and written either in Spanish or Latin.
These learned men, with several other Jews,
Arabs, and even Christians, to the number of
fifty, were chosen by the King as his assistants
in the composition of an astronomical work,

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234 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

known by the name of " TabuUe AlfonsintB^'^
which he achieved at a great expense, by his
own personal co-operation, as a monument of
the very peculiar interest he felt in this
science.

Under Sancho IV., sumamed " the Brave"
(1284—1291), and Ferdinand IV. (1291—
1312), the successors of Alphonso IV., the
position of the Jews in their dominions re-
mained unchanged.

In the archives of the Cathedral at Toledo,
a document has been found containing the
amount of the contributions paid by the Jewish
synagogues to the Treasury, as they were ar-
ranged and portioned out in the reign of the
former of these princes.

The whole amounted to 2,100,000 ancient
maravedis,* a sum equal to about 10,000
marks of gold. This was contributed by
about 80,000 Israelitish inhabitants, dispersed
in the seventy towns and other localities of
Castile.

It is calculated that an equal number of
Israelites inhabited the kingdom of Arragon ;
and consequently, the whole Jewish popula-
tion of the Peninsula may be reckoned at

* The ancient Spanish maravedi was equal to seven-
teen modem maravedis.

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 235

more than half a million of souls. The cities
in which they were most numerous and
flourishing were in the south, under the
dominion of the Arabs, and both before and
after their time, Seville, Cordova, and Gre-
nada. In old and new Castile ; Toledo,
Burgos, Guadalaxam, Segovia, Avila, Leon,
Palencia, Zamora, VaUadolid, Calatrava, Jaen.
In Arragon and Catalonia ; Saragossa, Cala-
tayud, Huesca, Tarragona, Barbastro, Barce-
lona, Girona, Lerida, Tortosa. In Portugal ;
Lisbon, Santarem, Viseu, Covilhao, Porto,
Evora, Faro. In all these different parts of
the country, marked as the special residences
of the Israelites, the Jews were to be found
during the middle ages, occupying the position
of the highest rank in society. Long after
their exile from this their adopted country^
their customs, ceremonies, and manner of life
bore the same stamp, and thereby excited the
envy of the multitude, as well as the astonish-
ment of historians.

The prosperity of the Jews in Castile and
the influence of their nobles reached its
greatest height in the reigns of Alphonso XI.
(1312—1360), and his son, Peter the Cruel
(1350—1369).

In the counsels and friendship of Alphonso,

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236 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

his physicians, Don Samuel Ahenhacar, Don
Samuel Benjaes, and Rahhi Moses Ahudiel,
held a permanent and distinguished place.
The historians and chroniclers of the Spanish
kings, as well as Jewish authors, mention a
certain Don Joseph, called Almoxarife, or
" the Treasurer,*' who, with Osorio, the Count
de Transtamare, long possessed the King^s
unlimited favour ; he subsequently partici-
pated in the fall of this favourite, being dis-
missed from office in 1329, at the request of
the Cortes. The King was at the same time
compelled to promise that he would no longer
employ any Jew as a Minister of the State,
It appears, he either found some difficulty in
supplying their place, or met with none who
could serve him better, as Don Joseph, some
years after, was reinstated in the ministry.

Don Pedro, the successor of Alphonso, sur-
passed his father in the characteristic cruelty
for which they are both noted in history, and
which gave to the former his surname among
the Kings of Leon and Castile. This King
also showed the Jews much fevour, though he
ill requited Don Samuel el Levi for the £aith-
ful services he had rendered as a statesman.
The ancient Spanish chronicle of King Pedro's
reign gives an account of his services that

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 237

does honour to the sagacity of the Israelitish
Minister of Finance ; relating in a simple
style how he enriched the Royal treasury at
the expense of the avaricious and dishonest
tax-gatherers, compelling them hy severe
measures to give in their accounts and make
good their receipts. Without proof given of
any mal-administration or crime whatever, the
Israelitish minister of Don Pedro shared the
fate of many other favourites, and even near
relations to the King. He was condemned
to the torture, under which he expired in
1360. It appears that his disgrace did not
extend further than to his numerous family,
distinguished also for their immense wealth.
We find, too, other Israelites mentioned at
the same time as in high esteem at Court
during this reign, — Don Samuel Ahen Alha-
doc, and Don Samuel, son of Don Meir Aben
Maza, the head of the synagogue.

A Hebrew inscription of the year 1366,
when the edifice was built and consecrated as
a synagogue, is even now in great part legible
in the Church of Nuestro Senore del Tansito,
at Toledo. It celebrates one of these three
Samuels, praising him as a man fitted '^ for
war or for peace," and mentioning his services
in behalf of the Jewish nation. This Samuel

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238 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

could not be the famous Treasurer of Don
Pedro ; for he was put to death by that
prince about seven years before the date of
the inscription in the synagogue. It is there-
fore conjectured, that this memorial is raised
to Don Samuel, the son of Don Meir. The
date of the inscription, expressed in the He«
brew manner by letters, marks the seventh
year of the reign of Don Pedro, to whom,
perhaps at that very period, the Jews had
given a remarkable proof of their fidelity, if,
as many think. Prince Henry de Transtamare,
who had raised the standard of revolt against
the King, was then endeavouring lo gain pos-
session of Toledo. The fidelity of the Jewish
population was eminently displayed towards
the cruel but legitimate King of Castile, by
the bravery with which the Jews of Burgos
defended both the town and their own quarter
against the rebels. Very soon after, the King
died, and in him the direct line of the Bur-
gundian dynasty of Leon and Castile came to
an end. With his brother. Prince Henry,
began an illegitimate dynasty from the same
house, of which Queen Isabella was the last
who succeeded to the throne.

From the unanimous testimony of the chro-
nicles of the Church and of their own writers,

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 239

we learn how large a share of influence,
wealth, and consideration was at that time
possessed by the Jews in Spain. Jewish
historians attached such high importance to
these privileges, that they applied to this age
the prophecy of Jacob, " The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah until Shiloh come." By
Christians great complaint was made, that the
very prosperous, and, in a worldly sense,
glorious position of the Jews, was (I quote the
words of the venerable Paul, Bishop of Burgos,
himself an Israelite by birth) ''not only an
offence, but a great peril for simple believers,
ever ready to imitate the errors of their
superiors." *

All this grandeur and these privileges were,
nevertheless, not unfrequently accompanied by
violent acts on the part of the populace, and
complaints and protestations from the Councils
and the Cortes. To satisfy their clamours, it
was sometimes needful to promulgate afresh
ancient decrees which had almost fallen into
oblivion, — such as the limitation of Jewish
places of abode to a peculiar quarter, the obli-
gation to wear a distinctive mark, and ex-
clusion from posts of dignity and public offices.
* Panli Bargensis Scrutiniam Scripturarum.

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240 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

The more unlimited and severe the enactment,
however, the less chance there was of its heing
actually put in force. Sometimes, at the insti-
gation of the political or ecclesiastical body, a
reprimand was issued to the Jews by those
kings who themselves regarded them with the
greatest favour. Thus King Alphonso X. re-
proved them for the exorbitant luxury of their
habits, and Alphonso XI. forbade Christians
attending their festivals.

The opposition and remonstrances of the
Cortes and Councils against the influence of
the Jews, and the abuses which it occasioned,
made more impression on the kings of the dy-
nasty of Transtamare. Henry de Transtamare^
however, (the second of that name,) although
the Jews opposed the revolt made in his favour
in the reign of his brother, Pedro, seems to
have paid little attention to the complaints
made against them by the Cortes of Burgos.
When this assembly, one day, enjoined him to
dismiss all Jews from office about his person,
either as physicians or ministers, asserting that
their presence at Court caused trouble and civil
dissensions, the new King answered, that " he
himself knew what was the wisest course to
take in that matter." Whereupon he con-

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WITH THE CHBI8TIAN8, 241

firmed the privileges granted to the Jews hy
his father, Alphonso XI., and availed himself
equally of their talents and services.

More perilous times menaced the Jews of
Castile and the rest of Spain under John I.
(1379—1390.) The Cortes assembled at Valla-
dolid, Soria, and Burgos passed resolutions
tending to deprive the Jews of all participation
in the government of the State, or the manage-
ment of its finances; but the King, asserting
Ms own immediate and exclusive rights over this
people, continued to grant them his protection.

In consequence of a singular circumstance,
however, their synagogue was deprived of the
right of jurisdiction it had hitherto enjoyed.
The chronicler of King John I. relates that
some Jews, who considered themselves ag-
grieved by one of their own persuasion at
Court, named Don Joseph Fichon, contrived to
obtain a royal mandate, granting them the
services of an alguazil to execute a sentence of
death. As the King of Castile, according to
existing customs, had often granted such
mandates for the execution of sentences passed
by the Jewish tribunal, he made no diffi-
culty in signing the document thus pre-
sented, quite ignorant that it was intended for
Pichon, one of the most devoted, ministers

M

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242 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

of the King, his father. The sentence of the
Jewish magistrates was effectually executed by
the alguazU of the King at Seville. When the
King heard what had taken place, he instituted
an inquiry, — put to death all who had been
either directly or indirectly concerned in this
matter, — and deprived the Jews of the juris-
diction they had hitherto possessed.

Under Henry III. the Jews, as before, held
offices of State; and one in particular, Don
Meir, physician to the King, was high in
honour and trust; yet, in the same reign,
especially during the minority of the King,
several violent outbreaks and bloody perse-
cutions were raised against the Jewish inha-
bitants of different cities. At Seville the arch-
bishop in person stirred up the populace by a
sermon to fall upon the Jews, and the tumult
was with difficulty quelled by the severe
measures of the civil and military authorities.
In the year following, 1391, these disturbances
were repeated, and the Jewish quarter attacked
and burnt to ashes. This fearful example
spread, as by contagion, to the towns of
Cordova, Madrid, Toledo, over the whole of
Catalonia, and even to the Isle of Majorca,
where John I. of Arragon caused its leaders to
be severely punished. The number of Jews

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WITH THE CHBI8TIAN8. 243

said to have lost their life is estimated at
ten thousand, and the places in which the
outbreak occurred are numbered at seventy;
Many fled to Africa to escape persecution,
among whom was the Rabbi Bar Zemach, of
Oran, celebrated for his learned writings, and
his elegies on the events of that period. Others
in the terror of the moment went over to the
Bomish Church.

The first years of the reign of John II., who
succeeded his father while yet a child (1406),
were unfavourable to the Jews. A royal man-
date, dated Yalladolid, 1412, in a series of
twenty-four articles, contained the most oppres-
sive enactments which had ever been promul-
gated against them since the time of the later
Visigothic kings. The Jews, and also the Moors,
were thenceforth to confine themselves to a
separate quarter on pain of death, — not to con-
verse with Christians, or to have Christians
in their service, — not to practise as physicians
or apothecaries, — ^not to be high treasurer to
the king, or steward to any of the nobility, —
not even to work at trades for the Christians.
They were no longer to have judges of their
own nation, nor to observe their peculiar laws
and customs ; they might not even tax them^
selves for the maintenance of the synagogue,
M 2

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244 THE JEWS IN SPAIN

nor share as they liked the taxes imposed by
the King. They were ordered to wear a
peculiar dress, the form even of which was
prescribed to them. The title of Don was for-
bidden, and the power of quitting the kingdom
at will taken from them. These laws were too
absurd to be put in force, and the Jews knew
that they possessed too much power and influ-
ence to be compelled to submit to them. Yet,
though under a different name, they continued,
during the reign of John II. (for nearly fifty
years), and that of his son, Henry IV. (from
1454 to 1474), to retain their former connexion
with the State. They were baptized in crowds
in different parts of Spain, either in conse-
quence of intolerable persecution, or, in some
cases, of real conviction, of which we shall
soon mention some bright examples. These
families formed an entirely new body, who
were long distinguished from the old Christian
population by the designation of " Conversos,"
or New Christians. The influence of these
converts became, in the fifteenth century, as
extensive and important as that of the uncon-
verted or unbaptized Jews of earlier times.
They held the chief offices of State, and were
about the person of the King, being especially
favoured by Don Alvar de Luna, the powerful

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WITH THE CHRISTIANS. 245

minister of John 11. The preference shown
both to the Converses and to the Jews in the
reign of Henry IV. was made matter of com-
plaint against that monarch, who naturally
looked upon them as his most faithful parti-
zans, and sanguinary contests were often the
consequence. On one occasion, when the popu-
lace made an attack upon the Jews and Con-
versos at Jaen, the high constable, Don Miguel
Lucas Iranza, who had taken their part, was
put to death while attending mass. The town
of Cordova and many others witnessed similar
scenes of civil war, arising from religious or
political jealousies. The Jews and Converses
in this time of anarchy took up arms in all
parts of Castile, hired troops to defend them-
selves, or removed to Falma and Seville.
From thence a considerable party, with Pedro
de Herrera at its head, went to the Duke of
Medina Sidonia, and opened a negotiation
with him, requesting that the town and
fortress of Gibraltar might, on the payment of
a considerable sum, be made over to the Con-
versos as their own possession. This scheme
failed, owing to the interference of the people
of Seville, from whom, on this account, the
Jewish quarter had again much to endure..
The glorious period during which Isabella,

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246 THE JEWS IN SPAIN, ETC.

the sister of Henry IV,, with her husband,
Don Ferdinand of Arragon, governed Castile,
brought a complete change over the whole
face of the country, and became to the Jews,
and also to the New Christians, the time of a
most striking crisis, the relation of which be-
longs to a later part of this book.

In the kingdom of Arragon, during the
period of which we have spoken, the general
fate of the Jews and its vicissitudes were not,
as in Castile, minutely noted in the annals of
the State. In the history of Arragon, also, the
decrees of Councils, the remonstrances of the
Cortes, the outbreaks of the populace, and the
measures taken by the king, show clearly that
the position of the Jews with respect to all
these parties in the State was not very different
from what we have observed in Castile. We
may notice especially the influence and pros-
perity enjoyed by the Conversbs, or baptized
Jews, and their descendants, which was as
great in Arragon as in any other part of Spain
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

But it is now time to turn our attention,
which has been hitherto directed towards the
political relation of the Jews in Spain, to the
far more interesting memorials which have
come down to us of their literary institutions^

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JEWISH THEOLOGY, ETC. 247

and their progress in science, during their
residence in that country, before the close of
the middle ages.

The first thing we have to consider is the
theology of the Jews, their schools, and the
writings of their Eabbins and commentators.

Even during the rule of the Visigoths in
Spi^in, Hebrew literature was cultivated, and
the study of Holy Scripture and of the doc-
trines of the Talmud preserved in the syna-
gogues. In those early days, and in later
times under the rule of the Saracens, the
sources from which the Jews of the Peninsula
derived their learning were the famous schools
of Babylon and Persia, with which they main-
tained an uninterrupted correspondence. The
Israelitish parents of those ages sent their sons
into the East to be instructed in theology ; and
the synagogues sent deputations to ask advice
upon questions of law and tradition, and to
consult about customs, ceremonies, and insti-
tutions. The most ancient liturgies of these
synagogues, especially those for the fasts and
the great day of atonement, were taken from
prayers and formularies composed by Rabbi
Nissim, head of a Jewish academy at Babylon.
Among the learned men of the period which
preceded the establishment of an independent
system of rabbinical theology in Spain, we

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248 JEWISH THEOLOGY AND

find much praise iawarded to Rabbi Judah,
for translating several Arabic writings into
Hebrew, and composing a treatise upon Natu-
ral Phenomena, as well as to Eabbi Menahem
Ben Saruk,* a learned Talmudist, and the
author of a Hebrew lexicon, entitled the
** Book of the Root." The manuscript of this
work, together with the criticisms of a cotem-
porary named Rabbi Donasc, is preserved in
the library of the Vatican,

We have mentioned that an entirely new
and independent school of Hebrew theology
was subsequently established in the Peninsula*
This new foundation, which soon filled the
place of the schools in the East, and outshone
the brightness of their celebrity, may date its
rise from about the middle of the tenth
century.

We will notice, first, the place held by its
Rabbanim in the long succession of schools, or
generations of scribes, students of the law, and
commentators, which formed the boast of the
Jewish nation after the destruction of Jeru-
salem. At the head of all are placed the
Tanaim, the sages and learned men of Israel,
who assisted Rabbi Judah Hakkodesh, in the
third century, to commit to writing the Oral

* Wolf and others have confused his name with that
of Menahem Ben Jacob, of the fourteenth century.

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SCHOOLS IN SPAIN. 249

Law. The later Eabbins, whose explanations
and paraphrases of that Mishna formed the
two Talmuds, bear the name of Emoraim, or
commentators.

The Babylonian Talmud was completed (in
505) during the eighth generation of this
second series of Rabbins. To the Emoraim
succeeded in their turn the Eabanan Seburse,
or expounders of the Talmud. To these, who
belonged chiefly to the Persian school, suc-
ceeded, near the end of the seventh century,
a second division of Talmudists, called
Geonim (the excellent), and also Universal
Doctors, or Jewish judges. Among the most
learned men of this class was Rabbi Saadias
Gaon, bom in Egypt in the year 892, who
gained great reputation in Asia by his distin-
guished talents and numerous writings, both
in Hebrew and Arabic. He also excited
attention by his violent discussions with the
Nasi David Ben Zachai, on account of a
sentence pronounced by the prince of the
captivity, which Gaon considered unjust*
His life was threatened in consequence of this
dispute, and he spent many years in retire*
ment, entirely devoted to study, and employed
in the composition of several works, which
have come down to posterity. It is believed

M 3

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250 JEWISH THEOLOGY AND SCHOOLS, ETC.

that this learned Asiatic corresponded with
the synagogue of Cordova.

While the Jewish schools of theology in
the East still existed, and were in a degree
flourishing, an accidental circumstance pre-
pared the way for the subsequent removal of
the seat of modem Jewish science into the
West. This event and its consequences, with
a little legendary ornament perhaps, is thus
told : — Four learned Israelites of Pumbeditha
were in a ship, which was captured by a
Moorish pirate from Spain, a.d. 948. One of
them, named Eabbi Moses, after having seen
his wife cast herself into the sea, to escape the
ferocity of the captain, was, with his son,
carried prisoner to Cordova. The Israelitish
inhabitants of that town sdon effected their
deliverance by means of a ransom. After
remaining some time unnoticed, a learned dis-
cussion in the synagogue became the means of
raising Rabbi Moses high in the esteem of all,
and renewing the interest his fate had before
excited. He was soon chosen head of that
synagogue and judge of the Jews ; and, be-
coming known, while holding this office, to
Rabbi Chasdai Ben Isaac, the great protector
of his nation, at the court of Miramolin, he
obtained, in marriage for his son, a daughter of

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THE SPANISH RABBANIM. 251

the powerful house of Peliag, thus laying a
prosperous foundation both for his own de*
scendants and for the Jewish schools of Spain.
When the Persian school of the Geonim came
to an end in the eleventh century, in the
person of Rabbi Hai Bar Eab Scherira, the
schools of the Spanish Rabbanim took its
place, as the centre of Jewish civilization and
learning. Soon Toledo and Seville, then
Saragossa, Lisbon, and a great number of
other cities, shared in the glory of Cordova.
At Toledo alone, the number of students in
Hebrew theology is said to have sometimes
amounted to twelve thousand : the number is
no doubt exaggerated, but the exaggeration
itself proves the high idea that was formed of
the extent to which the study of Hebrew
literature was carried on in the ancient capital
of Castile.

From the commencement of the eleventh
century to the end of the fifteenth, nine ages
or generations of Rabbanim are reckoned in
Spain, each generation named from a head of
the synagogue, or some other distinguished
student of the age. Though Rabbi Moses of
Fumbeditha passes for the founder of the new
school at Cordova, the first generation of Rab«

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252 THE NINE GENERATIONS

banim is not considered to begin with him, or
his son, but with Rabbi Samuel Hallevi, sur-
named Hanragid, or the Prince. He is looked
upon, in general, as the first Rabbino mayor,
or prince of the captivity in Spain (a.d. 1027).
He held at the same time a high office under
Habuz Ben Moksan, the Mahomedan prince
of Granada ; and, for the space of thirty years,
successfully employed his riches, talents, and
influence for the good of his nation in Africa,
Sicily, and Palestine, as well as the Peninsula.
He caused many books to be copied, at his
own expense, and presented to those syna-
gogues that could not afford to purchase them.
He often addressed in person a numerous
auditory, and may take rank among the poets,
as well as the learned men of the Sephardim,
in those days. To the first generation of
Rabbanim also belongs the philosopher and
jurist, Rabbi Samuel Cophni Haccohen, of
Cordova, whose exposition of Deuteronomy
still exists in manuscript. Another Rabbi
Samuel, of Barcelona, a cotemporary of the
two others, distinguished himself by the efforts
he made to annul the old rabbinical decrees
against the study of Greek litei;ature. Another
doctor of Barcelona, Rabbi Judah Ben Levi

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OF SPANISH RA66ANIH. 253

Barsili, i;vrote, hot long after, a treatise on a
subject but imperfectly understood in the East,
—the " Rights of Woman."

The second generation of Babbanim begins
mth the succession of Babbi Joseph Ben
Samuel Hallevi to his father's dignity of
Babbino mayor in 1056, The persecution
which we have before mentioned as occurring
in Granada, in the year 1064, is said to have
caused the massacre of 1,500 Israelites, among
whom perished their nagid, or prince — this same
Babbi Joseph. It is owned by the rabbinical
authors that he was worthy of such a fate, on
account of his intolerable haughtiness. His
son, Abraham, who was offered the choice be-
tween embracing the religion of Islam and
death, chose the latter. With him were put
to death also the two sons of Kiskiah, the last
~ Besch Glutha of Bagdad.

The third generation of Spanish Babbanim
is distinguished by the life and works of five
learned men, who all bore the name of Isaac.
At the head of the five Isaacs is Babbi Isaac
Ben Yacob Alphesi, or of Fez in Africa, from
whence he was raised to the dignity of prince
of the captivity at Cordova, where he had
taken up his abode. He died at Lucena, in
1103, at the age of ninety. Among his works

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254 THE NINE GENEIUlTIONS

the most worthy of note is his Abridgment
of the Talmud, upon which the celebrated
Yarchi wrote a Commentary. The others
were Eabbi Isaac Ben Baruch, sumamed '^ the
Mathematician/* in high esteem for his pro-
ficiency in that branch of science at the Court
of the King of Granada : as a theologian he
Was a bitter enemy of Alphesi and his opinions,
but was reconciled to him on his death-bed.
Rabbi Isaac Ben Moses/ Rabbi Isaac Ben
Giath, a poet and professor at the school of
Cordova, who brought up Azariah Hallevi,
one of the sons of the Nagid Rabbi Joseph,
killed at Granada. Lastly, Rabbi Isaac Ben
Reuben, also a poet and professor, but yet
more celebrated as the father of Rabl^i Moses
Ben Nachman.

The fourth generation commences during
the twelfth century, and is adorned principally
by Rabbi Joseph Ben Meir Hallevi, named
also Aben Megas, the successor of Rabbi Isaac
in the schools of Cordova. He died in 1141,
leaving as his chief disciples, his own son and
nephew, both named Meir, and the celebrated
Maimonides.

The ornaments of the fifth generation were
Maimonides, of whom we shall afterwards
speak more at length, — and his cotemporaries.

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OF SPANISH BABBANIM. 255

Aben Ezra, Moses and David, the sons of
Joseph Kimchi, Rabbi Judah Aben Tibbon,
Rabbi Joseph Ben Tzadick, the poet and judge,
who ended his days at the head of the remnant
of the Jewish people in Babylon. To the same
period also belongs Rabbi Abraham Halleyi
Ben David Ben Dior, a native of Toledo, sur-
named the First, to distinguish him from a co-
temporary of the same name at Naples. He
was the author of the " Sepher Hacabbala," a
book containing much valuable information
concerning the history of the learned men,
and Rabbanim of the dispersion.

The sixth generation began at the close of
the twelfth century, and owes its greatest lustre
to the life and writings of Rabbi Moses Ben
Nachman (Ramban), who became one of the
greatest poets of his age, and to another Rabbi
Moses, called Micozzi, from his birthplace in
Italy, but long established at Toledo, and
author of a learned dissertation on the 613
commandments of the Mosaic and Oral Law.

The seventh generation is that of Rabbi
Solomon Ben Adereth, called Arisha, of Bar-
celona ; Rabbi Gershon Ben Solomon, also of
Catalonia ; Rabbi Perez Haccohen, the Cabba-
list ; and Rabbi Jedidiah Happenini Badrashi,
the poet.

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256 THE NINE GENERATIONS, ETC.

The eighth generation began in the year
1300, when Rabbi Asher, a German by birth,
established himself at Toledo, and was there
chosen, on account of his great learning, head
of all the schools and synagogues in Spain.
His son, Juda, succeeded him in 1328, in 'the
same city to which the Jewish academy of
Cordova had been removed since the year
1249.

The ninth generation of the Rabbanim in-
cludes the latter part of the fourteenth, and
almost the whole of the fifteenth century. The
head of the synagogue (a dignity quite distinct
from that of prince of the captivity, though
more than once held by the same individual)
during this period was, first, Rabbi Isaac Cam-
panton, who died at the age of 103 ; and afiter-
wards, his chief disciple, Rabbi Isaac Aboab, of
Castile, surnamed the last of the Geonim, who
left that kingdom after the edict of banishment
in 1492, and took refuge in Portugal, where
he soon aft;er ended his days.

The biography of all these learned men
among the Jews, of whom, not individuals only,
but whole families, have gained a high repute
as commentators, Talmudists, poets, and phi-
losophers; with a catalogue of their works,
written both in Spain, Portugal, and the

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ABEN EZRA, 257

countries to which they were afterwards
banished, have formed materials for many
volumes. Even a small selection from the
multitude of their names and the titles of their
books, classed according to their contents,
would much exceed the bounds of this little
volume, without being absolutely essential to
the object it has in view. Two names, how-
ever, which we have already mentioned in the
nine ages of the Spanish Babbanim, cannot
well be passed over without more especial
notice. These are Aben Ezra and Maimonides,
both equally appreciated by the learned,
whether Jews or Christians, — the former,
chiefly as a commentator on the Old Testa*
ment, a poet, and a traveller ; the latter as a
jurist, a theologian, and a philosopher ; both
gifted with wealth as well as talent, — at that
time rarely united in the same individual.

Abraham Ben Meir Aben Ezra was bom at
the commencement of the twelfth century, (pro-
bably in 1119,) at Toledo, of a family already
distinguished by more than one name of emi-
nence in the Jewish history of the Peninsula.
Posterity has sumamed him, by way of dis-
tinction, Hachacham (the wise) ; and learned
Christians have also done full justice to his

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258 ABSN £ZRA.

genius and extensive learning. Taking into
consideration the age in which he lived, he
was really eminent as a commentator, gram-
marian, philosopher, cabbalist, physician, ma-
thematician, astronomer, and poet. Gifted
with some portion of wealth, he was enabled
to gratify a taste for travelling, which he pos-
sessed in common with many of his coreligion-
ists of that period. This taste, which belonged
peculiarly to the Jews of the middle ages, is
worthy of remark, as presenting a striking
contrast to the life led by the monks and
Roman Catholic clergy of that period. This
desire of becoming personally acquainted with
a world in which they met with so much
hostility — this persevering diligence in study,
carried on amid the fatigues and excitement of
foreign travel — and, lastly, the desire to ease,
as it were, their position as wanderers, by
becoming really so, is especially observable in
the character of Aben Ezra. The various
places frotai which he dated his different works
show, in the literal meaning of the word, that
they were composed by a wanderer on the
earth. One of them was written at Mantua,
another at Rome, another in London, and a
fourth in Greece. He visited also the land of

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ABEN EZRA; 259

his forefathers, and held discourse with the
learned men of Tiberias upon the Masoretic
text of the Old Testament. He died on his
return from this pilgrimage, in his seventy-
fifth year, — about twelve years earlier than
Maimonides, who, with many others, esteemed
and admired him. As a commentator on
Scripture, he is valued, without exception, by
all. He made good use of his great talents as
a linguist, and was skilfiil in detecting the
meaning of the text; while his expressions
were elegant, and sometimes lively, and full
of wit. His works have always been favour-
ably received among Christians, and by them
his Commentaiies have been translated into
Latin. Complaint is made, however, of the
obscurity of his style, which has required
comments to be written upon his Commentaries.
He also highly distinguished himself as a poet ;
he has left sacred poetry, hymns, and prayers,
some of which have been added to the Liturgy
of the Sephardim. His hymn on the soul is a
poetical development of the rabbinical idea,
that each night during sleep, the soul, released
from the body, gives account to the Most
High of the works done during the day. He
has left also other descriptions of poetry, — as
Epithalamiums, Satires, and even a copy of

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260 ABEN EZRA*

verses on the game of chess,* which, with two
other poems on the same subject, were trans«
lated, and published in Latin, by Hyde, at Ox«
ford, 1694. It is said that the Spanish version
of the Old Testament, printed at Ferrara in the
sixteenth century, was' only an improvement
upon more ancient versions; among others,
that of Aben Ezra. The Spanish language
was at that time far less studied by the learned
Jews than Hebrew and Arabic.

Equalling Aben Ezra in the extent and
variety of his knowledge, though perhaps his
inferior in character and genius, Maimonides,
his cotemporary, has, without doubt, made
a more forcible and decided impression upon
the whole views of posterity, especially among
his own nation. When we have given a few

* The game of chess was deeply studied, and gained
much favour with the Jews. Among those of the
Peninsula there were three distinguished champions, —
Aben Ezra, Rabbi Ben Senior Aben Zuchia, and, probably,
Bedrashi, the poet, who, however, has written on this sub-
ject in prose. He wrote in the thirteenth century in praise of
this ingenious and warlike game, especially as a means
for the prevejition of gambling and card-playing. Cards
must, therefore, have been known in Spain before the
reign of Charles VI. of France, for whose amusement,
during his madness, they are usually said to have been
invented, in the fifteenth century.

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MAIMONIDES^ 261

particulars concerning his character and bio'^
graphy, we will endeavour to point out the
nature of this influence, and the kind of feel-
ing that was awakened in the synagogue by
the theology of this doctor.

Eabbi Moses Ben Majemon, or, with the
Greek termination that has since been affixed,
Maimonides, and among the Jews, by a pe-
culiar species of abbreviation with which they
are familiar,* '*Rambam," was bom at Cor^
dova, in Spain, — at that time in the possession
of the Arabs, 1139,

His father, Majemon, held the dignity of ,
Judge of the Jews in his native city, as other
members of the family had done for some
centuries previous. (His genealogy is found
in one of his works, ascending in the male line
thus : — Moses, the son of Majemon, the Judge,
son of Joseph the Wise, who was the son
of Isaac, son of Joseph, son of Obadiah, son of
Solomon, son of Obadiah, — all Judges.)

Moses himself, bom of his father's first

* The Jews are accustomed to designate their chief
Rabbins and writers bj composing a word formed of the
initial consonants of their names, prefixing the initial of
their title of Rabbi. Thus Moses Ben Migemon is
called bj them Rambam, — a name we must distinguish
from Ramban^ the similar abbreviation of Rabbi Moses
BenNachman. . .

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262 HAIHONIDES;

marriage with a woman of inferior rank, was
in childhood treated with contempt by the rest
of the family, and by his father with a degree
of severity, on account of his apparent stu-
pidity. Having been for a time confided to
the charge of Eabbi Joseph Aben Megas, or,
according to some, to his son, Rabbi Meir Ben
Joseph, at Lucena, he returned to his father's
abode so much improved in learning and
polished in manners, that contempt was ex-
changed for admiration. From that time, he
applied himself to the study of Arabic, astro^
nomy, and medicine, under the celebrated
Averroes. In the science of medicine he after-
wards excelled, and published several works
on the subject. From this learned Arab the
son of the Hebrew Judge received his know-
ledge of Aristotle, whose works were brought
into Europe by the Arabs, where they gained
an influence which for many centuries per-
vaded the whole of Christendom,

The events which happened both to Averroes
and Maimonides, and nearly at the same time,
bore a singular coincidence. Averroes, first
placed at Cordova as magistrate by the African
prince of the Mohadites, commenced deliver-
ing in that city a public course of instruction,
by which he gained many personal enemies.

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.HAIMONIDES. 263

Accused of having spoken with disrespect
of the Koran, he was stripped both of his
dignity and fortune in 1163. In this distress
he sought a reAige among the Jews of
Cordova, some say even in the house of
Maimonides. Soon after this escape, he fled
irom that city and took refuge at Fez, in
Africa, where he was compelled to undergo
a humiliating penance at the door of the
Mosque, and to recant some of his opinions
considered adverse to the religion of the
Koran. He afterwards returned to Cordova,
where he was soon reinstated both in his
former dignity and his office of professor,
which he continued to exercise during the
jspace of forty years. About the same time
Maimonides was compelled by perseci^tion to
quit his Spanish fatherland. A party among
the Jews, discontented with African rule,
sought an alliance with the Christian sove-
reigns, especially King Alphonso VIII., of
Leon and Castile. Maimonides, at all times
disinclined to look favourably on Chris-
tians, and, alas! also on Christianity itself^
preferred remaining on the Saracen territory
in Spain, and consented to an outward con-
formity with the rites of Islamism, in prefer-
ence to seeking refuge in a Christian country.

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264 HAIMOKIDES.

As soon as a favourable opportunity pre-
sented itself he escaped to Africa, and after a
short residence at Morocco, established him-
self in Egypt, There, for some time, he
traded in precious stones and medals. When
the Turks, after completing their conquests
in Asia, overthrew the reigning dynasty in
Egypt, and established their dominion in that
country, Maimonides attached himself to one
of their generals, to >vhom he became both
physician and counsellor. By this means he
was soon after brought to the notice of
Salaheddin Yuzaf Ben Ayub, formerly
vizir of Bagdad, who became after the year
1171, Sultan, or (as he was more usually
called) King of Egypt, and taken into his
service. He filled the same post at the Court
of this prince, and consequently remained at
Cairo till the day of his death, in 1208, with the
exception of a few years spent in disgrace and
exile, caused by the odious accusations of his
enemies, that he had attempted to poison the
Sultan. He is said to have spent all the time
of his banishment in a cave ; at all events, he
devoted it entirely to his studies, the fruits
of which have filled many volumes. He was
afterwards recalled and reinstated in the
favour of the Sultan. He has given us a

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MAIMONIDES. 265

sketch of his way of life during forty years,
when his time was divided between his prac-
tice as a physician, his employment at the
Court of Egypt, and his diligent and extensive
labour in his study. It is preserved in a
letter written by him to Rabbi Samuel Aben
Tibbon,* the diligent translator of his Arabic
works into the Hebrew tongue : —

" The residence of the King and my abode
are situated at some little distance. Every
day I am obliged to appear at Court ; if the
Sultan, or one of his wives or children are ill,
I remain there the greater part of the day.
If all are well I return home, but never
before noon. Then having dismounted and
washed my hands, I find the house filled with
people; Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor,
merchants and magistrates, friends and ene-
mies, await me. I request their permission
to take some food, which I only do once
in the twenty-four hours. After that, I con-
verse with each of my visitors, and prescribe
medicines for them. Meanwhile, people are
continually coming in and going out, so that

* The familj of the Aben Tibbons was distinguished
firom father to son hj their translation of the Arabic
works of those learned Jews, who, for many years, wrote
chiefly or entirely in Arabic

N

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266 MAIMONIDSS.

it is generally two hours after dark before all
t^e attendance ceases; I then throw myself
on a couch, exhausted with fatigue, and take
a little repose. You may imagine that,
during all this time, no Israelite can .come
to me for private intercourse on religious
subjects. It is only on the Sabbath, when
the greater part of the synagogue come to
me after prayers, that I can give them any
directions for their conduct during the week^
Then We read together a little until noon,
after which some return to me, and we read
together again till the time of evening prayen
This is my usual way of life. Do not think,
however, that I have completely described it^
When, by the help of God, you may be able,
after having finished the translation for the
use of your fathers, to come and see me here^
you can convince yourself, by your own eyes,,
of the truth."

How this learned Jew, in the midst of such
overwhelming occupation, could find the
leisure requisite to collect and digest materials
for the numerous and voluminous works which
have flowed from his pen is indeed astonish-
ing. His books amount to more than thirty
in number, and some of them are of great
magnitude. To name a few of them will

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MAIMONIDES. 267

give an idea of the wide field of his studies,
and the variety of subjects on which he wrote.
A commentary on the Mishna was the labour
<rf his youth, begun while he was yet in Spain,
and concluded in lilgypt in his thirtieth year.
This book was written in Arabic, and soon
after translated into Hebrew.by several learned
Israelites. Ten years later he composed, in
very elegant Hebrew, his Yad Hakazakah
(the powerful hand), which contains the whole
doctrine of the Talmud methodically arranged,
In fourteen books. Of a later date is his
Moreh Nevochim (guide to the doubtful),
a work in which he brings forward his whole
interpretation of the Law and the Talmud with
the greatest clearness. We shall soon have
occasion to notice the effects produced by this
work on the synagogues during its author's
lifetime and the succeeding generation.

His writings are various on many subjects
besides Jewish theology; some have been
printed, and others still remain in manuscript:
they treat of medicine, natural history, and
astronomy; one, entitled "A Letter to the
Jews of Marseilles," appears written to con-
trovert the opinion which then prevailed con-
cerning the influence of the heavenly bodies
on the evenfas( of life. His work on logic has
N 2

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368 DISSENSIONS IN THE SYNAGOGUE

since found a commentator and admirer ifi
Moses Mendelssohn, who, eight centuries after
Maimonides, was, in more than one point,
the upholder, and apparently the successor to
his views. We possess, besides, the volu-
minous and interesting correspondence of the
Babbi of Cordova.

Maimonides died in 1208, at Cairo, uni-
versally looked up to during his life-time, and
regretted at his death by all the synagogues
of Africa, Spain, and elsewhere. Happier, in
one respect, than hiis cotemporary and friend
Aben Ezra, whose son embraced Mahomedan-
ism. Rabbi Abraham, the son of Maimonides,
succeeded him in the esteem of all the syna-
gogues, who conferred upon him the title of
Nagid, or Prince, of Spain, which was con-
tinued to the grandson of this great man, the
son of Rabbi Abraham, named Rabbi David.
This celebrated Egyptian Rabbi was buried
at Tiberias, which he had visited with the
intention of ending his days there. Among
the Jews, the praise of Maimonides has passed
into a proverb : " From Moses (the lawgiver),
to Moses (the son of the judge), there arose
not a Moses.'*

The writings of Maimonides, though highly
esteemed by posterity, have only gained real

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ON ACCOUNT OF MAIMONIDES. 269

influence oyer a small minority of his co-
religionists, at least in as far as relates to the
important reformation in religious belief which
he eQdeavoured to bring about, and the philo-
sophical bent which he tried to give to rab*
binical Judaism. This attempt caused, for a
time, discussions and agitation in the syna^-
gogues ; but these ideas never took deep root
either in that century or any that succeeded
it To form some idea of this system, and of
these discussions and their results, it will be
necessary to say a few words upon the cha-
racter of the Spanish and African synagogues
of the Middle Ages, — a character decidedly
opposed to any philosophical tendency, not?
withstanding the light with which, in other
respects, they appear highly gifted.

Conformably to the name which distin*
guishes the schools of the Spanish Babbanim,
and with their position as successors to the
ancient schools or academies of Palestine,
Babylonia, and Persia, the theology of their
learned men was entirely based upon the
authority of the oral law, and its elucidation
by means of the Talmud.

For one moment only the supporters of
tradition were threatened with a defeat from,
the Karaites. This sect, whose head quarters

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270 DISSENSIONS IN THS SYNAGOGUE

were in Palestine, had penetrated throtigli
Africa as fitr as Spain, and at the commence^
ment of the twelfth century had gained suoh
an influential party among the learned, and
at the same time such decided support from
the temporal power, that for a moment they
appeared to possess the means of excluding
and persecuting their Talmudical opponents.
The tables were soon turned, however, when
Babbi Judah, a decided Talmudist, was
appointed Major-domo to King Alphonso, the
Eighth of that name, often styled " Emperor
of both the Spains." This Rabbi employed
all his power and used all his influence against
the Karaites, who, from that time (1157),
were compelled to leave the country. Neither
did they succeed in gaining any fitvour with
the great Jewish doctors of Spain and Africa.
Babbi Abraham Ben Dior, whom we have
before mentioned, wrote against them with
great vehemence in defence of tradition.
With equal energy, but less vehemence, they
were opposed by the poet, Judah Hallevi, in
his Khusam. Aben Ezra, though numbering
a Karaite of distinction among his instructors,
was, nevertheless, very frir from attaching
himself to their sect. Maimonides spoke
against them with great zeal in Egypt, though

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COKCSRKmC HAIM0KIDE8. 211

he acknowledged at the same time the great
merit and high character of some of their
teachers. His son, Rahbi Abraham, brought
over a whole synagogue of Karaites to Rab-
binism. Al Charisi, whom we shall soon have
occasion to mention as a poet, was wont to
say of the Karaites, " that they preserved the
tree, but cast away the fruit" ♦

Thus deeply rooted in the minds of the
Jews and their teachers was a conviction of
the indissoluble tie subsisting between the law
and their traditions! This conviction is not
to be wondered at It is perfectly natural,
while the veil on the heart of the Israelite
prevents him from receiving the Gospel of
Jesus Christ as the accomplishment and com*^
i)letion of the Old Testament, he should yet
feel the need of some sequel to the Mosaic
dispensation. As for Maimonides, though,
like his brethren, opposed to the doctrines of
the Gospel, yet with a mind too highly
enlightened to be enslaved by Jewish tradi-
tion, he sought to form a system of his own,
which, however, proved equally unprofitable
in its results.

Brought up in the Arabic school of Aris*

* The sect of the Saddncees had for some time a
number of adherents in Spain, prindpafiy at Burgos.

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272 DISSENSIONS IN T^ SYNAGOGUE

totle, and as it appears still more devoted to
the works of Plato, his chief aim was, without
quite overthrowing traditional Judaism, to
base the establishment of its principles upon
philosophy rather than upon revelation. The
immense labour he undertook in arranging^
purifying, and concentrating the whole body
of Talmudic theology and jurisprudence, was
with this aim, and in accordance with these
views. We shall in this respect also observe
in later times the similarity of mind and
purpose between Moses Maimonides of the
twelfth, and Moses Mendelssohn of the eigh*
teenth century.

Such a system, though cautiously worded
and introduced, and even carried out, from the
religious feelings of its author, and of the age
in which he lived, with the greatest apparent
respect for the actual historical revelation of
the Old Testament, could not fail of exciting a
suspicion as to its consequences among the
orthodox members of the synagogue.

Immediately after the publication, of the
Moreh Nevochim, during the life of its author,
discussions began in the Jewish communities of
Finance, and afterwards of Spain. The first
outcry was raised at Montpellier, where Kahbi
Salomon and * two of his disciples. Rabbi

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CONCERNING MAIMONIDES. 2T3

David and Sabbi Jonah, brought against the
work an accusation of heresy, both in respect
of the Talmud and the Word of God,

The book was in consequence condemned,
and sentence of excommunication pronounced
against any one who should read it, or any
other work imbued with the Greek and
Arabic philosophy. The synagogues of Spain^
were soon divided into two great and formid-
able parties. The most celebrated teachers
formed a decided majority in favour of
Maimonides ; while Babbi Judah Ben Rabbi
Joseph Alphacar, of Toledo, equally esteemed
as a physician and a theologian, took the part
of his antagonists, the French Rabbins. A
correspondence was consequently established be-
tween Rabbi Judah and Rabbi David Kimchi,
the well-known commentator on the Old
Testament ; and even the most decided
friends of Maimonides must confess, that the
arguments they used were well grounded,
and their style of writing full of a vigour and
beauty from which even the vehemence of
their expressions could not detract. The letter
of Rabbi Judah plainly proves, that the system
of Maimonides, by its arbitrary explanations and
inventions, attacked the authority, not of tra-
dition only, but also of Holy Scripture. Other
N 3

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274 DISSSN8ION8 IN THE SYNAGOGUE

learned Jews have not hesitated^ to suspect
Maimonides of a design to weaken the basis
of the two fondamental doctrines of the
Jewish religion, — the resurrection of the
dead, and the expectation of a Messiah,
although he has placed both these dogmas in
his celebrated table of the thirteen articles of
"Jewish belief.

However, the party formed against Maimo-
nides and his writings was soon obliged to
give way to the undoubted majority and
great superiority of his admirers. The sen-
tence of excommunication passed in France
was revoked, and the name of Maimonides yet
more highly honoured as a star of the first
magnitude among the learned men of Israel
during their exile. Nevertheless, we do not
find that the system introduced by this re-
markable man has ultimately pervaded, to any
great extent, the mass of Judaism, or eveu
influenced the doctrines of its teachers. Rab-
binism continued as much after as before the
time of Maimonides, to exercise dominion over
the synagogue. His writings, however, con-
tributed greatly to extend the horizon of
Jewish theology in the southern countries.
It is very possible that the many conversions
to Christianity of which we read in the annals

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CONCEBNINQ MAIM0KIDE8. 275

of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were
theefiecty humanly speakings of that deficiency
of real religion which was sensibly felt when
minds were agitated by the discussions con-
cerning the system and doctrines of Maimo-
nides.

The war&re stirred up in the synagogue by
the writings of Maimonides between philo-
sophy and religion was, however, no novelty.
Neither did it cease after the momentary
triumph gained by his friends.

In the days of Rabbi Asher, head of the
synagogue of Toledo, about a century after the
time of Maimonides, grievous complaints were
uttered by the Babbins of Spain on the pro-
gress of Infidelity, and indifference in matters
of faith, caused by the influence of Greek phi-
losophy, Rabbi Salomon Ben Abraham Ben
Addereth, of Barcelona, a friend of science,
whose character had gained him the esteem of
all parties, considered the complaints against
an unbelieving system of theology so well
founded, tbat he issued an edict forbidding
the study of Greek philosophy to all Israelites
under twenty-five years of age. The students
of medicine were alone exempted from this
prohibition, to which was attached the penalty
of excommunication. The reasons for this

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276 DISSENSIONS IN THE SYNAGOGUE

prohibition given in the, edict are indeed
curious. "There are," says this document,
" certain semi-philosophers of Provence, who
have given cause for the coercive measures it
was necessary to make use of. These men
have not feared to profane Holy Scripture by
an absurd system of allegorical interpretation."

We might imagine ourselves in the age of
Strauss and Dupin, in reading the examples
cited as the ground of these complaints: —
"Abraham and Sarah are to be looked upon only
as allegorical personages !— the twelve tribes
of Israel are symbols to express the twelve signs
of the zodiac ! — ^the Urim andThummim, astro-
nomical instruments ! — the battle of the four
kings against five, in the Book of Genesis, is
only a myth, or allegorical representation of
the influence of the four elements on the five
senses ! The whole history of the creation is
a fable!"

It will not surprise us, after this, to hear;
that not only the severe and narrow-minded
Rabbinism of Rabbi Asher, with his numerous
and powerful followers, but also the party
who favoured worldly science, and to which
the greater part of the Spanish synagogues
belonged, thought it necessary to take mea-
sures against the introduction of similar doc*

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CONCERNING MAIMONIDES. 277

trines. At length the aBcient school of tradi-
tion gained the npper hand among the Jews of
the Peninsula, without, however, destroying
the influence of science and philosophy, or
entirely excluding these studies.

It is to the Jews of Spain and Portugal that
we are especially indebted for the preservation
and practice of medical science during the
middle ages. Jewish physicians are often
mentioned in the history of that period, and
notice taken in all countries of their scientific
knowledge as well as practical skill. The
number of these doctors was as remarkable aa
their talents, and we meet with them in the
exercise of their profession at the Courts of
the Caliph and Sultan, as well as the Pontiff.
The writers of the present time who look upon
the Jews as the princes of medical science in
the middle ages, have chiefly in view those of
Spain and Portugal.* If, as many say, the
family of the Aben Zoars were Jews by birth
as well as religion, then the honour of having
educated Averroes in the medical science
belongs, from the avowal of that great man
himself, to the Jewish nation.

Whether this fact be ascertained or not, the

♦ See E. Carmshy'a interesting work, "Histoire des
MMecins Juifs anciens et modernes. Brnssells, 1844.

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3T8 ISWISR PHYSICtAKS.

Jews of Spain were, with the Arabs and some
few of the Roman Catholic clergy, the chief pre-
Servers and professors of the science of medicine.
We haye already mentioned some of their Bab-
bins who were thus distinguished, but we may
name many others, both among the professors
of Judaism and the Conversos. Babbi Moses
Abdalla, of CSordo'va, wrote, in Arabic, a book
on medicine, of which a manuscript copy is
stiU preserved in the library of the Escurial ;
and in Hebrew, a commentary on the aphorisms
of Hippocrates, — ^of which a manuscript copy
exists in the library at Leyden. Babbi Isaac,
in the eleventh century, wrote some books in
Spanish on '* fever/' Babbi Moses Ben Je-
hudah Aben Tibbon, in the twelfth century,
translated into Hebrew some Arabic writings
on the subjects of medicine, jurisprudence,
philosophy, and astronomy. In the same
century Babbi Jonah Ben Ganach, of Cordova,
called by the Arabs, Abn Walid Marun Ben
Ganach, gained great distinction, both as a
linguist and physician.

The decrees of Councils, however, often re^
peated, availed little towards excluding the
Jews from the practice of medicine even in
France and Italy, much less in Castile,
ArragoQ, and Portugal. In the first-mentioned

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JEWISH FHT8ICIAN8. 279

of these Spanish kingdoms we find an nn*
interrupted succession of Jewish physicians to
the King, also employed by them in the affiurs
ef the State* For example, the marriage settle-
ments of Henry IV. of Castile, brother of
Isabella, with the Princess of Portugal, were
drawn up by a Jewish ambassador, Babbi
Joseph, the King's physician. In Arragon,
during the same century, an Israelitish phy*
sidan, Abiathar, of Lerida, gained great renown
by curing the blindness of King John II., at
the age of eighty. This cure is the first
instance of the operation for cataract which
has been recorded in the history of medical
science. The physician ventured to perform
the operation upon one eye, and having com«
pletely succeeded, felt some hesitation in pro-
ceeding ; but the resolute and courageous old
King compelled him to risk an operation on
the other also. In Portugal the names of
Jewish physicians are rarely wanting among
the officers of the King's household. The
dignity of " Physico-mdr," or first physician,
was instituted by King John I. of Portugal, in
1385, and bestowed first upon the Jewish
physician Micer Moses, tc^ether with great
privileges for himself and nation. Other
Jewish professors of medicine were treated with

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280 JEWISH PHYSICIANlSr.

similar consideration until the reign of King
Manuel. When the Jews were banished from
Portugal, in the year 1497, the New Christians
— concealed or baptized Jews and their de^
scendants — continued to distinguish themselves
as professors of medicine ; for example, Dr.
Manuel de Fonseca, and his son, Dr. Lope de
Fonseca, — whose daughter, Ginebra, was burnt
by the Inquisition on a charge of Judaism ;
Dr. Geronimo Menes Eamires, whose pos-
terity, with that of the Fonsecas, were for two
centuries both numerous and distinguished
among the Jews of Hamburgh and Amster-
dam. Other celebrated practitioners, who
emigrated from Portugal, also established
themselves in these cities. Dr. Joao Kodrigo,
of Castellobranco, called Amatus Lusita-
nus; Dr. Abraham Zacuto, (Zacutus Lusi-^
tanus,) author of the " History of Celebrated
Physicians ; " Dr. Immanuel Jacob Eosales,
upon whom the Emperor of Germany bestowed
the dignity of Count Palatine; and Dr.
Bodrigo de Castro, were equally known by
their writings and celebrated for their en-
lightened views during the early part of the
seventeenth century. Two sons of the last-
named physician rose to eminence in the same
profession, Dr. Bento (Baruch), and Dr. Andr^

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JEWISH PHYSICIANS. 281

(Daniel) de Castro ; one was physician to the
Court of Queen Christina, of Sweden, the
other to the King of Denmark. At Amster-
dam an uninterrupted series of physicians has
risen from the Spanish and Portuguese syna-
gogue during the last two centuries. Among
them, besides Zacutus and Rosales, were Dr;
Bueno Bibas, consulted at the Hague in the
last illness of Prince Maurice; Drs. Orobio
de Castro and . Semah Aboab, both father and
son, with many others, too numerous to men-
tion here, before Dr. Immanuel Cappadose in
our days.

In France, also, the Jews from Provence,
or from the Peninsula, frequently distin-
guished themselves in the medical profession.
A Jewish physician was called in to Francis
I., and is said to have been the first to recom-
mend the use of ass's milk. The poet Nos^
tradamus, well known on account of his
singular predictions, was the descendant of a
Jewish physician at the Court of King E6n6,
of Provence. A little before the time of
Nostradamus, another physician, of Jewish
birth, followed the Constable of Bourbon in
his exile from his king and country. The son
of this physician was the celebrated and dis-
tinguished Chancellor of France, Michel de

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382 JEWISH PHTSICtANS.

THopital, at the end of the sutteenth century,
equally celebrated for his Christian virtue,
and his great talent as a legist and statesman.
Catherine de Medici in those times sought to
the Jews more for astrology than medicine.
In both these capacities were Jewish emi«
grants from the Peninsula received by Mary
de Medici, wife of Henry IV., of France;
among their number was Dr. Elias Bodrigo
Montalto, who died at Paris, and was after^
wards removed for interment to the Portu-^
guese Jewish cemetery of Onverkerk, in the
neighbourhood of Amsterdam. In the eigh*
teenth century. Dr. de Sylva, a Portuguese
Israelite, was highly celebrated in France as a
physician ; he was one of the very few upon
whom Voltaire, the great enemy of Israel,
bestowed, both in his poetry and history, some
words of praise.

The celebrity gained by the Jews of the
Peninsula in the knowledge and practice of
medicine is honourably sustained at the pre-
sent time by their coreligionists of German
extraction. We shall have occasion to notice,
in a later period, how they have succeeded
their brethren of the south in many different
departments of science and erudition, and
have, in many respects, surpassed them.

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JEWISH .ASTRONOMERS AND TRAYELLERS, 283

We rarely find mention made of a Jewish
theologian or physician in Spain and Portugal^
during the Middle Ages, who was not at the
same time either a poet, astronomer, or mathe-
matician— often all these at once. The study
of astronomy, at that time looked upon as
almost inseparable from judicial astrology,
was, by the learned Jews, turned to most
valuable practical account. We shall soon
hare occasion to remark upon the share they
took in the maritime discoveries of Portugal^
by the appUcation of astronomy to the pur«
poses of navigation. The learned Jews of the
Peninsula often visited distant countries, and
accomplished lengthened voyages. We may
give as an instance a well-known Babbi of
the twelfth century, Benjamm of Tudela,
whose ^* Itinerary '* has been the subject of
much diversity of judgment. Its singulat
narratives and palpable mistakes have some-
times given rise to a doubt whether its author
had really made the journey, or had not rather
dbosen this form to relate the observations of
others, gathered £rom different sources. In
our days, deeper investigation has certified
the reality of the voyage, and the actual truth
of many of its details, which are, however.

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284 HEBREW FOETBT IN SPAIN.

mixed up with much that is fabulous, and
accompanied by many incredible tales.

We must add, to the learned Jewish astrot
nomers already mentioned, the name of Babbi
Abraham Zacuto, professor of astronomy at
the Academy of Salamanca, his native town,
till the year 1492, when, having fled to Por«
tugal, he was favourably received by King
Manuel, and raised to a post of honour at his
court. He made a perpetual almanac, dedir
cated to the Bishop of Salamanca, which he
published at Leiria, in Portugal, a.d. 1495.
His name is well known in Rabbinical lite-
rature as the author of the " Sepher Yacha-
sin " (book of genealogies), a valuable source
of reference for the history of the older rab-
binical theology and the schools which suc^
ceeded it. He was ancestor to the physician
Zacutus Lusitanus before mentioned.

That the general revival of literature and
science among the Jews of Spain was owing
to the influence of the Arabs, is an established
feet, easily taken for granted in every branch
we have hitherto discussed. We cannot dis-
allow the existence of this influence even over
the Hebrew poetry which was written in
Spain. Without doubt, poetry was inherited

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HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN. 285

by the Israelites, as a gift pertaining to their
history and their race (which they surely had
no need to borrow from the sons of Ishmael),
who were in possession of all the treasures of
poetry imd of language contained in the books
of Holy Scripture committed to their c^e.
Yet we cannot deny that Arabian example
and models greatly assisted to revive the poetic
genius of the dispersed Israelites, at a time
when this talent was on the point of being
lost, choked amid the brambles, and envdoped
in the mists of Cabbalistic and Talmudic sub-
tilty. Some influence over the Hebrew poetry
of the Spanish Jews is attributed to the
writings of an Italian predecessor, Rabbi
Eleazar Ben Jacob Kalir. However this may
be, it is certain that the Spanish schools of
poetry profited greatly by the example of their
neighbours the Arabs, in the study of lan-
guage and composition, as well as in the
knowledge of rhythm. Although the modem
poetry of the Israelites during their dispersion
is no more to be compared with the sacred
poetry of their fathers, than a fruit dried or
artificially preserved through the winter can
rival the same fruit in summer freshly gathered
from the tree, yet this school of Hebrew
poetry, flourishing during five centuries in

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286 HEBRBW POETRY IN SPAIN;

Spain, forms a striking feature in the modern
history of the Jews. In beauty and eleyatiou
of style it certainly deserves the preference
over any cotemporary efforts made by the
French or Italians, and its celebrity has con*
tinued undiminished in spite of the master-
pieces of Hebrew poetry which have arisen in
our time from Germany, We will now glance
our eye over the CoryphsBi of the Spanish
school of poetry, which reached its greatest
eminence in the twelfth and thirteenth cen-
turies.

We have before mentioned Rabbi Chasdai*
Ben Isaac as high in repute at the CSourt of
Abderhaman IIL, in the latter half of the
tenth century. An idea may be formed of his
character, and the nature of his poetical talent,
from his letter to Joseph, the Jewish King of
the Chasars. Doubts have been raised both
as to the existence of such a kingdom, and to
the authenticity of the Hebrew Babbins'
letter. Later researches seem to have partly

* The name fully written is Chasdai Bar Isaac Bar
Ezra Bar Schafrut. Bar and Ben (sometimes Aben) in
Hebrew, and Ibn in Arabic, signify son. Aben is more
often used by the rabbinical writers to denote the family
name, as Aben Ezra, Aben Tibbon, Aben Dana ; and
Ben, Bar, and Ibn, to express the immediate relation
between father and 8on«

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H£B&EW POETET IN SPAIN* 287

confirmed and partly modified Jewish tradition
on this subject Kings who held the Jewish
religion appear to have reigned over the
country of the Chasars, or Chosars, a Turkish
race dwelling on the western borders of the
Caspian sea^ These kings, whose subjects
were either Christian or Mahomedan, seem to
have first embraced Judaism in the eighth
century.* The report of this kingdom was
calculated to excite a lively iaterest among
the Jews, both of Spain and the East. Eabbi
Chasdai's letter, the authenticity of which has
been well corroborated, gives a short accoimt
of the poet himself, and the position he filled
at the Court of Cordova: it describes the
general condition of the Jews in Spain, and
gives some details as to the nature of that
country. The Babbi expresses the wish he felt
to receive a similar communication concerning
the Jews in the country of the Chasars. The
introduction is in rhyme, and according to the
Hebraico-Arabian style, forms an acrostic of
the author's name.

* Earainsin, in his '' History of the Bussian Empirey**
Book L, throws most light on this kingdom of the
Chasars, while Basnage suspects that it never existed*
See Jost*s *' Oeschichte der Israeliten,'' vi., 1 1 1 — 120, and
note to page 865»

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288 HEBREW FOET&Y IN SPAIN.

To this century also belongs, with some
names of less distinction, that of Rabbi Isaac
Ben Chalfon, an admirer and distinguished
student of his national poetry; also that of
Rabbi Joseph Ben Isaac Ibn Stanas Ibn
Abitur, from whom the Caliph Al-Hakem
requested a translation of part of the Talmud
into Arabic, and who is chiefly known in the
annals of the Spanish Jews by his discussions
with Kabbi Moses, of Cordova, who excommuni-
cated him. In consequence of this sentence,
he resided abroad, and ended his days at
Damascus. His poetry, like that of the
greater part of the Hebrew school of Spain,
was intended for religious worship, and as
such has been added to the Liturgy of tl^
synagogue. A keduscha, or song of praise,
on the " three holy" of Isaiah (vi. 3), is con-
sidered as his masterpiece: this theme, with
many variations and different prefitces, is
frequently repeated in the Jewish prayers.

Kabbi Isaac Ben Jehudah Ben Giath,
whom we have already named, is one of the
most distinguished of the Hebrew poets in
Spain. He gained repute also as a philo-
sopher, physiologist, cosmographer, and astro-
nomer, according to the measure of light
which had been thrown upon these sciences at

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HEBREW POETRT IN SPAIN. 289

that period. As a poet, he is admired for his
striking and well-turned sentences, and his
exquisite taste in the use of language ; but on
the other hand, his style is thought too highly
finished, and too much laden with scientific
ornament, which has caused it to be com-
pared to the Alexandrian school of Greek
poetry. His critics have, however, unani-
mously joined in praising his penitential
hymns, found in the Liturgies of many syna-
gogues for the services during the month that
precedes the new year. Painfully charac-
teristic is the mixture of truth and error in
one of these hymns, proceeding from the pen
of a poet who still disowns his Messiah; After
reminding the pious, when preparing for their
evening devotion, that the only foundation of
their trust was in the mercy of God, not in
their own works, he adds, " Now devout
prayers must fill the place of the ancient
sacrifices." He composed also hymns for the
Feast of the Passover and the great Day of
Atonement, with a poetical paraphrase of the
biblical narrative of £lijah*s prayers on Mount
Carmel. To Isaac Ben Giath succeeded as
poets Babbi Joseph Ben Jacob Ibn Sahl, his
disciple, who died a.d. 1124, at Cordova; and
hb own son and grandson, Babbi Jehudah and

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290 HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN.

Rabbi Solomon Ben Giath, both looked upon
as masters of the art by such judges as AI
Charisi and Judah Hallevi.

Among the Hebrew poets of Spain in the
eleventh century, we may mention also Rabbi
Bechai Ben Joseph Ben Fekudah and Rabbi
Moses Ben Jacob, of the distinguished family
of Aben Ezra. Rabbi Bechai, sumamed
Hazaken (the old) and Hadayin (the judge),
is principally known by a religious work on
the *' Duties of the Heart," written in a kind of
poetical prose, but considered as a poem more
on account of its sublimity of style and lan-
guage, than for its actual versification. He
wrote it in Arabic, and apparently from
Arabian models. A Hebrew translation was
made first by Joseph Kimchi, and then by
Rabbi Jehuda Ben Samuel Aben Tibbon ; a
Portuguese translation was made from the
Hebrew by Rabbi Samuel Ben Isaac Abaz, at
Amsterdam, in the seventeenth century. As
a Hebrew poet, Rabbi- Bechai is especially
famed for a poem on " Self-examinationy '
translated into Italian by a Jewish lady,
Deborah AscareUi, of Rome, and by Dr.
Sachs, of Berlin, into German verse, together
with some other specimens of modem Hebrew
poetry.

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HEBREW POETRY IK SPAIN. 291

Still brighter fame as a poet is awarded to
Moses Ben Ezra, who is also equally cele-
brated as a learned Talmudist, and a pro^
fessor of Greek philosophy. Although, like
his brother poets, he excelled in sacred song;
he also tuned his lyre as an inhabitant of the
west, and sang at times of love, but more often
in praise of the beauties of nature.* He was
a cotemporary of the celebrated Rabbi Je*
hudah Ben Samuel Hallevi, who bestowed
due meed of praise upon him. and some other
members of his noble and learned family^
We shall soon speak more at length of Hal-
levi the poet '^par ea^cellence" but we must
first give a few particulars concerning Rabbi
Salomon Gabirol, who, in the order of time,
should have preceded Moses Ben Ezra.

Rabbi Salomon Ben Jehudah Gabirol is
unanimously allowed to have far excelled all
the other Jewish poets of the tenth and
eleventh centuries. Bom in 1031, either at
Malaga or at Saragossa, where he afterwards
redded, his life was as short as his talentd
were brilliant, and his end tragical. His
death is said to have been caused by the
sanguinary envy of an Arabian rival in song,

* Alexander von Humboldt, in his ^^Kosmos," ii., 119,
has praised his sublime description of natural scenery.

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292 fi£BB£W POETRY IN 8FA1K.

and the legend tells, that the young poet was
buried by his murderer under a fig-tree, which
produced in consequence so great an abund-
ance of fruit, of such exquisite flavour as to
attract the attention of the Caliph, and lead to
the discovery of the body, and a detection of
the crime which had been committed! The
poet Gabirol is only known to us .by his
writings, which show him to have been a man
of deep feeling, great poetical talent, and ex-
tensive learning. His first work reminds us
of the saying of a great poet of our own days :
" It matters little to the true poet, if it be the
alphabet or the Achilles of Grecian story
which awakes his powers." Gabirol, in his
nineteenth year, wrote a Hebrew Grammar in
verse — a work which Aben Ezra has since
pronounced worthy of the highest praise.
The following ideas taken from the introduc-
tion may lead us to form some estimate of the
poetical imagination of its author. In this
part of the work, the author complains " that
the study of the sacred tongue, honourable
above all others, had been too long neglected,
so that by a great multitude of his brethren
tiie words of the prophets were no longer
understood." At this thought, the conscious-
ness of his own youth neither could nor should

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HEBREW POETEY IN SPAIN. 293

restrain him, A voice cried within him, " Gird
thyself for the work, for God will help thee I
Say not, I am too young; the crown is not
exclusively reserved for old age. He will
make use of poetry to render this labour
attractive to the eyes, like a garden of flowers ;
for his hope was great that that language may
again be studied in which the inhabitants of
heaven sing the praises of Him who clothes
himself with light as with a garment ; — this
language, formerly spoken upon earth by all
men, before the foolish ones were scattered,
and their speech confounded ; — this lan-
guage became the inheritance of God*s people
under the tyranny of Egypt; — in this lan-
guage the law of God was promulgated, and
the prophets brought healing to the afflicted
nation. He would they were jealous, like
Nehemiah (xiii. 23 — 25), for the purity of
the language of Israel." He then expresses
his indignation that the mistress should have
been reduced to the state of the servant, and
the lawful wife to that of the concubine.

The poetical talents of Gabirol were exer-
cised on many different subjects; hymns,
elegies, confessions of sin, descriptions of the
future. In all these, we find a noble and
affecting echo of the poetry of his ancestors.

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294 HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN.

The Kether Malchiit (or, royal crown) is
looked upon as his masterpiece, — a poem which
the pious Israelite recites during the night
passed in watching and prayer before the
great Day of Atonement. This poem, in
honour of the goodness and power of God,
after a brilliant introduction, confeedns first, a
description of the universe, rich in details,
which give us much interesting information
on the ideas held by the Talmudists concern*
ing the laws of creation ; then follow praises
of the greatness and wisdom of God, as mani*
fested in the construction of the human body ;
he then dwells, with equal richness of Ian*
guage and poetry, on the nothingness and
misery of human nature, and the necessity
for humiliation before God on account of sin.
The whole closes with a prayer for the tem*
poral and eternal preservation of Israel, their
restoration to their country, and the rebuild-
ing of their sanctuary, and this is followed by
a magnificent doxology.

The history of Jewish literature during the
twelfth century is adorned with the names of
many Hebrew poets, both in Spain and Africa.
Rabbi Aaron Ben Rabbi Joshua Alemani, at
Alexandria; Rabbi Salomon Abu Ajab Ibn
Almalam, whose verses, in the words of Al

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HEBEEW PQETBY IN SPAIN. 295

Charisi, '^ made the dumb to sing, and caused
light to strike upon the eyes of the blind ; "
Babbi Chalfon Hallevi, of Damietta, called
in Arabic Abu Said ; Rabbi Levi Ben Jacob
Altabban, with his brothers at Saragossa, and
many besides. All these poets kept up an
interchange of friendship and correspondence
with one another, and with him who was
considered by all to have surpassed his pre-
decessors and cotemporaries, — Rabbi Judah
Ben Samuel Hallevi. Al Charisi has ex-
pressed his feelings on this subject in the
following language, not, however, without
considerable exaggeration in the choice of his
figures : —

'*The poetry of Judah the Levite is like
a diadem on the head of the synagogue, and
a necklace of pearls around its neck ; it is the
pillar of the temple of poetry ; he is the man
armed with a lance, who overthrows all the
giants of the art ; his songs take away courage
from the prudent : he has exhausted the store-
house, he has carried off precious spoil ; he is
gone out and has closed the door after him, so
that none may enter. All the poets who
follow him have his words in their mouth —
he rends the heart, he takes possession of it
by his songs of supplication ; his lays of love

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296 HEBREW FOETRT IN SPAIN

are gentle as the dew, yet fervent as the
burning coal. In his letters and his writings
all poetry is contained.*'

Excepting the year of his birth (1105), and
its locality at Castile, we have no records of
the life of Judah Hallevi, and no details,
beyond a few interesting notices gathered
from his own works. From these we learn
to appreciate him, not as the prince of poets
only, but as one of the most interesting
characters we meet with in the history of
modem Judaism. The master feeling which
accompanied him through life, and gave a
peculiar turn to his mental efforts, was a strong
affection for the spot where the temple of
Jehovah once stood, and this feeling pervaded
the whole of his poetry. He eventually
undertook a jouniey to Palestine, and, ac-
cording to the relations of his biographers,
he reached the threshold of Jerusalem, but
died before entering its gates, being trampled
down, as tradition tells, by the horse of
an Arabian Moslem while he was chanting
an elegy on the misfortunes of Judah and
Jerusalem before one of the gates of that city.
More modem biographers have classed this
tale among the Jewish legends of the Middle
Ages, and give as their opinion that he died

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HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN. 297

daring a stay in Egypt, while on his way to
Jerusalem. It is, at all events, certain that
he never entered the city, the object of his
affections, and this gives a still more touching
interest to the account he himself gives of the
emotions of his heart, from the time he formed
a resolution to accomplish his vow of pilgrim-
age. He expresses, with much feeling, the
yearning of his soul towards the land of his
fathers in the following lines of one of his
poems: —

^In the west is mj bodj, while my heart is in the

east.
What has long been the joy of my hope, now becomes

a lengthened torment.
Ah, shall I ever obtain what my soul has so long

desired I
I who live among Ishmael, while Edom possesses

Zion!
What is Spain to me with her blue sky and her bright

fame?
In comparison with a little dust of that temple which

is trodden under foot by the Gentiles."

A friend of Hallevi's, also a poet, tried, by
a poetical epistle, to dissuade him from this
perilous enterprize. He answered him by a
poem, in which he complains " that the grace-
ful verses of the letter he had received con-
cealed daggers to wound him, and that thorns
o 3

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298 HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN.

were hid beneath the jBoftness of its fine ex-
pressions." For further satisfaction, he refers
him to those of their fathers who had journeyed
in that country which had received the imme*
diate revelation of God, and his heralds the
prophets. He ends by exhorting his cool
adviser against that Greek wisdom which had
always been inimical to any depth of religious
feeling, and which must ever continue incom-
patible with the foundations of Judaism.

Other poems of Hallevi are dated after the
time when he really began his journey.
When at sea, he called to mind, with affection,
all the membfers of his family — his brothers,
sisters, daughters, the synagogue of his country,
and the place he had filled in it ; yet still the
longing desire to behold the land of the altar
and of the ark of God remained uppermost
in his mind. " If he can but accomplish his
vow, the sight of jackals and hyenas would
be rather welcome than terrible to him, and
the roaring of the lion a more pleasing music
than the bleating of flocks." His last poetry
was written in Egypt, where this celebrated
writer received an honourable and hospitable
welcome. We have already mentioned his
end. His writings, besides his hymns, many
of which are incorporated in the Liturgy of

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HEBREW FOETRT IN SPAIN. 299

the synagogues, consist of elegies, epitha*
lamiums, and paraphrases on verses of the
Psalms, with a work in Arabic prose, which
has gained great celebrity. This book, named
** Khusari,*' is an apology for Judaism, in the
form of an imaginary dialogue between a king
of the Chasars and an Israelitish Rabbi, who
supports the cause of the Talmudists against
the doctrines of the Karaites and the phi-
losophy of the Gentiles. A later version of
this work was made in 1560, by T. Buxtorf,
the son, and a Spanish translation by the
Portuguese Rabbi Jacob Abendana, in Eng-
land (a. d. 1663).

Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman, bom at Girona,
in Catalonia (1194), and also famed for his
poetry and learning, was more successful than
Rabbi Judah in the attempt which he also
made to visit Palestine, where he ended his
days in 1267. In a letter to his son, he gives
an account of the feelings excited by his resi-
dence in that country. " My son Nachman,"
he writes, " may the Lord bless you, and grant
you to see the peace of Jerusalem, and your
children's children. I date this letter from
Jerusalem, the holy city. I give thanks and
praise to the God of my salvation, that I was
enabled to reach this place in safety on

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300 HEBBEW POETRY IN SPAIN.

the ninth of the month EluL I have r&i
mained here till now, the day following the
preat Day of Atonement. My plan is, to
visit Hebron, to cast myself upon the sepul-
chres of our fathers, and there to prepare my
own tomb. What can I say of this country ?
Great is its desolation and its sterility. The
more holy the spot, the more completely is it
abandoned. Jerusalem is the most degraded
of all — Judea more so than Galilee. Yet
even in its desolation it is a blessed country^
The city contains 2,000 inhabitants, 300 of
whom are Christians, who have escaped the
sword of the Sultan. Since the invasion of
the Tartars, no Jews have been settled here.
Only two brothers, dyers by trade, are Jews.
At their house we assembled, to the number of
ten, and celebrated the Sabbath with prayers.
We have now succeeded in procuring, a de-
serted house, with marble pillars and a fine
vaulted roof, and have transformed it into a
synagogue. The city has, properly speaking,
no government, and he that wishes may take
possession of the parts that are imoccupied.
We have contributed the needful expense to
ensure possession of the house for the purpose
I mentioned. We have also procured from
Sichem some volumes of the law, which had

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HEBREW POETEY IN SPAIN. 301

been concealed there at the time of the Tartar
invasion. Thus, we shall have a synagogue,
and shall pray here. Men and women flock
from all parts to Jerusalem — from Aleppo,
Damascus, and all parts of the country, to
behold the sanctuary and to weep. May He
who has permitted me to see Jerusalem in
her desolation, grant that we may see her
restored, rebuilt, and filled with the glory of
the Lord. May you, my son, see the welfare
of Jerusalem, and be witness of the con-
solation of Zion!" The letter is ended by
remembrances to his disciples, and especially
to his nephew. Rabbi Mo^es Ben Salomo, an
elegy of whose composition had been recited
by Moses Ben Nachman on the Mount of
Olives.

Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman left many other
writings which testify that, considering the
age in which he lived, he was remarkable as a
thinker, expounder, Talmudist, and especially
as a student of the Cabbala. In the division
of the synagogues caused by the writings of
Maimonides, he took the part of the latter,
probably more on account of the esteem he
felt for his character, than from any great
sympathy with his opinions. In 1263, he
held a public conference on religion with Paul

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302 HEBREW FQETRT IN SFAIK.

Christian, said by some to have been a con-
verted Jew. As a poet, he is chiefly iamed
for one mi^nificent hymn, used by many
of the synagogues in the service for the first
day of the year.

The study of Hebrew poetry, which was
carried to the highest degree of eminence by
Judah HaUevi, appears to have perished amid
the disputes of the succeeding century, leav-
ing fuller scope to the development of Jewish
doctrines and traditions. We will mention
two more names, virfaich though they cannot
take rank among poets of the first order, yet
deserve some notice.

One of these is Judah Happenini Ben
Abraham, called Bednaschi, from Beziers, the
native city of his father. He first saw the
light at Barcelona, in 1250, and is ranked'
among the Hebrew poets of that time as being
the author of a few pieces, which are more
esteemed for the ingenuity and studied labour
of which they bear the marks, than for any
intrinsic poetical merit. For instance, in one
of these poems, every word begins with the
letter M. He has a better right to the title
of "Orator," given him by his brethren,
while Christian writers have compared him
to Seneca, Lactantius, and Cicero. He owes

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HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN* 303

this honour to his work, entitled ^^ Bechinath
Gnolam " (Examination of the World), a dis-
course, or letter, concerning the vanity of all
earthly things, and the seeking of the king-
dom of God. The learned Philip Aquinas,*,
an Israelite converted to Christianity in the
seventeenth century, wrote a French transla-
tion of it. Great praise has been bestowed
both on the work itself and the way in which
it is treated by its French translator, as well
as by Buxtorf,t and other competent judges.
Rabbi Judah Happenini, who was a great
advocate for philosophical studies, vehemently
opposed the sentence of excommunication
pronounced by Rabbi Salomon Ben Addereth.
He is also said to have composed a work of
some extent on the game of chess, under the
designation of" the royal delight."

We will end with a few words upon one
more Jewish poet of Spain, — Rabbi Jehudah

• Philip (formerly Mordecai) Aquinas died in the year
1650y at Paris, where he had taught Hebrew and trans-
lated several rabbinical books for the use of Christians.*
His son, Louis Henry, was also a great Orientalist. His
grandson, Anthony Aquinas, was first physician to Louis
XIV. — See Bayle's Dictionary.

f Liber insignia tarn quoad res, quam quoad verba, ut
eloquentissimus habeatur, quisquis stylum ejus imitatur.
— Buztorf.

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304 HEBREW POETRY IN 8FAIN.

Ben Salomon Ben Alcophni, more generally
known as Al Chans! (the poet), whom we
may designate as the Horace of that schooL
The exact dates of his birth and death are not
known, but there is no doubt that he belonged
to the thirteenth century. Descended from
poetic ancestors, and, like Maimonides, be^
longing to a part of Spain then subject to the
Mahometans, the Arabs were both his iur
structors and his models. His principal work,
the ^^Tachmonite,'' is not exactly a translation
or imitation of their Hariri, though written in
the style of the Arabian poet. The " Tach-
monite" contains fifty sections, partly prose
and partly verse, in the form of dialogues and
discourses on the most varied subjects. Al
Charisi wrote an interesting history of the art
of poetry in Spain, with talented remarks on
the style and writings of the different poets.
With the opinion he passed on Judah Hallevi,
we are already acquainted. His precepts
of the art of versification are not less worthy
of note. He recommends, in the first place,
purity and severity of diction, not overgrown
with a mixture of strange weeds, for which he
blames the Grecian Jewish poets; regularity
in versification ; unity and utility in the choice
of a subject, and the manner of treating it ;

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HEBREW POETRY IN SPAIN. 805

lastly, clearness of expression, "which is not
to he fonnd among the French Jews, who
need a commentator to explain their works."
He desires the poet " not to puhlish immedi-
ately to the world the finit of his talents, lest
it should prove ahortive;" "neither must he
give all he has to the puhlic, hut only the
best.** Lastly, he must be popular in his
language, and not write only for the learned,
like Rabbi Salomon, who pleases only the
latter, while ordinary readers cannot under-
stand him."

Al Charisi himself has obtained the reputa-
tion of an excellent poet, principally for the
poems inserted in the " Tachmonite ; " among
others, the "dispute between the sword and
the pen." He also practised as a physician ;
and, like others of his countiymen, was a
great traveller.

The poetry of the Jews in the language of
their forefathers had reached its height and
also its decline in Spain by the end of the
thirteenth century. It is true that this study
was not entirely neglected by the Jews of
the Peninsula, even after their expulsion ; but
Hebrew poets of note arose no more among
the Sephardim. It is remarkable, however,
that shortly after the decline of this great

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306 SPANISH POETRY AMONG THE JEWS.

celebrity, poetical talent was revived among
them, though in a lower d^ree of excellence^
and clothed in the ancient language of Gastile^
as early as the middle of the fourteenth cen-
tury. Don Santo de Carrion, a rabbi con-
verted to Christianity, was distinguished as
one of the most famed troubadours of the
age.* Many of his poems and discourses on
religious and moral subjects remain in manu-
script in the library of the Escurial ; among
them are his " Counsels to the King," written
for Don Pedro the Cruel, exhorting him to
follow the example of his father and live a
Christian life. He has given an account of
his conversion, and of his faith in the doctrines
of the Church, in the preface and introduction
to his " Doctrina Christiana."

At the beginning of the fifteenth century,
and in the reign of John II. of Castile, a pas-
sionate admirer of every kind of chivalrous
exercise and of the poetical art, with which
they were so closely connected, Juan Alonzo
de Buena, secretary to that King, dedicated
to him a collection of the songs, poems, and
epigrams of the troubadours, both ancient and
modem, among whom were reckoned Juan
Alonzo himself and his brother, Francisco,

* Rodriques de Castro^ Biblioth. Espag. 198—201.

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SPANISH POETRY AMONG THE JEWS. 807

both Convevsos. In this collection of f he
ancient poetry of Castile there are poems
written by Jews by religion as well as by
birth, one of whom, named Don Moses, was
surgeon to King Henry III.

In later centuries we shall find Spanish
poetry carried to some degree of perfection by
the exiles of the Peninsula at Hamburgh, and
in the Netherlands ; while in Spain and Por-
tngal it was still cultivated by their descend-
ants, either really converted to Christianity
or concealed under its outward profession.
Among these Jewish poets we may name
Doctor Miguel de Silveira, who wrote, in the
seventeenth century, an epic poem on Judas
Maccabeus, in the style of Tasso and Camoens,
The completely Christian style, however^ both
of this and other smaller poems by the same
author, give the impression that he may have
belonged to the nation, but never to the
religion, of the Jews. Duarte Diaz, of Porto,
who lived at Antwerp, in the sixteenth
century, a descendant of the ancient Jewish
family of Aboab, and Antonio Henrico Gomez
in the seventeenth, who showed great poetical
talent both in Spanish and Portuguese, were
professors of Judaism. The latter was, in
France, made a knight of the order of Saint

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808 CONVERTS TO CHEISTIANITY

Michael, and became counsellor to Louis XIV.,
but he afterwards fell into the hands of the
Inquisition in Spain, and seems to have been
condemned to the flames for his Judaism,
The same fate is said to have befallen Antonio
de Sylva, one of the most ancient dramatic
poets of the Peninsula.

The details we have hitherto given concern-
ing the social position of the Jews in the
Peninsula, and their advancement in science,
may have afforded some pleasure to the Chris-
tian who loves Israel for their fathers' sakes,
yet there is a mixture of bitterness in the
thought, that these gifts, these talents, and
these privileges, were enjoyed not only apart
from any faitii in their true Messiah, but even
in opposition to that faith. Their history in
Spain happily offers some far brighter pages.
It is worthy of note, that, while no country in
the world used such violent and tyrannical
measures to bring the Jews over to Christi-
anity, neither did any other produce so many
bright examples of sincere and undoubted
conversion; no country has yet witnessed so
numerous a body of devoted Christian Israel-
ites ! Whatever may have been the cause of
this effect, and whether perhaps in part owing^
to the greater equality of rank, and more fre-

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IN SPAIN. 309

quent intercourse between the members of the
Church and those of the synagogue in Spain,
it is certain that in no other country, either
during the middle ages or even in our own
time, have the words of the apostle (Rom. xi.
6) been so fully realized; in the midst of
Israel's rejection and hardness of heart there
was always ^^ a remnant according to the elec-
tion of grace."

Among the sons of Israel who have con-
fessed the Christian faith in Spain, and fought
the good fight, either in the ranks of the
Church or on the field of theology, one of the
earliest examples is Julian, Bishop of Toledo,
who flourished in the latter part of the seventh
century, while the country was still under the
dominion of the Goths, before the Saracen
invasion.* Great praise is awarded to him by
the historians of that period, especially for his
writings and labours as a bishop. He took part
in the great theological disputes of his time
concerning the twofold will of Christ, a ques-
tion on which this bishop, or rather the

* *^£rat JulianttB eraditionis laade eft setate celebrig,
ut €pu8 libri testantur. Fait ex Judaaorum sanguine prog-
natua, Eagenii terdi disdpulus, Qoirini Toletani Pnesulia
eucceflflor, ingenio fadli, copioso^ soavi, probitatis opinione
singnlari."— Mariana, YL 18.

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310 CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY

Council of Toledo at which he presided, ex*
pressed themselves quite independently of the
Bishop of Rome.* He has left, as the fruit
of his labours, several works ; a book written
against the errors of Judaism, besides commen-
taries, sermons, hymns, and sacred poetry,
with a history of the wars of King Wamba.
The life and praises of Julian were written by
Bishop Telisc, his successor in the see of
Toledo.

Another Christian Israelite, of less elevated
rank in the Church, Alvaras Faulus, of Cor*
dova, flourished in the middle of the ninth
century, and is principally known to us by his
letter to a certain Eleazar, who had passed
from Gentile idolatry to Judaism. When
taking up the defence of the Christian faith,
he confesses at once his own Jewish origin,
and his belief that Messiah was already come,
and then continues : — " Which of us has the
most right to the name of Jew; you, who
have passed from the worship of idols to the
knowledge of one God, — or I, who am an
Israelite both by birth and faith 1 Yet I no
longer call myself a Jew, because that new

* << Nobis (Juliani disputatio) aliquanto liberior visa
est, quatn ut Juliani modestiam erga Bomanam pontificem
summae EcdesisB rectorem, deceret."

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IN SPAIN. 311

name is given to me which the mouth of the
Lord hath named ! Abraham is in truth my
father, but not only because my ancestors pro-
ceed from him. Those who have expected
Messiah should come, but who also receive
him because he is already come, are more
truly Israelites than those who, after long
waiting for him, rejected him when he came,
and yet cease not to expect his coming." ♦

Babbi Samuel Jehudi, of Fez, in Morocco,
affords another instance of sincere conversion
to the Christian faith. An interesting letter
of his remains to us, written originally in
Arabic, and addressed to a Rabbi of the same
country, named Dr. Isaac. This letter, of
which a Latin version, made by the Dominican
Alfonso de Buen Hombre, in 1329, has been
repeatedly published, contains an ample refu-
tation of Jewish objections to the Christian
Ceiith, written in accordance with the views of
that period. A Spanish translation of this
letter still remains in manuscript in the library
of the Escurial. Baptized in Spain soon after
the taking of Toledo -by Alfonso VI., Babbi
Samuel appears to have returned to Morocco,
and there to have held a conference on religion
with a learned Mahomedan, of which his ac*
* Nic Antonio^ Bib. Vet Hisp. vi. 8.

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312 CONVERTS TO CHRISTIANITY

count, still in manuscript, is also to be found
in the library of the Escurial.*

To the eleventh century also belongs^ the
birth of another Christian Israelite, who was
afterwards distinguished for the testimony he
bore to the truth and power of the Gospel.
Sabbi Moses, of Huesca, in Arragon, was bom
in the year 1062, and baptized in the year
1106, King Alphonso I. standing as his
sponsor, after whom and his brother and pre*
decessor he was named, Pedro Alphonso. He
afterwards wrote a defence of Christianity and
a refutation of Jewish incredulity, in the form
of a dialogue between Moses and Pedro
Alphonso; this work is spoken of in high
terms, and has since been of great use in
Spain. We have also by him a ^* Disciplina
Clericalis," under the title of " Proverbs," in
which he seems to have borrowed from the
Arabic writers, especially the tales and fables
of Pilpay.

Another learned and distinguished Israelite
who received the Christian faith and made
known in his writings the ground of his belief,
was Babbi Abner, the physician, in the early
part of the fourteenth century. While yet in
communion with the synagogue, he wrote an
* Nic Antonio, yii. 1.

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IN SPAIN. 313

explanation of Aben Ezra's treatise on the
Ten Commandments. When converted to the
Christian faith, he wrote a refutation of
Kimchi's work against Christianity, known
by the same title, " the Wars of the Lord."
At the request of the Infanta Blanca, abbess
of the Convent of Las Huelgas, at Burgos, he
translated the work into Spanish. As a
Christian, he is known by the name of
Alphonso of Burgos, his native, city, or of
Valladolid, where, until his death, in 1346,
he filled the post of sacristan to the Cathe-
dral.*

Among the Jewish conversions recorded in
the history of Spain, none are more worthy
of interest than that of Babbi Salomon Levi,
of Burgos, in the latter part of the fourteenth
century. It is the more remarkable, because

* Between Pedro Alphonso and Alphonso of Valla-
dolid we might insert Petrus Julianus, surnamed the
Spaniard, if we could be quite certain that he was reallj
a Jew by birth or descent, of which, however, 1 only
find mention made by one authority. This learned man
first practised as a physician, then became Archbishop of
Braga, and finally Pope, under the name of John XXT. .
This Pope is known to have written several works on
medicine. His reputation has been tarnished by the
ill-will of the monkish orders, to whom he did not show
much JEtvour.

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314 PAUL OF BUBGOS AND HIS SONS.

the blessing of his conversion seems to have
rested upon his descendants for many genera-
tions. The Babbi we have just mentioned,
of the tribe of Levi, as his name, which was
that of the whole family, denotes, was, until
his fortieth year, a teacher among the Jews,
eminent alike for his birth and learning. At
that age he became acquainted with the writ-
ings of Thomas Aquinas, whose treatise ^' De
Legibus" made so deep an impression upon
his mind that his national prejudices against
Christianity fell to the ground, and he was
enlightened by that Spirit from above which
brought life and salvation to his soul. In the
year 1392 he received Christian baptism,
together with his four sons, then young chil-
dren, but who all, in after-life, inherited their
father's high character and great celebrity.
His wife was already dead, but his mother and
his brothers followed his example, by making
public confession of their faith in the Savi-
our.* From that moment, he devoted himself
as assiduously to the study of Christian theo-
logy as he had before done to that of the

* From that time he bore the name of Paul, with the
appellatioDS of Santa Maria^ in honour of the Yii^ ; of
Burgos, after his native citj ; and of Carthagena, his
first bishopric.

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PAUL OF BURGOS AND HtS SONS. 815

Jews. He obtained the degree of Doctor of
Divinity at Paris, and preached at Avignon,
to a very numerous audience, in the presence
of Peter de Luna, afterwards Benedict XIII.,
then one of the candidates for the Papacy.
He was made Archdeacon of Burgos, Bishop
of Carthagena, and lastly Bishop of Burgos, a
dignity to which his son succeeded during his
father's lifetime. While he was yet Bishop
of Carthagena, his extraordinary talents, ex-
tensive knowledge, and excellent judgment in
matters of state completely gained the con-
fidence of King Henry III., the Invalid. This
King, who died young, appointed him by will
to the office of High Chancellor, after the
death of Don Pedro Lopes de Ayala, and
entrusted to him the education of his son and
successor, John II. Some time after the
in&nt Ferdinand, uncle and guardian to the
young king, being called to the throne of
Arragon, before his departure appointed the
Bishop of Burgos a member of the Council
of Regency. He remained in the service of
King John till the time of his death, in 1435,
filling the same situation to which he had
been appointed by King Henry.

All Spanish historians and chroniclers are
p 2

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316 PAUL OF BURGOS AND HIS SONS.

unanimous in their praises of this descendant
of the house of Israel, both as a bishop and
statesman. They generally style him the
excellent, — " el varon excellente," and speak
of him ^^ as a man able to govern his tongue,
and in all ways well calculated to guide and
advise kings." * Yet the cares of state never
diminished his zeal, either for the duties of
his pastoral office, or for that study of Holy
Scripture, which had ever been the very life
of his soul. His pastoral labours only ended
with his life, for he was taken with the illness
of which he died, in his eighty-third year, in
a journey he made to visit the different
churches of his diocese, though the bishopric
itself had already passed to his son, Alphonso.
His indefatigable activity as a student and
expounder of Scripture is attested by his
writings, of which two in particular deserve
our notice; his '^Additions to the FostiUs
of Nicholas de Lyra," f and his " Scrutinium

* The noble kniglit and writer, Heman Perez de One-
man, thus makes mention of him in his ** Generaciones de
los excelentes Bejes de Espana."

f The value of these additions is defended against the
Franciscan Monk, Doring, by Richard Simon in his
Historia Critica Vet. Test, III. 11.

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PAUL OF BURGOS AND HIS SONS. 317

Scripturarum." The latter is of the latest
date, and contains, in the form of a dialogue
between Paul and Saul, a refutation of Jewish
objections to the Christian faith.

The introduction, in which the venerable
Bishop dedicates his work on the whole Bible,
then completed, to his son, Don Alphonso of
Garthagena, at that time Archdeacon of Com-
postella, will afford us, in his own words, a
better insight into his character and private
feelings, than any account written by another.
He thus writes: "What would you most
wish, my dearly beloved son, that I should
give you whilst I am alive, or leave as a legacy
to you at my death \ What could be better,
than to add to the knowledge you already
possess of Holy Scripture, which will
strengthen your feet in the path of a well-
directed zeal for Christian truth? It is this
which I bear in my heart, of which I make
confession with my lips, and concerning which
I understand the words of the prophet: * The
father shall teach his children thy truth.'
(Isa. xxxviii. 19.)

" I was not myself thus taught in the days
of my youth, but was brought up in Jewish
blindness and incredulity; while learning
Holy Scripture from unsanctified teachers, I

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818 PAUL OF BURGOS AND HIS SONS.

received erroneous opinions from erring meir,
who cloud the pure letter of Scripture by
impure inventions, as such teachers have been
wont to do. But when it pleased Him whose
mercies are infinite, to call me from darkness
to light, and from the depth of the pit to the
open air of heaven, the scales seemed as it
were to fall from the eyes of my understanding,
and I began to read Holy Scripture with my
mind in part released from the bonds of pre-
judice and unbelief. I began to seek for
truth, no longer trusting to the power of my
own intellect, but with a humbled spirit, pray*
ing to God from the heart to make known to
me what might be for the salvation of my
soul. Day and night I sought help from
Him, and thus it came to pass that my love
for the Christian faith so much increased,
that at length I was able openly to confess the
belief which my heart had already received.
Having then attained the age at which you
now are, my son, I received the sacrament
of Baptism, and was sprinkled with the holy
water of the Church, receiving, at the same
time, the name of Paul. You, my dear son,
were then in the innocence of childhood, and
received this purification at that tender age,
while yet unsullied with the sins of riper

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PAUL OF BUBOOS AND HIS SONS. 319

years. You were baptized by the name of
Alphonso before you could say your letters !

" Afterwards, as time passed on, I devoted
myself yet more to the study of Holy Scrip-
ture, reading both the Testaments, hearing
the words of living teachers, and consulting
the writings of holy men, our predecessors ;
thus I, who was formerly a teacher of error,
am become, by the grace of God, a learner of
the truth, and have continued so to the great
age I have now attained. I can say in truth
that amid the pressure of worldly business,
and the cares of my bishopric, which have
occupied much of my time, there is no con-
solation to be compared to that I have found
in the contemplation of the Eternal God by
the study of his holy and spotless Word.

" I have also enjoyed what the world calls
prosperity. In my utter unworthiness, God
has raised me to high honours in his Church.
Called first to the Bishopric of Carthagena,
then raised to that of Burgos, I have been, so
to speak, gifted with the choicest portions in
the Church of God. To these have been also
added other temporal advantages. With
King Henry III., of glorious memory, and
with his illustrious son, our present monarch,
I have been on terms of familiar intercourse

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820 PAUL OF BURGOS AND HIS SONS.

whUe holding the office of Chancellor. How
the goodness of God has also been manifest in
his dealings with you and your elder brother,
I need not recal to you. One circumstance,
however, I cannot pass over in silence, — ^ihat
to us, the descendants of Levi, have been ful-
filled the promises written so many hundred
years ago : * Wherefore there shall not be for
the Levite a portion or inheritance among his
brethren ; the Lord himself is his inheritance,
as the Lord thy God hath said to him."
(Deut X. 9.) Truly God himself is our in-
heritance ! Christ is our portion ! who has said
of old time, that he would cleanse the sons
of Levi and purify them, and they shall be
the Lord's, to present an offering in righte-
ousness. He now allows us to present this
offering, which he vnH not only look upon,
but accept at our hands. It is not without
a purpose that I have thus related to you the
experience of my past life. It is useful and
necessary you should know all the mercies of
my God towards me, and a true and sincere
memorial of them cannot be taxed with pride.
To you, in particular, I address these recollec-
tions, that what you have not seen with your
eyes may yet be engraven on your memory as
coming from the lips of your father, that in

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PAUL OF BURQOS AND HIS SONS. 321

3rour turn you may tell to those who are
younger than you, and they to their descend-
ants, not to forget the works of the Lord, nor
cease fix>m the study of his holy Word."

After giving some further explanation of
the nature and use of the Fostills of Lyra, and
his own additions to the work, he concludes
his introduction with these words : ^* This, my
dearly heloved son, is my testament to you,
and let it also be your inheritance that the
law of the Lord may be your delight, and that
you may meditate day and night on his Word.
This meditation will become more pleasant
and delightful to you by reading such works.
Accept, then, your father *s gift, offered with
a father's tenderness and joy. And now it is
enough. Having asked help of Almighty
God, from whom, and in whom alone, is all
wisdom, and having committed the work to
him with humble prayer, let us lay our hand
to the plough."

The other work of the Bishop of Burgos,
entitled " Examination of the Scriptures," is
less extensive in compass, but equally in-
teresting. He continued to labour at it in
his old age, and had the satisfaction of finish-
ing it a little before his death. We cannot
here admit quotations from this work, chiefly
p 3

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822 PAUL OF BURGOS AND HIS SOKS.

intended to bring conviction to his former
coreligionists, and for that purpose filled with
striking passages in support of the Christian
faith, quoted from rabbinical writers, giving
their views of the person, the distinguishing
characteristics, and the promised kingdom of
the Messiah. He also expresses, very clearly,
his own views concerning the future restora*
tion of Israel, taken from the Prophecies, an
expectation which has never been quite lost
sight of in the Romish Church. " As for the
remnant of Israel," he says, ^^ which shall
remain at the coming of Christ, we firmly
believe that when the delusion of Antichrist
has been made manifest, they will turn in
truth to the Messiah, and for his sake endure
much persecution, continuing to the end sted-
fast in the faith. This is what was written
by the apostle in Romans xi.: ^All Israel
shall be saved ; ' and by the Prophet Hosea :
^ The children of Israel shall abide many days
without king, and without prince, and without
sacrifice, and without statute, and without
ephod or teraphim. After which the children
of Israel shall be converted and seek the Lord
their God and David their king ; ' or, as the
Chaldee paraphrase expresses it, 'And they
shall obey Messiah the son of David, their

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PAUL OF BURGOS AND HIS SONS. 323

king.' Thus at last shall the whole oation of
Israel be brought to the faith in Christ."

The four sons of Paul of Burgos, bom
before his baptism and ordination, each in-
herited a share of their father's celebrity and
high character. They are known in the
history of the kingdoms of Spain by the names
of Don Alphonso de Garthagena, Don Gonzalo
de Santa Maria, Alvar Garcia de Santa Maria,
and Pedro de Carthagena.

Don Alphonso was for many years Arch-
deacon of Compostella, and being equally dis-
tinguished as a statesman and pastor, he was
afterwards made Bishop of Burgos, in the room
of his father. He took his seat at the Council
of Basle, in 1431, as a representative of Castile,
and was treated with high honour, on account
of his great talents and distinguished ex-
cellence. jEneas Sylvius, afterwards Pope
Pius II., called him in his memoirs, ''an
ornament to the Prelacy." Pope Eugenius IV.,
learning that the Bishop of Burgos was about
to visit Rome, declared in ftiU conclave "that
in presence of such a man he felt ashamed
to be seated in Peter's chair." Spanish
historians unanimously agree in representing
the son as a worthy representative of his
excellent father. He is also known to pos-

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324 PAUL OF BUROOS AND HIS SONS.

terity by his writings, some of which have
been published, while some are said still to
remain in manuscript in the Chapel of Bui^s,
where he was buried. Those which have seen
the light may by their titles give some idea of
the bent of his studies, and the variety of
knowledge which he attained. They are, — "A
Chronicle of the Kings of Spain ; " a treatise
of Christian morality, entitled " Instruction for
Knights, and Memorials of Virtue," written
both in Latin and Spanish, and dedicated to
Prince Edward, afterwards King of Portugal ;
'^ Juridical Memoirs on the right of the
Kings of Castile to the Canary Islands ; *'
translations into Spanish of some books of
Seneca and Cicero; translations from the
Arabic ; a Commentary on the 26th Psalm ;
and a Homily on Prayer, in reply to a letter
on that subject addressed to him by the noble
and Christian knight, Heman Perez de
Guzman, an intimate friend of the venerable
Bishop, whom he loved as a father, and at
whose death, in 1456, he expressed his grief in
some stanzas full of feeling and poetry.

Don Gonzalo de Santa Maria also rose to
distinction in the Church. He was deputed
from Arragon to the Council of Constance in
1416; was made Bishop of Plaoentia, and

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PAUL OF BUaOOS AND HIS SONS. 325

after^vards of Siguenza, which dignity he held
till his death, in 1448. He was distinguished,
like his brother, for his talents and piety.

The third brother, Alvar de Santa Maria,
has become very generally known by his his-
torical writings. He was first secretary to the
young King of Castile, John II., but after-
wards left him to accompany his uncle, Don
Ferdinand, when called to the throne of
Arragon, where he continued high in the
favour of that excellent monarch. He wrote
the '* Chronicles of John II., to the year
1420," a work which was afterwards continued
by Juan de Menia, and ended by the knight
Perez de Guzman.

Until near the close of the eighteenth
century, the family of the excellent Bishop of
Burgos still preserved in Spain the rank and
high esteem which their ancestors formerly
obtained. The family was perpetuated by the
descendants of the fourth son, many of whom
intermarried with nobility of high rank
in the country. Pedro de Carthagena dis-
tinguished himself as a knight and warrior.
While a member of the municipality of Burgos,
he had more than once the honour of enter-
taining royal guests in his magnificent abode,
especially the Infanta Dona Blanca, of Arragon,

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326 PAUL OF BURGOS AND HI8 SONS.

on her marriage with the heir of Castile, after-
wards Henry IV. In the chronicles of John
II. he is first mentioned on the occasion of
a tonmament, held in presence of the King, at
which he gained the prize, in jonsting with the
most celebrated knights of the day. He is
mentioned afterwards among the valorous
knights who distinguished themselves at the
battle of Granada, 1431, under the command
of the Count de Haro.* A son of Pedro of
Carthagena, named Alvar, after his uncle, was,
like his &ther, a valiant warrior. He lost his
life in one of the numerous civil wars, caused
by the dissensions of the nobles during the
turbulent reign of Henry IV. The Cartha-
genas were then taking the part of the Ve«
lascos. Counts of Haro, their ancient allies,
against the Manricos, Counts of Trevino.f

When Rabbi Salomon, afterwards Bishop
Paul of Burgos, hadembracedand waspreaching
the Christian faith in Spain, one of his former
coreligionists. Rabbi Joshua de Lorca, in
Mercia, took pen in hand to oppose his views.
But soon this zealous enemy of the Gospel be-

* Cronica del Rey Don Juan el S^undo. (Pampeluna,
1590.) Anno xxv. cap. 48, &c

f Cronica del Rey Enrique el Quarto por su Capellan
y Cronista Diego Enriques del Castillo. Cap. 151.

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DB. JEROME OF SANTA FE, ETC. 327

came himself an ardent confessor of the truth,
according to the measure of light enjoyed hy
the Church in Spain. Eabhi Joshua, who at
his baptism took the name of Jerome of Santa
F^, failed not to declare openly the reason
which had given rise to this change in his
religious opinions, by publishing two ^^ Tracts
against the Jews/'*

The publication of this controversy was
partly called forth by an event of some con*
sequence in the history of the respective re-
lations of the Jews and Christians in the
Peninsula. I mean the celebrated conference
between Jewish and Christian theologians, held
in the years 1413-14, in the city of Tortosa,
in Arragon. The conference was proposed
and the assembly convened by Pope Benedict
XIII., at the instigation of the converted Tal-
mudist, Dr. Jerome of Santa F6, who, after
his baptism, entered the service of the Pope,
being appointed his physician. Both Jewish
and Christian historians give a detailed account
of this conference ; and, though it is natural
they should differ in their views of the subject
discussed, as well as in the result of the dispu-

* To be met with in the '^ Bibliotheca Magna
Veterom Patrum," and " Antiqa. Scriptorum."

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828 THE CONFERENCE AT TORTOSA.

tation, they agree very nearly in asserting the
following particulars ;♦ —

The Congress was opened by the Pope
in person, attended by the Cardinals and
clergy of all ranks, and remained sitting there
for more than twenty-one months. In this
lime they held sixty-nine meetings, during
which both sides joined in discussing the great
question, ^^Is Jesus, called of Nazareth, who was
bom at Bethlehem in the latter days of King
Herod, forty years before the destruction of
the second temple, who was crucified, and
died at Jerusalem, really the true Messiah,
foretold by the prophets of the Old Testa-
ment?"

The discussion was carried on by arguments
drawn from Scripture, as well as from the
Paraphrases and Commentaries of the Jews.
On the Christian side, there was with the
Doctor of Santa Fe, who opened the Assembly

* We find the account given by the Christians of this
meeting in Zurita's ^^Anales de Aragon," torn. iii. foL
108, 109 ; in Rodrigues de Castro's '' Bibliotheca Rab-
binica," i. pp. 203 — 227. The Jewish accounts were
chiefly written by Rabbi Salomon Ben Verga, in his
" Sceptrum Judee." A narrative of the whole by Dr.
Jerome of Santa Fk is said to have remained in MS. in
the library of the Escurial.

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THE CONFERENCE AT TORTOSA. 329

with a speech, and subsequently took an active
part in the discussion, another converted Jewish
teacher, well skilled in Hebrew and Chaldee,
named Andreas Beltran, a native of Valencia,
at that time Almoner to the Pope, and after-
wards made Bishop of Barcelona. Among a
numerous body of clergy was Garcia Alvares
de Alarcon, especially famed for his knowledge
of the Hebrew language and theology. On
the Jewish side were Babbi Zarachia the
Levite, Don Todros de Huesca, Don Joseph
Ben Addereth, Don Istroc, or Astruc, the
Levite, Rabbi Moses Ben Mosa, Rabbi Joseph
Albo, Rabbi Ferrer, and Don Vidal Ben-
venista, who was the principal champion of his
party, as Dr. Jerome was on the Christian
side. The result of this conference is passed
over by Jewish historians with remarkable
silence. According to the Christians, all the
Rabbins declared themselves vanquished, and
signed an act to that effect, with the exception
of Rabbi Albo and Rabbi Ferrer.

In consequence of this decisive victory, a
vast multitude of Israelites were added to the
Church, which they entered by families and
by synagogues. But the glory of this event
was tarnished by the intolerant and harsh
edicts which the Church of Rome thought fit

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330 THB CONFEBENCE AT T0RT08A.

to pronounce against those Jews who could not
be brought by persuasion to embrace the
Christian faith or to adopt its forms.

It was not to the conference of Jewish and
Christian theologians at Tortosa allone that
Castile and Arragon were indebted £ot so
great a number of converts, many of whom
sincerely received the Christian faith, while all
professed obedience to the Church of Eome.

Some years before, the exemplary zeal of a
Dominican monk had led him to preach the Gos-
pel in Spain, both to the Jews and Mahometans ;
and the Word of God, declared in the midst
of the synagogue and among the people, with-
out threats of fire or sword, had been crowned
with incredible success. To the devoted piety
and great talents of Vincent Ferrar testi-
mony is borne, alike by Protestant writers*
and those of the Komish Church ; the success
that attended his efforts was equal to the zeal
he evinced while visiting the Churches of
England, Ireland, France, and Italy. It is
said that in Spain eight thousand Mahometans,
and more than thirty thousand Jews were
brought, by his preaching, to the knowledge

* Milner's "ffistory of the Church of Christ.*'
Cent. XV. ch. 4.

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NUMEROUS CONVERSIONS, ETC. 331

of the truth, an event celebrated in history as
a cause of national rejoicing.*

It may well be imagined that all these cour
versions were not well grounded and sincere. On
the contrary, a marked and abiding difference
became afterwards more and more manifest be-
tween the Converses for many generations. We
may divide the baptized Jews' and their de-
scendants into three classes. 1st. Those who
in truth, and with all their heart, received the
Christian faith, or, brought up in that religion
by parents of Jewish origin, ended by be-
coming really attached to it. 2dly. Those
who from purely worldly motives, and without
sincere love for either faith, made use of any
occasion that presented itself to escape from
the oppressed condition of the Jew, and enter
the brilliant career opened to them by a pro-
fession in conformity with the doctrines of the
reigning Church. 3dly. Those who, under com-
pulsion of persecution, or on the impulse of the
moment, made a profession of Christianity, while
they practised in secret the rites of Judaism, and
handed down its tenets to their posterity.

* la un& Hispanic Maurorum octo millia, JudiBorum
triginta quinque millia nomina Chrbto dederunt : ac
pnesertim Palentis in Yaccaeis multo maxima Judseonim
pars Christiana sacra suscepit, Sanctro Rogio ejus urbis
EpisoopaPublicaexiis rebus Itetitia, etc. — Mariana, xix. 13.

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332 NUMEROUS CONVERSIONS, ETC.

Whatever may have been the cause, from
that time the Christian population of Spain,
especially of the upper classes, was swelled by
a great influx of Jewish families and their
descendants, — a remarkable event, the conse-
quences of which have since been apparent in
many ways, and have continued so, even to our
time, in that country. We shall soon have
occasion to take a dark and distressing view of
this fact, but we have first a few words more
to say upon the brighter side.

There is no doubt but that these forced and
feigned conversions, as well as the worldly
conduct of many who had willingly embraced
Christianity, became, both to the Jews them-
selves, and to a large portion of the Spanish
population, a source of great and increasing
misery. And yet we must not on that account
close our eyes to the excellence of other con-
versions; I mean of those whose sincerity
furnished to Spain, even after the establish-
ment of the Inquisition, many interesting and
bright examples, both in the offices of Church
and State.

Paul of Burgos and his sons are not by any
means the only sons of Israel whose services,
talents, and virtue, adorn the annals of Spain.
We shall notice in later times some dis-
tinguished statesmen of Jewish birth who have

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DISTINGUISHED PRELATES, ETC. 333

obtained high &me in their own countiy, and
been the founders of some of the most illustri-
ous Christian families in the Peninsula.

In the annals of the fifteenth and the early
part of the sixteenth century many Converses
and their descendants are named as having
distinguished themselves by their excellence
among the different ranks and degrees of the
clergy. None are more highly spoken of than
the Cardinal Don Juan de Torquemada* and
the Dean of Toledo, Don Francisco, afterwards
Bishop of Coria, who were looked upon as the
ornaments of their country and century. Both
were Castilians by birth, — one from Burgos,
the other from Toledo; both were high in
esteem at Home, and valued by their own
sovereigns, who employed them in various im-
portant embassies, and appointed them to
posts of responsibility, both in the Church and
State ; both, also, but especially Torquemada,
were the authors of different works on subjects
of general interest, and also on theology. They
were equally remarkable for the purity of their
life and conduct, their zeal in the duties of
their ofBlce, and for a fear of God in the heart,

* This Cardinal Torquemada must not be confounded
with the famous Dominican, Don Thomas de Torquemada,
so well known as the first Inquisitor-General in Spain.

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334 DISTINGUISHED PRELATES

which led to the observance of all his com-
mandments in their relations with men. Lastly,
both exerted themselves in the cause of their
Israelitish brethren converted to the faith,
against the injustice of the clergy and the
prejudices of the multitude, who sought to
exclude them from any participation in the
dignities of the Church or State.

All the really pious and enlightened clergy
sided with these two excellent Israelites in
repressing every manifestation of ill-will
against the Jews and Converses. Among
them was Alonzo de Oropessa, the celebrated
Superior of the Hieronymites, an upright,
moderate man, who sought to guard by
severity against feigned conversions, while he
upheld with kindness and impartiality the
cause of true converts to Christianity, by
screening them from persecution and unjust
exclusion.

In the footsteps of Torquemada and his
cotemporaries followed other bishops and pre-
lates of the same descent We may mention
the names of Don Alonso de Valladolid, and
Don Alonso de Palenzuela, both in turn
Bishops of Ciudad Rodrigo, vrith another
pious and eminent prelate of his time, Don
Juan Ortega, of Malvenda, Bishop of Coria,

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OF JEWISH ORIGIN. 335

and a near relation of Paul of Burgos, of
whom is related in the chronicles of Ferdinand
and Isabella,* that be was almost compelled
by force to accept this dignity, in 1482, — so far
was he from seeking anything beyond a life of
tranquil and unnoticed piety.

Many converted Jews or their descendants
are mentioned in the same century as zealous
reformers of the religious orders, especially
Malvenda, who belonged to one of them
before he was raised to the Episcopate.

There were, however, some sad exceptions
to the remarks we have just made. Bishops
and other members of the clergy of Jewish
birth and descent having undoubtedly intro-
duced dangerous errors, and held in secret
pernicious heresies.

One grievous and remarkable instance is
brought before us in a trial by the Ecclesi-
astical Court, of which we will give a brief
sketch. Gonzalvo Alonso, a Jew, baptized in
consequence of the preaching of Vincent
Ferrar, was promoted to high dignity in the
Church, as well as his two sons, one of whom,
Don Alonzo, was made Archbishop of Mon-
treal, in Sicily; the other, Don Pedro de

* Hernando des Falgar, Cronica de los Senores Cato-
lioos Don Fernando j Dona IsabdL

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336 PRELATES OF JEWISH ORIGIN.

Aranda, Bishop of Calahorra ; the latter was
also named President of the Council of Castile,
in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella (1482),
on account of his great political and legisla-
tive talents. Ten years afterwards, he was
engaged by the Inquisition in a double suit:
first, on account of his father, whom that
tribunal declared to have returned in secret
to Judaism, and whose property it therefore
laid claim to, according to existing regulations.
The other suit related to the Bishop himself
who was accused of perverting the Christian
religion by errors inclining towards Judaism,
to introduce which he had employed all kinds
of machinations, and even called Councils in
his own diocese. He appealed to the Pope,
and went in person to Rome, where he met
with a most favourable reception. He cleared
the memory of his father from the accusations
of the Inquisition, and was appointed Major-
domo to Pope Alexander YI., who sent him
as his ambassador to the Republic of Venice.
When, however, the trial for heresy, of which
he had been accused^ was put by the Pope
into the hands of a Committee of Ecclesiastics,
the result, after the examination of a hundred
and one witnesses cited by the Bishop, was,
his condemnation to perpetual imprisonment

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PRELATES OF JEWISH EXTRACTION. 337

in the Castle of St Angelo, where he soon
after died. Though liorente* tries to defend
him, yet his admissions, with other details
from Mariana and Zurita, tend to prove that
the Bishop of Calahorra was in truth a con*
cealed Jew.

The immense accession of converts and their
descendants, allied to the old Christians by
the ties of marriage and relationship, excited
fresh movements and disturbances among the
people, especially the lower classes. The
riches and privileges of the Jews, when bap.
tized, were not less intolerable than those of
unbaptized Jews in the eyes of a multitude
who looked upon the greater number of the
Converses — often, alas I with truth — as unbe*
lievers, who aggravated the crime of their
enmity to Christians and Christianity by the
added guilt of dissimulation. Thence arose
seditions, pillage, and reciprocal murders, not
only between Jew and Christian, but hence-
forth between Jew and Christian and Con-
versos. Thence sprung associations of a
religious nature in the midst of the political
Actions which already distracted the feeble
and unhappy reign of Henry lY., of Castile
(1454—1474). All these together seemed
« Histoiie de lOnqiiisitioc, i., 267r*269r
Q

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338 BEIGN OF FERDINAND

ready to plunge the kingdom into a 6tiU
deeper chaos of disorder, — when all at once
the succession of Isabella, the sister of Heiury,
to the throne, gave to Castile fresh life and
vigour.

It was a striking manifestation of God's
providence which, just as the Castiliau mon-
archy was sinking into a state of irretrievable
anarchy, raised up the high-souled woman
to whom the whole monarchy of Spain owes
its greatest period of splendour. Almost
against his wiU, but guided by his ppwerful
favourite, Don Alvar de Luna, King John II.
had contracted a second marriage with the
Infanta Isabella, daughter of the Grand
Master, Don John of Portugal, one of the
sons of John I., of that country. This mar-
riage soon proved fatal in its eflfects to Don
Alvar, who had recommended it ; for, having
excited the displeasure of the new Queen, he
fell into disgrace with the King, and ended
his days on the scaffold. By this second mar«
riage King John II. had two children, aa
in&nt named Alfonso, born 1451, and an in-
&nta, afterwards the celebrated Queen Isabella.,

The childhood and youth of the futuxe
Queen were spent in neglect and retirement.
King !Qexiry necessarily looked with suspicioxi

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AND ISABELLA. 339

upon the o&pring of his fiither's second mar-
riage,— a feeling increased by the numerous
outbreaks and disturbances raised by those
who were discontented with his government
A powerful party among the nobility placed
the young Alfonso at their head, and pro*
claimed his title to the throne; they were,
however, completely defeated, near Olmeda,
in 1466, when he lost the throne he had
usurped, and, soon after, his life (1468). His
party then offered the succession to his sister^
the young Isabella, but in vain. Yet her
refusal gained her no fstvour with her royal
brother. On the contrary, the distance be-
tween them was increased, when, in 1469, the
In&nta made her choice among the princes
who sought her hand, and married her cousin^
Don Ferdinand, son and heir of John 11., ot
Arragon, against the will of the King. New
parties were still formed in Castile to dispute
the succession to the throne. In the differ*
ences that then arose between the partisans of
the daughter of Henry lY., Dona Johanna,
and those of the King's sister, Isabella, the
great majority of the nobles and of the people
declared themselves in favour of the couple
already esteemed and loved by all, whq have
since gained so great a name in history undet;
Q 2 '

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340 REIQN OF FERDINAND

the title of '* Reyes Catolicos," the Catholic
sovereigns.

Their accession to the throne at the death
of Henry IV«, in 1474, was the commence-
ment of a long course of prosperity for their
country. King Alphonso V., of Portugal,
who had declared himself the champion of
Dona Johanna, that he might secure the
crown to himself by a marriage with that
princess, lost, after the battle of Tore, all
hopes of effecting this scheme, and was com-
pelled to sign a treaty of peace, confirming
Isabella's right to the throne which she then
occupied. Castile was soon fortified and ren-
dered formidable to her enemies, both within
and without the Peninsula, by the success of
her arms. Her inward power was also greatiy
increased by tne wisdom of a Government
which could appreciate, encourage, and ap-
propriate, all the available resources of the
country, both iu material riches, and in moral
and intellectual greatness.

Beciprocal strength and advantage accrued
to CastUe and Arragon from the union of the
two crowns under such eminent princes as
Ferdinand and Isabella.. The interior govern-
ment throughout their dominions was soon
simplified and upheld by a rare admixture of

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AND ISABELLA. 341

mildness and decision. The nobility, whose
chivalrous bearing was more than ever re*
spected, and incited to great and noble deeds,
were thus rendered incapable of injuring the
Royal power. They were thus also prevented
from mutually destroying and weakening one
another, as they had done during the innumer*
able feuds which arose between the great
families of the kingdom before the accession
of Isabella, and which had almost unpeopled
Castile and Andalusia. The great men who
flourished in this the golden age of Spain,
found in fidelity and devotion to their King
and Queen a common rallying point against
enemies from abroad, and the unbelieving
Moslem within the Peninsula. No names in
the whole history of Spain are more illustrious
than those whose renown formed, as it were,
part of the government of Ferdinand and
Isabella ; as, for instance, that of the great
captain and conqueror of the Moors in Spain
and the French in Italy, Gonzalvo Fernandez,
of Cordova, with others of the illustrious
families of the Guzmans, anciently of Gothic
origin ; — the Toledos, dukes of Alva, sprung
from a royal stock among the Arabs ; — the
Arias, of Avila, of Israelitish descent;* and
♦ Diego Arias, Treasurer and Secretary to Henry IV.

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842 REION OF FERDINAND

the Henricos and Arragons, princes of the
same blood as their sover^gns. Among the
illustrious personages who surrounded the
throne, distinguished alike by noble birth and
high personal merit, we find six sons of Don
Inigo Lopes de Mendoza, Marquis of Santil-
lane, equally renowned in his day as a warrior
and a man of letters. One of his sons, Don
Pedro Gbnsales de Mendoza, was Archbishop
of Toledo, often called the " Great Cardmal,"
and sometimes, on account of his political
wisdom and powerful influence in the affairs
of state under Ferdinand and Isabella, ^^ the
third sovereign of Castile." He was suc-
ceeded in the Archbishopric, as well as in the
confidence of the King, by Cardinal Ximenes,
so well known in history for his vigorous
regency of Castile during the minority of

was one of those Jews who, in the coarse of the fifteenth
century, asked for, and received, haptism hj hundreds.
One of his sons, made Bishop of Segovia, was more
inclined to act as a turbulent statesman and soldier, than
as a virtuous prelate. When troubled by the Inquisition,
he escaped all persecution bj an appeal to Borne, where
he ended his days. From a brother of this Bishop,
Pedro Arias d'Avila, and his two sons, Pedro and Juan,
descended a family, who, as well as the three we have
named, were, from father to son, distinguished for their
warlike and heroic exploits.

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AND ISABELLA. 343

Charles V. He was, like his predecessor,
Mendoza, a man of extraordinary talents, pos*
sessing, perhaps, greater power and strength
of mind, hut less of generosity and open-
heartedhess.

The wise government of the Catholic so-
vereigns enabled them to show honour to, and
at the same time keep in subjection, all the
distinguished characters among the chief
nobility and high dignitaries of the Church*
But the influence of the same government was
not less salutary in its effects on the middle
classes and the people in general. Measures
Vrere taken to protect and encourage industry
and commerce. Learning and science was
more than ever esteemed and cultivated.
Taking example from the Queen, who both
iread and wrote in Latin, many of the chief
nobility applied themselves to the study of the
classics. A son of the Duke of Alva gave
lectures on Greek at the academy of Sala-
manca ; and a son of the Count de Far6des
did the same at Alcala of Henarez. Don
Ferdinand de Velasco explained Pliny and
Ovid; Dona Lucia de Medram became an
instructress in classical literature; while the
Marquis of Den^a, even in his sixtieth year,
became a learner.

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344 REION OF FERDINAND AND ISABELLA.

For Europe, as well as for the whole of
Christendom, a new epoch was then ahout to
commence. The art of printing had been
invented,* and its power had spread far and
wide; the Reformation was on the point of
dawning, and the taking of Constantinople by
the Turks in 1453 became, under God's
guidance, a means of spreading fresh light
over Christendom. Spain, under the dominion
of Ferdinand and Isabella, was in the foremost
rank of civilization and advancement among
the European powers. To that country the
world was soon after indebted for three of the
striking events which mark the close of the
Middle Ages. The discovery of a new way to
the East Indies, first attempted by Vasco de
6ama, — the conquest of Granada, and final
destruction of Mahomedan power in Spain by
Ferdinand and Isabella, — and the discovery of

* One of the most important productions of the press in
the beginning of the sixteenth century was the Complu*
tensian Poljglott, printed at the expense and under the
superintendence of Cardinal Ximenes at Alcala of
Henarez. For the Hebrew text of this edition we are
indebted to three learned Jews, who had in their earlj
jouth received Christian baptism. Their names were,
Paul Coronel, Alfonso of Zamora, and Alfonso of
Alcala.

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CHARACTER OF QUEEN ISABELLA. 345

America by Christopher C!olumbus, 'in their
service.

Of all the noble deeds, great undertakings,
and astonishing discoveries which laid the
foundation of the powerful Austro-Spanish
empire, Isabella, rather than Ferdinand, was
the soul. The King at her side, guided by the
lofty genius of the Queen, was by no means so
devoid of talents as some historians have
represented. What he was when left to him-
self, without his high-souled wife, is manifest
in his acts and his whole life after her decease^
Both the power and brilliancy of their reign
was, without doubt, owing to Isabella. History
has long ago recognised and paid homage to
the excellence of her character : but until the
present century, when the position of Spain
under the Catholic sovereigns* has been so
prominently brought forward, full justice had
not been done to her. Beloved and looked up
to by all, the powerful influence of her noble
mind and energetic example acted with a
vivifying force upon the nation, the army,
and the whole court, as well as upon the
King himself and her own immediate circle.

♦ See Prescotfs ** Ferdinand and Isabella; " and Don
Diego Clemencia's '*£^ogio de la Beina Catolica Dona
Isabel'' Madrid, 1821.

a 3

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846 CHARACTER OF QT7E1N ISABELLA;

Delighting in all that was great and chiyalroni,
and gifted with the talents needful to carry
out her noble ideas, she united with royal
grandeur a woman's amiability in the fullest
and best sense of the expression. Nothing
that was unbecoming or unhandsome found
fiivour in her eyes because of its expediency.
Valiant in war, and severe in the execution of
justice, she was yet of a most tender and
compassionate disposition, which led her to
oppose, though inefEectually, the national en-
thusiasm for bull-fights, and even for tourna-
ments, when they caused the blood of brave
men to flow for mere amusement. Without in
any degree departing from a queenly dignity,
she treated her subjects and attendants with
the greatest possible affability on every oc-
casion. Simple in her tastes and habits, she
tried, as far as her high position allowed, to
carry out this taste in her dress and domestic
arrangements. True Christian piety, as far as
the age and Church to which she belonged
allowed, was the ruling principle of both her
public and private life. From it she found
strength and courage in times of adversity as
well as prosperity. The glory of God, by the
maintenance and propagation of the Church
on earth, formed the main object of her politi-

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GAAftACTAR OP OUfiBN tSABBLLA. 347

cal undertakings at home and abroad. With
the purest of motives she erred in a way that
must ever be deplored in the application and
choice of means. The unity, which with much
li^isdom and energy she had effected in tem-
poral afiSedrs, and had caused to centre in the
throne of the. Catholic sovereigns, she thought
it equally possible and incumbent upon her to
^tablish and maintain in spiritual things
throughout the Church of Christ upon earth«
A sad but inevitableconsequenceof the teaching
of that Church, which seeks for unity and the
assurance of a future state, not at the right
hand of God in those high places where Christ
liveth and reigneth, but in the city upon seven
hills, where is set up the dominion of the man of
sin ! Fatal error ! leading by necessary induction
to the Antichristian measure of carrying on with
fire and sword what God has declared to be the
work of his Holy Spirit. This same error,
which in after-times deprived Philip II., Isa-
bella's great nephew, of the Low Countries,
and took from Louis XIV. all his Protestant
subjects, now tore the very vitals of Spain,
debased the character of its inhabitants, and
opened an inexhaustible source, not only of
superstition, but of infidelity, in the midst of
its population for centuries after. The king-

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348 CHABACTBB OF QUEBN ISABBtLA.

doms of Spain owe to the noble and hig^
minded Isabella two events which almost
entirely tarnish the lustre of the great benefits
£or which they are indebted jto her gloriona
reign. These were, the introdaction of the
Inquisition and the expulsion of the Jews.
The aim of the latter was to deliver Spain
from the incredulity of the unbaptized Jews ;
that of the former, to guard against the
ftpostasy of those who were baptized. Both
entirely failed in accomplishing their end, after
shedding torrents of blood and inflicting in-
calculable suffering.

Yet Ferdinand, and especially Isabella, were
far from that Pagan hatred of the Jewish race
so frequently met with where zeal for the
Church and religion is entirely wanting,
Isabella befriended the Jews as a nation, not
only with a desire to win them to the Christian
faith, but also because of the ancient ties which
had subsisted between her&thersand the Jewish
families established from time immemorial in
Spain. She herself had Israelitish blood in
her veins, by her descent in the female line
from John I. of Portugal, whose mother was a
daughter of Israel. The kings who had pre-
ceded Ferdinand and Isabella had always been
surrounded by Israelites in the capacity of

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QUEEN ISABELLA AKD THE JEWS. 349

physicians, treasurers, learned men, and minis*
ters of state ; individuals of that nation had
many times rendered service and proved their
fidelity to Queen Isabella and her husband.
Don Abraham Senior, in a moment when their
succession was doubtful, had exerted himself
with so much energy on their behalf, that
when a great diminution of favours and
pensions was decreed, he was among the few
to whom a continuation of his pension was
consid^ed due.

The celebrated Rabbi Don Isaac Abarbanel,
of whom we shall speak hereafter, long enjoyed
the confidence of the Catholic sovereigns.
They were at all times surrounded by nu-
merous Converses. In the reign of John II.,
the father of Isabella, one of the most eminent
statesmen mentioned in all chronicles and
histories was Don Ferdinand Diaz de
Toledo, a converted Jew, whose son, Don
Pedro de Toledo, in the reign of Isabella, was
first Archdeacon of the Archbishopric of
Toledo, and afterwards, when Malaga was
taken from the Moors in 1489, he was con-
sidered the fittest person to appoint as its first
Bishop. Among the immediate attendants at
Court we find also Fernando del Pulgar,
secretary and chronicler to the Queen ; Alonso

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960 QUEEN ISABELLA Aim THE JEWS.

de Avila, secretary, and Ferdinand AlTares de
Toledo,* prothonotary, of Granada, — all Cozk*
versos : the descendants of the latter were did-'
tinguished in Castile as the Connts of Cedillo.
Ferdinand, in his kingdom of Arragon, was not
less surrounded with Conversos and their
descendants at his Court and in the offices of
the State. The prothonotary of Arragon^
Philip de Qemente, with his wife, Violante de
.Calatayud, the King's secretary, Luis Gon-
zales, and his treasurer, Luiz Sanchez, were
all descended in a direct line from haptized
or converted Jews. The Vice-ChanoeHor of
Arragon, in the time of Ferdinand's fiither as
well as his own, was Don Alonzo de la Cavalleria,
of Saragossa, of a family originally Jewish,
whose Christian members were at that time to
be found among the clergy and magistrates of
the town, as well as in the first and second
chamber. His grandson, Don Francisco de la
CavaUeria, was afterwards honoured by an
alliance with the royal family, when he married
the Countess of Ribagorza^ a cousin of the
Emperor Charles V. Meanwhile, the Inqui-
sition noted with care the genealogies of all
the nobles of Arragon, sprung of Jewish race,

* We must not confound this family with the Alvares
of Toledo^ Dukes of Alva, who were of Arabic ori^n^

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THE NEW INQUISITION. 851

ki a secret register, which was used, when
occasion served, to oppress those with whom it
was displeased, and whose revelations were
concealed, or clothed under a pretence of in*
dnigence to those whose credit and power it
feared.

Mention is made in history of the Inquisition
before the year 1483, for an ancient institution
then existed which the zealots of the time con**
sidered quite inadequate to purge the Church
from the leaven of Judaism. The tribunal estab^
lished by Ferdinand and Isabella, which cast
so dark a shadow over their reign, was called
the New Inquisition. Under this title, an
abomination already too well known through-^
out Christendom, appeared with fresh organic*
2ation and redoubled powers.

It is well known that the fanatical hatred of
the Dominican order, when seeking a fit in-
strument for the destruction of the Vaudois,
invented the Inquisition, which found nu-
merous victims among the Christians of the
south of France, &c. The ancient Inquisition
had also vented its fury upon the errors of the
Jews and Conversos, without having attained
the degree of systematic cruelty and organized
ferocity of which the new Inquisition pre-
sented to the world so fearful a spectacle.

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352 THE NEW INQUISITION.

The new Inquisition differed from its elder
sister in two ways : firsts because it was
especially directed against converts from
Judaism, without overlooking those from Ma«
homedanism, or ceasing to take cognizance of
evil doings against the religion of the State ;
secondly^ because, unlike the old tribunal,
which was put in force for a time, as circum*
stances required, and called ^^Inquisition
Extraordinary,'* — this, on the contrary, formed
a 'permanent and powerful body in the State,
connected with the Grovernment, and looked
upon as an integral part of it A decree waa
made, that no Bishop or other priest of Jewish
extraction should take a seat in this new
court, though this, like many similar ordi*
nances, did not long remain in force.^ The
whole power of this monstrous Inquisition
soon fell entirely into the hands of the regular
clergy, especially the Dominicans, to whom
Torquemada, the first Inquisitor-General of
Castile and Arragon, belonged. Like the
order of the Jesuits with its General at Rome,
the Inquisition of Spain was at once a power-
ful bulwark and a cause of terror to the
Papacy, which at the same time upheld and
feared it.

* See Uorente's History of the Inquisition.

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THE NEW INQUISITION. 363

Isabdia could not easily make up her mind
to adopt a measure which, when once estab-
lished, must be acted upon and carried out
with the same energy and recklessness of con-
sequences that characterized her whole govern-
ment. The Cortes, the nobility, and the gran-
dees, were, in general, opposed to the estab-
lishment of the Inquisition, but the Domi-
nicans had set their heart upon it, and were
determined to obtain it, while the lowest
orders of the populace favoured, and, on oc-
casion, supported it. Many centuries after,
when the whole history of Spain, bent in com-
pliance with, and subjugated by, the powers
of the Inquisition, had been obliged to falsify
and conceal many facts, it began to attribute
both the establishment of this tribunal and
the banishment of the Jews to the influence
of several great men at the Court of Isabella,
who, in reality, had taken no share in either
of these movements. An urgent remonstrance
against the establishment o€this terrible tribunal
during the reign of the Catholic sovereigns is
attributable to Ximenes, though the fact cannot
be denied, that in later times this statesman
supported the dealings of the Inquisition with
the Flemish nobility, during the minority of
Charles V., and after Torquemada's death

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354 THB KSW INQUtSlTlOK;

accepted the post of Inquisitor-General. The
whole spirit of the Oreat Cardinal de Mendoza
was entirely opposed to that of the Inquisi-
tion, and Talavera showed sufficiently by his
manner of dealing with the Mahomedans^
when Archbishop of Gtanada, that he sought
to bring unbelievers to the faith of the Grospel,
not by force, but by means of a noble and
active Christian philanthropy. After the
death of his royal friend, Queen Isabella,
Talavera himself was exposed to the enmity
of the Inquisition, which was directed against
his near relations and himself, to the utter
indignation of all good men.

Of King Ferdinand it was said, that he was
disposed to look favourably upon the introduce
tion of the new Inquisition for the sake of his
treasury, which was likely soon to be swelled
by a vast amount of confiscations. But this
circumstance in itself alarmed the conscience
of the Queen, always tender, even in her
greatest errors, and made her hesitate long
before she gave her consent to the measure.
What finally determined her to adopt it was,
a vow she had made when a young Infanta,
in the presence of Thomas of Torquemada,
then her Confessor, that if ever she came to
the throne, she would maintain the Catholic

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TfflS NEW INQUISITION. 855

faith with all her power, and extirpate heresy
to the very root

The first Papal Bull issued for the estahlish-
ment of the Inquisition on this new footing
in Castile, is dated in the year 1478. From
that time firesh decrees were continually made
in its favour, great privileges granted to the
Inquisitors, and directions given for their
lahours, to which every facility was afforded.
At Seville, the new tribunal opened the series
of its abominations, the different authorities
^receiving strict injunctions to lend the help of
the secular arm. At first these orders were
tinderstood to include the royal dominions
alone, and not to extend to the territory of
the nobility. As a natural consequence, a
vast number of new Christians took refuge on
the estates of the Duke of Medina, Sidonia,
the Marquis of Cadiz, and other grandees
in SeviQe and Andalusia. The Inquisition
instantly issued an edict against these refugees,
with the most stringent threats of excommuni*^
cation, and other penalties, upon all who
should give harbour to the guilty, and refuse
to deliver them up. At Seville itself, in the
year 1481, nearly three hundred Conversos
were condemned to the flames as a first-fruits
of the new Inquisition ; in other parts of the

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356 THE NEW INQUISITION.

province, the number amounted to two thou*
sand, while seventeen thousand were con*
demned to minor penalties. In consequence
of these proceedings, many Spaniards left
iheir own country to seek safety in Africa,
Portugal, or France.

The whole of Castile was shaken by the
first effort of this new tribunal, yet no active
resistance was offered to it. More difficulty
was found in introducing it into the kingdom
of Arragon in 1483. The equestrian order of
knights, who for centuries had boasted their
liberty and independence, the principal families
of Saragossa, and the Converses and their
descendants, who belonged to one or other of
these parties, or were allied to them by mar-
riage,— all looked with equal horror upon this
iniquitous establishment. Their indignation
led them to form associations, and conspire
together to risk a desperate stroke, following
the example set before them, that the end
legalizes the means. When every lawM
opposition, every appeal to the privileges and
liberties of their country had failed; when
Torquemada had appointed the Dominican,
Graspar Juglar, and Dr. Pedro Arbues d'Avila,
Inquisitors of Arragon, and in consequence
several new Christians had been delivered up

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THE NEW INQUISITION. 857

to be burned upon an accusation of Judaism^
it was resolved to strike a desperate blow.
A collection was made among all the Arra*
gonese of Jewish extraction, and an attempt
set on foot to take the life of Arbues. On the
evening of the 13th of September, 1485,
while he was at prayer in the church, leaning
against a pillar, he was attacked by hired
assassins, and so severely wounded, in spite of
the armour he wore under his garments, that
he died two days after. This momentary
victory on the part of its enemies, however,
only forwarded the establishment of the In-
quisition, not in Arragon alone, but through-
out the Spanish dominions. Scarcely had the
news spread in Saragossa of an attack upon
the Inquisition, than the populace assembled
in a fury to seek revenge upon the conspirators
and the new Christians. A bloody contest
would probably have ensued, and was with
difficulty prevented by the young Archbishop,
who rode among the people, and promised
that the murderers should be brought to
punishment. Ferdinand and Isabella soon
after erected a statue to Arbues, and he was
canonized by Pope Alexander YII., in 1664.
. The punishment of his murderers and their

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358 TH£ NEW ncQuismoK.

accomplices soon followed the death of Aibuesi
while those who had escaped weie buiat in
effigy. More than two hundred victims fell
into the hands of the Inquisition, and many
&milies were thrown into mourning. There
was hardly a family of distinction at Sara-
goftsa of which one individual at least did not
appear at the Auto«da-f% in the habit of a
penitent. We will mention a few among the
names of those who were more or less com-
promised by opposition to the Inquisition^
being privy to the conspiracy against Arbues,
or rendering some service to the conspirators: —
Don Jacques, called the In&int of Navarre, a
near relation of King Ferdinand ; Don Lopes
Ximenes de Urrea, Count of Aranda; Don
Blasco d' Alagon, Lord of Sastago ; Don Lope
de ReboUedo; and Juan de Bardaxi, with
many of their relations, and a large body of
the nobility, knights, and gentry of Saragossa^
Tarazona, Huesca, Catalayud, and Barbastro.
Of these, Don Blasco d' Alagon, who had been
receiver of the collection made by the con-
spirators, owed to the influence of his rank
and powerful connexions alone, an escape from
further punishment Don Alonzo de la Caval-
leria was saved by an appeal to Eome, afier

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THE NEW II^QVISITION. 359

which all accusation, either of concealed
Judaism or connexion with the conspirators,
was withdrawn^

From this period, the Inquisition met with
no further obstacles, and for three centuries
it raged in Spain with a vigour only abated
during the course of the eighteenth century^
while the victims who perished by its flames,
or in its dungeons, were without number.
The sum of those burnt at the stake during
the inquisitorship of Torquemada alone,
amounted to more than seventeen thousand,
of whom six thousand eight hundred and
sixty were burnt in effigy, while more than
ninety thousand persons had been condemned
to minor penalties.

It would be foreign to our purpose to trace
any further the annals of this monstrous tri-
bunal^ though our attention is once more
called to its proceedings in a memorable and
decisive moment for the Churches of Spain,
when the light of the Reformation began to
spread, and descendants of Israel were again
its victims in the new character of Protestants.

The voice which sounded £rom Wittenbei^,
in the beginning of the sixteenth century,
penetrated even to the heart of countries most

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360 THE NEW INaXTISITION.

nearly connected with the Papacy, and most
completely enslaved by it An English writer
has already given a detailed account of the
progress made in Spain by the Reformation,
or rather by the doctrine '' of justification by
feith and not by works." * At its first appear**
ance the Inquisition opened wide its blood-
thirsty jaws. For fifteen years that tribunal
was constantly engaged with criminal suits on
account of Lutheran heresy at Seville and
VaUadolid.

In the early years of the reign of Philip 11.
the peril from new doctrines was considered
most eminent. Dr. Juan Gil, Bishop elect of
Tortosa, was convicted of entertaining Protest-
ant views, and was forced, in 1552, to a recan-
tation, which he afterwards bitterly deplored.
Many Spaniards who shared his convictions
had emigrated, among them were Cassiodoros
of Reina, Cyprian of Valera, and Juan Perea&
de Pineda, who introduced thousands of Bibles
and catechisms in Spanish, by means of a
certain Julian Hernandez. The Inquisition
having seized upon this agent, was soon on the
track of a multitude of Protestants in the

* M'Crie's History of the Befonnation in Italy and
Spain.

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THE NEW INQUISITION. 361

kingdom, many of whom were eminent for
learning, talent, and rank. An Auto-da^fe was
soon after held in presence of the King, the
Coart, and a most crowded assembly, among
whose victims were included Dr. Augustinp
Cazalla, a priest and canon of Salamanca.
He had been chaplain and almoner to the
Emperor, with his brother, Francisco de Cazalla,
and their sister Beatrice, all the children of
Pedro Cazalla and his wife, who were both of
Jewish descent. They were condemned to the
flames by the Inquisition, which also tore
from its resting-place and burnt the body of
their mother. In 1568 the Archbishop of
Toledo, Don Bartholomew of Carranza, and
Miranda, formerly deputy from the Spanish
clergy to the Council of Trent, by dint of
disputation with heretics, had been led to
convictions which brought upon him the
persecutions of the Inquisition. Among other
accusations that were brought against him
was the imputation of believing "that the
Lord Jesus Christ has made such entire satis-
fistction for our sins, that no further satisfaction
on our part is necessary." This archbishop
had attended the death-bed of Charles Y. in
the convent of St. Just, and there spoken to
the same effect, to the great scandal of the

R

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362 THE NEW INQUISITION,

other clergy who were present, the greater
part of whom became his enemies.^

In the year 1570 the doctrines of the
Reformation appear to have been completely
crushed in Spain, and the persecutions of the
Inquisition again turned against the concealed
Jews or Mahometans. This tribunal exerted
itself with less success, and apparently with fiEir
less zeal to eradicate infidelity and the teach-
ing of the French philosophers, than it had
used in its efforts to crush the Protestant faith.
And how could it be otherwise? when super-
stition and infidelity, whether they allow it or
not, are so closely allied ! The Sadducees and
Pharisees agreed to crucify our Saviour, and to
persecute his witnesses and disciples. A
warning of deep moment in these our days !

The short-sighted hatred of the Inquisition
had rather converted the Judaism of Spain
into a festering wound in the body of the
nation, than effectually combated or uprooted
it The unity thus obtained was only in ex-
ternals, while in secret the Jewish religion
was propagated with a system of dissimulaticHi
which could not but exercise a most pernicious
influence on character, and become the source

* See Llorente's History of the Inqtiisitioii, voL i!L,
pp. 188-^15.

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THE KEW INQUISITION. 863

of most revolting blasphemies against Ood
and our Lord Jesus Christ. Unanimous testi-
mony is borne both by Jewish and Spanish
writers to the fact, that there is scarcely a
family of note in Spain or Portugal which is
not descended, either in the male or female
line, from Jews, who had embraced Christianity
by conviction or from other motives.

Is it, then, surprising that the religion their
fathers had professed for so many ages should
possess great attractions for their descendants
while placed in the midst of a Church whose
idolatry and saint-worship the Israelite was
as much justified in ccmdemning, as he was
wrong in rejecting the sufifering Saviour, who
had been foretold by his own prophets?
When, in addition to this, there sprung from
the midst of the Papacy, and flourished in
Spain, a sect whose doctrines inculcated " men-
tid reserve," "simulation,** and "hypocrisy,*'
in matters of religion, is it wonderfril that the
Jews of Spain should also have had recourse
to rabbinical subtilties to reconcile an outward
profession of Chriatianity with an inward love
and secret performance of the Mosaic worship ?
Hence arose the fearful evils which are said
yet to exist in Spain, posts of dignity in the
Church, the priesthood, and the cloister occtl-

R 2

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364 BANISHMENT OF THE JEWS.

pied by men who in heart are Jews, and who
meet at stated seasons to mourn over and
abjure their outward profession of the Eomish
faith, and to curse, with fearful imprecations,
the memory of Ferdinand and Isabella. No 1
it is "not by might nor by power" that
Israel's conversion will be brought about,
" but by my Spirit, saith the Lord," the God
of Israel, his Redeemer.

The Inquisition itself, however unscrupu-
lously supported, seemed but a half-measure
for carrying out the system which had given
rise to it, as long as there remained a single
Jew in the kingdom of Spain. And yet twelve
years intervened between the introduction of
the new Inquisition against concealed Jews
and the edict of banishment passed upon those
who were so openly. During the interval the
latter were always on good terms with the
Govemmeiit, and even admitted to high offices
at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella. Yet
they seem to have themselves given some
cause for suspicion, for complaint, and even
for fear. For example, in the year 1480,
when the Cardinal of Mendoza had published
a catechism for the use of baptized Jews, there
appeared from the pen of a Jew a virulent
attack upon the Boman Catholic religion, as

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BANISHMENT OF THE JEWS. 365

well as upon the Catholic sovereigns. The
Israelites were also accused of endeavouring
to make proselytes, not only among the new
Christians, but among the old, whose descent
could not be traced to Jewish parents, and seem
to have succeeded in their efforts, especially
in Andalusia. They were at that time for-
midable by their number, their riches, their
influence, and their relationship with the
Conversos in all parts of the country, as well
as by the influence they might acquire in
allying themselves with an infidel or hostile
power.

A Spanish author of Jewish race has re-
marked, that if the Israelites had not kept
their eyes fixed on Palestine alone as their
own country, they might successfully have
overturned the Spanish government. The
edict for their expulsion, which had long been
threatened, was finally promulgated in the
year 1492. This took place immediately after
the reduction of the last Moslem kingdom in
the Peninsula. From Granada, its capital,
was dated the decree which forbade any Jew
by religion to remain in the Spanish dominions
after a period of four months. They were not
to carry away gold, silver, or jewels, beyond a
certain amount; but they might sell their

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366 EXPULSION OF THE JEWS

houses and lands, and export the value in
bills of exchange.

The news of this edict came upon the Jews
like a thunder-clap. They were soon reduced
to the verge of despair, when every appeal to
the compassion of the King and Queen had
been defeated by the opposition of Torque-
mada. They even offered immense sums of
money, as a price for remaining in a country
where they had already been established for
so many centuries. But the merciless Torque^
mada presented himself before the King, with
a crucifix in his hand, and asked, for how
many pieces of silver more than Judas he
would sell his Saviour to the Jews)

This barbarous mandate was put in force by
equally barbarous measures. The permission
which was granted to the exiles to dispose
of their property became, in reality, a mere
mockery, for in the great need of the moment,
and the short space of time allowed, to use the
words of a cotemporary, " a house was sold
for an ass, and a vineyard for a piece of linen/'
Amidst all this iniquity and ill-treatment, the
unhappy exiles, with their wives and children,
were transported by ships to the coast of
Africa. To many of them the distress was so
insupportable that their long-tried constancy

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FROM SPAIN. 867

gave way, and they returned to Spain to
demand baptism, and expose themselves as
New Christians to the severities of the Inqui-
sition. Hence arises, in part at least, the
different computations that have been made of
their numbers, which some have stated as
amounting to 800,000, others to 300,000,
while a Spanish statistic of the population
numbers the exiled Jews at 27,000. In this
latter computation we must not reckon those
who returned to Spain, or any of those who
subsequently quitted the country by degrees,
according as the fury of the Inquisition
was more or less on the alert against the
Converses. In after-times, during the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries, many found
a secure and peaceful asylum in the Protestant
Netherlands. A Jewish author of Amsterdam
thus speaks of these refugees : '^ Many of the
canons, inquisitors, and bishops in Spain are
of Jewish descent; some are still Jews at
heart, though, for the sake of temporal advan-
tages, they feign themselves to be Christians ;
some of these at times repent and leave the
country as best they can. In this city of
Amsterdam, and in other countries, there are
Augustins, Franciscans, Dominicans, and
Jesuits, who have cast off idolatry. In Spain

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368 EXPULSION OP THE JEWS

there are a great many distinguished bishops
and monks, whose parents, brothers, and
sisters, live in this town and elsewhere, where
they can profess Judaism."

Among the thousands and ten thousands
of Jews who quitted Spain in consequence of
the decree of Ferdinand and Isabella, the
most highly gifted in rank and fortune first
sought refuge in Portugal. John II., who
was at that time King, afforded them an im-
mediate asylum and fair privileges, on the
payment of a tolerably high capitation tax.
Multitudes of these fugitives established them-
selves in the frontier cities of Braganza,
Alisanda, Elvas, and others. At Oporto the
spacious street of San Miguel was given to
thirty Jewish families, as a place of residence.
Immanuel Aboab, author of the "Nomology,"
remembered having seen, in his childhood, the
synagogues which belonged to the Jewish exiles
from Spain in that city.

It is a mistake to assert, as some writers
have done,* that the number of Jews in
Portugal, before the arrival of the Spanish
exiles, was small, and of no importance; for here,
as in other parts of the Peninsula, frequent
mention is made of them in its chronicles and
♦ See Jost, vii., 89, 90.

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FROM SPAIN. 369

histories. Though Castile and Andalusia may
boast of being the most ancient resort of the
Jewish nation in this part of the world, yet in
Portugal, also, they were early settled, and
their influence was great in the earlier periods
of the monarchy. Under Alphonso II. and
his successors, from the thirteenth century to
the fifteenth, almost without exception, the
Jews were treated with much consideration.
Indeed, Pope Gregory II., among other com-
plaints against King Alphonso, with whom
he was at variance, reproached him for nomi-
nating Jews in preference to Christians to the
oflices of state. There is no doubt, that, under
this king, and more than one of his successors,
the highest positions in the State were filled
by Jews, and, as in Castile and Arragon, the
Cortes urged remonstrances which were but
little regarded, and the prohibitions they ex-
torted were soon set aside. We have already
mentioned the actual relationship to the
Jewish nation in Portugal borne by King
John I., the father of Don Duarte.*

The Jews in Portugal enjoyed extensive

* See an interesting dissertation, " Sobre os Judeos em
Portugal," by Joaquim Jose Ferreira Grordo, in the
eighth volume of the ** Memorias da Academia Real das
Sciencias de Lisboa. 1823."
B 3

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370 THE JEWS IN POBTUGAL.

privileges as a completely separate portion of
the community, yet on nearly an eqaal footing
with the Christians. Their Chief Rabbi was
nowhere so highly considered, or his position
more carefully determined by the legisla-
ture. King John I. gave his sanction, at the
request of Micer Moses, his chief physician,
to a bull of Clement VI., confirmed by Boni-
face IX. in 1389, granting to the Jews free
permission to celebrate their feasts, practise
their ceremonies, and continue the full exer-
cise of their religious worship, notwithstand-
ing the violence and opposition of hot*headed
fanatics.

Until the reigns of John IL and Don
Manuel, we scarcely find any attempt to per-
secute the Jews recorded. From time to time
the clergy and representatives of the people
demanded an enforcement of the ancient edicts
requiring the Jews and Moors to wear a dis-
tinctive mark on their clothes. To Alphonso V.
complaints were made of the magnificence
of their style of living, and the luxury they
displayed in silken garments, fine horses, and
splendid arms.

During the period of tranquillity which the
Jews of Portugal enjoyed before the end of
the fifteenth century, they applied themselves

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THE JBW8 IN POBTUOAL. 371

diligently, not only to theology and Hebrew
literature, but also to the study and investiga*
tion of science. A learned Portuguese, speak-
ing of his own (country in particular, says,
that the inhabitants of that part of the Penin-
sula were indebted to the Jews for their
earliest instruction in philosophy, medicine,
botany, astronomy, and cosmography.* Al-
phonso lY., of Portugal, in the fourteenth
century (1325 — 1357), trod in the steps of
his maternal grandfitther, Alphonso X., of
Castile, and engaged with zeal in the study
of astronomy, in which he was also assisted by
learned Jews and Arabs. It was more espe*
daily in the reign of Don Duarte, that the
science of navigation made rapid advances
during the repeated voyages of the illustrious
seaman. Prince Henry. The King himself
took great interest in all studies connected
with these voyages of discovery. He enter-
tained at court the Hebrew astronomer,
Abraham Guedetha, as cosmographer to the
King, who combined with a knowledge of
astronomy, not only its usual accompaniment

* Antonio Bibeiro dos Santos, da Litteratura Sagrada
dos Judeos Portaguezes, in the ''Memorias da Academia
Real das Sciencias de Lisbaa,** torn. IL, p. 2S6.

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372 THE JEWS IN POETUOAL.

of astrology, but also an extensive acquaint-
ance with geography. The principal coun-*
cillors of John II., when undertaking the
expeditions that led to the discovery of a new
way to India round the Cape of Good Hope,
were the two Bishops of Viseu and Ceuta,
and three Jewish physicians, Jos6, Bodrigo,
and Moses. Four of these learned men were
also engaged in making charts to assist the
two celebrated travellers in Abyssinia, Pero
de Covilhao and Alphonso de Pavia. These
four councillors have been reproached with
dissuading the King from accepting the pro-
posals of Christopher Columbus. To counter-
balance this error, we may state that the first
idea of the possibility of finding a passage to
India was suggested by the observations of
two Portuguese Jews, Rabbi Abraham de
Beja and Joseph Zaphatero de Lamego, who
had been sent by King John II. to explore
Ormuz, and the coasts of the Bed Sea. An
investigation as to the best means of encou-
raging navigation, not along the coast only,
but in the open sea, was confided by the
Government, during the reign of this prince,
to the celebrated German, Martin de Behaim,
then established in the country, together with
the before-mentioned Bodrigo and Jos6.

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THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL. 373

The celebrated Don Manuel, surnamed the
Lucky, who succeeded to the throne of
Portugal after the death of John II., earned
still more renown by the interest he took in the
sciences of astronomy and navigation. In his
reign Yasca de Gama first accomplished a
passage to India round the Cape, which con-
tributed to open a new era in the history of
the world, as well as in that of commerce.
This monarch, who finally banished the Jews
much against his own inclination, bestowed
honour upon many of that nation, both before
and after their compulsory baptism, and con-
ferred upon them many privileges.

In their own literature and theology, less
progress was made by the Jews of Portugal
than those of Spain ; fewer names of distinc-
tion have been recorded, and Hebrew poets
were rare in that portion of the Peninsula.
Yet academies and learned men were not
wanting, and the rabbinical school of Lisbon
early gained distinction among the many
Jewish institutions which sprung from the
mother school of Cordova. It was gradually
increased by numerous fugitives, who quitted
Spain before the final catastrophe in 1492,
compelled by local persecution, or other
causes, to escape from Castile and Arragon.

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874 THB JEWS IN POBTUOAL.

Daring the five years that elapsed between
their expulsion from Spain, and their banish-
ment from Portugal, Lisbon became, for a
moment, the centre-point of Jewish science
and civilization.

It is worthy of remark, that the learned
Jews who flourished in Portugal during the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries sprang,
almost without exception, from one or two
families. Such families, for example, as the
Schem Toys, the Yachias, and the Abarbanels,
produced theologians and rabbinical or cab*
balistic writers, both in Hebrew and Arabic.
The two last»mentioned families boast both a
long series of learned and distinguished an-
cestors, and a descent from the family of
David. Numerous Yachias, who have distin-
guished themselves by their knowledge of
Hebrew and the theology of their nation, are
fiuned, not only in Portugal, but also later
than 1457, at Constantinople, and in other
cities.

The distinguished author, Don Isaac Abar-
banel, was bom at Lisbon, in the year 1437, of
a family from Seville who had long been
established there. While councillor to King
Alphonso v., he was as celebrated for his
enlightened views and knowledge of public

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DON ISAAC ABAKBANEL. 375

affitin as for his great excellence as a Hebrew
oommentator and expoander.* After the
death of that monarch, he was suspected of
having taken part in the conspiracy of die
Duke of Braganza against his son and sue*
cesser, John II., and was compelled, in 1482,
to leave Portugal suddenly, to escape the
effects of an accusation, which he declared to
be entirely without foundation* He was not
only welcomed by the Jews of Castile and
their learned men, but also favourably re-
ceived by Ferdinand and Isabella, who con-
fided to him and Don Abraham Senor the
administration of their financial affairs. This,
however, did not procure him any exception
from the great tribulation which fell upon the
Jews in Spain a few years after. Abarbanel is
said to have been deputed with the proposals
made by the Jews to the Catholic sovereigns,
which Torquemada so boldly and adroitly
turned aside. Abarbanel shared the fate of
his nation, and was banished from Spain on
account of his religion, as he had been before
from Portugal for political reasons. Not ven-
turing to return thither, he sought refuge in

• See the Bibliothecae of Wolf, De Castro, De Rossi,
and Barbofia.

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376 THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL.

the kingdom of Naples, where many of the
Jewish exiles had already found an asylum,
and where they had heen known and tolerated
for ages. There he was again employed at
the Court, and faithfully served King Ferdi-
nand and his son. Alphonso II., until the
invasion of the French under Charles VIII.
Abarbanel shared in this misfortune also ; he
accompanied Alphonso to Sicily, and after his
death went to Corsica. He ended his days at
Venice, having been employed by that Re-
public in settling some differences with the
Crown of Portugal. He was buried with
great honour at the Jewish cemetery of Padua.
His numerous theological writings are mostly
the fruit of those days of retirement which his
own and his country's misfortunes afforded
him. His proud and ambitious spirit led him
to seek by preference the worldly duties of a
politician, while he gave free vent to his invete-
rate hatred against the persecutors of his people,
and, alas ! against the Christian religion also,
in his works of Theology and Rabbinical Ju-
daism. He has left an elaborate Commentary
on the greater part of the Old Testament,
especially Moses and the prophets, — a treatise
on the articles of the modern Jewish faith,
called " Rosch Emouna," and a work on the

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THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL. 377

unfulfilled prophecies of the restoration and
glory of Israel, called, "Maschmiah Yeschuah,"
&c. A chronicle he had written, of all the
misfortunes which have happened to the
people of God from the earliest days, has heen
lost*

In viewing Abarbanel's character as a
whole, we must class him rather among the
brilliant intellects, than the noble characters
of the dispersed of Israel. His sons took part
in his misfortunes and his wanderings ; they
also shared his fame, especially the eldest,
Don Jehudah, better known as Leo Hebreus,
the author of a philosophical treatise upon
" Love," in Italian, which has since been
often translated. Don Samuel, another of
Abarbanel's sonSj-f appears to have embraced
the Christian faith. Descendants of this illus-
trious family long continued to exist in the

* In judging the writingB of Abarbanel, the estimate
of their value, so well expressed by the learned Emperor
Ck>nstantine, should be carefully noted : *' Ex Abrabanele
plura quam ex omnibus Hebraeorum doctoribus addisci
potest, quippe, si quid in sacris litteris obscurius sit (nisi
contra veritatem Christianam cum suis obnitatur), exar-
ante." Don Nicolas Antonio says of him, " Si natura
eum expendas, ingeniosissimus ; si a studiis, doctissimus ;
si ab industriS, totus labor."

•f Memorias da Academia de Lisboa, ii., 399, 400.

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878 THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL.

synagogues of Amsterdam, Hamburgh, and
London.

To return to the Jews in Portugal. King
John II. having, in 1492, admitted to his
dominions a certain portion of the Jewish
exiles, began, the following year, to enter
more fully into the views of the Catholic
sovereigns. All who arrived in the country
beyond a certain number of families, with
whom he had made an agreement, were from
that time looked upon as slaves ; their children,
torn from the hearts of their parents, or
snatched from the bosom of their mother,
were transported to the Isle of St. Thomas, and
elsewhere.* Some check was put upon this
horrible cnielty by the failing health of the
King, and for other reasons. It ceased en-
tirely when Don Manuel, the cousin and
brother-in-law of John, who died mthout
leaving an heir, succeeded him on the throne
of Portugal. This prince began his reign
with such generous and merciful decrees in

* Portuguese writers differ from the Jewish annalists,
especially from Usqae, in laying the blame of this ill-
treatment exclusiyelj on the people, and not on the King
himself. Different accounts are also given of the condi-
tions upon which King John 11. granted, for a time,
hospitality to the Spanish fugitives.

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THE JEWS IN POETUGAU 379

favour of the Jewish exiles, that, notwithstand^
ing the persecution they soon after endured
from him, his memory has always retained the
esteem of their descendants, as shown by the
surname of El Rey Judeo, given him in some
family traditions.

It was entirely for worldly and political
motives that Don Manuel, in 1497, so entirely
changed his line of conduct. When he sought
in marriage the Infanta Isabella, daughter of
the Catholic sovereigns, and widow of Alfonso,
the only son of John H., two conditions were
imposed by Ferdinand and Isabella, without
the fulfilment of which the In&nta herself
positively declared she could not accept the
proposals of the new King of Portugal. These
were, a treaty with Spain in preference to
France, with which country Portugal had
hitherto maintained a peaceful alliance; and
the banishment of the Jews from this country,
as well as from Spain. King Manuel, in the
warmth of his affection, agreed to both the
proposals. Thus, against the advice of the
King's most able councillors, a choice was
offered to the whole body of the Jewish
people in Portugal, either to receive baptism,
or leave the country for ever. The conse-
quences were the same as in Spain. The

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380 THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL.

Jewish population was divided. Some, with
their &inilies, abandoned for ever the soil of
Portugal; others, not fewer in number, em-
braced, or feigned to embrace, the Roman
Catholic faith. Among those baptized by
force, we must reckon many children under
fourteen years of age, who were taken from
their parents, but committed to the guardian-
ship of Portuguese families, to be brought up
in the Christian faith, according to their
station in society. Meanwhile, the measures
taken by Don Manuel left the new Christians
an easy opportunity for adhering in secret to
their ancient religion; inasmuch as the Go-
vernment pledged itself not to introduce the
Inquisition for the first twenty years. This
term was prolonged for another twenty during
the reign of John III., the son and successor
of Don Manuel. The Government interfered
but slightly with the Jewish inhabitants of
their East Indian colonies. Don Manuel him-
self protected the new Christians in every way
in Portugal. He appointed them to the
offices of the State, invited them to his Court,
and very severely punished the instigators of a
tumult, raised against them by the populace of
Lisbon in 1606.

In the reign of his successor, Rome and the

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THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL. 381

partisans of the Inquisition began to take
alarm ; for in Portugal also the introduction
of Protestant doctrines had excited their
wrath. The year 1536 witnessed the intro-
duction of the Inquisition upon the Portu-
guese territory, and by its means a distinction
was effected between old and new Christians.
It did not, however, prevent many of the latter
remaining Jews in secret, and even propagat-
ing their own religion. They were known to
be Israelites, and acknowledged as such not-
withstanding the rage of the Inquisition,
which broke out upon them at intervals. In
the dissensions which occurred at the death of
the Cardinal King, Don Henry (1580), the
new Christians formed an influential party in
favour of Don Antonio, Prior of Crato, a
natural son of the infant, Don Louis, by a
Jewish mother. In 1660, soon after Portugal
had asserted her independence, a singular con-
spiracy was formed conjointly by the new
Christians and the Inquisitors, in favour of the
Spanish Government against the house of
Braganza, by whom the former had not been
well treated. One of their body was executed
in consequence of this insurrection. The dis-
tinction between old and new Christians,
which Don Manuel had endeavoured to

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882 THE JEWS IN PORTUGAL.

abolish, and which, two centuries after, was
again condemned by Don Luis da Cunha, then
minister of state, was officially prohibited
under the administration of the Marquis de
Pombal, said by some to have himself, by
birth, belonged to them. As lately as the
eighteenth century. Lord Galloway, when
ambassador at the court of Portugal, said in
joke, " that the whole nation was divided into
two parts, of which one awaited the return of
King Sebastian, and the other the coming of
the Messiah/' * A late English traveller has
made the remark, that truly Israelitish features
are discernible in more than half of the popu*
lation of Portugal.

We cannot but notice one striking fact in
relation to the banishment and ill-treatment of
the Jewish people. Ere a century had passed
the flower of the youthftil nobility of Portugal,
with the King Sebastian at their head, were
slain or made prisoners on the same coast of
Africa, to which the unfortunate Jews had

* King Sebastian nerer returned to Portugal, after
his diBastrous expedition against the Moors of Africa, in
1578, where he doubtless lost his life on the same field of
battle with the flower of his nobility. The conunon
people in Portugal have persisted for two centuries, and
even now still persist^ in looking for the return of this
prince.

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THB 8SPHAEDIM IN BASBART. 383

not long before been so barbarously driven.
Happy, by comparison, was the lot of those
among the Christian captives who fell into the
hands of African Israelites, from whom alone
they' received any compassion and assistance
in their misfortunes.

A Jewish writer of the present day, not
himself a descendant of the Sephardim, has
said, ^^ that of all the exiles and all the mis-
fortunes which have lighted on the head of
Israel, since his crown has fallen, none was so
terrible, so eventful, or so fatal, as their expul«
sion from the Peninsula." * In fact, the dis*
persion caused by this catastrophe is, in some
respecta, even more remarkable than that
which followed the destruction of Jerusalem,
because this second dispersion speedily scat-
tered the Sephardim also over every quarter
of the globe. Shortly after the edicts of 1492
and 1497, Jews and new Christians were to
be met with in the newly-discovered territories
of America, both in the Spanish possessions
and in Brazil, which had fallen to the share of
the Portuguese. In Africa, Asia, and the
Turkish Empire, their families and synagogues
have been established, and have continued to

* Yorlesiingen uber die neuere Geschichte der Judea
Lowisohn. Yienna, 1820.

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384 THE BEPHARDIH IN BARBARY.

the present day, entirely apart from all other
races of their nation. We will now give a
brief account of the countries in which they
have chiefly established themselves, and have
remained the longest, ending with the country
which has become a new central point for the
dispersed of Judah, — the United Provinces of
the Netherlands.

From time immemorial Africa has been an
eventM country to Israel. Egypt, where their
natibnal history first began, was a resort for
many of the nation in the times of the Grecian
and Koman monarchies, as well as in the
Middle Ages, while under the sway of Maho-
medanism. From the days of Maimonides,
Cairo, Damietta, and other Egyptian towns,
have been celebrated for their rabbinical
seminaries and Talmudic learning. We cui-
not doubt that a great number of the Spanish
exiles sought refuge in a country already re-
sorted to by numerous caravans of Jewish
pilgrims, visiting the synagogue of that spot
which popular tradition fixes upon as the
birthplace of their great lawgiver. In the
western parts of Africa, especially in the states
of Morocco, the exiled Jews settled in great
numbers. A communication had long been
kept up between Spain and that country ; and

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THE SEPHARDIM IN BARBABT. 385

now that an abode on the north side of the
straits of Gibraltar was prohibited, nothing
was more natural than their migration to the
opposite coast. At Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers,
Mequinez, Oran, Fez, and in the whole empire
of Morocco, the Jews from Spain found nume*
rous synagogues, some of which were noted
for their men of learning. Yet, even here
the Jewish population from the Peninsula has
kept itself aloof and separate both from the
Jews of Barbary and from the European or
Frank Jews. They have never attained in
Africa the high position they had held in
Spain, or have subsequently reached in many
parts of Europe, Though allowed liberty of
conscience, and even protected by the Em-
peror, and the Barbary Beys and Deys, they
were exposed both to the immense exactions
of the rulers and to the ill-treatment of a
fanatic populace. They were rigorously com-
pelled to wear the black turban, and different
coloured boots, that they might not be con-
founded with the Mahomedan population*
Thus many circumstances concurred to depress
the condition of that portion of the Jewish
population of Spain who settled in Barbary.
Here, however, as elsewhere, some individual^
of that nation were employed by the sovereigns

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386 THE 8EPHARDIM IN BARBART.

of the country on important missions, and in
affairs of state. Towards the end of the suc-
teenth century, Don Samuel Palache was sent
by the Emperor of Morocco as his agent to
the Hague, where he died, in 1616, and was
followed to the grave by the Prince Maurice,
the States-General, and the Councillors of the
United Provinces. In 1642, a Spanish Israelite,
named Don Joseph Toledano, was charged by
Muley Ismael, the Prince of Morocco, to con*
elude a treaty of alliance with the Republic of
the Netherlands ; the same Israelite had before
rendered important services to this prince,
when he first succeeded his brother, Muley
Mahomet. Under the rule of both these bro-
thers, the Jews and their synagogues enjoyed
peculiar prosperity, and we find mention made
of a prince of the captivity at their head. The
affairs of finance and the negotiations with
European powers were almost entirdly en*
trusted to the Jews. In 1775 an Israditei
named Masahod de la Mar,* took up his
abode, and established his family at Amster-
dam, after being sent on a similar mission
from Morocco to England and the United Pro*
vinces. At Oran, which was conquered by
the Spaniards, under Cardinal Ximenes, in
* See Eoenen's History of the Jews in HoUaad.

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THE SEFHABDIM IN TURKEY. 387

1507, the Jews from Spain were permitted to
reiide upoa sufferance. They were exemplary
in their fiddity to the Spanish Government,
and gained its est em and favour by their
personal services. The valiant families of
Cansino and Saporta, originally from Arragon,
served the King of Spain against his Moorish
enemies in Africa ; so that, when, in 1669, the
Spanish governor forbade the Jews to remain
any longer in Oran, he granted letters patent
to the Saportas, making honourable mention
of the services that £nnily had rendered, end*
ing with the remarkable declaration, that
they were banished for no other reason but
'^ because it was absolutely impossible for his
Catholic Majesty to allow a Jew to remain
within his dominions."

History takes but little note of the Jews in
the Turkish Empire before the close of the
Middle Ages, but soon after the taking of Con-
stantinople by the Turks, in 1453, it became
apparent that a large body of the Jewish
people had formed a considerable part of the
population in the metropolis, and in other
parts of the empire.* The Spanish exiles did
not introduce, but found a vast number of
synagogues already established, and masters of
* See Joet. Yin. 60, et seq.
s 2

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388 THE SEFHARDIM IN TURKEY.

high repute, whose rabbinical lore was not
much inferior in degree to their own during
the Middle Ages. Constantinople, Jerusalem,
Tiberias, Damascus, Aleppo, Nicopolis, and
Salonichi, had become central points for Jewish
literature and theology. The population in
all these cities was rapidly increased by nume*
rous detachments from Spain and Portugal.
The new synagogues, however, remained dis-
tinct, preserving not only their own liturgy,
language, and customs, but even continuing
for a time to class themselves by the names of
the cities and provinces they had formerly
inhabited; thus their synagogues were long
distinguished, as those of Arragon, of Toledo,
of Lorca, Lisbon, &c.

One of the most important benefits which
the accession of these thousands of Spanish
fugitives, with their learned men, conferred on
the Jewish communities of Turkey was the
removal of their printing-presses, which were
soon in full activity. At Constantinople and
Salonichi, as well as many Italian cities, the
Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament were
printed and abundantly circulated in Hebrew
and Spanish, together with many Jewish
commentaries and other writings which had
hitherto remained in manuscript.

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THE SEPHARDIM IN TURKEY. 889

The social and political position of the Jew-
ish population in the Ottoman Empire con-
tinued a prosperous one for many generations.
With the exception of the popular feeling of
prejudice against the descendants of Israel all
over the world, and those temporary exactions
against which no one in the East is secure,
the Turkish Government was disposed to treat
them with great liberality. They enjoyed
complete freedom for commerce, manufacture,
agriculture, and the possession of landed pro-
perty. The financial affairs of the Sultan and
chief officers of the state were chiefly confided
to Jews, and physicians of that nation were
received at Court with peculiar privileges.
They reached the greatest height of pros-
perity in the later part of the sixteenth cen-
tury, when Miquez, one of their brethren,
was high in favour with the Sultan, Selim II.
This Don Joseph Miquez, who has been as
much maligned by Roman Catholic writers,
as he is lauded by Jewish and Protestant
historians,* was a Spaniard, who had emi-
grated on account of his religion. Having
lived for some time at Antwerp, he made
solicitation to the Duchess of Parma, Gover-
ness to the Netherlands, to obtain a residence

• See Strada, " Guerre des Pays Baa," 1566. Baanage,
"Histoiredes Juiffl.'*

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890 THE SEPHARDIH IN ITALY.

for his nation in that country ; but he failed,
in consequence of the antipathy expressed by
Philip II. to his proposals. He a^rwards
entered into negotiation with the Senate of
Venice to obtain permission for the establish-
ment of a Jewish colony on one of the islands
belonging to that Bepublic. This project,
also, having failed, he went to Constantinople,
where his enterprising genius and great
talents gained him so much fevour with the
Sultan, that the government of twelve islands
in the Archipelago was committed to him by
this sovereign. This appointment caused him
to be sumamed by his brethren, " El Nassi,**
the Prince. In 1566, the Reformed C!on-
sistory of Antwerp received a letter from
Miquez, encouraging the Protestants to hold
out, because the Sultan Selim was forming
designs against the Spanish monarchy which
would soon compel Philip to think of other
matters than oppressing the Netherlands.

In Italy, as well as Turkey, the influx of
Spanish Israelites seemed to infuse fresh life
and vigour into the literature and theology of
the dispersed nation. The emigrants were,
generally speaking, welcomed with kindness
both by the magistrates of the Italian states
and by their own brethren. In the kingdom
of Naples, the Catholic King, being unable to

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THE &EPHABDIH IN ITALY. 391

establish the Inquisition, could not allow them
to remain. An edict of banishment was, in
consequence, passed, and the exiles from
Spain had again much to suffer from royal
severity. Jewish writers say that these
compulsory measures were only employed
against the Sephardim. * The Emperor
Charles did not show less cruelty in Italy,
especially in the ctise of two Israelites,
David Reubens and Solomon Malcho. The
latter, a native of Portugal, baptized by force
in his childhood, filled the office of Private
Secretary to the King. Reubens came to him,
on his return from Asia, with accounts of the
lost ten tribes, and wrought so powerfully on
his convictions, that he not only returned to
the faith of his fathers, but made an attempt
to bring over Francis I. and the Emperor to
the religion. of Moses. Francis I. took the
matter in jest, but the Emperor immediately
handed over the unfortunate Malcho to the
secular power at Mantua, by which he was
condemned to the flames in 1536.

In the Ecclesiastical states, and especially
at Rome, the exiled Jews were but little per-
secuted. The Popes, as we have before
observed, waged war with their books, rather
• See Orobio de Caatro, p. 208^

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d92 THE SEPHARDIM IN ITALY.

than ^ith themselves. The new Christians
lived in far greater security from the Inquisi-
tion in the Papal States than in Spain and
Portugal, Alexander VI., when they were
first banished from Spain, gave them his
assistance at a time when they were looked
upon with a degree of jealousy by their co-
religionists at Rome. The Spanish synagogues
were still more flourishing in other cities, as
at Ancona, Pesaro, Padua, and Leghorn,
which to this day contains the handsomest
structure of the kind in Europe. The Govern-
ment of Venice often confided its most im-
portant missions to men of the Jewish per-
suasion; and to this Republic, Dr. Juda
Lumbroso, from Tuscany, after having long
served the Grand Duke, retired, that he might
live in peace in the exercise of the Jewish
religion.

One striking consequence of the Jewish
emigration to Italy, was the establishment
and multiplication of the Hebrew printing
presses, in more than one of its cities. Since
the latter half of the fifteenth century had
commenced, the art of printing, then newly
discovered, had begun to rival, if not to take the
place of, manuscript. The Jews of Spain and
Portugal had, for many years, excelled all

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HEBREW FRINTEBS. 393

their coantrytnen in the number and beauty
of their written copies of the Pentateuch and
other holy books. When, in 1471, the Jews
in Italy began to set up Hebrew presses, their
example was soon followed at Lisbon. The
first Hebrew book printed in t^e Peninsula
is dated from Lisbon, 1485. It was the Book
of the Way of Life, '* Seper Orach Chaim,**
by Babbi Jacob Ben Asher. In 1489, a
Hebrew Pentateuch was printed at Lisbon,
and in 1494 a second press was set up at
Leira, which produced the Greater Prophets
in the original. Three years after, the edict
of banishment was promulgated, which abo«
lished, for ever, the printing of Hebrew in
Portugal. Not only were books in that Ian*
guage prohibited, but even the use of the
presses in publishing Greek, Latin, and
Portuguese works was rendered null by the
great privileges granted to strangers in prefer-
ence to the new Christians of the country.
All these circumstances combined led the
Jews of Portugal to devote themselves to the
improvement and extension of the presses
already established in Italy, and to erect new
ones, whose ramifications extended to Con-
stantinople and Salonichi. The most cele-
brated of all was the press established by the
s3

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394 HEBBEW PBINTERir.

Jews of Spain and Portugal at Ferrara, under
the superintendence of the celebrated Abra-
ham Usque, son of Solomon, and brother of
Samuel, Usque. The Bible of Ferrara, con-
taining the Spanish version of the Old Testa^
ment, is one of the most famed productions
of the Jewish press in Italy. This version
was published under the superintendence of
the learned editor himself and his fellow*
labourer and coreligionist, Yom Tov Aihias,
and appears in two different forms, which
have been wrongly looked upon as different
editions. In both, the text, with few excep-
tions,* is word for word the same ; there is
some difference in the headings of the chap-
ters. In some copies the date is given accord-
ing to the JeMdsh jEra, 14th Adar, 5113; in
others, according to the Christian style. May
10th, 1553. The dedication in the earlier
copies is to Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish lady
of distinction, mother-in-law to Don Joseph
Miquez; in the later ones to Hercules de
Este, Duke of Ferrara. In some editions the
names of the editors are written Duarte

* The principal variation is in Isaiah vii. 14, where
the word Hagnalma is translated in some copies by
Yirgem, virgin ; and in others by Mo^a, damsel.

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LEARNED HEN, ETC. 395

Pinhel,* Portuguese, and Jerome de Pargas,
Spaniard ; in others, Abraham Usque, Porto*
guese, and Yom Tov Athias, son of Levi
Athias, Spaniard. It is clear that one of
these editions was intended for Jewish, and
the other for Christian readers.

It would be vain to attempt in a book like
this, to enter into many details concerning the
lives and writings of the Spanish exiles who
distinguished themselves for their learning.
We may just give the names of Rabbi David
Ben Joseph, Kabbi Joseph Ben Don David
Ben Joseph, Kabbi David, Rabbi Gedaliah,
Rabbi Jehudah, with many illustrious mem-
bers of the family of Yachia; Dr. Jacob
Mantinus, the translator of many works of
Aristotle, Avicenna, and Averrhoes into Latin,
Rabbi Jacob Berab, and Rabbi Joseph Ben
Ephraim Caro. These and many others
quitted the Peninsula either as children or as
grown-up men; they afterwards established
themselves and published their books at Imola,
Padua, Ferrara, Constantinople, Salonichi, and

* Duarte Pinhel is the Portuguese name, and Abra-
ham Usque the Jewish name of the same editor ; and so,
Jeronimo de Vargas is the Spanish, and Yom Toy
Athias the Jewish name of his fellow-labourer. Thus
there were not, as is often thought, four, but two editors*

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396 LEARNED MEN AMONG

especially at Saphet, in the Holy Land, where,
as well as at Jerusalem, there was always a
congregation of learned Sephardun*

Among these exiles we. may look with
thankfulness upon many sincerely converted
to the Christian £dth. A learned Portuguese
Jew, sumamed, after his conversion, John
Hatohel, (the baptized,) published a version of
the Psalms, with the title of ** Consolation of
Christians, and light for the People of Israel,"
besides a catechetical dialc^ue on the Christian
faith, with quotations from the Rabbins.
Another Israelite, of the same race, but bom
and educated at Saphet, in rabbinical theo-
logy, was Judas Jona, who long governed the
synagogue at Hamburgh. He was converted
to the Christian faith in Poland, and, after
many remarkable reverses, gave instruction in
Hebrew to Bartolocci, and suggested to him
the idea of his '* Bibliotheca Rabbinica."

There are three more exiles of note to
mention before taking leave of Italy. The
first, Rabbi Joseph Ben Joshua Ben Meir,
bom in the year 1496, at Avignon, of Spanish
parents, who removed first to that city and
afterwards to Genoa. He wrote in Hebrew a
universal history, of which the first part de-
scribed all the principal events from the Crea-

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THE 8PAKISH EXILES. 397

tion of the world to the year 1620, in which
year the author lost his father. The second
part relates with great detail the history of
events that happened in his own lifetime till
the year 1553. He introduced into this
chronicle — written in the style of the historical
books in the Bible — many particulars con-
cerning his own nation, his family, and house-
hold.* The preface begins with a genealogy,
after the manner of Jewish writers of his time
and country: — **Thu8 writeth Rabbi Joseph,
the son of Joshua, the son of Meir, the son of
Juda, the son of David, the son of Moses, a
descendant of the Cohens (priests) who came
from Avitium,f in the country of Spain." The
ancestors of the author had retired to Avitium,
or Benevente, as he relates in his chronicles, in

♦ This preface, omitted in the edition by Proops of
Amsterdam, (1733,) is found in the Venetian edition of
1554, from which the English translation was made by
Dr. C. H. R Bialloblotsky. London, 1835.

t It is thus I think we should read, and not Goite,
(^'l^^^'HIM , and not ^Id^'SIS) as the English translator has
rendered it. Compare the chronicle itself for the year
1431, where the translator himself thus renders the
Hebrew word, and makes the remark that, bj Avitium we
must understand Benevente, in the kingdom of Leon. We
must also in the same place read Cuenga, and not Coin9a,
and which is equally represented by the Hebrew letters

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898 LEARNED MEN AKONG

consequence of a great tribulation which fell
upon the Jews of Guen^a, in Castile. Eabbi
Joseph has also written in Hebrew another
•* Chronicle of the French Crusades/' and of
"Wars between Christians." Both these
works, in spite of the great defects common to
all Jewish historians since the days of Josephus,
have yet been valuable as books of reference
to superior historians in our own day.

To a rather earlier period belongs another
Jewish historian of Spanish birth, who has
related in Hebrew the reverses and perse-
cutions endured by his brethren, both in the
Peninsula and elsewhere. This was Rabbi
Salomon Ben Verga, who was bom in 145Q,
and practised in Spain as a physician. His
" Sceptre of Judah," composed in part from
notes left by his father, and afterwards con-
tinued by his son, Rabbi Joseph Ben Salomon
Ben Verga, has been translated into Latin,
and several of the modem languages. The
book itself tells us that its author was em-
ployed by the Spanish synagogues in several
difficult negotiations during the later years of
his residence in the Peninsula. We have but
few particulars of his life, after he shared in
the banishment of his brethren ; even the year /
of his death is unknown. It is probable that

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THE SPANISH EXILES. 399

he lived for some years in Egypt, for his book^
which has obtained some celebrity, was printed
in the original at Venice.

Among all the works of the Spanish and
Portuguese exiles at this memorable, and at
the same time terrible period, there is, perhaps,
not one so full of deep feeling and worthy of
interest, both in its form and contents, as that
of Samuel Usque, entitled, " Consolation for the
Sorrows of Israel." He published it first in
Portuguese, his mother tongue, and afterwards
in Spanish, — the language of his father's fiimily.
Both the one and the other were speedily placed
by the Inquisition on the list of prohibited
books.* In a preface addressed to the '^ exiled
nobles of Portugal," he gives his reasons for
the object, the language, and the subject of
the work. It consists of three long dialogues,
in which the sins and tribulations of the
Jewish nation during the existence of the first
and second temple, as well as after the de-
struction of Jerusalem by the Romans, are
related, lamented over, and alleviated by the
blessed promises of God concerning the future
restoration and glory of Israel. The persons

* His " Consola^ao as Tribula9oen8 de Israel " was first
published at Ferrara, 1 553, bj Abraham Usque, brother
of the author, and was dedicated to Dona Gracia Nasi.

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400 THE 8EPHARDIM IN FRANCE.

who take part in these dialogues are three
shepherds. The first Israel, under the name
" Icabo," or Jacob, (which, by a kind of rab-
binical play on the word, bears allusion to the
name which Eli's daughter-in-law gave to her
child,) with his two friends, Numeo and
Zicareo, — names that, in the Hebrew, bear the
signification of consolation and remembrance.
The replies of the two latter speakers to the
tragical lamentations of Icabo are drawn from
a remembrance of God*s judgments on the
enemies of Israel, and the magnificent pre-
dictions of the prophets, which are summed up
together in a poetical paraphrase of the 126th
Psalm. Oh that Israel's belief and contem-
plation of all God's promises to the captives of
Zion were Yea and Amen in Jesus Christ, and
him crucified!

Abraham Usque, the famous printer, a
brother of Babbi Samuel, composed a Spanish
liturgy for the feast of the new year and the
great day of Atonement. Another Usque,
whose name of Salomon leads us to think
of the father of Abraham and Samuel, wrote a
Spanish translation of Petrarch, a tragedy of
Esther, and a hymn on the Creation.

Shortly after the passing of the edicts in
1492 and 1497, many Jewish emigrants sought

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THE 8EPHARDIM IN FRANCE, 401

a refuge on the northern side of the Pyrenees ;

and we never find that their tranquillity was in

any way disturbed by the French kings. Half

a century later these emigrants obtained from

King John II. letters patent, securing to them,

under the denomination of Portuguese, their

entire liberty, and many desirable rights and

privileges. These letters were registered by

Parliament in the year 1660.* Subsequent

kings confirmed these rights, and at all

times protected their Portuguese subjects from

any violence or ill-will felt against them on

account of their religion. When the Edict of

Nantes was revoked by Louis XIV. , this legal

toleration seemed for a moment in danger,

though no evil consequences finally ensued.

An effort made in the reign of Louis XV. to cut

short their privileges, likewise fell to the ground.

In consequence of the annexation of Alsace to

France towards the close of the seventeenth

century, that kingdom contain&d three or four

very different races of Jews within its territory,

— those that belonged originally to France,

those of Alsace, who were German Jews, the

Italian Jews of Avignon, and the Spanish and

Portuguese Jews, who were chiefly settled at

* ''Recueil de Lettres patentes en faveur des Juifs
Portogais." Parw, 1765.

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402 PoaTUOUESE jews in Denmark.

Bayonne and Bordeaux. The Spanish exiles
who established themselves in France were,
generally speaking, more distinguished by a
high reputation for probity and by great
wealth than, as elsewhere, for their learned men
and literary productions.* Yet some names
of note have been already recorded in France,
to which we may add that of Pereira, librarian
to the King at Paris in the eighteenth century,
who had the honour of anticipating the cele-
brated Abb6de rEp6ein his plans for instructing
and communicating with the deaf and dumb.
Several manuscript records preserved in the
Portuguese synagogue of Amsterdam show
that a communication was hdd in the year
1622 by Christian IV., of Denmark, with that
synagogue, for the purpose of engaging some
of its members to establish themselves in his
dominions, with a promise of entire liberty of
conscience, freedom of commerce, and special
privileges.* It is a fact, that early in the

* Beugnot says, ^^A tradition we cannot disbelieve
teaches us to revere them, and point them out as models
to their fellow-countrymen."

''MS. Memorias do Establecimento e Progresso dos
Judeos Portuguezes e Espanoles en esta famosa Cidade de
Amsterdam." Ae. 5529 (1769^ por David Franco
Mendes.

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PORTUGUESE JEWS AT HAMBURGH. 403

seventeehtih century families and synagogues
of Portuguese Jews were settled and flourishing
in the Danish states, chiefly at Holstein. At
Copenhagen, also, they had a community, hut
their settlements at Gluckstadt and Altona
have long been their chief establishments in that
part of the world. With the exception of a
few disputes with the magistrates and the
Lutheran clergy, (chiefly on account of mar*
riages between uncle and niece, which are
allowed by the Jews,) they have enjoyed much
peace and prosperity in both those cities.

At Hamburgh, their well«being has been
even more remarkable, and the protection
granted to Jewish refugees by the King of
Denmark seems to have been one of its prin-
cipal causes. We know, from the history of
commerce, the spirit of rivalry which has ever
existed between this free Imperial city and
the commercial towns of Holstein. Altona in
particular was feared as a rival by the magis-
trates of Hamburgh, when they beheld her
enriched by the establishment of a Jewish
population, with its wealth and important
mercantile connexions. Notwithstanding the
opposition of some of the citizens and the
Protestant clergy, and in spite of the com-
plaints of the Emperor — that a city which

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404 PORTUGUESE JEWS AT HAMBURGH.

had expelled Roman Catholics should admit
Jews, — the magistrates of Hamburgh consi-
dered themselves compelled, by their com-
mercial position with respect to Altona, not
only to admit, hut to confer many privileges
upon the Portuguese Jews. Since that time,
Hamburgh, as well as Amsterdam, has been
honoured with the appellation of " Little Jeru-
salem." The synagogues in that city have
kept up a close connexion with those of Am-
sterdam, by means of a constant correspond-
ence, and of the intimate family connexion
subsisting between the inhabitants of the two
cities. Among the most distinguished Rabbins
who have adorned the synagogue of Ham-
burgh, we may mention the Rabbi David
Cohen de Lara, in high esteem among Chris-
tians also, as the author of a Talmudic Lexi-
con, which he was prevented from completing
by his death, in 1672. The Pastor, Edzard,
who had much at heart the conversion of
Israel to the true Messiah, had many inter-
views with this learned Israelite, from which
he was sometimes led to look for a hopeful
result ; but in what faith the learned Rabbi
of Hamburgh died has remained uncertain.

The social prosperity enjoyed by the Jews
of Hamburgh was much advanced by the high

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SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS. 405

honour awarded to some distinguished families
who were employed as agents or residents by
different foreign powers. The kings of Den-»
mark, the kings of Portugal, after the success
sion of the house of Braganza, in 1640, and
also Queen Christina, of Sweden, employed a
notable member of the synagogue as their
representative in the city of Hamburgh. By
the last-named country, this charge was en*
trusted to Don Manuel Texeira, whose father^
Don Diego Texeira Sampaio, had received, in
1667, from Frederick III., of Denmark, an.
Act granting complete freedom and great
privileges to the Portuguese Jews, which were
afterwards confirmed by Christian V. About
fifty descendants of the family of Texeira, in
the direct male line, are now living at Amster-
dam. In other parts of the ancient German
empire, in Poland, and in Russia, there may
be a few individuals, or even single families,
who have preserved a memorial of their
southern origin ; but they have never formed
a synagogue either among Protestants, Roman
Catholics, or Greeks.

. The country which has decidedly shown the
greatest favour, and afforded the warmest
hospitality to the scattered Israelites of Spain,
has been, since the dose of the sixteenth cenr

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406 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS

tary, the reformed and emancipated Republic
of the Low Countries. It was, indeed, a striking
interposition of Divine Providence which
brought the epoch of the Reformation so near
to the time when the Jews were banished from
Spain and Portugal, which also brought about
in Holland, half a century after, that m^nor*
able struggle of four-and-twenty years for
religion and liberty, of which one result was
to provide a place of refuge and hospitality for
the descendants of Abraham. When the first
Jews, or new Christians from Spain, made
their appearance in the Low Countries, there
remained not a vestige of those French and
German Israelites whose troubles and ca-
lamities we have before related. The first
indication of this re*establishment of the
Israelites in the southern part of the united
provinces is found in the year 1516. At
that time, some refrigees from Spain presented
themselyes to Charles V., the grandson and
successor of Ferdinand and Isabella, in order
to renew the entreaties and the ofiers made by
the Jewish nation for permission to reside and
exercise their religion in his dominions.
Their appeal was unheeded ; for severe edicts
entirely exduded new Christians from Hol-
land as well as Spain (1532—1549). We

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IN THE NETHERLANDS. 407

have already noticed the ineffectual attempt
made in the reign of Philip II., by Don Joseph
Miqnez. And yet, notvdthstanding these
edicts, many Jews were to be found in these
provinces before, as well as after, their separa-
tion from Spain, holding the same position as
those who remained in the Peninsula. Their
religion had long ceased to be tolerated ; but
by practising it with the greatest secresy, they
lived and prospered under Spanish names, and
among Spanish families and connexions. Both
at the Conrt of Madrid and in the Government
of the Spanish Netherlands at Brussels, de*
scendants of Israel were to be found, who
afterwards, either alone or with their families,
quitted the Church of Bome to make an open
profession of Judaism at Amsterdam. At
Antwerp, also, the concealed Jews were very
numerons, and had established academies for
the study both of Hebrew and Spanish litera^
ture. The ancestors of many families who
have since settled either at Amsterdam or the
Hague, long resided at Antwerp. Among
them was Don Manuel Alvarez de Pinto y
Ribera, in 1640, Gentleman of the Household
to the King of Spain, and Knight of the
Order of St James, from whom descended the
&mily of De Pinto, well knoYm in the synaF

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408 PORTUGUESE JEWS IN

gogue of Holland ; Don Francisco de Silva y
Soils, afterwards Marquis of Montfort, who, at
the head of his company, when serving under
the Emperor Leopold I., contributed greatly
to the defeat of the French Marechal de
Cr6qui in the campaign of 1673; Don An-
tonio Lopes Suasso, agent of the King of
Spain, and invested by that prince with the
barony of Avemas le Gras, in Brabant. It
was this Baron Suasso who, when afterwards
established at the Hague, offered to Wil-
liam III., in 1628, a million of money for his
expedition to England, to be repaid only in
case of success.

Most of these Spanish and Portuguese Jew-
ish families established themselves within a
short interval in the Protestant Low Countries,
to seek there complete freedom for the exer-
cise of their own religion. Their first settle-
ment at Amsterdam was made on the side of
East Friesland. It was from Embden (a
town of deep interest to Holland in the history
of its Reformation), that, in the year 1594, ten
individuals of the Portuguese fionilies of
Lopes, Homen, and Pereira came to Anister-
dam, where they soon resumed their original
Israelitish name of Abendana* They were
accompamed by a German Eabbi from the

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IN THE UNITED PROVINCES, 409

town of Embden, by whom afterwards many
others who sought refuge in the capital of
Holland were circumcised; to his posterity,
the synagogue of Amsterdam granted, in re-
turn, many privileges, especially a perpetual
right of membership. All the writings and
memorials of the synagogue agree, that since
the year 1596, the Great Day of Atonement
has been celebrated by a small community of
Portuguese Jews at Amsterdam. The mayor
of the town having surprised the assembly,
took it at first for a meeting of the Boman
Catholics, which, at that time, was prohibited;
when better informed, he still left them
entirely unmolested. In 1598, the first syna>
gogue was built in that capital, of which one
of the chief founders was the agent, Don Samuel
Palache, whom we have before mentioned.
Ten years after, the increase of the population
required the erection of a second synagogue,
and in 1618 of a third. In 1639, the three
were united to form, from that time forward,
one single and inseparable community of
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, which, as a
consequence of its constantly increasing num-
bers and prosperity, founded, in 1675, a
handsome synagogue, situated in that part of
the town where the refugees from the Penin-

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410 SPANISH AKD FORTUGUESS JEWS

sula had first established themselves in the
neighbourhood of the Amstel. This dedica-
tion was, at the same time, the seal of a
perfect union between the different bodies,
who, as we have seen, before the year 1639
possessed each their separate synagogue and
administration. It also entirely reunited the
two parties which had been formed on the
appearance of the false Messiali, Sabbathai
Sevi, which, in the yeai* 1666, had threatened
to divide the synagogue. The treaty of union
between all the Spanish and Portuguese Jews
6f Amsterdam w£is ratified by the magistrates
of the town, conformably to the wish of the
rulers of the synagogue themselves, who,
from that time, felt their decrees to be more
firmly ratified by the authority of the Govern-
ment.

During this interval, the German and Polish
Jews had also established their synagogues
in the capital of Holland. For a long time
they had many difficulties to contend with;
but in the year 1686 permission was at last
granted to them to buy and appropriate to
themselves the burying-ground of Muiderbank,
at some distance from the city; and in 1656
they were allowed to erect a house of prayer.
In after-times, this portion of the Jewish

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IN THE UNITED PBOYINCES. 411

population received a considerable accession*
The Jews in Poland and Lithuania had
endured great cruelties from the Cossacks and
from popular disturbances, and had been
obliged, in consequence, to leave the country.
Three thousand Israelites embarked for the
Texel, and soon received hospitality at Am-
sterdam, where they wished to establish them*
selves, but not without possessing some Ineans
of subsistence. To them, as to their brethren
from Germany, was permitted a free exercise
of their religious worship and the establish^i
ment of a synagogue; but soon after they
were desired to form, together with these, one
single congregation, and forbidden to assemble
separately.

Thus, the Jewish population of Holland
was divided into two separate and distinct
bodies, — the Spanish and Portuguese syna*
gogue, and the German and Polish synagogue.
However these two bodies might differ in
their historical recollections, their habits, and
customs, still both synagogues alike acknow-
ledged their union in the law of Moses and
the traditions of the Eabbius, their common
descent from Abraham, and their expectation
of the promises connected with that descent.
They shared in the same rights and privilege^
T 2

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412 SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS

and alike gave proof of their fidelity and
attachment to the country of their adoption,
and to its rulers and form of government

The rights and privileges granted to both
bodies of the Jews during the period which
preceded the revolution of 1795 in Holland,
were looked upon as important, both by those
who granted, and those who received them.
As to the magistracy, and other public offices,
the State at that time intrusted them to none
but those who belonged to the National Re-
formed Church, The Jews, on their side,
everywhere regarded as strangers, (having
their faces and their hearts turned towards
Palestine and the promise of a coming Mes-
siah), to use their own words, only requested
from the Christian authorities, ^' a mild hos-
pitality, or not too harsh an exile," ♦ They
could, therefore, easily content themselves
with a degree of liberty, which, according to
the opinion of the present day, " that all men
are equal in the eye of the law," would be
looked upon as insufficient. Liberty of con-
science, the free exercise of their religion, the
practice of their own laws and traditions, and

• The very expressions made use of hj Joseph Athias
in dedicating his edition of the Old Testament to the
States-GeneraL

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IN HOLLAND. 413

even, with few exceptions, the observance of
their national customs, were secured to them.
Their trade was protected, their way of ob-
taining their livelihood rather assisted than
hindered. Even their right to enforce obedi-
ence to the religion of their fathers, within
the limits of the synagogue, by the use of
discipline and excommunication, was acknow-
ledged. All this compensated the Israelite
of those days for his exclusion from public
offices, even from those which were most in
accordance with his taste and disposition, such
as the dignity of professor, and the profession
of the lawyer. They were also excluded from
all guilds or companies, except those of the
physicians and brokers, though this did not
prevent their being employed by their own
countrymen in any other profession or trade,
provided they had received admission as
citizens of the town. On the whole, a com-
parison of times and facts brings us to the
conclusion, that the Jews, at least those exiled
from Spain, were indisputably more prosper-
ous under the limited and partial liberty which
they enjoyed under the Republic and its
stadtholders, than under the unlimited free-
dom which modem constitutions seem to se-
cure to them. Yet each period, especially
for Israel, has a peculiar dispensation, and

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414 SPANISH AND POBTUGUESE JEWS

assuredly the people have, of all nations, the
least motive for retrograding, provided only
they are not mistaken in the nature of that
progress with which the spirit of the age would
flatter them.

We have already said that, with regard to
the internal administration of the synagogue,
great liberty was left to the Jews themselves,
who were considered on the footing of a nation
apart. In Holland, however, they never at-
tempted to confer the title of " Prince of the
Captivity," or ** Great Rabbi," as formerly, in
Asia, in Spain, and Portugal, or even in Africa.
A certain degree of jurisdiction was vested in
the Pamassim (or rulers of the synagogue);
but as this jurisdiction was limited to cases
under a certain amount, it was, in fact, only a
kind of arbitration, or lesser court of justice.
At all events, it was very far from extending,
as in former times, to the judgment of criminal
cases. Lastly, the executive authority of the
synagogue -was not intrusted to the Chief
Rabbi and his assistants (who were only con-
sulted on questions of religion), but entirely to
the Pamassim and the elders.

Altogether the settlement of the Jews in
Holland, in the seventeenth century, though
prosperous and endowed with many privileges,
appears on a very inferior scale when com-

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IN HOLLAND. 415

pared with the historical and literary memorials
of their forefathers in the Spanish Peninsula.
This inferiority is especially manifest in regard
to theology, science, and poetry. The Hebrew
tongue, it is true, was still carefully studied,
and a succession to the line of its ancient
masters thus more or less kept up; but the
holy tongue was no longer in use for com-
mentaries and paraphrases of Holy Scripture,
as in the time of Yarchi, Aben Ezra, and
Maimonides. Spanish and Portuguese were
now the only languages employed by the
learned Jews of the Peninsula, both for their
writings and sermons. Yet the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries have not been entirely
deficient in works worthy of note on theology
and philosophy, written by the Sephardim.
We have only to consult the " Bibliothecas,"
from which we have already more than once
made quotations, in order to appreciate the
number of commentaries on Scripture, ver-
sions of the Hebrew, dissertations, sermons,
religious and moral treatises, and poems, pub-
lished during that period by the exiles from
the Peninsula in Holland. Here we must
content ourselves with mentioning only a few
of the most celebrated writers and persons of
greatest note, the better to exemplify the

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416 HENA88EH BEX ISRAEL.

character of this period in the history of the
Spanish and Portuguese Jews.

Among the authors and learned men brought
up in the synagogues of Holland, no one has
been more generally known as a theologian
than the Rabbi Menasseh Ben Israel. Bom
at Lisbon, in 1604, he came, when a chihl, to
Amsterdam, with his father, Joseph Ben Israel,
who escaped, with some difficulty, from a
violent persecution in Portugal. Gifted with
an enlarged and penetrating mind, he early
became familiar with the elements of Jewish
theology under the tuition of Rabbi Uziel, and
acquired also a knowledge of the Hebrew,
Gastilian, Portuguese, Greek, Latin, and
Arabic languages. In his fifteenth year he
was already listened to with interest as a
preacher ; and in his eighteenth he was chosen
Chief Rabbi of one of the three synagogues at
Amsterdam. He continued in this office till
the time of his journey to England, soon after
which we find him making efforts to negotiate
with the Protector Cromwell, for the admission
of the Jewish nation to Grreat Britain. On
this occasion the University of Oxford con-
ferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and
Medicine upon his son, Samuel Ben Israel.
He returned, in 1658, from England, where

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MENAS8EH BEN ISRAEL. 417

his mission had produced no immediate result,
and settled at Middleburgh ; in the neighbour-
hood of which town the tomb of his son
Samuel rs still to be seen, who died some
years before his father. Among his numerous
works, written partly in Latin and partly in
Spanish (some in both these languages), or
as occasion required, in Portuguese and in
English, we will here note only the most
remarkable, viz., his ^^ Treatise on the frailty
of human nature, and man's inclination to sin,"
in which he combats the doctrine of Felagius,
but on grounds which the Christian Church
looks upon as semi-Pelagian ; — the '^ Hope of
Israel," to which we have already alluded ; —
** Three books on the Resurrection of the
dead;" and "The Conciliation," a work in
which he endeavours, with much ingenuity,
to reconcile the apparent contradictions of the
Old Testament. This last work has gained
for him the praise of even orthodox theologians
of the Reformed Church, though on many
accounts they were not in general disposed to
look favourably upon him. To his exegetical
and dogmatical works we may add several
books relating to the Jewish Liturgy, the
worship of the synagogue, and rabbinical
ordinances. He rendered especial service to
T 3

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418 HBNAS8EH BEN I8BAEL.

his nation, by editing a Spanish version of the
Pentateuch and Haphtorahs ; * and to Chris-
tians as well as Jews, by editing several beau-
tiful editions of the Hebrew Old Testament
His printing presses, superintended chiefly by
his sons, passed, after his family became ex-
tinct, into that of the Athias's,f of Amsterdam,
w}io in their turn bequeathed their presses to
the equally celebrated family of Proops, be-
longing to the German synagogue of that city.
Menasseh Ben Israel, taking into considera-
tion the difierence of time and place, may, in
more than one respect, be compared with Don
Isaac Abarbanel, with whose descendants he
was connected by marriage. Like the cele-
brated Rabbi of the fifteenth century, Manasseh
Ben Israel appears to have been more admi-
rable in his learning than loveable in his
character. At all events, modesty was not one
of its pervading virtues, if we may judge from
the manner in which he sometimes speaks of
himself, and the way in which he is recorded
to have conducted himself towards the syna-

* Lessons taken from the prophetical books.

f The States-General of the Netherlands presented to
Joseph Athias a golden medal and chain, as an acknow-
ledgment for his beautiful edition of the Hebrew Old
Testament.

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UBIEL DA COSTA. 419

gbgue and its rulers. Perhaps the great
attention paid io him by many learned Chris-
tians of different denominations contributed to
inspure him with too high an opinion of him-
sel£ The Roman Catholic theologian and
orator, Padre Vieira, of Portugal, is said to have
been more than once among his hearers ; while
Peter Daniel Huet, the learned Bishop of
Avranches, visited and consulted him. In
Holland, the Remonstrants and those who
befriended them, as Grotius, Yossius, and
Barlseus, gave him every proof of their interest
and esteem. The Calvinists at that time were
less favourably disposed towards the Jewish
nation, some of them even thinking it right to
oppose their admission and the toleration of
their religion. In later times, when the future
calling of Israel, according to the prophets,
began to meet with more sympathy in the
hearts of Christians, this less favourable dispo-
sition gave way in many to a conviction, that
the residence of the children of Israel in a
Christian country should rather be looked
upon as a blessing.
The too well known Uriel da Costa* was

* His name when in Portugal was Grabriel da Costa,
but he is more generally known hj the Latinized appella-
tion of A. Costa, which we find appended to his List work

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420 UBIBL DA C08TA.

long a cotemporary of Menasseh Ben Israel in
the synagogue of Amsterdam, of whom it
may be said, that both his life and death were^
in a melancholy sense of the word, an ^^ ex-
ample." Bom at Oporto, about 1590, of
noble parents, he was brought up as became
his birth by a fiither who» though descended
from ancestors formerly brought by violence
to a profession of the Roman CSatholic fisdth,
was himself a sincere Christian, of high and
honourable character. His son's disposition
was not altogether devoid of generosity and
greatness of mind, and in his younger days
he had some inclination to piety. Doubts,
brought on by bold rather than deep specula-
tion, estranged him in the first instance from
the Boman Catholic religion, to lead him on
afterwards from the Rabbinical Judaism of the
modem synagogue to the most decided Saddu-
ceeism of ancient times« Being at twenty-five
years of age canon and treasurer of a collegiate
church in his native city, he sacrificed, with-
out hesitation, his rank, his wealth, and his
country, in order that he might freely profess,
in Holland, the religion in which he then
hoped to find rest for his troubled soul. His

composed in that language, entitled, '* Exemplar Vita
bumame."

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URIEL DA COSTA. 421

mother and younger brothers, led by his influ-
ence, accompanied him on his journey to join
the synagc^ue at Amsterdam, where the family
has ever since been established. But Uriel
da Costa was as far from finding peace of
mind in the Protestant Netherlands as he had
been in Roman Catholic Portugal, There^ he
had cast off the New Testament togetly^r with
the traditions of Rome ; and here^ he denied the
Divine authority of the Old Testament toge-
ther with the hated traditions of the Rabbins.
Thus was commenced in the newly-formed
synagogue of Amsterdam the most violent
struggle, perhaps, which has been recorded in
the modem history of Israel between the sect
of the Pharisees and that of the Sadducees.
Here, however, there were not, properly speak-
ing, two contending parties ; it was one single
individual who opposed a whole community
holding Pharisaical tenets, and who displayed
in this opposition a boldness of character which
would be worthy of admiration in a better
cause. The contest broke out with violence
when Uriel had unfolded his whole system in
a Portuguese work, entitled " Examination of
Pharisaical Tradition." The book was not yet
published, but was circulating in manuscript

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438 URIEL DA COSTA;

among the members of £he synagogue, when
Dr. Samuel da SUva took up the pen against
its author, and published also in Portuguese
a *^ Treatise on the Immortality of the Soul,"
(1623.) In the striking preface to this work,
the errors of. Uriel are successively passed in
review. These errors, taken all together,
amount to the most complete and avowed
Sadduceeism. The law of Moses was still
looked upon by liim as divine, but all tradition
was rejected, and among traditions he denied
** the resurrection of the dead and the life to
come." The work of Da Silva, in which the
writer of the " Examination " is only alluded
to by his first name, out of respect for his
family, is not wanting in power; its author
declaims with considerable vehemence against
his adversary, not, however, entirely without
hope of bringing him round. Its effect was
quite the reverse ; for, during that same year,
Uriel published the " Examination," enlarged
by a refutation of Da Silva's treatise. The
chief magistrate of the city of Amsterdam then
took cognisance of the matter, and commenced
judicial proceedings against the author of a
work which openly denied the immortality of
the soul. The copies were seized, and the

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PBIEL DA C08TA. 423

author arrested. His brothers,* who were
entirely averse to his opinions, obtained his
release upon bail, and the affair was com-
promised by the payment of 300 florins, and
the confiscation of the books.

From that time the unhappy Sadducee
wandered more and more widely in the path of
error, and moreover gave up that complete
openness of character with which, at any rate,
the fatal warfiEure had hitherto been carried on.
He cast off all belief in a direct revelation from
God, and became, both in opinion and practice,
a complete Deist ; but, tired with a contest in
which all were against him^ and forsaken by
even his nearest relations, he resolved at all
events to effect an outward reconciliation with
the synagogue. This was obtained by the
mediation of one of his cousins, — a man
possessed of weight and consideration in the
community, — ^fifteen years after the disputes
had commenced.

The contest, however, soon rekindled more
fiercely than ever, to terminate only in the
catastrophe, which ended the melancholy

• One of his brothers, Joseph da'Costa, was the Presi-
dent of the Parnassim, to whom Menasseh Ben Israel
dedicated his Spanish edition of the ** Hope of Israel,"
1650.

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424 URIEL BA C08TA.

career of the wretched Saddacee. Fresh de«
clarations of his views concerning the law
of Moses and the ordinances of the Rabbins
were followed by seven years of complete
isolation, apart from all his brethren, and in
the midst of a nation whose language he could
not speak. In this melancholy position he
determined a second time to become reconciled
to the synagogue, and to submit to the penance
which it imposed with inexorable severity.
The well-known *farUf stripes save one were
not spared, though it is remarkable that after
this instance, we find no mention made of their
infliction in the modem history of the syna-
gogue. The mind of the wretched unbeliever
could not bear up against such a degradation.
A few days after this exposure he put an end
to his life with a pistol, after haviug, with a
calmness which in such circumstances must
excite astonishment, written his own biography

♦ ThiB panishment, which was always inflicted within
the walls of the synagogue, is well known from the
mention made of it in the New Testament, 2 Cor. xii. 24 ;
Acts xxvi. 11; Matt z. 17. According to Jewish
tradition this penalty was the next in degree to excom-
munication, and was not looked upon as peculiarly
degrading. See Witsius in Yiti Pauli, sect i., who calls
it *^ excommunicatione minor atque honestior."

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SPINOZA. 42«>

in excellent Latin, in which he protests with
the greatest vehemence against the acts of the
synagogue. This hiography, entitled "Ex-
emplar Vitae humance," which is confirmed in
every part by concurring testimony, fell into
the hands of a distinguished personage at
Amsterdam, who gave a copy of it to the
Eemonstrant Professor, Episcopius. This copy
was left by him to his nephew and successor,
Philip de Limborch, who published it, with a
refutation of the erroneous opinions of its
unhappy author.

Benedictus d'Espinosa, commonly called
Spinoza, belongs to the generation which suc-
ceeded that of Uriel da Costa. Their lives
and characters exhibit points of resemblance
and of difierence, both equally striking. Both
were by birth Israelites from the Spanish
Peninsula, and sprung from distinguished
parents; both were cast off and condemned
by their countrymen and by the synagogue ;
both, alas! were equally alienated from any
belief in a personal and direct revelation of
God to men. While one was lost in the
dreary void of natural Deism, the other
plunged into the depths of an elaborate system
of Pantheism. One, carried away by the im-
petuosity of his character, threw down in-

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426 8PIK0ZA.

discriminately error and truth, and thus fell a
Tictim to his own madness ; the other, on the
contrary, built up with astonishing tranquillity
of mind and mathematical accuracy a system of
philosophy and morals which has long survived
its author ; nay, amid the moral and political
agitation of the present century, has come to
life again with renewed vigour.

It would be out of place here to discuss the
system of Spinoza as unfolded by himself in
his " Tractatus Theologico-politicus," (1760,)
and in his posthumous writings, viz., his
" Morals " and ** Letters." In the historical
view which we exclusively take we will merely
remark, that the Pantheism of Spinoza, how-
ever far removed from God as revealed in the
Old Testament, is yet distinguished by marked
characteristics of an Israelitish origin. Spinoza
was undoubtedly a Pantheist; not in that
grosser sense of the word which substitutes the
whole existing universe — ^that is to say, a
deity without life and reason — for the living
God of creation, revelation and redemption.
But he was so in that far more subtle, and
therefore more dangerous sense, which at-
tributes real existence to God alone (^^ the
eternal and only Being,*') and admits of no
other existence, either material or immaterial,

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SPINOZA. 427

visible or invisible, but as a modification of
that one only Being, and not as a work apart
from God. Thus, the Pantheism of Spinoza is,
in fact, i-eally derived, though by a polluted and
unholy channel, from a name and a truth
which had been revealed, — the name of Him
who is " I AM," tlic Jehovah of Israel. It was
on this foundation that the Judeo-Spanish phi-
losopher, though refusing to submit his in-
tellect to the historical tnith of the Old Testa-
ment, or to acknowledge any interference
of God in the affairs of the world, whether by
means of miracles or any other direct agency,
formed for himself (out of an idea which
he had borrowed from revelation) a system —
we might almost say a religion — the most con-
sistent, perhaps, and the most conscientious
of any that have been devised without the
pale of revelation. For, together with the
religious system he had invented, he had
linked an abstract, but apparently fair, form
of morality. The two together furnish this
conclusion: "We require to know Grod."
" To know him and to love him, without look-
ing for reward, is, in itself, the principle of all
duty and of all blessedness." No one can
deny the fact, that the practice of Spinoza was
guided by these principles, or we might rather

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428 SPINOZA.

say, that his whole system was the creation of
a naturally elevated and noble character, joined
to a profound and comprehensive intellect.
^The career of the celebrated Pantheist, after
his expulsion from the synagogue, was short,
and by no means eventful. We vnll, however,
recount a few circumstances that are worthy
of note. Bom at Amsterdam, in 1632, of
noble parents belonging to the Portuguese
synagogue, Spinoza was in youth thoroughly
instructed in the religion and theology of the
Jews. He received lessons in Latin from the
physician, Van Den Ende, whose sentiments
are said to have influenced those of his pupil.
The writings of Descartes, at all events, had a
far greater share in making Spinoza a philoso-
pher, and furnishing the basis upon which he
built his famous system. His entrance on
this career soon began to work in him a
gradual alienation from the synagogue; he
neglected its public services, and disputed
with the Rabbins upon points of religion.
Every effort to induce him to give up his
opinions proved unsuccessful, and the division
broke out publicly. Spinoza was censured by
the synagogue, and even threatened with death
by the multitude as he came out of a public
meeting. He was thus obliged to leave

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SPINOZA. 429

Amsterdam to save his life, and removed to
Rynburg, near Leyden, then to Voorburg,
and finally to the Hague. Scarcely had he
left the capital, when the Rabbins pronounced
upon him the great excommunication ; against
which he wrote a long protest, but never
published it. When thus cut off from the
synagogue, he voluntarily gave up his share
of the family property, and in future earned a
scanty livelihood by preparing lenses and
optical glasses, employing every leisure hour
in the study of philosophy and the sciences.
In order to devote himself more freely to these
pursuits, he twice refused a professorship at
Heidelburgh, offered him by the Elector
Palatine.

Though Spinoza lived in complete retire-
ment, he maintained an extensive acquaintance
and correspondence with friends and learned
men, both in his own country and elsewhere.
Whilst at the Hague, it appears that he was
employed by the Pensionary, John de Witt, in
some political negotiations, especially with the
Duke of Luxembourg, at Utrecht, during the
perilous year of 1672. When the Prince de
Conde was with the French army in Holland,
about the same time, he offered the philoso-
pher a safe-conduct, that he might have the

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430 DJEU ISAAC OROBIO D£ CASTRO.

pleasure of seeing and conversing with hiou
About five years after, Spinoza died of con-
sumption, and was followed to the grave by a
large attendance. All that is known of his
private and domestic life bears the same
impress of calmness, moderation, and dignity,
which we have already noticed, and which
might have made him an ornament of the
Christian commimity. In Spinoza were to be
found the seeds of a Pascal, if only he could
have received Christianity, of which, indeed,
he never spoke without respect as a Divine
historical fact; if he had determined to ex*
amine its tenets apart from the artificial light
of human speculation ; if he could but have
seen, that the highest deductions of reason lead
us on to faith. But, alas ! to him, as well as
to many of his imitators, the admirers of
merely human reasoning, those words of the
Lord Jesus are applicable, that God ^^ bath
revealed unto babes things that are hid from
the wise and prudent. Even so. Father ! for
so it seemed good in thy sight."

Dr. Isaac (formerly Don Batlliason) Orobio
de Castro is the representative of an entirely
different party among the Spanish and Fortu*
guese Jews, during a period which corre-
sponds with the time of Spinoza, and reaches

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BB. ISAAC OBOBIO BE GASTBO. 431

beyond it to the latter half of the seventeenth
oentuiy. Both the life and writings of this
learned man bear the stamp of modem Phari-
saical Judaism, a contrast alike to Infidel phi-
losophy and to the Gospel of truth. He was
the son of Je^yish parents, who lived under
the denomination of new Christians at Bra^
ganza, in Portugal, and afterwards at Malaga,
Born in this town about the year 1616, and
having studied at Alcala de Henarez, he
taught medicine and metaphysics at Seville,
not without falling under the suspicions of the
Inquisition. Through the tale-bearing of a
Moorish slave, who reported that a distinction
of meats, and other tokens of Judaism^ were
to be met with in liis house, Orobio fell into
the hands of that fearful tribunal. After he
had endured three years of imprisonment, and
the infliction of unheard-of tortures, the In*
quisition was still unable to convict him.
Obliged, in consequence, to declare him only
suspected^ but not convicted of Judaism, it was
content with compelling him to leave the
country. Let us remark upon this occasion, a
striking difference between the religion of
modem Judaism, and the Christian faith.
With the Christian, the first effect of faith is
" confession" (Rom. x. 10) ; with the Jew, it is

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432 DR. ISAAC OROBIO BE CASTEO.

the practice of the law, either in secret or
openly, with permission in time of persecution
to act as best suits the emergency of the
moment A striking and characteristic con-
sequence this of the essential diflPerence be*
tween a religion that teaches salvation through
a living fiedth, and that which makes it de-
pendent on outward meritorious works, — not,
indeed, excluding martyrdom, but not requir-
ing it as a matter of absolute necessity, when
opportunity is offered for concealment or dis-
simulation. Thus Orobio could think he was
faithful to his God, while in the midst of
tortures he persisted in retaining his Judaism,
and at the same time denying that he did so.
When released, he settled at Toulouse, where
he was appointed Professor of Medicine and
Councillor to Louis XIV. At last, wishing
to enjoy the free exercise of his religion, he
left France, and at the age of forty settled at
Amsterdam. He continued to practise as a
physician in that city till the year of his
death, 1686, and his descendants remain to
this day in the capital of Holland. Among
his numerous polemical works in defence of
the Jewish religion, his controversy with
Philip de Limborch was published by that
learned Remonstrant, under the title of

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THOMAS D£ FINEDO. 433

"Friendly Discussion with a learned Jew,
on the Truth of Christianity." Other writ-
ings of Orobio's against Christianity remain to
our day, and have circulated in manuscript
among the Portuguese Jews. Similar manu*
scripts are to be met with in different
libraries, the productions of the Rabbins Mor-
teira and Saporta.

Thomas (called, in the synagogue, Isaac) de
Finedo, who came, nearly at the same time as
Orobio, to seek a refuge in Amsterdam from
inquisitorial persecution, was more famed for
his proficiency in Greek and the ancient
classics, than as a Jewish theologian. De-
scended from the family of Finheiro, of Fran-
coso, in Portugal, he received his education
at Madrid, where he was indebted to the
training of the Jesuits for his literary attain-
ments. He had already reached a mature
age when the suspicions of the Inquisition
obliged him to quit the scene of his studies
and the society of his learned friends in the
capital of Spain, to live in safety in the United
Provinces. He differs from Orobio de Ccutro
in this especially, that never, in any of his
writings, has he attacked the Christian re-
ligion; on the contrary, he takes pleasure in
acknowledging its beneficial influence in

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434 THOlfAS D£ FINEDO.

society, thoi^h he does not spare the tribunal
of the Inquisition. He finished and published
at Amsterdam, in 1678, his edition of Stepha-
nus Byzantinus (vephrdKiioy)^ with a copious
commentary, and dedicated the work to the
Marquis of Mondejos, of the house of Men-
doza, ever devoted to the encouragement of
literature. The noble Marquis whom we have
just named, warmly expressed in a letter to
the Judeo-Spanish poet, De Barrios, his regret
at the death of Finedo, and more especially at
his dying in the profession of Judaism.

The Jews of the Peninsula, even when
exiled to the Low Countries, continued to set
a high value upon the poetry of their an-
cestors, although the period of the great
masters in modern Hebrew poetry had so long
gone by. Even in Spanish and Portuguese
poetry they made but moderate proficiency in
Holland, and never, even in that, passed
mediocrity. Yet poetical and literary asso-
ciations, both for Hebrew and Spanish, were
not wanting either in the northern or southern
portion of the Netherlands, while distin-
guished families, such as those of Pinto, Bel-
monte, and Cariel, willingly threw open their
houses on these occasions. Even the syna-
gogue has witnessed within its walls, before

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JUDEO-SPANISH POETS. 435

the reunion in 1639, the representation of
pieces of poetry, much in the same fashion
as the ancient mystery plajrs of Spain in the
Middle Ages. Such a piece of poetry, com-
posed by the Judeo-Fortnguese, Rehuel Je-
shurun (otherwise Paulo de Pina), was recited
in 1624, in the synagogue of Beth Jahacob,
by several of its most learned and distin-
guished members. In this poetical dialogue
the seven mountains of Sinai, Sion, Hor,
Nebo, Gerizim, Carmel, and Senir (Sirion),
mutually dispute the right of pre-eminence,
which is decided at last by the King, Jeho-
shaphat. Such entertainments, however,
though not considered actually unlawful,
were soon thought inconsistent with the holi-
ness of a house of prayer. Besides the names
of Peixoto, Beynoso, Antunes, Bueno, Uziel,
Bosales, and Lobo, we find mentioned among
the poetical geniuses at Amsterdam those of
two distinguished women, Isabella Henriquez
and Dona Isabella Correa, The latter was
wife to the Lieutenant-Colonel Don Nicholas
de Oliver y FuUana (in the synagogue, Daniel
Juda), then in the Spanish service, and much
esteemed as a cosmographer; he was a fellow-
labourer with Blaeu, in the well-known Atlas
of Spain and Portugal, which bears the name
V 2

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436 JUDEO-SFANISH POETS.

of the latter. Another Spanish poet of Jewish
race was Captain Don Miguel de Barrios,
whose " Coro de las Musas," published before
he made an open profession of Judaism at
Amsterdam, is not wanting in poetical talent ;
at all events, it is infinitely superior to anything
he wrote afterwards, when a member of the
synagogue, under the Jewish name of Daniel
Levi de Barrio. His later compositions con-
sist chiefly of sonnets in praise of some victims
of the Inquisition; of epithalamiums and
other fugitive pieces, the principal value of
which consists in the light they throw on
some of the distinguished persons and families
belonging to the synagogue.

The eighteenth century has witnessed an
almost entire extinction of poetical genius
among the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of
Holland. Yet, from time to time, some few
sparks of Hebrew poetry have appeared ; for
example, a metrical Hebrew version of Ra-
cine's " Athalia," by a member of the family
of Franco Mendez, ever distinguished in the
synagogue for cultivated talents, as well as
high rank. At that time, there were some
poets who attempted to write in Dutch, but
their attempts never surpassed mediocrity,
and partook of the frigid and constrained

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PORTUGUESE JEWS, ETC. 437

style which characterizes all Dutch poetry
towards the close of the eighteenth century.

In other branches of science and letters,
the attainments of the Sephardim in Holland
could never vie with those of their ancestors
in the Spanish Peninsula ; perhaps the inter-
mingling of prosperity and oppression had
exercised a happier influence than the repose
which they afterwards enjoyed without inter-
ruption. In the United Provinces of the
Netherlands the Spanish and Portuguese
synagogue was peculiarly distinguished by
the vast capital it had at command, and the
extensive commercial relations in which its
members were engaged with Spain, Portugal^
Italy, the Levant, Brazil, &c. ; by an unble-
mished celebrity for probity and honour, ever
accompanying the immense riches and splendid
style of living of its members ; lastly, by the
good and loyal services it had offered and
rendered in more than one critical period to
the country and the House of Orange. It is
not, therefore, to be wondered at, that the
Republic of the Netherlands should, at all
times, appear as a zealous protectress of the
rights of its Jewish subjects among foreign
powers.

It was equally natural that the great com*

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438 PORTTTGUESE JEWS

mercial city of Amsterdam should be fixed
upon as a centre of resort by the Portuguese
emigrants to that country. While the Israel-
ites who have escaped from Poland and Ger-
many are scattered more uniformly over the
surface of the provinces, the Sephardim, with
few exceptions, have hardly any synagogues
without the bounds of Holland. In the pro-
vince of Utrecht, in whose chief city, by
virtue of its ancient laws, their residence is
still forbidden, they have a numerous and
powerful settlement at Maarsa, a village
which, it is said, the Jews once thought of
purchasing for themselves, to make it m en-
tirely Jewish colony. In Middleburgh, the
capital of Zealand, they also, for a time, pos-
sessed a synagogue and burying-ground.
There, among others, lived the Rabbi Jacob
Juda Leon, whose dissertations on the struc-
ture of Solomon's Temple in Hebrew and
Spanish, has obtained repute among Chris-
tians as well as Jews. At Nykerk, in Guel-
derland, there remain to this day the ruins
of an Italian Portuguese synagogue. In
Holland a considerable synagogue of the
Sephardim long flourished at Naarden, and
another at Rotterdam, where among the dis-
tinguished families we may mention that of

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IN THE UNITED PROVINCES. 439

De la Fenha ; a meinber of that family named
Alexander was Consul for his Catholic Ma^
jesty in that city. His brother Joseph, in
1697, received in feoff from King William
the shores of Labrador, Coste Eeal, &c., in
North America, which had been discovered
by his vessels, and taken possession of in the
name of the Prince of Orange. After Am*
sterdam, the prosperity and esteem gained by
the Portuguese Jews has nowhere been higher
than at the Hague. In that city many of the
finest houses were built by them, and long
inhabited by their descendants* Their syna-
gogue is situated in one of the finest quarters
of the town. It was during the second half
of the seventeenth century that they erected
their house of prayer and purchased their
burying*ground. One of the first Israelites,
however, to whom letters of naturalization
were first granted at the Hague in 1672, was
of Polish origin ; his descendants, the Polak
Daniels, are still living, and in high esteem in
that city.

. It was during this time, and the first twenty
years of the eighteenth century, that the
synagogue of the Sephardim at Amsterdam
and the Hague reached its greatest splendour.
Among the families distinguished either by

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440 PORTUGUESE JEWS

ancient historical reminiscences, by immense
riches, or by great political talent, sometimes
by all these together, we may add to those
of whom we have already made mention, the
names of Osorio, Levi Ximenes, Pereira,
Salvador, Lopes de Liz, Machado, Capadose,
De Souza, Bueno de Mesquita, De Azevedo,
Abendana de Brito, Da Veiga, Navarro, De
Almanza, and many others.

More especial mention must be made of
some individuals and families who have dis*
tinguished themselves in Holland, as their
ancestors had done in Portugal, by their public
services and their talents in the diplomatic
line. At Amsterdam, as at Hamburgh, the
crowned heads of Sweden, Denmark, and
Prussia, as well as the German states, em-
ployed as their agents and residents distin-
guished members of the Portuguese synagogue.
Thus, Francisco Molo, who took up his abode
at Amsterdam, from the year 1679, as resident
for Poland, rendered eminent service in up-
holding the cause of the European alliance
against the ambitious designs of Louis XIV,
— a service which the States of Holland
thought fit to recompense, among other
favours, by a remission of taxes, which was
then seldom granted to any diplomatists not

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IN THE KETHEBLANDS. 441

resident at the Hague. Sir Williain Temple,
who was at that time in Holland, mentions
his surprise at two things which he observed:
one was, that the Jews, in spite of the cruelties
they had suffered in Spain and Portugal,
ceased not to make use of both these languages
in their families as a mother tongue; the
other J that the Kings of Spain and Portugal on
their side employed, as their emissaries and
residents at Amsterdam, Jews, who came origi-
nally from their own countries. For instance^
during more than a century and a half, the
femily of Nunez da Costa (in the synagogue,
Curiel) held the office of general agent to the
Crown of Portugal, with the title of gentleman
of the royal household. In the same manner,
Don Manuel Baron de Belmonte was employed
as the Spanish resident in Holland for forty
years, from 1664 — 1704; his services were
eminently successful in keeping up a good
understanding and firm alliance between these
two powers against the ambition of France.
His nephew, the Baron de Ximenes Belmonte,
succeeded him in the same office, which, how-
ever, ceased to exist when the Bourbons were
firmly established on the throne of Spain.

History mentions another member of the
family who, in the same period, 1678 — 1702,
IJ 8

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442 . POBTUOUE8E JBWS

was employed as envoy by the Prince of
Orange, then King of England, to the Couit
of Spain, and also as plenipotentiary of the
States-General at the same court and that of
Portugal. Monsieur de Schoonenburg, an-
other member of the Belmonte family, did not
gain less distinction during his long career, by
the penetration, fidelity, and zeal which he
displayed, both for the interests of his own
master and the house of Austria, which he
served with all . the power and influence he
possessed in Spain, during the debate attend-
ing the succession of King Charles II. in that
country.* The Austrian claimant, afterwards
Emperor of Germany by the name of
Charles VI., acknowledged his services by
presenting him with a marquisate in the
German Netherlands.

Among all the sovereigns of Europe and
princes of Orange, it was especially during the
lifetime of William III., the Stadtholder and
King of Great Britain, and by his influence,
that Israelites by religion as well as birth
were employed and even preferred to fill con-

• See the Memoirs of Lamberti, " Spain under Charles
the Second ; or, Extracts from the Correspondence of the
Hon. Alexander Stanhope, 1690—1699." (London, 1840),
pp. 32—112, 154.

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IN THE NETHERLANDS. 443

fidential posts in matters of difdomacy. Nor
was it to this prince alone, among those of the
house of Nassau, that the Jews of Spain and
Portugal testified their unalterable attachment.
Both the German and Portuguese synagogues
at all times shared the same feelings of un-
shaken fidelity to the members of that illus-
. trious dynasty. The noble families especially,
both at Amsterdam and the Hague, haye
given proof of their devotedness in time of
adversity as well as prosperity. On their side,
the stadtholders of the house of Nassau, from
Frederic Henry downwards, have continued to
give marks of their esteem for and interest in
these families, both in public and in private.
Till the reign of William V. inclusive, no
stadtholder of Holland had ever failed to pay
at least one visit of ceremony to each of the
great synagogues of Amsterdam. The stadt*
holder Frederic Henry came, accompanied by
his son, William II., the Queen of England,
and the princess, her daughter, betrothed to
the young prince. On this occasion, the col-
lege of Parnassim offered to the stadtholder a
present of wrought silver, of the value of two
thousand florins, which was graciously ac-
cepted. The Kabbi Menasseh Ben Israel
complimented the illustrious visitors in an

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444 P0RTUG0E8S JEWS

elegant Spanish oration, in which he compared
the house of Nassau to the ancient Maccabees
of Israel.

The eighteenth century was for Europe in
general, as it was for the Sephaidim in par-
ticular, a period of degeneracy in many
respects. The zeal and actiyity which the
Portuguese Jews had formerly evinced, in so
many various departments, was superseded in
many by the indolence which accompanies an
excess of luxury, the produce in part of their
great prosperity and complete security. Gam*
ing usurped for a time the place of that com-*
merce with the East, South, and West, which
their fathers had carried on so successfully,
both for their own benefit and that of the
country in which they lived. Their manners
were changed, and became more corrupt.
Religion, though its outward ceremonies were
rigidly practised, no longer possessed that in-*
ward hold which had often led men to brave
the flames of the Inquisition, and to abandon
rank, possessions, and country, to serve (accord-
ing to their conscience, though in error) the
God of Israel, and avoid bowing down before
an image. Even the glory of their ancient
reminiscences degenerated into an object of
vanity and party spirit, in which the origin

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IN THE NETHERLANDS. 443

itself of these boasted distinctions was forgot-
ten, while the aristocracy of money exercised
the greatest influence. On the other hand, a
frequent and increasing intimacy with the
language, literature, and philosophy, as well
as with French vanity and manners, exercised
a most pernicious influence over that portion
of the Jews in Holland, who at that time were
naturally more exposed than their brethren of
the German synagogue to the seductions and
the danger of an entirely worldly civilization.
The few literary works which the Sephardim
in the Low Countries produced during that
time of decay, were almost exclusively written
in the French spirit and style, as well as in
the language, then becoming more and more
general, of the same seductive nation.

A well-known member of the Portuguese
synagogue at Amsterdam in particular, had
made successful use of this language in the
latter part of the preceding century. Isaac de
Pinto was author of the "Remarques Critiques,"
upon an article concerning the Jews, in Vol-
taire's famous " Philosophical Dictionary." In
these remarks, though they are well written and
not wanting in spirit, the author seems to have
allowed prudence to get the better, when
treating the enemies of Christianity and of the

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446 PORTUGUESE JEWS

Jewish nation with such excessive politeness
that the point of his arguments is completely
hlunted. The Materialists also found in De
Pinto a skilful adversary; though, in defending
the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, he
assumed too much the position of a Deist. He
has written, besides, some treatises on political
economy, which are well thought of, especially
one upon luxury. On the whole, this Israelite,
distinguished both by his talents and position
in society, has rendered eminent service to his
nation, both in Holland and in France. He
also served the country in which he lived in
time of need. For instance, during the siege
of 6ergen-op-Zoom, he, with some others, came
to the relief of the exhausted treasury, and
furnished capital at very low interest from his
own funds, and those of his rich coreligionists.
This generosity obtained for him a letter from
Van Hogendorp, the Receiver-General, in
which he is congratulated on having saved the
State.

Very different were the services rendered
by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews in the
colonies, and especially the West Indies. In
the East Indies they were never numerous, at
least in the Dutch possessions. We only find
the fact noticed, that, in 1686, some Portuguese

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IN THE COLONIES. 447

Jews from Amsterdam visited their Israelitish
brethren at Cochin, where, since the establish-
ment of the Dutch, their position had been
much ameliorated. Moses Pereira de Paiva, a
famous traveller, published some details con-
cerning these Eastern Jews in 1687.

The Jews from the Peninsula, established
themselves in America, almost immediately
after the discovery of the New World. We
find them directly after the exile of 1497,
bearing in Brazil the name of New Christians,
without being pursued by the Inquisition^ but
sent there by the Government as a kind of
banishment The number of Jews in that
country was soon considerably increased by
arrivals of their brethren from France; and
they began to acquire a greater degree of influ-
ence than the Catholic Government of Portugal
could tolerate, when the conquest of the coun-
try by the arms of Holland brought about a
complete change of position, entirely in favour
of the Jewish population. From that moment,
considerable bodies of Jews sailed for Brazil
from the ports of Holland, accompanied by two
Rabbins, Aboab and De Aquiiar, to found a
Jewish colony. They soon attained consider-
able prosperity and influence by the cultivation
of land, manufactures, and an active trade

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448 PORTUQUESB JEWS

carried on with their brethren in Holland.
The Dntch Government, and especially the
Governor, Count John Maurice de Nassau,
was not backward in appreciating the services
of the Jews, and encouraging them by the
entire toleration of their religion, and by every
mark of distinction and courtesy. In what
their services consisted, is plainly told in ad
ordinance from the States-General, dated in
the year 1645, in which *^ the persons, goods,
and rights of the Jews in Brazil were taken
under the special protection of the Govern*
ment, because of the fidelity and courage which
that nation had on every occasion displayed
towards the said Government." In truth,
history bears witness how much the Jews dis-
tinguished themselves by their valour, both at
the time of the conquest, and in the defence of
Brazil by the Dutch against the Spaniards
and Portuguese. One of the Fintos was killed
at his post while bravely defending one of the
fortresses. In the perilous times of 1645 and
1654, great services were also rendered by the
Portuguese family of Cohen, who furnished
the Dutch, as well as the Jews, with ammuni-
tion and provisions. In 1654, the possession
of Brazil was lost for ever to the Dutch, and
in consequence to the Jews also, as a residence,

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IN THE COLONIES. 449

with free exercise of their religion, when that
country became again a colony of Portugal.
The Portuguese Viceroy granted to the numer-
ous Jewish population some further time to
arrange their a'ffairs, and thirty vessels, with a
safe-conduct, to convey them to Holland.

A considerable portion of these Brazilian
Jews established themselves in another part of
the New World. The Dutch West India
Company, by an Act, dated September 12,
1659, granted to David (Cohen) Nasi, exten-
sive rights and liberties at Cayenne, for himself
and his companions. Their number and re-'
sources were soon increased by the arrival of
several Portuguese families from Leghorn.
The progress of the colony was, however, hin-
dered by war ; first, with Portugal, and then
with France, which, in 1664, took the country
from the Dutch and the Jews.

More lasting, and, therefore, more worthy of
interest, was the settlement made at Surinam,
by the Portuguese Jews from different coun-
tries, but especially from Holland. Lord
Willoughby, who obtained from Charles II.,
in 1662, a charter for the colonization of that
country, endeavoured by favours and consider-
able privileges to attract thither the Israelites
and their commerce. Many industrious and

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450 PORTUGUESE JEWS

even distinguished Portuguese Jews, who had
retired from Cayenne, came to Surinam, where,
in three years' time, the banks of the riveir
were adorned with forty or fifty plantations,
and a population of about four thousand.

The privileges granted by the first English
possessors placed the Hebrew nation (as they
are designated in the general privilege, signed
by the Secretary, Parry, in 1665) on a footing
of entire equality with the English ; while, at
the same time, the most ample liberty was
secured to them in matters of religion,* Sab-
baths, feast4lays, marriages, and wills.

The privileges secured to the Jews by the
Dutch West India Company, and especially
by Lord Willoughby, formed the basis of that
social position and prosperity which they have
at all times enjoyed in the colony of Surinam.

During the war with England (1665-67).
the Dutch made themselves masters of this
colony, which at the peace of Breda was
secured to that Republic, to the great dissatis-
&ction of Willoughby, who immediately
ordered all English subjects to leave the
country. A considerable number of Portu-

• See " Historical Essay on the Colony of Surinam,'*
1788. By Lindo. Second Part. Pp. 123—125, 381
—383.

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IN THE COLONIES. 451

guese families left at the same time, and went
with the English to form a colony at Jamaica,
where (as well as in the French colony of the
Martinico) the cultivation of the sugar-cane
was very greatly improved, owing to the settle*
ment of these Jews,

Meanwhile, the Dutch Government still
found iaithful and industrious subjects among
the Jews of the Savanna, in Surinam. Great
service was rendered by various members of the
families of Pinto da Fonseca, Arias, Naar, De
Brito, D'Avilar, both in the vigorous defence of
the colony in 1689, against the French squadron,
under Admiral Cassard, and in the wars
which were carried on both in that century
and the succeeding one against the Indians
and Negroes ; another, David Nasi, met with
death in his thirty-first campaign against the
latter, in the year 1743, at the age of seventy.
Another member of the same family had much
distinguished himself in the war with France,
and by this means so much excited the jealousy
of the Governor, that, for the sake of his
brethren, he thought it best to leave the
colony, and retire to Amsterdam, where,
together wijh the Baron de Belmonte, he
ceased not to take the part of the Jews at
Surinam in their disputes with the Govern-

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462 PORTUGUESE JEWS IN THE COLONIES.

ment of that colony. These disputes, a natural
consequence of the close contact in which the
Jews lived with the Christian colonists, in no
way lessened the acknowledged and unshaken
fidelity of the Jews to the Government of the
mother country, and to the House of Orange.
They, however, tended to diminish the pros-
perity of the synagogue at Surinam, especially
when internal dissensions arose among the
Jewish people themselves. In our days the
very failing condition of the colony in general
has certainly not had a more favourable effect
upon the prosperity of the Jews. Some time after
the establishment of the Portuguese synagogue
at Surinam, the German Jews also settled
there, and, before long, especially since the
close of the eighteenth century, they have
risen to be on a par with their brethren in
civilization and esteem.

At Curafoa, originally a Spanish colony,
but, after many vicissitudes, possessed by the
Dutch, the Portuguese Jews were early
esfeblished. They had not, however, built a
synagogue before the eighteenth century, and
then one was speedily followed by a second.
Now, the Portuguese Jewish, population,
formerly flourishing and numerous, is reduced
to less than a thousand souls.

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PORTUGUESE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 453

At New York a Portuguese synagogue still
exists, apparently built at the time when that
city was still within the Dutch territories. At
Philadelphia, and some other towns of the
United States, Portuguese synagogues have
continued to exist to the present time.

When Oliver Cromwell governed Great
Britain, three centuries and a-half had elapsed
since the time when the Jews were banished
from England by Edward I. The period
seemed then arrived for the country to open its
ports to a nation which had already been
received on the Continent, both by Roman
Catholic and Protestant powers.

Cromwell, who on religious motives was
well inclined to re-admit the Jews, also well
knew and understood as a statesman the
advantages that might be gained in a political
point of view from the extensive connexions of
the Spanish Jews. The time was, therefore, as
happily chosen as the man, when, as we have
already told, the Jews sent Menasseh Ben
Israel to England, to request permission for
the Israelitish nation to reside and enjoy the
free exercise of their religion in England,
Scotland, and Ireland. The request was made
in two remarkable addresses to the Lord Pro-
tector and to the Republic, in which, among

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454 PORTUGUESE JEWS IN ENGLAND;

other subjects, the writer expresses his fiill
expectation of a speedy return of the Jewish
people to the land of their fathers. The Pro-
tector called together an assembly of clei^y,
lawyers, and merchants at Whitehall, to ask
their opinion upon the matter. He declared
himself in this assembly openly and warmly
in favour of the re-admission of the Jews,
because of the great promises in Holy Scrip-
ture attached to their conversion, and the
honour and interest it would bring to the
Christian Church. An eye-witness of the
meeting declares that he never heard any one
so eloquent as the Protector when pleading
the cause of the Jews. Yet it was entirely in
vain; the majority, especially of the clergy
and merchants, declared themselves opposed to
the re-admission of the Jews. Thus the question
was deferred, and the Jews meanwhile to-
lerated by a kind of connivance, in virtue of a
special permission from the Protector, but not
as English subjects, or as forming an Israelitish
synagogue. It appears, however, that nearly
at the same period a piece of land was granted
to them as a burial-ground, on a nominal lease
of nine hundred and ninety-nine years. Leave
to build a synagogue in London, and, conse-
quently, free permission to reside and prac*

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PORTCOUESE JEWS IN ENGLAND. 455

tise their religion, was at last granted to them
in the reign of Charles II., 1666. Perhaps
there may be some connecting-link between
this event and the remarkable circumstance
that the negotiations for the King's marriage
to the Infanta, Catherine of Portugal, were
carried on by General Monk through the in-
tervention of a Portuguese Jew.

It is an ascertained fact, that the Infanta
was accompanied to England by two Portu-
guese brothers, one of whom, Dr. Antonio
Mendez, had been Professor of Medicine at
Coimbra, and at the request of the Infanta
established himself in London, where, from
that time, both his brother and himself openly
professed the religion of Moses. Their de-
scendants have since borne the name of
Mendez da Costa.* Since that time the Por«
tuguese synagogue in London has been
greatly increased by the number of dis-
tinguished fiunilies who have migrated thither
even from Spain and Portugal, but especially
from the Netherlands. These families have
lived and prospered in London, particularly
since the reign of King William, on the same
footing as those at Amsterdam and the Hague,

• Lindo's ^^Histoiy of the Jews in Spain and Por-
tugal,'' p. S50.

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456 POBTUOUESE JEWS IN ENGIAND.

with whom they were often connected by
relationship.

Here, as in Holland, they have also given
proof of their faithful attachment to the Gro-
vemment and the Crown, which they have
been ever ready to aid with their persons
or their fortunes. The principal families
belonging to this synagogue are those of
Ximenes, Cardoso, Lopez, Bemal, Gomez
Sera, De Chaves, Fernandes Nunes, De
Almeida, and Bravo. The well-known Member
of Parliament and political economist, David
Ricardo, belonged by birth to the Portuguese
synagogue; his father, who was the younger
son of a Spanish family at Amsterdam, having
formerly settled in England.

Among the learned men and authors re-
corded in the annals of the English Sephardim
we may mention Rabbi Abendana, translator
of the " Khusari of Hallevi ; " as well as Babbi
David Nieto, bom at Venice, and made Chief
Rabbi in London in the year 1701. He wrote
several works on theology in Portuguese, and
in Italian a ^^ Pascologia,'* in which he en-
deavours to reconcile the differences between
the Jewish calendar and that of the Greek and
Latin Church regarding the feast of Easter.
He wrote, besides, some rather severe strictures

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PORTUGUESE JEWS IN ENGLANp. 457

upon the proceedings of the Inquisitioii as late
as the time of John IV. of Portugal. To the
English synagogue also belonged Rabbi Jacob
(Henriques) de Castro Sarmiento, bom at
Braganza, in 1691, who established himself in
London in 1721, where his great acquirements
in natural science caused him to be chosen a
member of the Royal Society, and presented
with the degree of Doctor by the University of
Aberdeen. An interesting specimen of Jewish
literature in England appears in a poetical
version of the Psalms, made in 1720, by
Daniel Israel Lyra Laguna, with the title of
" A feithfal Mirror of Life/' This work is
also worthy of notice on account of the differ-
ent specimens of Spanish, Latin, and even
English poetry in praise of its author, with
which his friends accompanied the publication.
After 1713, Great Britain had Spanish-
Jewish subjects on a soil which had originally
been Spanish. By the treaty of Utrecht,
Gibraltar remained annexed to the Crown of
Great Britain, by whom, conjointly with the
Dutch, this celebrated fortress had been over-
come. The Crown of England had, however,
made an agreement with his Catholic Majesty,
that neither Jew nor Moor should be tolerated
in the city. Before long, the English Govern-

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458 PORTUGUESE JEWS IN ENGLAKD.

ment obtained from the Spanish monarck per-
mission to admit ^Mporish ships into the port,
and in time Jewish settlors were also allowed.
They soon established themselves, and multi-
plied to such a degree, that at the present time
there exists a Jewish population of about 1,600
souls, with four synagogues. The connexion
which subsists between the acknowledged and
the concealed Israelites who are to be met with
to this day in Spain, is a secret to no one.
Among others, the former well^-known Spanish
minister, Mendizabel, was the son of a Jewish
resident at Gibraltar.

With regard to Spain itself at the present
time, though Jews may travel, and even
remain in the country without danger, yet
there exists no law to secure to them their
religious liberty in the ancient abode of their
fathers. In Portugal, on the contrary, since
1820, they have possessed a public synagogue
in the capital, an example which has also
been followed by thp Government of Brazil,
while in the emancipated states of America,
which were originally Spanish, the Jews in
pur time no longer encounter persecution.

We have given in this book, as in a sepa-
rate picture, a review of the history of the
Sephardim, as distinct from the rest of their

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PORTUGUEQE JEWB IN ENGLANQ. 459

brethren in the midst of that universal dis-
persion of the Jewish people which followed
the destruction of Jerusalem* The condnding
portion of our sketch will refer exclusively to
the other division of the dispersed nation, or
will view both taken together as a whole.
What is chiedy to be observed in the present
day with respect to the Jewish nation is, the
decline of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews,
and the remarkable social development of
another diffisrent portion of the same extraor-
dinary nation. It is as if the two had divided
between them the past and the present If
the past presents to the former more glorious
reminiscences, the present appears to belong
more especially to the latter. But of what im-
portance is iti The future acknowledges no
such distinction ! The future, acpording to the
promise of God in Christ Jesus their Saviour
and their King, belongs equally to both : it is
given to the ^'nation of the twelve tribes"
undivided.

X 2

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BOOK IV.

THE JEWS AND THE REFORMATION.

Having now brought to a close a review of
the history of the Sephardim, we must, for a
short time, retrace our steps. From the period
of the Reformation, in the sixteenth century,
we will resume that thread of events which
we have lately followed through a less thorny
path, amid the sad wilderness of Israel's his-
tory since the rejection of his Messiah, and the
fall of his temple and city. What we propose
to ourselves in this last portion of our work is,
to exhibit the principal features of the destiny,
and the most striking situations in which the
exiled nation have been placed, from the time
of the Reformation until the commencement
of the revolutionary period at the close of the
eighteenth century; and again from that
epoch to the middle of the present century.
We will then conclude the past and present
history of Israel, with casting a glance upon
their future prospects, especially considered,

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THE JEWS AND THE BEFORMATION. 461

as heretofore, in its connexion with, and rela^
tion to» the Gentiles.

From the very beginning of their history —
from the very rise of that nation sprang from '
the seed of Abraham and Jacob, this people
have ever had quite a peculiar share in all the
great events which have from time to time
changed the face of the world. In these
events they have had their influence, their co-
operation, and, as regards their temporal
existence at least, they have ever been more
or less directly interested in the movements
which have agitated the nations. In more
than one respect was the reciprocal influence
of- the dispersed yet ever-preserved people of
Israel intimately felt in connexion with the
reformation of part of the Christian Church,
just when the period of the Middle Ages was
superseded by a new order of things in the
destinies of Europe and of the world.

The dawning of the Reformation, in the
sixteenth century, was brought about under
God's guiding providence over the Church,
the world, and mankind, by an increase and
shedding abroad of light in every branch of
knowledge and human science, more especially
in literature and languages; above all, the
two idioms, in one of which all the writings

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4fi[2f' THE JEWS AND

of thcf Nefw T^cfstament, uni iri the other, those
of the Old, had been committed to the Church
of all ages- The rchdval of the stady of
Hebrew led, as a natural consequence, to the
renewed study of Moses and the prophets in
the original, and which, during the last thou-
sand years, had become almost unknown to
the Christian Church, haying been preserved
exclusively in the schools and writings of the
Jews. In the Roman Catholic world Latin
had become, ^^par excellence^' or, sather, ex-
clusively the holy tongue, the Vulgate having
superseded and cast into oblivion the original
Hebrew and Greek. The time had long since
passed by when a Jefoine received instruction
from an Israelite in learning the language of
Canaan, that he might make translations for
the benefit of the Church, But the ten cen-
turies of the Middle Ages had not yet quite
elapsed before the knowledge of the Hebrew
language began to reappear in the labours of
Nicholas de Lyra, in the fourteenth century,
jn-eparing, as it wercf, a way for the Reformers.
In Spain, where, during the same period,
the Jews alone had spread the light of their
Hebrew and rabbinical learning, we have seen
Paul of Burgos completing and purifying the
Fostills of De Lyra. In that country, also, a

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THB E£POBMATIOK. 463

short time before the appearance of Luther,
the celebrated Cardinal Xinienes conimitted
the Hebrew text of his Polyglot Bible to the
dharge of three learned men of Jewish descent.
Soon after, — thanks to the good services of the
Jewish press, their whole stores of grammar
and rabbinical exegesis were at the disposition
of the theologians of the Christian Church, to
extract and gather thence all that might be
made of service for the literal interpretation of
Holy Scripture* Even before the trumpet
sounded firom Wittenberg over the world, in
Grermany as well as in Italy the Talmudic
and Cabbalistic writings of the Jews were
already known. The celebrated Prince John
Pico di Mirandola, towards the close of the
fifteenth century, was so deeply devoted tOj
and SO much prepossessed in farour of, the
latter works, that he looked upon them as the
source of all kinds of vnsdom, and laboured to
prove by their means the truths of the Gospel.
A similar prepossession had spread even in
Italy, where, during all' the former half of the
sixteenth century, many converted Jews had
contributed to make known the writings of
their former coreligionists by reftiting them.
The same quarter of a century in which
Luther's testimony held the most conspicuous

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464 THE JEWS AND .

place, beheld a dispute kindled in the midst of
the Popedom concerning the utility or the
danger of tolerating and propagating, by
means of the press, rabbinical works, espe-
cially the Talmud. A violent discussion on
this question, which was carried on for years,
had been first started by John Pfefferkom, a
converted Jew of Cologne. All the efforts of
this man, who, with many faults, was certainly
not wanting in merit, were early directed to
the conversion of his brethren according to the
flesh. The means he first made use of were
highly laudable ; for he treated them with
gentleness^ and even defended his former co-
religionists against the calumny of their
enemies.

His zeal afterwards was less well advised,
when he began to forbid and condemn the
reading of any Hebrew book except the Old
Testament. With the aid of the Dominican
monks, he prevailed on the Emperor Maximi-
lian to adopt his views, and in 1509 an edict
was published, which enjoined that all writings
emanating from the Jews against the Christian
religion should be suppressed and condemned to
the flames ; this edict was soon succeeded by
another, in 1510, enjoining the destruction of
every Hebrew book, vnth the sole exception of

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THE REFOBMAXiOX. 465

the Old Testament The execution of this
edict was, however, suspended until the opinion
of the Electoral Archbishop of Mayence had
been obtained. By favour of this delay, Pro-
fessor Reuchiin (Capnio) was enabled to pub-
lish a voluminous treatise^ in which he divided
the Jewish works into seven different classes,
and afterwards proved which of these classes
might be considered dangerous or injurious to
the Christian religion. Among the books
which he thinks in part harmless, and in part
useful, and even valuable to theology, and
which he would in consequence preserve, were
not only the commentators, but the Talmud
and the Zohar. The contest soon grew warm
between the adversaries of the books and their
defenders ; the former consisting of the Domi-
nicans and their partisans, the latter of all
moderate and enlightened theologians. Under
the Pontificate of Leo X., the well-known
friend and protector of science and literature,
a book of Reuchlin's, which had been con-
demned to the flames by the adverse party at
Cologne, in 1614, was shortly absolved from
all imputation of heresy. Soon, however, (by
fevour, apparently, of the movement which had
taken place in the Church since 1517,) an end
was put to the whole dispute, when the famous
X 3

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466 THE JEW^ At^i

knight, Franfc voh Sickingen, had declared
himself on this question also, thfe decided anta-
gonist of the Inquisitorial party.

Thus, in the very bosom of the Romish
Church, the cause of those who defended the
Talmud for learning's sake had triumphed;
while, iti the Protestant Churches, the study
of Hebrew progressed from the beginning, by
the help of Jewish teachers and writing:s. The
two Buxtorfs, father and son, are at the head
of a long series of learned men of evangelical
sentiments and of the reformed religion, who
derived their knowledge of oriental languages,
and of the original text of the Old Testament,
not from printed books or rabbinical manu-
scripts only, but from the oral teaching of
Jewish masters. Even in our day, after the
important discoveries which have been made,
and the new directibh which the study of
Hebrew has taken during the last century,
learned men recognise the services which the
rabbinical and l*almudic writings not only
have rendered, but may stiU render to science.
A remarkable memorial of the intimate access
thus obtained to the fountain-head (no longer
through the intervention of the Popedom and
it» Vulgate, but by means of the ancient syna-
gogue^) hats remained to us in the decisive te^

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THE BEFORMATION. 467

jection of the Apocryphal Books from that canon
of Scripture which is received by the Reformed
Church as of Divine Inspiration. The influ«-
ence of the rabbinical writings was not of
sufficient weight to connterbalance the ancient,
and so-called, spiritual interpretation of the
Jewish prophecies, which had been received
from time immemorial by the Church of Rome
and the great majority of the fathers. It was
not till long after that a time came for believers
among the nations to acknowledge, that an
interpretation which admits of a real and
litersd accomplishment of all foretold judg-
ments and miseries upon Israel, and bestows
every promise of blessing, by means of an exe*
getico-allegorical operation, exclusively upon
Gentile Christians, cannot escape at least the
reproach of partiality; while it is in direct
opposition to the principle on which our Lord
himself and his apostles have applied or ex*
plained the ancient prophecies of Israel.

On the whole, indeed, the Reformation,
whether in its early days or in later times,
with all its great teachers and numerous
adherents, effected little ot no change in the
disposition of Christians towards the once
chosen people, now so sadly decayed and
scattered over the earth, because of their

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468 THE JEWS AND

heinous sin. Luther appeared well disposed
towards them in the beginning of his career as
a reformer. In a treatise especially, which he
wrote in consequence of some accusations of
heresy concerning the virginity of Mary, " to
prove that Jesus Christ was of Israelitish birth"
— he spoke of the Jews in a manner which
seemed likely to overthrow popular prejudices
against the nation itself, and cause men to set
some value on the imperishable privileges of
their descent. Afterwards he spoke very
differently of the Jews, either from indignation
at some theologians of Wittenberg, whom he
looked upon as infected with the leaven of
rabbinism, or from disappointment because
the Beformation, by which he had promised
himself a favourable influence over the minds
of the Jews and their conversion to the Gos-
pel, found no more favour or acceptance than
Komanism with this entirely singular nation.
At least, his tract, published in 1543, on " The
Jews and their Lies,'' shows no moderate
degree of bitterness, and his manner of dealing
with them was quite in accordance with the
tone of that book. We may say, on this point,
that the Christian in Luther is lost sight of in
the German, always the adversary of the Jew.
The feelings of Calvin were, perhaps, less

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THE BEFORMATION. 469

vehement, but still far from friendly or con-
siderate towards the Jews, with whom, how-
ever, he came little in contact at Geneva.
With more of the Roman and the philosopher
than of the orientalist or the poet in his com-
position, this great French Reformer failed in
taking so complete a view of prophecy, as to
derive from it a knowledge of Israel's future
position. Neither their future prospects, nor
the descent of the Saviour from the midst of
this singular people, ever induced him to for-
get for a moment their protracted hardness of
heart, in spite of the clear, and often-repeated
declarations of Scripture, certifying their con-
version and national restoration. On the other
hand, we cannot deny that the light of the
Gospel, which the Reformation had again set
on the candlestick, had no more influence over
the body of the Jews, than when it was in
great part hid under the bushel of Popery, —
at all times some few individuals have embraced
it " according to the election of grace."

Among those men who laboured with zeal
and fidelity in the cause of the Reformation
during the sixteenth century, we may men-
tion, as a rare exception, however, a Jew of
Ferrara, named Emanuel Tremellius. Having
come into Germany from Italy in company

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4^0 THE JE>f 8 AND

with Peter Mtotyr, by whom he had been
brought to the knowledge of the Gospel, he
there became a zealous laboilrer in the vine-
yard of the Reformation, and, together with
Franciscus Junius, theJ celebrated Dutch Re-
former, afterwards Professor of Theology at
Leyden, made a 'Latin version of the Old
Testament from the original Hebrew- Fran-
ciscus Junius (du Jon) himself at all times
came forward as the warm friend of the people
of Israel, and proved himself to be so most
effectually by the wise and affectionate manner
in which he set forth the duty owing by
Christians to this nation in their present state
of decay. In the family of Junius, as well as
that of Vossius, with which it was connected,
benevolent feelings towards the Jews, and a
warm interest in their welfare, seem to have
been hereditary. Isaac Vossius, for example,
the Professor at Amsterdam^ who afterwards
settled in England, and died there at a great
age, wrote a striking " Address to the Jews "
in this spirit.

Generally speaking, the Arminians of Hol-
land and their allies showed most favour to
the Jewish refugees in that country and their
learned men. We have already spoken of
Hugo Grotius, whose esteem for the Rabbins

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THE REFORMATION. 471

and their interpretations was certainly carried
too far. Rather later, in the course of the
seventeenth century, Calvinistic clergy and
teachers were not wanting in Hblland, who,
by their writings and their efforts for the
spread of the Gospel among the Jews, showed
a far more friendly spirit towards that nation
than their predecessors had done. Among
these, Hendrik Groenwegen atid the Pro-
fessors Witsius and Hombeck were distin-
guished ; the former of these was well known
in England, both personally and by his writ-
ings; the latter was the author of an ample
work on the conversion of the Jews. About
the same period, in the Netherlands, an ex*-
pectation began to arise of the future national
conversion of Israel, in connexion with a mil-
lennium of glory for the Church of Christ
upon earth. Among the defenders of this
doctrine, we find the celebrated theologian,
Willem ton Brakel, whose works, containing
an ample summary of dogmatic and practical
theology, were known throughout Holland, and
brought into fevour with a great number of
the most pious and orthodox members of the
Church a mode of interpreting prophecy,
which the members of the Synod of Dordrecht
had before disowned. Before the close of the

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472 POSITION OF THE JEWS

seventeenth century, however, many men whose
names are well known in Great Britain espe-
cially, had arrived at conclusions almost iden-
tical with those which have heen brought for-
ward during the last thirty or forty years,
concerning the future prosperity of Israel, and
the universal reign of Jesus Christ their King.
Among these, it may suffice to mention Jurieu,
the celebrated opponent of Bayle, who had
sought refuge in Holland subsequently to the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and especi-
ally John de Labadie, whose book entitled,
the " Herald of the King Jesus," together with
his secession from the national Church, brought
upon him great enmity from those ministers
and professors who were considered orthodox.
Thus, the Reformation, by the guidance of the
Lord of the Church, had beheld fresh light
thrown on the Old Testament^ and the word
of prophecy in particular, not shining at once
fully, but rising gradually and increasing by
degrees. In the position of the Jews them-
selves, a remarkable change was at the same
time in progress. Not that the hatred and
prejudices of Christian people, or rather of the
world in general, had given place to more
benevolent and generous sentiments, or that
any mutual drawing together had taken place

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FROM 1617 TO 1689. 473

between Jew and Christian. Only the ftiry
of persecution had slackened and gradually
disappeared, together with that ferocity which
peculiarly characterized the Middle Ages. The
Jews were no longer massacred, tortured,
pillaged, or arbitrarily expelled, as in the time
of the Crusades, at least such events were of
very rare occurrence. In Spain, it is true, and
in her colonies, the sword of Damocles was
suspended over the head of the hidden ad*
herents of the synagogue and their descendants,
— but we have already noticed that the zeal,
or, at least, the power of the Inquisition, had
by degrees slackened. In other parts of
Europe, after the great separation effected by
the Beformation, the fury of persecution
directed against heretics in the bosom of
Christianity itself, was by this means turned
aside from the unbelieving Israelite. Itet^ the
anathema of public contempt, humiliation, and
exclusion from every public or private con-
nexion, still lay heavily upon them. Thus, the
period of 270 years, which intervened between
the Reformation and the Revolution, brought
no amelioration in the civil and political rights
of the Jews, The history of the people of
Israel in the world continued during the whole
of that period to exhibit the same monotonous

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474 POSITION O^ THE JEWS, ETC.

character of naiserjr, wliidi, with the exception
of some few years, or a few fatoured spots, Had
marked their fate for ntiany Centuries. This
periodj which we will now survey rapidly,
offers few peculiarities suficientiy striking to
require a place in this sketch. Many of them
have been detailed in the two preceding books,
by a kind of anticipation which the connexion
of the subjects and facts we have had to relate
riendered necessary. There are but a few of the
more prominent details, relating either to the
sufferings of the exiled people in their social
position, or their labours in the field of litenu
ture or science, left to us. For, with the
commencement of the revolutionary period in
1789, a fresh horizon is discovered, as much
for the whole known and civilized world in
general, as for the scattered remnant of Israel
and Judah.

The position of the Jews in the East under
the Turkish Empire, as we have already re-
marked, was generally favourable, and at
times prosperous, especially that of the Spanish
Jews. After what we have already told con-
cerning that part of the Jewish history, there
remains but little to relate. One man alone
arose amid the Jewish population in the East,
whose name has acquired a pamM celebrity

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SABBATHAI SEYl, ETC. 4^5

in consequence of the angular feet that his
teaching and the sect he founded long con-
tinued to exist ailet the loss of his life and
reputation. Though unmasked as a false
Messiah, he long possessed great influence
ove^ posterity as the most remarkable man of
his age. The number of impostors who harlB
arisen during the nineteen centuries of Israel's
dispersion are reckoned at sixty-four. Among
them, perhaps no one was more deserving of
contempt than Sabbathai Sevi, df Smyrna, yet
none excited more remark by the great sensa-
tion which his appearance continued for some
years to create, by the surprising effects of this
illusion during his lifetime, and eren after his
death; by the ideas especially, long entirely
unheard of among the Jews, concerning the
nature and office of Messiah, to which the
appearance of this man gave rise among that
nation and their scribes in different parts of
the world.

Sabbathai Sevi, the yoiingest son of a poul-
terer, at Smyrna, was born in that city in the
year 1625^ In his childhood he won the
admiration of the synagogue, by his great
cleverness, and the zeal with which he pursued
His studies. At fifteen years of age he no
longer needed instruction in the study of the

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476 8ABBATHAI SEYI,

Talmud. In his eighteenth year he com-
menced his career of Eabbi, with the title of
Chacham. A multitude of disciples crowded
to hear his instructions in the Cabbala; a
study which may always be looked upon as
the link between Jewish theology, philosophy,
and even Christianity. With his public
teaching he united in private the severest
practices of bodily asceticism, after the Jewish
custom of constant fasting and bathing. At
twenty years of age he married, but in form
only, continuing to lead a single life; this
soon gave occasion to a divorce, which led to
another similar marriage. His life became
more and more that of a penitent; fasts six
times in the week, midnight immersions in
the sea, and every means of macerating the
body in use among the Jews were employed
by him. His personal beauty (it is said) only
continued to increase, and his presence im-
parted a perfume to the surrounding atmo-
sphere. When questioned on these different
points, he related in confidence that the patri-
archs had appeared to him by night. In his
twenty.fourth year (a.d. 1648) he declared
himself publicly, "Messiah of the house of
David," who should soon deliver Israel from
the dominion of Christians and Mussulmans.

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THE FALSE MESSIAH. 477

As a token of this high dignity, he ventured
to pronounce the name of Jehovah, which we
know to he considered hy the Jews as the
crime of treason against the Most High.
When questioned and censured on this account
by the Eabbins, he replied that this power
belonged to him as the Messiah. Soon after,
having been condemned and outlawed by the
synagogue, he fled to Salonichi. There, being
received with great honour, he continued to
teach in public and make disciples. A further
decree of the Eabbins soon followed, which
compelled him to flee to Athens, and then to
take refuge successively in the Morea, at
Alexandria, Cairo, and Jerusalem, in which
city he contrived, without much difficulty, to
take up his abode. At that time a certain
Nathan Benjamin, from whom he had received
hospitality during a stay at Gaza, ranged him-
self on his side, declaring himself to be the
prophet and forerunner of Sabbathai. He was
not long in collecting by his fanaticism a
numerous party. He wrote addresses to all
the Rabbins in the Holy Land, announcing
the approach of Messiah's kingdom, and de-
creeing, in consequence, the abrogation of the
Fasts pf Thammuz ♦ and of the ninth of Ab,
♦ Zech. viii. 19.

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478 BABBATHAI 8ETI,

because the speedy restoration of Jemsalem
would render needless all sorrow on account
of her misfortunes and her downfall, The
^essiah (wrote he) ^\ is at hand, and ere long
will assume the turban and crown of the
Sultan, as the Cabbala has declared. Then,
for some time he will disappear, to seek, in
company with Moses, the ten tribes hidden
beyond the river Sabbation, and to bring them
back. Then, riding on a lion, descended from
heaven, whose tongue is like a seveuj-headed
serpent, he will enter Jerusalem in triumph,
after having destroyed a multitude of his
enemies by the breath of his mouth. Then
will take place the descent of the Jerusalem
from on high, adorned with gold and precious
stones, in which Messiah hinQiself wiU offer
sacrifices ; then shall happen the resurrection
of the dead, with many other events which
cannot now be revealed,"

Sabbathai, in the meanwhile, continued
quietly teaching the Cabbala at Jerusalem,
imtil, in the fourteenth year of his residence
in that city, he suddenly declared that he had
a call from heaven to go into Egypt and take
a wife. He soon returned with his bride, the
daughter of a Polish Eabbi, who had been
brought up among Christians. This third

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T^£ PAItfSE ,)CE6$Lm. 479

marriage, like the two preceding, was a mere
matter of form, A short time ^iter (1665) he
undertook to assemble the Jews in the neigh-
bourhood, aQd dedica|;e his ireign by some
public act; but when the Babbins at Jerusar
lem also had pronounced him to be worthy of
death, and this sentence had been confirmed
by an assembly at . Constantinople, he took
flight, and returned to JSmyma. There aU
seemed at first to be in his favour; he was
received by his coreligionists with royaj
honours, escorted by hundreds of the Jews
whenever he appeared in public, which he did
every evening until midnight, amid songs of
rejoicing, and with banners displayed. Stirred
up by the false Elias (Babbi Nathan^ a carica^
ture of John the Baptist), the numbers gra-
dually increased of those who came from all
parts to visit him, and applaud his discourses,
which were delivered in pubUc — according to
some, in Spanish, In all the magnificence of
Eastern costume, and surrounded with kingly
state, he gave audience to these successive
visitors, while in the synagogues blessings
were invoked on his name, together with that
of the Sultan in the prayers for the reigning
powers. Many strange circumstances followed.
The Cabbalistic book of Zohar became the

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480 SABBATHAI 8EYI,

order of the day; young men and young
women, in a kind of ecstasy, prophesied with
every kind of bodily contortion and convulsion.
Even to the far-west the feme of and belief in
the pretended Messiah spread irom day to day.
In Holland a schism was on the point of
breaking out in the midst of the Portuguese
synagogue. A manuscript chronicle of that
epoch, belonging to the community, states,
that a letter had been addressed irom them to
Sabbathai Sevi, full of the highest and most
decided expectations, applying to him names
and titles which could be addressed to the
Most High alone.

It is a striking feature in the whole history
of the false Messiah of Smyrna, that we find
much either of reminiscence or imitation, at
all events of correspondence with the Grospd,
with respect to the prophecies and attributes
of Messiah and his kingdom, mingled with the
Ridiculous absurdities by which this miserable
deception was surrounded and supported.
Thus, without knowing or even suspecting it,
the J^ws themselves fulfilled in part the pro-
phecy spoken by their true King and Redeemer
(John V. 43) : " I am come in my Father's
name, and ye receive me not ; if another come
in his own name, him will ye receive."

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T^E FALSE MESSIAH. 481

Already, in the year 1666, the affiiirs of the
fake Messiah were heginning to take a' differ-
ent turn, when his arrival and vociferous
welcome from the Jews at Constantinople
excited some uneasiness in the Divan. The
Grand Vizir, hy authority of the Sultan, Ma-
homet IV., caused the impostor to he arrested ;
even then he succeeded in heing treated as a
prisoner of state. He obtained peimission to
receive visits, and kept up all the dignity of an
eastern prince, while he continued, at the same
time, in the unceasing practice of the law as a
severe Talmudist and Cabbalist. At the same
time, he declared that the day of deliverance
was at hand, and fixed as its furthest period
the following summer; by this means he
greatly sustained the courage of his followers,
who, attributing the imprisonment of their
Messiah to their own sins, did penance ; while
he, on the contrary, .gave orders on aU sides to
change the fast-days into days of feasting.
While matters were in this state, a learned
Cabbalist, named Eabbi Nehemiah, arrived
from Poland. An intercourse of three days
with the pretended Messiah enabled this Rabbi
to see through and completely detect the absurd
pretences of Sabbathai. From that time he
openly protested against them, and sought to

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482 8ABBATHAI 6ETI)

turn away the people from the deceiver. He
succeeded, also (but in a less praiseworthy
manner,) in obtaining an audience with the
Sultan, to represent the dangers accruing to
his government from such fanaticism among
the Jews. The Sultan in consequence com-
manded Sabbathai to present himself at
Adrianople. He went there, accompanied by
a considerable number of his followers ; but
when brought into presence of the Sultan,
he was disconcerted, lost countenance, and
declared himself willing to embrace Ma*
hometanism to save his life.

This incident, which seemed fitted to de-
stroy the cause of the false Messiah, neither
deprived the fanatical impostor of his im-
pudence, nor his blind partisans of their
reliance upon him. He declared that this con-
version to Islamism formed one of the marked
characteristics of the expected Messiah. Many
of his followers and admirers repeated this
subterfuge ; others, after the manner of the
Docetee among Christians and the Mahomedans,
pretended that Sabbathai himself had been
taken up to heaven, and that it was only a
likeness or image of his person which had
been seen to change religion. The false
prophet Nathan, especially in Damascus,

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THE FALSE ME6SIAH. 483

Aleppo, and Smyrna, continued to support the
cause of the impostor against the condemnation
and contradictions of the Rahbins of Constanti«
nople. The eyes of many were nevertheless
at length opeaed, and soon he lost all his
influence and the greater number of his
adherents. He ventiired to reappear ia the
synagogue to introduce his liturgy, under
pretext to the Sultan that he sought thus to
win the Jews to his new religion. But the
Vizir was not deceived; he arrested him
again, and banished him to Bosnia. In 1677,
ten years after he had embraced Mahometan^*
ism, he died at Belgrade, some say of a natural
death, — others, that he was secretly beheaded
in prison.

Such was the end of this fanatic, the Bar
Chochab, or Mahomet, as it were, of his day,
but without a single spark of the courage or
character displayed by them ; while even his
most determined enemies could not deny that
he possessed superior talents. The sensation
caused by his appearance and doctrines (as we
have already said) continued to be felt long
after his death. His system of cabbalistic
teaching was introduced in different forms
into the synagogues of Turkey, Asia Minor,
and the states of Barbary, and afterwards into
Y 2

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484 THE JEWS IX ITALY.

those of Europe also. Under the denomination
of '^ Sabbathaism/' a more or less mysterious
doctrine has been perpetuated in a sect, headed
successively by different chie&, and variously
named at different times. We hear of this
sect especially full a century after the death of
Sabbathai, in Germany, and particularly in
Austria and Poland, under the command or
the influence of a certain Jacob Frank, who
endeavoured to unite cabbalistic Judaism with
Christianity, in the same manner as Sabbathai
and his followers had attempted to mingle it
with Mahometanism.

What the Mahomedan territories, the states
of Barbary and Turkey in particular, were
able to offer to the banished Israelites in the
East, they found also in the West, in the
Roman Catholic territory of Italy.

The Spanish and Portuguese Jews not only
brought with them, but found the synagogues
of those countries already possessed of a large
proportion of learning, and many sociaL pri-
vileges. The dispersion of the Sephardim
and their establishment in the country, the
consequent increase in the number and activity
of the Italian presses, produced effects not only
on that body of the Jewish people, but also on
the older Italian Jews, and even the Grerman

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THE JEWB IN ITALY. 485

part of the Jewish population which was
mingled with it, especially towards the north.
No country, no period, since the hright days
of Judeo-Spanish learning in the Middle Ages,
had heen so fertile in men of talents and
literature among the Jews as Italy just after
the close of the Middle Ages. It seemed as if
the days of Ahen Ezra and Maimonides were
ahout to he revived ; at least, many are the
names which the history of modem Jewish
literature in Italy has recorded with distinction
during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
At their head may he placed Elias Levita,
sumamed Bachur (from the title of his hook
on Hehrew Grammar), and Eahhi Ahraham
Ben Meir de Balmes, — the one horn at Lecci,
in the heginning of the sixteenth century, the
other at Aisch, near Nuremburgh, in the latter
part of the fifteenth. Both enjoyed the esteem
of their Christian cotempotaries, and were
employed in useful labours^ De Balmes prac-
tised as a physician at Padua, and gave public
lectures, both on medicine and philosophy, in
which he had Christians as well as Jews for
his auditors. He had been brought up in
the Spanish school as a linguist and a man of
letters, and he translated many valuable Arabic ^
works into Latin. Elias Levita also taught at

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486 THE JEWS IN ITALY*

Padua, but the breaking out of the war in
1509 stript him of all his possessions, and
compelled him to leave the city ; he removed to
Rome, where he found favour with the Cardinal
Aegidius, and his affairs became more pros-
perous* In 1527, war again broke in upon
his studies, and obliged him to leave Rome,
which was taken and pillaged by the Generals
of Charles V. He returned to Padua, from
whence he was invited into Germany by the
celebrated Paul Fagius, and for some time
superintended a Hebrew press. The climate,
however, so unfavourably affected his health,
that, being advanced in years, he decided on
returning to Italy, where he died, in 1642. His
family long continued at Rome, where they
bore the name of Tedesco, and were reckoned
among the most honourable in the synagogue,
on a par with the AscareUi, the Pessata, Da
Rossi, Corcassa, &c.

In the same city o^ Padua, another G^man
Rabbi rose to distinction some time afterwards.
Rabbi Meir Ben Isaac Katzenellenhogen kept
up an active correspondence with the syna^
gogues, both of the east and west ; while his
opinions on matters of theology were sought for,
and repeated as far as Poland. He died in 1565.
One of his cotemporaries. Rabbi Obadiah Ben

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THE JEWS IN ITALT. 487

Jacob Sefomo, wrote commentaries on the
Pentateuch, the Psalms, the Books of Job,
Canticles, and Ecdesiastes. He dedicated this
last commentary, and also a Latin treatise on
metaphysics, to King John II. of France. He
was also a great friend of Beuchlin. In the
second part of the sixteenth century, Babbi
David Ben Isaac de Pomis, bom of a family
who traced their residence at Borne to the
time of the destruction of Jerusalem, distin-
guished himself as a physician, and also as the
author of several grammatical and exegetical
works. He dedicated his lexicon to Pope Six*
tus v., who highly esteemed him. There, also,
lived Babbi Gedaliah, of the celebrated family
of the Yachias, from Portugal, who died in the
year 1590, at the age of ninety, having estab-
lished his character among the learned
men of Israel, by more than twenty volu-
minous works upon the various subjects of
exegesis, theology, and philosophy* One of
these, his well-known " Chain of Tradition,"
is a monument, both of the diligence and of
the great deficiencies to be observed in the
study of history among the modem Jews* At
Ferrara, a cotemporary, Babbi Abraham Fari-
sol, of Avignon, wrote his Cosmography, which
is valued for its many interesting observations.

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488 THE JEWS IN ITALY.

Rabbi Azaria de Rossi (in Hebrew, Adomim),
of Mantua, wrote a historico-critical work,
called "Meor Enaim," "The Light of the
Eyes ; '' and David Ascoli published in Latin
a " Remonstrance against the Decree of Pope
Paul IV.,*' reiterating the ordinance that the
Jews should wear a distinctive mark on their
raiment, which procured for him some years
of imprisonment J

Among the ornaments of the Italian syna^
gogue in the seventeenth century, we may
name Rabbi Jehuda Ariel, better known by
the name of Leo of Modena, head of the syna^
gogue at Venice, and author of many works
both in Italian and Hebrew, on literature,
antiquities, and theology ; Joseph Conzio, of
Asti, a poet, and commentator on the Book of
Esther ; Deborah Ascarelli, of Rome, a poetess
in her native Italian tongue; Rabbi Simon
Luzzato, known by his interesting observations
on the Jews of his own time, and also the
ancestor of many who, like himself, were famed
among the Israelites for their writings ; Rabbi
Moses Cohen Porto distinguished himself in
the same line; Rabbi Salomon Ben Isaac di
Marino was the author of a valuable com-
mentary on Isaiah; Moses Ben Mordecai
Zacuta, of Amsterdam, settled at Venice in

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THE JEWd IN If ALY. 489

1649, and is known both as a cabbalistic theo>-
logian, and a mystical poet; Sabbathai Mamia,
who attempted a translation of the Metamor-
phoses of Ovid, with many others. Among
the various studies of the Jews at that period,
we must not omit that of music. Mention is
made in the year 1623, of a "Partitim," pub-
lished by Babbi Salomon Mehachachamim,
of Venice, upon the text of one of the Psalms
of Solomon. Already, however, towards the
close of the seventeenth century, the lustre of
Jewish literature in Italy was beginning to
fade, only to revive in a later period, with a
brightness which we shall have, by and by, to
remark upon.

During the two centuries and a-half which
are now before us, taking into consideration
the spirit of the age, and the great variety of
countries, sovereigns, and times, — the Jews, in
their social and political position, met with
more of favour than oppression. With very
few exceptions, we find, in the Papal States at
least, no traces of persecution or violence pro-
ceeding from the Government; while, in the
maritime and trading cities of Italy, the liberty,
privileges, and wealth of the Jews, (the latter,
unfortunately, not always honourably acquired,)
were^ ingeneralj considerable, andofteneminentv
T 3

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490 aflE JEWS IN ITALY.

More thtLU once we find them employed witili
honour and success in diplomatic missions, not
by the Eepublic of Venice alone, but by the
Duke of Ferrara, and even the Emperor of
Germany. Over the whole of Italy the Jewish
synagogues were in a flourishing condition;
more than a hundred were in existence at the
beginning of the seventeenth century. When,
in course of time, they had afterwards dimi-
nished both in number and splendour, Rome
itself, about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, still contained no less than nine, the
Rabbins of which exercised a degree of influence
throughout the whole of Italy. The Jewish
population of the city at that time amounted
to thirteen or fourteen thousand souls.

We must take a few minutes longer to
notice the position of the Jews in the States of
the Church, and particularly in connexion wilii
the Popes. This connexion, though in gene-
ral a friendly one on the part of the sovereigns
of Rome, was yet exposed to continual varia-
tions, in consequence of the very frequent
change of the temporal and spiritual head of
the Government. These variations we have
already observed in the history of the Middle
Ages; and the same occurred even in more
enlightened days, after the commencement of

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rCHB JEWS IN ItALY* 491

the sixteenth century. Thus, for example,
Paul III. (1534—1549) showed them peculiat
&,your, — so much so, that ha was reproved by
Cardinal Sadoletus. This Pope, an enemy to
persecution, sought to gain the Jews to the
Church by forming an establishment for the
conversion of that nation. Paul IV. (1655 —
1559), on the contrary, severe towards the
Christians, even to Philip II. of Spain, treated
the Jews with especial harshness, forbidding
them to have Christian servants, limiting them
to one synagogue in each city, and imposing
anew the old vexations of the ghetto, and the
peculiar mark. Pius lY., his immediate suo>
cessor, in his turn lightened their burdens,
and showed them every kindness. Pius V.,
on the contrary, loaded them with reproaches
and harsh speeches, driving them from his
territories, with the exception of Rome and
Ancona. The reason for this exception must
be looked for apparently in the evils which
had before accrued to Ancona on a similar
occasion, when either open or concealed per-
secution had compelled the Jews to transport
elsewhere the seat of their fortunes, when by
the active co-operation of the Turkish Rab-
bins a large proportion of its commerce had
been removed to Pessaro^

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492 THE JEWS IN ITiLLT.

Again, Gregory XIII. (1572—1585) took
pains foT their conversion, but by an error of
judgment he compelled them to be present at
a sermon preached expressly for them in one
of the churches; Sixtus V. did not conceal
that he granted them protection solely from
temporal and political motives. He gua-
ranteed to them liberty of residence and of
trade, with the free exercise of their religion;
and, to a certain extent, equal rights with his
Christian subjects. Clement VIII. (1692 —
1605) again restricted their liberty of resi-
dence, confining it to the cities of Home,
Ancona, and Avignon. Among the Popes
who succeeded him, Innocent XI., the cele-
brated antagonist of Louis XIV., (1676 —
1689,) was the most distinguished for his
humanity and benevolence towards the Jews :
at the time when the Morea was occupied by
the Venetians, it was owing to the special
protection of the Pontiff that the Jewish pri-
soners were released as well as the Christians.
The obligation of hearing the sermon was,
however, strictly enforced by this Pope. The
conduct of succeeding Pontiffs towards the
Jews has never offered any striking traits
either of fitvour or severity.

The history of the Itidian Peninsolai as it

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THE JEWS IN ITALY. 493

regards the Jews, shows a marked bias in their
favour about the middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, which, however, was of little avail in
restoring them to a country from which they
had been banished for centuries, and where,
as in Spain and Portugal, their descendants
had mingled with the higher and lower no-
bility after a true or feigned conversion to
Christianity, but where they had never been
admitted as Jews. This country was the
kingdom of Naples, in which, however, the
Inquisition had never been able to establish
itself. Charles III. (of the Spanish branch of
the Bourbons) published in 1740 an edict, by
which permissibn was granted to the Jews for
a term of fifty years to establish themselves at
Naples, with liberty of trade by sea and by
land, right of their own jurisdiction, and a
position as much as possible on a footing with
the rest of the King's subjects^ In this edict
they were allowed to possess what books they
liked in any language ; to prtu^tise and teach
medicine; to have their own burial-ground
and market-place ; to hold Turkish slaves on
the single condition of restoring them to
liberty in Case of their baptism, on receipt of
a consideration; to have Christian servants,
the men to be above five-and-twenty, and the

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494 THE JEWS IN FBANCB

women above fiye-and-tihirty, with every other
liberty and privilege possible in those days^
and under a dynasty of Spanish extraction.
This edict, however, was never put in execu-
tion, owing to the ill«will of the Koman Ca-
tholic poptdation stirred up by the Jesuit,
P^pe, also high in esteem at Court, though
neither his opposition nor his threats could
deter the King from carrying out his inten-
tions. The people conspired on all sides to
make any settlement of the Jews impossible,
and it appears there were even some thoughts
of a general massacre. Whatever was really
the case, the project, thus arrested in its
beginning, was never afterwards mooted.

In France, as we have before noticed, the
Jewish population from the beginning of the
sixteenth century was composed of three de-
cidedly different bodies: the French Jews^
(among whom we may reckon those of Avig-
non, though many were of Italian descent);
the Spanish and Portuguese Jews; and the
Alsatian Jews, who, as well as the Jews of
Lorraine, were in reality Grerman Jews, who .
had become the subjects of France, either by
right of Conquest under Louis XIV., or by
treaty and inheritance under Ijoxoe XV. We
have mentioned the settlement and privileges

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AND GBEAT BRITAIN. 495

enjoyed by the Spanish and Portuguese emi-
grants in France, and also of a body of Jews
and their descendants in the southern pro-
Tinces of France, especially in Provence.

The science and literature, as weU as the
trade and civilization of the Jews of France,
was entirely concentrated in these two divi-
sions of the people.

Of the remaining tfewish {x>pulation, part
had disappeared, and the rest had sunk to a
level witii their brethren in Germany, being
rather endured upon sufferance than tolerated
by virtue of rights or privileges. No names
worthy of note in history have been found
among them. Whether the famous banker,
Samuel Bernard, (the Kothschild of his time,
who went over to^the Roman Catholic Church,
and established his family by marriages with
many of the chief houses in France), belonged
to the original Jews of France, or to a family
of Israelitish refugees in that country, is un-
certain. French memoirs of his time speak of
the eminent financial services he rendered to
.Louis XV. in the latter and more disastrous
years of his reign. The haughty monarch,
already advanced in years, might be seen
condescending himself to conduct the Jew,
Samuel Bernard, over his palace, and exhibit-

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496 THE JEWS IK FBANCE.

ing the curiosities of the royal abode at Marly.
The Jewish capitalist was unable to resist
these royal attentions, and the monarch in his
distress was too happy to secure the friendship
of this new ally.

During the same century, the eighteenth,
Paris became again the residence of a Jewish
population, composed of the three bodies
before mentioned, who came to increase in
that capital both their own numbers and their
temporal resources. The Jews in Alsace
meanwhile continued in as abject a condition
as in any part of Germany, because of the
horrible leprosy of usury which there, in par-
ticular, made them hateful. In Strasburgh,
only a very few families were allowed to
reside, the members and descendants of which,
even to the present day, have obtained esteem
in equal proportion with the contempt that is
awarded to the rest of their nation. In Lor-
raine, also, the whole of the Jews were in bad
odour for the same reason. Duke Leopold, in
1724, had established the laws concerning
them on a permanent footing. Prom that,
time permission to reside was granted only to
180 families^ with liberty of conscience and
permission to trade, but with strict injunctions
to keep within the Jewish quarters. At the

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THE JEWS IN PEANCE. 497

same time heavy taxes were imposed upon
them in Germany, and even the degrading
obligation to pay toll as cattle, — an imposition
which Louis XVI. first did away with in
France in 1784, and King Frederic Wil-
liam II., three years after, in Prussia. In the
rest of Germany this toll was not abolished
till the revolutionary era had commenced.

It is a fact worthy of note, that the period
we have just named — the period which effected
such a complete change in the position both
of Protestants and Jews in France, as well as
in all ranks and classes of society, was brought
about, in great measure, by men who were at
heart entirely indifferent to Protestantism, and
full of contempt and hatred towards the Jews.

The philosophers and Encyclopedists
(though for different reasons) certainly looked
with no more favour on the Jews than those
who, in ancient times, had persecuted them
because of their religion. Intolerant Chris-
tians had shown aversion to the Jews because
they were the enemies of the Gospel; the soi'
disant tolerant Infidels hated them, on the
contrary, because of their position as mtnesses^
to the Gospel; because Jesus Christ and his
apostles had been of their race ; because their
very existence constituted a proof and an in-

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498i THE JEWS IN GEEAT BBITAIN.

contestable eyidence of the historical truth of
the Old as well as the New Testament No
one could have carried contempt and hatred
for all that relates either to religion or to the
Jews (including Christianity) to a greater
height than did Voltaire, at once the cham-
pion and the idol of what was looked upon as
religious tolerance and philosophical philan-
thropy.

Long before the cry of liberty and equality
had spread from the centre of America and of
France on the European Continent, the Gro»
vemment of Great Britain had already tried
the adventurous step of granting naturaliza*
tion to the Jews, with some few restric-
tions, which the nature of the constitutioa
rendered absolutely necessary. The number
of the Jewish population in England at that
time was calculated at about 1,200, which has
since been more than doubled. The richer
and more influential members of the com-
munity had, from the time of their admission,
loyally served the Government, both in person
and with their capital; they had still more
recently, during the insurrection of 1745,
given proof of their fidelity to the reigning
Protestant dynasty. In the colonies, as we
have seen, they were £rom the first admitted on

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THE JEWS IK OBEAT BRITAIN. 499

a footing of equality with the former English
inhabitants. For all these reasons the ministers,
in 1753, brought a Bill into Parliament
*' granting to all Jews who had resided in
Great Britain or Ireland for the space of three
years the rights of English citizenship, with
the exception of patronage and admission to
Parliament." The Bill passed, notwithstand-
ing violent opposition both without and within
the House ; some of the speakers in the debate
uttered the most disastrous forebodings as to
the consequences of such a measure upon the
honour, the commerce, and especially the
religion of the country, which they beheld in
idea entirely pervaded by Judaism. After the
law had passed, however, public feeling against
the measure was far more loudly expressed ;
one of the Bishops who had voted for it was
hooted and otherwise ill-treated, and the Go-
vernment was beset on all sides with Petitions
for a repeal of the Bill. Shortly after it was,
in fact, repealed by Parliament on the recom-
mendation of the Ministers. It is worthy of
remark, that the Jews themselves at that time
appeared little anxious for the success of the
measure. On the contrary, they were rather
opposed to it, fearing on liieir own side great
danger to the religion of their &thers, just as

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500 THE JEWS IN BOHEMIA,

the Christians did on theirs. A circumstance
calculated to increase this fear on the part of
the Jews was the conversion of Simpson
Gedeon, son of one of the principal Jews in
London, to the faith of the English Church.
He married a sister of General Gage, and waa
returned to Parliament for the county of
Cambridge, and afterwards for Coventry. It
was among the higher ranks of society in
England, generally speaking, that most dis-
pleasure was felt at the repeal of this law.

In the midland and eastern parts of Europe
the monotonous history of Israel's degradation
and humiliation was varied from time to time
by adversities and events of a different nature
from those we have just described. Among
the Sclavonic races, including the whole of
Hungary to the very confines of Turkey, the
Jews, as of old, continued to form an essential
element of society by means of their incredible
activity. They were the sole intermediate
agents between the jovial and warlike nobility
and the rest of the inhabitants, who were
treated nearly on the footing of serfs. By this
means everything that was in any way con-
nected with commerce, manufactures, and
trade in retail, fell entirely into the hands of
the Jews, and was carried on by their inter-

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HUNGABY, RUSSIAi AND POLAND. 501

yention. In other respects, excluded from all
intercourse with Christians in everything
relating to science, art, and mental cultivation,
their fine capacity and high intellectual powers
were for the most part confined wit^ the
narrow circle of their own theological studies.
This barren and death-like condition, however,
could not entirely preserve them from some
remains of mediaeval persecutions. Thus, in
1541, accusations were laid against the Jews
of having been the cause of a series of in-
cendiary fires which at that time desolated
Bohemia, and they had already received orders
from the Emperor to leave the country, when
fortunately the real culprits were discovered,
and the Jews cleared from the accusation.
Soon after, a fresh persecution was raised, with
new threats of expulsion; while an inquiry
was set on foot to decide the question, whether
the Jewish prayer-book contained curses
against the Christians. They gained but
little in being absolved from this new accu-
sation ; for a decree of banishment was on the
point of being hurled against the whole of the
Israelitish population, when a Jew,' named
Mordecai Temak, obtained the intervention of
Pope Pius IV., and by this means averted the
execution of the decree. Another disaster was,

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503 THE JEWS IN BOHEMIA,

about the same time^ added to their mis-
fortunes by a fire, which at Prague consumed
the whole of the Jewish quarter. In the year
1674 many Jews of Moravia lost their lives
during an insurrection of the people. During
the course of the seventeenth century more
favourable relations were established between
the Bohemian Government and its Jewish
subjects. By their zeal and activity in the
defence of the city of Prague against the
Swedes, conjointly with the Imperial troops,
they gained both applause and privileges;
among the latter was permission to take part
in the public festivities, on account of the
peace, (in 1649,) bearing two banners, which
had on some former occasions been presented
by the Emperor of Germany to the Jews. On
the other hand, they had in Hungary excited
the wrath of the Imperialists by holding out
their quarter against them when the Turks
were in possession of the rest of the town.

The year 1744 seemed likely to bring upon
the two hundred thousand Jews of Bohemia a
catastrophe more terrible than any their nation
had experienced for the space of two centuries,
— a banishment in perpetuity from that
country! The States-General of the Nether-
lands, at the request of the synagogue of

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HUNaART) BUjBSIA, AND POLAND. 503

Amsterdam^ took a lively interest in their case,
and, supported by the English Government,
succeeded in making manifest the innocence of
the Jews and persuading the Imperial Govern-
ment to reverse this terrible decree, — ^not,
however, before thousands of Jews had left the
country.

In the Bussian or Muscovite territory but
few Jews were to be met with during the
period between the sixteenth and eighteenth
centuries. They appear, however, to have
been admitted during the reign of Peter the
Great, as the Czar is reported to have said,
y^^ He did not fear for his Russians the cleverest
or most crafty Israelite." In the reign of the
Empress Elizabeth, 1745, their residence in
Russia was again forbidden, on account of a
correspondence which had been discovered
with the exiles of Siberia. The large portion
of the Jewish population of Poland which is
under the sceptre of Russia has been often
tyrannized over, but never driven out by the
Government. We hear also of another part
of Russia, in which a body of Jews have not
only existed, but attained distinction in a
peculiar manner. In the Ukraine they have
long been devoted to agriculture and the study
of natural history, with other similar mental

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504 THE JEWS IN BOHEMIA,

and bodily ^xerased. They are said to have
attained in consequence a high degree of
civilization, and to have been admitted to posts
of honour and of public trust. In the Crimea,
also, there hare long been whole villages of
Jews distinguished by their prosperity and
mental culture.

Poland, meanwhile, has ever remained
classic ground, as respects the singularity,
both in position and character, of its Jews,
during their long exile and deep humiliation.
The Jews themselves look upon thdr Polish
brethren as the most highly-gifted of the nation,
both in intellectual power and every kind
of mental qualification. Nowhere else do we
find in so great a degree, among the dispersed
nation, a life of so much social activity com-
bined with a remarkable bent towards religion
and contemplative philosophy; nowhere else
sp wide a separation between science and
theology, and, at the same time, such great
capacity for scientific knowledge; nowhere
else such deep national debasement, re-
sulting from ages of ignoble occupation
and servile subjection, with a character
so highly respectable, both in its moral
qualities and domestic relations; in a word,
nowhere do so many remains of ancient |

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HUNOARY, BU88IA, AND POLAND. 505

nobility, and, at the same time, of the most
wretched degeneracy, appear even in the ex-
pression of countenance and stature of body.
These singular and original characteristics of
the Polish Jew are to be foupd, not only in the
mystic theosophy which usually distinguishes
their schools and their theologians, but even in
the existence of Caraites amidst these i^yna*
gogues, in other respects buried, if we may so
express it, in the study of the Talmud.

We shall not be surprised, then, to find that
Poland, in great part, supplied the synagogues
of Germany with teachers and rabbins, ^fter
the beginning of the seventeenth century. I
say, after the beginning of the seventeenth
century; because, before that time Bohemia
seems to have been superior to Poland in this
respect, which itself received its principal rab-
bins from the Jewish academy at Prague.
The synagogues of Bohemia, in the earlier part
of the period we are now considering, boasted
of learned men and authors, such as Rabbi
David Ganz, who, in imitation of the Spanish
Ilabbi, Abraham Zacuth, and of the Italico-
Spanish Rabbi, Gedalia Ben Jachia, wrote a
Jewish chronicle, which is well known under
the title of "Zemach David" (Branch of
David). Rabbi Jehudah Bezaleel, of Prague,

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506 SABBATHAI8M.

who afterwards migrated to Poland, was the
author of a book "On the Deliverance and
Perpetuity of Israel," intended to encourage the
expectation of a Messiah. Babbi Mordecai
Japh6, and many others, were all disciples, or
the disciples of disciples of Rabbi Jacob Falk,
who made himself a name in the sixteenth
century, by introducing into the synagogue the
Christian method of disputation on matters of
religion, and applying this method to Talmudic
studies. In later years Cabbalistic Sabbathaism
had, in the synagogues of Poland, a decided
revival, and found, in the person of Jacob
Frank, a simple artisan, an influential leader.

From the time of Sabbathai Sevi, to that
of the Frankists, Cabbalistic associations and
views had never entirely ceased to exist. After
the death of Sabbathai, Rabbi Nehemiah him-
self became one of the most zealous supporters
of the doctrines taught by the man he had
mainly contributed to unmask. He was, in
consequence, excommunicated, but, neverthe*
less, made many proselytes in Germany ; he
ended his career at Amsterdam, in 1690, where
he had been living upon alms, as much detested
for his opinions, as he Was admired for his
prodigious learning.

After his time, Cabbalistic Sabbathaism

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SABBATHAIBM. 507

re-appeared in a novel form, under the two
leaders, Malach and Hajun. These two rah-
bins, one of whom was of Polish birth, were
the only surviving members of a Jewish carar
van, consisting of more than thirty families,
who, by means of subscriptions raised in
Bohemia, Moravia, Saxony, and Holland, were
enabled to visit Jerusalem in the year 1700,
keeping most strictly the penitential fasts, and
abstaining from all animal food, except on the
Sabbath; while they announced that the
coming of Messiah was ^t hand. Most of
these Jewish pilgrims died of hunger and
misery, or returned to Europe ; some, following
the example of Sabbathai Sevi himself, went
over to Mahometanism, at Jerusalem ; others,
and among them some rabbins of distinction,
embraced Christianity. These two men, the
only surviving Jews of the dispersed caravan,
began zealously to propagate the doctrines of
the sect, in spite of the anathemas of the rab-
bins of Jerusalem and Constantinople, which
followed them into the midst of the German
and Polish synagogues. Hajun published works
which by their mystic singularity, but still
more by their ppen confession of Trinitarian
doctrines, excited to the highest degree the
animosity of the Rabbins. Befutations, in
z 2

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608 SABBATHAISH.

which the person, as well as the doctrine of
the Cabbalist was vehemently attacked, were
spread from Constantinople and Smyrna, as far
as Amsterdam, and elsewhere in the Spanish
tongue. The sect, notwithstanding, made great
progress in Poland, owing (as its enemies
declared) especially to its indulgence towards
all sorts of irregularity and sin ; though, ac-
cording to others, it was characterized by the
observance of the severest abstinence. The
two extremes are often found closely united in
similar sects. There is little doubt, however,
that fanaticism and superstition disfigured the
sect of Hajun.

In the year 1722, the whole sect was
solemnly excommunicated by all the syna-
gogues. Then, Hajun, proscribed throughout
Europe, Asia, and Africa as a deceiver and
teacher of false doctrines, contrived to be
presented to the Emperor at Vienna, with
whom he ingratiated himself by the manner in
which he inveighed against ordinary Judaism.
About the same time, many Rabbins of Mora-
via and Bohemia joined the sect; among others,
a certain Lobli played a conspicuous part as a
kind of prophet, upon whom Hajun had
imposed hands. A little later in the year
1725, emissaries were sent out here and there

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SABBATHAISM. 609

to propagate the doctrines of the sect, in parti-
cular, a certain Moses Meir, who visited Frank-
fort and Manheim for that purpose. Severe
measures were taken against the proselytes by
the synagogues at Amsterdam, Hamburgh,
and especially at Prague. In 1730, Moses
Haiim Luzzato, who, in his youth had pub-
lished several works of a mystic tendency,
became a leader of the sect in Poland. He
acted in concert with a physician of Wilna,
named Jekuthiel, who headed a Cabbalistic
movement of no small importance. His
conduct, however, was unsatisfactory, and the
close of his short career insignificant. To the
Eabbins who examined him, he denied by
letter all participation in Sabbathaism, and
then again published hymns and writings
composed according to those opinions, which
display great talent. At last he appears to
have entirely given up the prohibited views,
and after having for a time gained a livelihood
at Amsterdam by polishing diamonds, he set
off for Jerusalem, where he ended his days.

Another offset of Sabbathaism in those days
was the sect of the Chasidim (or saints), who
also acknowledge the Cabbala as the founda-
tion of their doctrines and practice. They
disciplined themselves with fasting and mace-

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510 THE CHA8IDIM.

ration, abstained from all animal food, and, in
general, from all earthly enjoyments. Their
chief bore the title of Tzadik (or, the righteous),
a name which they still retain, instead of
that of Rabbi. The first was a certain Israel,
sumamed Baal Schem, who taught in Poland,
and afterwards in Fodolia. His sentiments
tod actions have been amply detailed in a
book written in Getman Rabbinic, which, in
the years from 1814 — 1818, had immense sale
among the Jews^ He was revered by his sect
as the representative of the Deity upon earth,
to whose commands as much obedience was
due as to those of God himself. The great
drift of his teaching consisted in enforcing the
Contemplation of God, tod strict obedience to
the Tzadik, combined with a complete repose of
the soul, which ought not to be distracted by
the study of human science. Aftet Israel's
death (1760) his three principal disciples, who
were also his grandsons, were elected chiefe of
three divisions of the Chasidim ; by this means
the former unity of the sect was broken up,
and it was afterwards formed into a number of
communities or associations. Meanwhile, the
number of its adherents had increased from
ten to forty thousand. Israel Baal Schein is
said, in the books of the Chasidim, to have

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THE CHA8IDIM* 511

been taken up to heaven, there to live in the
society of angels, acting as mediator with God
and reconciling to Him every Jew who brings
up his children in the doctrines of the Cha*
sidim. The dignity of Tzadik continued high
in esteem long after the death of Israel Baal
Schem ; not only was its possessor venerated as
holy, but his whole family shared in the defer*
ence paid to him, and all his relations were
looked upon as saints among the Jews, His
books, his clothes, his furniture, and especially
his tomb, were considered as preservatives
from and instrumental in the expiation of sin ;
to serve the Tzadik gave a right to eternal
life hereafter, — to converse with him was to be
in a state of beatitude here upon earth.

It is evident that the elements of this
strange sect, most remarkable as a phenome*
non in the Judaism of later centuries, are to
be met with not only in the Cabbala of the
Jews, but also in the soofism, or quietist theo-
sophy, of the Orientals, and in great part like*
wise in the Boman Catholic Church. The
branch of Sabbathaism held by the Chasidim
is so completely a mixture of divers ingredients
that it bestows honour both on the Talmud
and the Cabbala, though, in many respects,
diametrically opposite one to the other. Thus

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512 JACOB FRANK.

the Chateidim declare themselves as originally
Talmudist Jews, and their Liturgy is that of
the Sephardim, while their hymns and poems
are of Cabhalistic tendency. At last, the entire
discrepancy between Cabbalistic Sabbathaism
and the Talmud was made clearly manifest,
when, in 1755, a certain Meschullam, a
member of that sect, publicly burnt a copy of
the Talfnud in tte midst of the Jewish quarter
6f a city in Podolia. The Talmudist rabbins,
who in theory exalt the Cabbala, but detest
any practical application of it, needed not this
mark of aversion to their book of laws, to make
them feel how great an obstacle was opposed
by the Chasidim to their doctrines and autho-
rity ; they had already condemned the sect in
Poland, on account of its numerous fanatical
aberrations.

The anti-Talmtidie nature of real Cab-
balistic theology was made cleariy and entirely
manifest, when Jacob Frank, by birth a Polish
Jew (according to some, of Wallachia), and
by profession, in his younger days, a distiller
of brandy, first rose up in Turkey, in the year
1760. When he began, at the age of eight-
and-thirty, to preach his doctrines in the sylia*
gOgues of Poland, and to m^ke open attacks
upon the Talttiud, a schism ensued, in which

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JACOB FBANK AND THE PRANKISTS. 513

the Christian Government thought it right to
interfere. The new sect which had completely
cast off the Talmud, and taken the Zohar as
the basis of its confession of faith, found favour
and protection from the Bishop of Camentz,
on account of the decided bias to Christianity
contained in many of the articles of belief pub«*
lished by Frank and his associates. He also
allowed himself, without difficulty, to be bap-
tized, so that the sect was soon looked upon
rather as an excrescence of Christianity than of
Judaism. Great obscurity rests, to this day,
on the real sentiments and projects of Frank,
as well as on the secret bias of the sect. It
is, however, clearly ascertained that the doc*
trine of the Trinity, as a dogma of the Cab-
bala, was professed with all possible clearness
in their confession of faith. The Zoharites
(for so the sect called themselves) declared
their belief; — " that no religion can possibly
exist without the knowledge of God ; all other
religion is an outward service of works ; piety
and the love of God are the effects of a pro-
found acquaintance with his nature, and this
must be. sought in the study of his law, where
it is found as within a kernel, from which it
must be deduced by means of tradition ; the
doctrine of Moses and the prophets has an
z 3

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514 JAOOfi FRAI7K AND TH£ FRANKISTS.

inward meaning far deeper than that of the
letter, without which it is only a dead letter,
and the source of errors and mistakes, the
cause of the dangerous doctrines of the
Talmud; — according to the pure doctrine of
the Word of God, there is one only God, the
Creator and Preserver of all things, but re-
vealed in three persons; — God has appeared
£rom the beginning upon earth in human
form, but after the entrance of sin he laid
aside this form, and has since taken it again
for the expiation of sin ; he will once again
appear in human nature finally to deliver man
from sin. As for Jerusalem, it will never be
rebuilt, and a terrestrial Messiah is not to be
expected.'*

From this confession, which contains a mix-
ture of truth with error, Frank and his fol-
lowers ought certainly to be looked upon as
belonging rather to the Christian than the
Jewish faith, and they gained at first a
fietvourable reception from the Roman Catholic
clergy. A little later, after the death of the
Bishop of Camentj^, the Church of Rome^
stirred up by the rabbins, began to look upon
this sect as dangerous, and it was, for a time,
persecuted on account of its Jewish Cabbalistic
views, as it had been before by the synagogue

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JACOB FRANK AND THE FRANKISTS. 515

for its Cabbalistic Christian dogmas. Many
of its followers emigrated to Turkey, where,
for want of the protection of the Rabbi, they
fell into the hands of the Cadi, and were after-
wards ill-treated and plundered by the popu-
lace. Many decidedly embraced the doctrines
of th6 Roman Catholic Church, retaining,
however, sufficient remains of Judaism to
arouse suspicion.

Jacob Frank, who, from the first, had de-
clared himself a Christian, continued to act as
head of the sect, declaring that the Lord and
the Prophet Elijah had appeared to him, com-
manding him to convert the Jews. He was
looked upon with distrust by the clergy,
though he declared himself an obedient son of
the Church, and was for some time detained a
prisoner at Czentoschow on account of hisr
strange opinions, but afterwards delivered by
the Russians when they took possession of the
fortress in 1777. He then travelled through
Poland, Bohemia, aQd Moravia, with a large
retinue and great pomp, and established him-
self for some years in the capital of Austria,
under the protection of the Empress, Maria
Theresa. From thence he went to Bruna,
in Moravia, accompanied by a number of Jews

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516 JACOB FRAKK ANi) THB F&ANKIST8.

and Jewesses, always living in the style of an.
Eastern prince, wearing a splendid uniform,
and abundantly supplied from Poland with
money for all his expenses. Many years later,
when no longer admitted at Vienna, he fixed
himself at Offenbach, in Hesse, where he
lited in a kind of psQace, always keeping up
the character he had assumed as head of a
religious sect. There, numbers of Sabbathaist
Jews from aU countries resorted to him, pre-
senting gifts and joining in the public prayers
which he conducted with a great display of
magnificence, accompanied by all sorts of sin-
gular ceremonies, the meaning of which have
never to this day been explained. He died
three years after his arrival at Offenbach, and
was buried with great pomp according to-the
rites of the Eomish Church, being followed to
the grave by a great concourse of people as a
public benefactor. A cross was set up over
his tomb. For sotoe time his daughter took
his place in the guidance of the sect, which
was, however, soon dispersed, especially when
the pecuniary supplies began to fail. Ten
years after his death, his successors and chil-
dren (for he left two sons besides his daughter
Eve) published a circular letter addressed to

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THE FRANKlStS. 517

all the German synagogues, written many
years before by Frank himself, exhorting the
Jews to acknowledge the Christian religion.

The evidence we gain from all these par-
ticulars suffices to prove that Jacob Frank,
the head of the Frankists, (although he must
be looked upon as a fanatic or adventurer,)
never wished to be otherwise thought of than
as a professor of Christianity. Though par-
taking in the views of Sabbathai Sevi as to
value of Cabbalistic doctrines, he never at-
tempted to give himself out as the Messiah.
He rather considered that he had received a
mission to unite together all religions, sects,
and confessions. Among the paradoxical
opinions he is said to have advanced, was the
idea that the Lord Jesus Christ is still upon
earth, and that he would soon again send
forth twelve apostles to publish the GospeL
The reasons of Frank's surrounding himself
with all the insignia of high rank have never
been explained. It has been suspected, and
with much probability, that the pomp he
assumed had reference to his dignity as chief
of a kind of freemasonry or mystical Order, of
which his sect have, since his death, kept up
the marked characteristics. All that now
remains of the Frankists is contained within

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518 THE JEWS IN GERMANY.

the Roman Catholic Church of Poland ; they
are, therefore, Christians hy profession, though
distinguishing themselves, as we have oh-
served, hy a kind of separation, or *^ esprit de
corps" and hy marked remains of Judaisnu
Some consider that they still retain in secret a
heHef in the religion of the synagogue. They
are found in Poland, especially at Warsaw,
dispersed among all, ev^n the highest classes
of society, chiefly in the profession of lawyer
or physician. They are said to have taken a
considerahle share in the war of insurrection
against Sussia in the year 1830: it has even
heen said, that the chief of the Frankists was
memher of the Diet of Poland, and afterwards
obliged to take refuge as an exile in France.

At the period of which we have been speak-
ing, while in the southern and eastern parts
of Europe Cabbalistic theosophy had brought
about a stir in the midst of ancient Judaism,
a movement of a very different kind was pre-
paring in the north-western parts, and in Ger-
many. In Prussia, Mendelsohn, the philoso-
pher formed by Plato and Maimonides, was a
cotemporary of the adventurous Cabbalist,
Jacob Frank, in Poland and Austria. In the
whole of Germany, where, during the eigh-
teenth century, new changes in many ways

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tHE JEWS IN 6EBHANY. 519

for the exiles of Palestine were already being
gradually developed, die whole state of the
Jews, if not more deeply degraded than in
Poland, was at least much more barren and
death-like. Any one whd takes the slightest
interest in the fate and the sufferings of the
ancient people of God, cannot fail to be
touched in reading the circumstantial accounts
and the complaints of a German Jewish his-
torian of our time concerning what his nation
had done and sufiered, had been dind had not
been, especially before the time of the peace
of Westphalia and since, (with a ray of hope
for better times,) until the reigns of Frederic
the Great and Joseph ll. They were, to use
the words of the historian, a ** mass of suffer-
ing." And though they had already been a
suffering nation — suffering because of their
transgressions, and despised and chastened
because of their sins and corruptions,* — yet, in
the days which elapsed between the time of
the Reformation and the dawn of the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries, they had, if
possible, fallen still lower : — by long-enduring
habit they had become almost insensible to
their misery, and even to the shame which
attended it A nation without a &ther-land,
* ISee JoBf 0 " Gescbichte der Jnden," yiiL 809, kc

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520 THE JEWS IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE.

without unity, without arts and sciences, with-
out government, without power, either moral
or physical, with no longer ef en the conscioos-
ness of that earlier calling and grandeur to
which their deep downfal itself bore witness,
and which might still have invested it with
. something of tragic elevation^ if only they
could have found, tears, like their brethren in
Spain and in Palestine, to weep over the dust
of Jerusalem,

It is deeply painful to an Israelite who
loves his nation, however dispersed, however
humbled, to relate the history, or, rather,
describe the death-like position of his people,
at a time and in a country when that people
exhibited no other feelings than those of
pecuniary interest and self-preservation; yes,
when they had so completely accustomed
themselves to their abject and servile position,
that the multitude of them no longer regarded
it as a subject for tears, but rather made a
jest of it; — far more deplorable was, then, the
position of the chosen people than was that of
their Sampson, who, until his lion-like strength
returned with the hair of his Nazariteship,
was compelled to make sport in the midst
of the Philistines, because he had for a time
turned aside from obedience to his God, We

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THE JEWS IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. 521

cannot look without astonishment, and even
admiration, upon the elasticity of human
nature, especially among the people of Israel
(the people of the resurrection, as some one in
our day has called them), when we consider the
depth of wretchedness and degeneracy from
which, particularly in Germany, the Jew had
to be raised before he became even a man.

Among the advantages from which the
German Jew was entirely excluded during
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was
that of science, and under that term we must
include even their owti theology. If here and
there, during that period, one or two theo-
logians are to be met with, and a few Jewish
writings were published, the greater part,
even of these, belonged, by birth or family, to
the Sclavonic countries of Bohemia, Hungary,
or Poland, rather than to Germany itself.
The meagre stock of Jewish literature in this
country offers but few Gefrman names of any
note. Rabbi Naphtali Altschuler, in 1650,
was the author of a commentary on the whole
of the Old Testament; Nathan Spira, who
died in 1577, published a few mystical works;
Jacob Ben Isaac, in 1625, was the author of
a book called the " Bible for Women," which
is much in use among the Jews ; and Naph-

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522 THE JEWS IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE.

tali Herz wrote an introduction to the study
of the Cahbala.

In considering the relative social position
of the Jews throughout the empire, as well in
the separate Principalities as in the States,
we shall find that in many of the former the
Jews were not tolerated, at least, on any
secure tenure, with liberty, privileges, and
the right of building a synagogue. For
example, the Electors Frederick II. and Otho
Henry refused them admittance to the Pala-
tinate; they were looked upon as equally
unwelcome both in Prussia and Wirtem-
berg, and in many cities of Saxony they were
"refused water," according to the ancient
Roman formula;

In the free cities of the Empire, their posi-
tion, though less precarious, was not much
more inviting. We should be greatly mis-
taken if we took what has been related of
Hamburgh as a sample of their treatment in
Ithe other commercial and republican cities
of Gtermany during the period between 1517
— 1789. Their happier position in that city
arose from the arrival and prosperity of the
Sephardim at the beginning of the seven-
teenth century, whidh was extended in part
to the originally German Jews of Hamburgh,

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THE JEWS IN THE FREE TOWNS. 523

. a circumstance which was not, in all cases,
equally productive of good.

We may form a juster idea of the feeling
of aversion with which the Jews were tole-
rated, from motives of interest, in the free
towns of the Empire, hy recalling a well-
known German proverb of the Middle Ages,
which remained long after in application:
" Happy is that town where there is neither
Abraham (a Jew), or Nimrod (a tyrant), or
Naaman, (a leper)."* We also find a striking
account of the way in which the Jews lived in
those cities ; and the light in which they were
viewed by the learned men and the clergy, as
well as by the rude, ignorant multitude, in a
book written by the pastor and rector, T. T,
Schudt, of Frankfort-on4he-Maine, published
in 1714, and entitled, " Jewish Curiosities,'*
In reading it, we hardly kiow which should
most excite our astonishment, whether the
deeply-fallen condition of the unhappy nation
themselves, among whom even temporal pros-
perity and well-being seemed to form an ex-
eeption to the general rule, and who, as a
whole, were, in that place especially, the con-
tinual subject of prejudice, and the butt of end-

* Felix est ciyitas in qua nosi est Abraham,- Nimrod^
et Naaman.

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^24

THE JEWS IN THE FREE TOWNS.

less taunts and derision. Or is it not rather
at the feelings and convictions of pastors and
members of the Christian Church, who, with
the prophets of Israel, the Gospel of Christ,
and the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans
before their eyes, appear to have rejected
every feeling of humanity, every hope of re-
storation for Israel, knowing only, like the
Edomites, how to heap injury upon injury
upon the children of Abraham? Yea, even
accusing of Judaism and hdresy those who
could cherish any cheering anticipations for the
Israelites as a nation! And yet the book of
the Rector Schudt, hostile and virulent as it
is against the Jews in general, is interesting
by the information it gives of their manner
of life, customs, and peculiarities, which might
be sought for in vain elsewhere.

The local laws of Frankfort were in keeping
with the general prejudices of the people
against the Jews, — a few specimens will suffice
by way of example ; they were forbidden to
come out of their own quarter on Sunday,
or any Christian festival, and even the gates
of their street, or portion of the town, were
locked ; they might not take into their house
as lodgers any Jew, except their own family
and relations to the second or third degree ; —

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THE JEWS IN THE FREE TOWNS. 525

they were not allowed to have Christian ser-
vants or nurses, — nor to walk ahout the town
at the time of any festivity, or during the stay
of any foreign prince; — they might not fre-
quent the public walks ; — if they touched any
article of food in the market, they were com-
pelled to buy it, with many other similar
restrictions.

Here, then, are a few traits, which clearly
lAark the degree of esteem and well-being in
society, which fell to the lot of that Jewish
quarter at Frankfort, (until near the close of
the eighteenth century,) whence sprung a few
years later the celebrated commercial house,
whose gold and paper should hold both sove-
reigns and people in check, and in a manner
decide upon the question of war or peace in
Europe,

And, yet, however miserable was the con-
dition which we have just described of the
Jews at Frankfort, this town was looked
upon by them as a more desirable residence
than many other cities of Germany, on account
of the protection afforded by the Government,
the freedom for commercial speculation which
they enjoyed ; and, lastly, because of the high
esteem in which the Rabbins of its Synagogue
were*held throughout Germany.

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526 THE JEWS IN THE FREE CITIES.

Attempts were at times made to rid the city
entirely of its Jewish population. The years
of 1613 and 1815, witnessed scenes of a nature
that call to mind the excesses of the famous
flagellants; and which would, perhaps, have
completely reviFcd them, if the magistrates
had not at length succeeded in subduing the
party who were at enmity with the Jews, A plan
was formed by the populace, and encouraged
by a number of the citizens, to pillage the whole
of the Jewish quarter. This plot, which had
failed in the first instance, was again revived
in connexion with some other dispute between
the magistrates ai^d the labouring classes.
The people fell upon the Jewish quarter, and
began to pillage; the Jews acted on the de-
fensive, and several persons were killed and
wounded on both sides. At last, the Jews
were oyerpowered by the superior numbers of
their assailants, against whom the magistrates
would oppose no efficient force.

An agreement was entered into, by which
the Jews were compelled to quit Frankfort for
ever, upon the sole condition of a safe-conduct,
allowing them to retire unmolested. In con-
sequence, more than 1,400 of the Jewish inha-
bitants left the city; while a portion still re^
mained concealed, and protected by the more

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THE JEWS IN THE FREE TOWNS. 627

benevolent of the citizens. The Jewish quarter
was closed, and the town even by this means
with difficulty preserved in peace.

Shortly after this display of yiolence, the
power of the magistracy was re-established,
and the Jews restored to their rights (1616).
The affair was brought before the Imperial
Chamber, and the leaders of the insurrection
condemned to severe and even capital punish-
ment. Fettmilch, the pipst guilty, was be-
headed and afterwards quarterpd j two of his
accomplices also suflferpd the penalty of death,
while eight less guilty were publicly whipped
in presence of the Jews. The latter were
solemnly brought back into Frankfort, under
an escort of cavalry and infantry, with banners
flying, the full possession of their quarter re?
stored, and thepaselves taken under the special
protection of the Emperor, whose arms were
suspended over the gate of the " Juden Strasse."
The people agreed together to make them
some amends ; the laws of the city concerning
them were renewed and ameliorated in their
favour ; only the rate of interest (always the
avowed or secret cause of all these disturb-
ances) was reduced to a moderate standard.

This affair at Frankfort (the remembrance
of which has been preserved by the Jews in a

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528 THE JEWS IN THE FREE TOWNS,

kind of poem, in the rabbinical dialect, in
imitation of the book of Esther) had hardly
ended, when the enemies of the Jews at Worms
followed the example which was thus set them.
A lawyer, named Chemnitz, together with
many of the citizens, formed a plan for bring-
ing before the Chamber of Justice at Spires a
formal accusation against the Jews, by which
means they flattered themselves with the hope
of procuring their banishment. This plan
having failed, because the sentence of the
Chamber only served to regulate the rate of
interest, they had recourse to a popular dis-
turbance, against which the magistrates had
pot power to afford sufficient succour. The
Jews were in consequenqe driven out by the
populace, the Jewish quarter taken by assault,
the synagogue, which was said to have existed
for 767 years, was demolished, and the bury-
ing ground destroyed. The city was soon
obliged to call in the assistance of the Elector
Palatine; troops sent from Heidelburgh re-
stored the city to order. The whole affair under-
went a legal investigation, in consequence of
which Dr. Chemnitz was degraded from his
profession, and banished the country, while
the Jews, escorted by the Imperial troops, in
the beginning of the year 1616, took posses-

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THE JEWS IH THE FREE TOWNS. 529

sion of their quarter, where they have since
that time remained undisturbed.

At Frankfort, near the end of the same
century, the Jews suffered from a catastrophe
of a different nature, the consequences of
which reflect credit both on the inhabitants of
the town and the sufferers from this fresh mis;-
fortune. A terrible fire, which first broke out
in the house of the learned Cabbaliat, Rabbi
Naphtali Cohen, owing to the insufficient pre-
cautions takefa against it, spread to the whole
Jewish quarter, and reduced it to ashes.
Even the enemies of the Jews were obliged to
admire the resignp^tion which they evinced on
this occasion. The Christians, on their side,
showed great humanity towards the sufferers.
' The citizens received into their houses whole
families who had been at once deprived of
home and subsistence, not without having
consulted the clergy, who, wonderful to relate,
had expressed their approbation. The Rector
Schudt, however, of whom we have spoken,
made this a cause of reproach to the citizens
of Frankfort, while he profited by the occasion
cruelly to malign the Jewish nation. But,
even in the midst of the kindness shown at
that moment to the unhappy people, voices
were raised in the town declaring that if a

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530 THE JEWS IN AUSTRIA.

similar catastrophe should occur again, it
would be necessary to massacre all the Jews.
An edict from the Emperor Joseph I., ad-
dressed to the chief magistrate of the town,
put a stop to these threats, and to all hostile
demonstrations. The Jewish quarter was soon
entirely rebuilt ; their numbers amounting, at
that period, to twelve or thirteen thousand.

'[['he two principal states of the German
Empire in which an amendment in the posi*
tion of the Jews began to appear, and to de-
velop itself as early as the eighteenth century,
were Boman Catholic Austria and Protestant
Prussia. This amendment, which has con-
tinued in action to the present day, was, how-
ever, accompanied by many unfavourable
circumstances. It had been preceded by times
of tribulation and oppression, similar to those
we have just described in the free cities of the
Empire. This had been especially the case in
Austria. The house of Austria had in different
ways been brought into connexion with the
Jewish populations of different countries. At
the close of the eighteenth century, the num-
ber of Jews subject to Imperial dominion,
in the Italian, Sclavonic, and German States,
amounted to about two hundred and fifty
thousand. Yet the ancient rights of the Em-

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THE JEWS IN AUSTRIA. 531

peror of Germany over the Jews had either
fallen into oblivion, or devolved upon the sove-
reigns of the diflferent states of Germany. In
Italy the Austrian rdle had shown itself'
fevourably disposed towards them; they are
found in more than one instance employed by
the Emperor on important missions, and even
raised to the rank of nobility. In Bohemia
and Hungary we have already told the vicissi-
tudes of their lot, In Austria Proper, at
Vienna especially, their position was at first
unfavourable, and afterwards uncertain, till
the reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph 11.
The laws which regulated the admission of the
Jews, and their treatment by the Government,
had here, as elsewhere, been made during the
Middle Ages. From the first establishment
of the duchy, in 1267, the Jews were looked
upon as belonging to the sovereign of the
country. A council, held at Vienna, in 1167,
had already imposed the ordinary burdens and
prohibitions, which in Austria, however, were
not enforced with rigour. The formula of the
oath (which was not used there only) in that
country is worthy of special notice. The Jew
was obliged to take it upon the hide of a pig,
while the wording of it (as if inviting to per-
jury) contained an almost explicit declaration,

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532 THE JEWS IN AUSTRIA*

that a curse rested upon himself and his chil*
dren because of the death of Jesus. In after
times, favour and iUUtreatment in turns fell to
their lot under the government of the arch*
dukes. At Vienna and elsewhere they were,
both in 1420 and in 1464, persecuted and
threatened with murder and pillage. Maxi*
milian I. persecuted them in Austria and
tolerated them in Moravia. Ferdinand L
(1553 — 1564) granted them a residence in the
Austrian capital, and a permission to trade in
jewellery and horses, which latter they have
since retained; afterwards he again drove
them out. Maximilian II. (1564 — 1576) and
Ferdinand II. and III. (1619—1657) granted
them fresh liberties, and at Vienna they were
in possession of a synagogue. But in that
city especially, the populace were inclined to
show them the very greatest hostility. These
inimical feelings were increased in the years
1641 — 1646, by false rumours, stating that the
Jews were employed on all sides as spies by
the Swedes. An Imperial "safe-guard" was
granted them in 1649 against all threats and
ill-usage on this account In 1668 they were
accused of having set fire to the citadel : in
consequence of this rumour the Jews and the
citizens came to blows, and several were

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THE JEWS IN AUSTRIA. 533

killed and wounded on both sides. In vain
this oppressed people implored the protection
of the Empress, bom Infanta of Spain; the
magnificent present offered tot that purpose
was declined. An Imperial edict soon ap-
peared, desiring the Jews to 4uit Vienna and
the whole duchy ; and their synagogues were
changed into churches. A single exception
was made in favour of Wolf Schlesinger, agent
for the Court; and by favour of this permis-
sion other Israelites were soon after allowed;
In 1677, Samuel Oppenheitner and Sampson
Wertheimer took up their abode at Vienna as
agents for the Court; in 1697, the Jews had
again become sufficiently numerous to fotm a
community. The Jews of Vienna, though in
turns driven out aUd recalled, persecuted and
favoured, had in the meantime some represent-
atives of their nation high in favour at the
Court. Thus the femily of Oppenheimer pos-
sessed sufficient weight with the Government
to prevent the publication of Professor Eisen-
menger's celebrated work of "Judaism Un-
veiled," which seemed likely in Germany to
stir up fresh persecutions against that people.
An Imperial mandate pronounced sentence for
the confiscation of all the copies of the work.
The author himself had only petmission to

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534 tH£ JEWS IN AUSTRIA.

preserve two^ which he carried with him to
Berlin. There, in consequence of the recom*
m^idation of the famous Yablontsky, the
book had much better success, and not only
permission but even pecuniary assistance
towards the expenses of its publication was
granted hy the King. This work is jiow well
known in the literary world, and has often
been made use of to the disadvantage of the
Jew, although it did not succeed in producing
actual persecution. In Prussia especially, the
Government was really beginning to form
juster notions of the duty and the interests
of the State in connexion with this part of
the population ; — e. g.y with the indestructible
nation.

But to return to their fate in Austria. Their
position in that country greatly improved dur-
ing the reign of Maria Theresa. At that period
the families of Amstein, Eskeles, Zeidendorfer,
Schlesinger, Sinzheimer, and Honig von Ho-
nigsberg, were already high in favour at Court,
and many of them raised to the nobility. Pro-
tection from the Court, also, encouraged the
establishment of manufactories and workshops
among the Jews, and their position in general,
with the exception of much exclusion, and
many severe but perhaps necessary restric-

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THE JEWS IN AUSTRIA. 535

tions, became gradually more and more favour-
able.

During the reign of Joseph II., however,
the legblation for his Jewish subjects was
entirely remodelled by the edict of toleration,
published in 1782, — an edict which has since
been celebrated by Jewish pens, both in prose
and verse, as marking a decisive epoch. By
this edict all the old regulations were abolished,
— the Jews allowed to take up their abode in
any town they pleased, (though in the country,
only by express permission.) A distinction was
made by the same edict between the inha^
bitants of the country and strangers; the
strangers (a burden which fdl as heavily
upon the resident Jews as upon the country
itself) were compelled to submit to many
hard conditions ; — as a remuneration for these
new liberties, a considerable amount of taxa-
tion was imposed upon the former of the two
classes ; but the freedom, also, when compared
with the original state of things, was consi-
derable; no more distinctive mark on the
dress, — no exclusion from festivals and public
walks ; — no confinement to a quarter apart ;—
the military profession, as well as those of law
and medicine, thrown open to them ; — the
right of wearing a sword, and bearing titles

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536 THE JEWS IN FRtJSSIA.

of nobility was granted, though without the
power of holding landed pitoperty; — all trades
were permitted, though without admission to
the guilds ; — protection to their children under
fourteen against the proselytista of the Roman
Catholics; — on their side the obligation to
make use of surnames, to speak German in-
stead of the language called Jewish^ and to
make use of the public institutions for instruc-
tion, whether Christian or Jewish. This edict,
which was received with great applause by the
Jews of Germany, formed really a turning
point in the history of European legislation
with regard to that nation.

The misfortunes which, in 1670, had driven
the Jews from Vienna, were the principal
cause of their establishment and the increase
of their numbers in Prussia, in which country
the latter half of the eighteenth century beheld
an effectual change in theit destiny, and a
decided amendment in their position. Already,
some time before the period we have named,
the Jews had been again admitted into the
states of the Elector of Brandenburgh. It was
Tprederic William, surnamed, on account of his
great virtue and Christian piety, the Great
Elector (1640 — 1688), to whose humane and
benevolent administration towards all who

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THE JEWS IN PBUSSIAi 537

were oppressed, the Jews were indebted for an
asylum and a safejabode in Prussia. He was
himself under great obligations to Heiman
Gompertz atid Salomo Elias, his two agents for
the Courts who displayed indefatigable zeal and
unshaken fidelity in th6 rdanagement of all
his financial resources for the war^ When the
Jews, who had been persecuted in Austria^
applied, in consequence, to Neuman, the Resi-
dent for Brandenburgh, at Vienna, with a
request to be admitted into the Electoral States,
the immediate reply was, " That forty or fifty
respectable families would be willingly re-
ceived." In consequence of this permission,
the specified number soon established them-
selves at Berlin, Potsdam, and other parts of
the territory of the noble Elector. From this
beginning sprung the whole synagogue that
now exists in Prussia. The complaints which
arose in different parts at the toleration and
protection granted to the Jews, were met by
the Elector with a firm adherence to the prin#
ciples he had adopted, and a statement of the
actual advantages which the country derived
from its Jewish inhabitahts. In the year 1696|.
their number was already so considerable, that
Dr. Beckman, of Frankfort-on-the-Oder, re-
quested permisnon to print the Talmud, in the
▲ A 3

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538 TH£ XEW8 IN PRUSSIA.

foil expectation of finding a sufficient demand.
In the last year of the seventeenth century a
special body of rules for the Jews of the Elec-
torate was first put in force. Calumnies and
threats failed not to attend upon privileges
which yet, as we shall see, did not prevent the
continued exclusion of the Jews from public
employment. At the same time, Jost Liebmau
and David Riess, jewellers to the Court, re-
ceived permission to hold the synagogue ser-
vices in their private residence ; soon after, a
public house of prayer was allowed, but sub-
jected to strict inspection, lest the Jewish
Liturgy should contain any signs of enmity
towards Christianity or its professors. In 1 7 1 2,
King Frederic commanded, on pain of severe
penalty, that no vagabond Jews should be
admitted into the country ; a measure which,
as we have already remarked, was as much for
the benefit of the resident Israelites themselves
as for the other inhabitants, on account of the
inconveniences and expense to which these
were put by their wandering coreligionists,
from which, to this day, they have never been
entirely delivered. During the same reign,
the synagogue at Berlin, one of the finest in
Germany, was completed under the royal pro-
tection, in Bpite of the clamour raised on all

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THE JEWS IN PBTJSSIA. 539

sides against so great a concession. The
Government of Frederic William, (1717 —
1740,) the father and predecessor of Frederic
the Great, was equally fiivourable to the Jews ;
at least he never persecuted them, notwith-
standing the despotic tendency of his rule,
while many of them were in peculiar favour at
Court, and distinguished by various privileges.
On the other hand, this same prince had
imposed upon the Jews in his states some
rather arbitrary charges ; such was an obliga-
tion to purchase the royal venison, when the
King in hunting had taken or killed more wild
boars than he could consume at his own table.
To comply with this absurd decree, they pur-
chased the forbidden meat, and gave it to be
consumed at the hospitals. A somewhat similar
burden had of ancient times been laid upon
them, upon any occasion of family rejoicing,
such as the marriage of a son, the acquisition
of property, or any similar event, the Israelite
was compelled to make a purchase at the
Boyal porcelain manufactory, to the amount of
800 thalers. Afterwards, in the reign of
Frederic William II., 1787, they were rejeased
in perpetuity from this obligation on the pay-
ment of 4,000 thalers at once.

Frederic the Great is thought not to have

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540 THE JEWS IN PRUSSIA.

looked favourably upon the Jews. It would
indeed have been surprising that the friend of
Voltaire, the philosophic and infidel king,
should have shown any personal affection for
the people of the Old Testament in their dis-
persion, at once so wretched and y6t so full of
meaning. Nevertheless, he took great pains
to become acquainted tvith their position in the
state. Though his decrees cannot be compared
in liberality with those of Joseph II. for his
own peculiar states — though the legislation of
Frederic for the Jews did not produce a very
happy consequence, yet even ♦Jewish historians
do not attribute such a result to. any ill-will on
the part of the King towards this miserably
oppressed nation, but to the wretchedness of
the position in which he foiind them, and to
their historical relations, which could not at
once be changed. It is even related (so far
was Frederic II. from any positive dislike to
them,) that he himself made the observation
that, "To oppress the Jews never brought
prosperity to any Government." When, there-
fore, he paid no regard to the merit of Moses
Mendelsohn, or at least gaive him no token of
approbation, it was rather the indifierence
shown by the King as a- French author to
* * See JoBiy iz. 35, 36.

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THE JEWS IN PRUSSIA. 541

German literature in general, than any preju-
dice against the Jews, which caused this neglect.
On the contrary, many Israelites obtained
reception and fatour at his Court, as well as
that of his father. His " General Privilege,"
published in the year 1760, which in part
abolished, and in part revived and confirmed
the ancient laws concerning the Jews, appears
to have had in view the diminution of their
numbers, but, at the same time, the amend-
ment of their social position. Hence arose the
great severity with which the Government
guarded against the entrance of strange Jews,
and the precautions of every kind which were
taken to assure a home to those Jews who
were possessed off ivealth, and also to keep at
a distance all who could not bring proof of
possessing the means of subsistence. By this
"Privilegium" the Jewish population was
more strictly than ever divided into Jews
tolerated hy inheritance^ Jews personally tole-
rated, that is to say, only during their own
life, to the exclusion of their descendants. All
who were not positively engaged in business
or connected with the synagogue by aty post
or office, belonged to the second class. Among
those who were tolerated by inheritance, the
right of abode descended to only one child of

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1

542 THE JEWS IN PRUSSIA.

the fitmily ; after 1740, by virtue of a privil^e
purchased at the price of seventy thousand
thalers, a second child might also enjoy his
father's right, on giving proof that he possessed
a capital of one thousand thalers. Tlie rega«-
lations on the subject of marriage were especi-
ally severe. All Jewish servants who wished
to marry were obliged to leave the country.
At Berlin the Jews were not allowed to hold
in possession more than forty houses, in the
rest of the kingdom the same proportion held
good, and in no case without special permission.
AU landed property was entirely refused to
them ; while impositions in every possible form,
and on every occasion, were levied upon about
1,600 Jewish fistmilies, in 1786. Their sphere
of activity was limited to trade either in money
or effects, and in some few instances to indus-
trial arts,* but only by express permission from

* It is worthy of note, that the only art which at this
period was carried to any perfection by the German Jews,
was that of engraving on precious stones ; an art in which,
up to the present time, elnd in abnost every countiy, they
have shown peculiar skill and talent ; we may cite as an
example, Joseph Levin, who engraved with great success
on a diamond the arms of i^rederic L of Prussia. The
preservation of this art is especially remarkable among
the descendants of Israel, if we view it in connerion with
the earlier period of their existence as a nation, when oa

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THE JEWS IN PRUSSIA. 543

the King. On the whole, they were treated
as inferior to the other inhabitants of the coun-
try, and the whole commnnity was considered
responsible for the crimes of its individual
members. In Silesia the regulations were
more or less the same. The successor of
Frederic the Great endeavoured by new laws
to effect a salutary change for both Jewish
inhabitants and residents. But the laws them-
selves bear the stamp both of the fearfully
degraded state of the Jewish population, and
of the oppressive, exclusive, and repressive
measures which were thought needful to the
interest of that portion of the community.
Since that time the prospects of the Jews,
especially in Silesia, have much improved.

The general impression we receive of the
position in which the Jews were to be found
in the Prusdan states, during the latter part

so memorable an occasion, and for so peculiar a purpose,
the engraving of stones was practised by men of Israel.
£xod. xxviii. 21. In general, it is interesting to mark
the connexion subsisting between the arts and sciences
mentioned in the Biblical history of the Israelites, and
those still subsisting among their descendants of the
dispersion. Thus, to the present day, thej have continued
to produce poets, singers, and musicians, but few painters
and sculptors — ^not one who has attained any degree of
eininenoe«

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544 THE JEWS IN PRUSSIA.

of the last century, is, on the whole, a melan*
choly one. The wretchedness and degradation
of the multitude is even more remarkable when
brought into contrast with the riches and
splendour possessed by some few individuals.
And yet, as the historian whom we have often
quoted remarks, it is to the good-will and
privileges obtained by these favoured few, that
the amended position and the social and
intellectual civilizatidn of the German Jews
owe their tery existence.

The life of Moses Mendelsohn marks a very
decisive period in the progress of science and
literature among the German Jews, fruitful
in results which were pattly favourable and
partly dangerous to his nation. His friends and
admirers applied to his praise the well-known
proverb, which has been already quoted to the
honour of Maimonides, — " From Moses to
Moses there arose not a Moses.*' In truth,
there were many points in common between
the doctor and reformer of Cordova, and the
philosopher and man of letters of Berlin, both
in the bent of their minds and their views con-
cerning the religion of their nation. It is
from the time of Mendelsohn and his cotem-
poraries, disciples, and imitators, that we may
date the beginning of a completely new rela*

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HOSES MENDELSOHN, ETC. 545

tionship between the Jews and the people of
Germany. We must delay a few minutes to
trace the career of this remarkable man.

Mendelsohn was born in 1729, at Dersace, of
poor parents. His father was a Hebrew cali-
grapherj— that is to say, a copier of the Bible and
other writings in that language uponparchmenti
His son, who was of a weakly constitution,
and rather deformed, gave early tokens of an
intelligent and scrutinizing mind. Without any
instruction he ^Iready in childhood made
attempts to express himself in the Hebrew
language and style, as well as in its poetry.
Afterwards, when nearly thirteen, he had the
Eabbi David Frankel as his master in the
study of the Talmud^ But even then, as well
as afterwards, the writings of Maimonides, and
especially the More Nevochim, were his
favourite subjects of study. When hardly
fourteen he was obliged to relinquish learning
for the choice of a profession. He went to
Berlin in search of employment, and there
gained his scanty subsistence by following the
occupation of copyist and corrector of the press,
carefully making use of every leisure moment
to learn the ancient languages and to gain
instruction in general literature and philosophy.
At that period he was under great obligations

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546 MOSES MENDELSOHN

to Rabbi Israel, a learned Jew, who had been
persecuted by the synagogues of Poland on
account of his opinions, as well as to Aaron
Emmerich, a Celebrated physician and Hebrew
author. He afterwards became tutor to the
children of a distinguished coreligionist, who,
struck with the amiability of his character and
the greatness of his talents, intrusted to him
the whole management of his affairs. (1753.)
In the intervals of business he published, in
concert with his friend, Tobias Bock, some
essays on natural philosophy, in Hebrew, for
the use of youtlg men who were studying the
Talmud. This publication gave some ofience
to the Rabbins, and he escaped persecution
only by his strict observance of the Chral Law,
to which he undeviatingly submitted all the
rest of his life, although his internal convictions
were little in accordance with its practices. He
soon became intimate with Lessing, Nicolai,
and other learned and distinguished Germans,
his letters and conversations with whom have
since been published. By his Phedon in
German (on the immortality of the soul) and
several other metaphysical works, he soon
acquired greater fame among Christians than
among the Jews, both as a philosopher and a
distinguished writer and literary character. He

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AND HIS COTEKPORABIES. 547

also gained much esteem by the many amiable
and honourable points in his character. Chris-
tians in heart, such as Lavater in particular, at
one time flattered themselves with discerning
in this celebrated Israelite a future confessor of
Christ, founding their opinion on several ex-
pressions and views of Mendelsohn, in which
the influence of Chris^tianity could not fail to be
recognised. He made haste to undeceive them
in a courteous but decided letter which he
addressed to the respectable pastor of Zurich ;
he continued, meanwhile, his labours, not only
as an author and man of letters, but also as a
reformer, though acting with the greatest
circumspection and moderation. He it was
who, in 1778, composed the report which had
been demoded by the King of Prussia, con-
cerning someparticular pointsof rabbinical juris-
prudence, such as the right of succession, wills,
&c. Soon after appeared his German version of
the Books of Moses, the first chapters of which
were accompanied by a commentary of his own,
which was afterwards continued by two learned
brethren ; one of these was the poet Hartwig
Wessely, of whom we shall speak hereafter.
The preface to this work, in which, with an in-
genuity of mind that was his peculiar gift, he
had been able to combine the views of a

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548 MOSES MENDELSOHN

philosopher with respect for the strictest pro«
fession of Judaism, gained for him the appro-
bation of some of the most rigid teachers
of the synagogue, and, among others, Rabbi
Saul, of Frankfort. The work itself soon
found its way into the principal synagogues
and schools of Germany. The knowledge of
German made, by this means, unheard of
advance among the Jewish youth. Mendelsohn,
thus encoursiged, produced afterwards, with
increasing success, a version of the Psalms and
the Song of Solomon, which are considered
classical.

It was in this especially that the philosopher
keptup the striking resemblance toMaimonides,
his celebrated predecessor and model. Both,
under the outward forms of Rabbinical Judaism,
desired to give an entirely new direction to
the religion of the Jews, to reform it, to
develop it; while both equally failed to
recognise how the true perfection of revealed
Judaism is to be found in true Christfanity.
Mendelsohn at last seized an opportunity of
declaring more clearly (though always with a
degree of vagueness) his own ideas on religion
in answer to the then well-known treatise of the
Councillor Dohm, ^^ On the Amendment of the
political Position of the Jews." The statesman

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AMD HIS OOTEMFORA&IES. 549

in his work had started from the principle
that every amendment must proceed from
liberty arid equality of rights i^ society be*
stowed upon the Jew, — from an entire reform
in the systems of instruction and education, —
from free admission to the practice of all
arts and sciences, and even a participation
in some posts and offices of State, — the
authority of the synagogue over its members
to be maintained, in cases of religious differ-
ence, by the power of casting them out of its
bosom for a time or entirely. It was precisely
on this last ppint, concerning the authority of
the synagogue as acknowledged by Dohm,
that Mendelsohn fired up. He would not
allow the synagogue, or any other religious
community, to impose any restriction whatever
on the rights of thinking and teaching.

In the preface to his German translation of
Menasseh Ben Israel's " Hope of Israel," he
plainly declared his conviction, " that every
society had certainly the right to exclude its
members when they ceased to conform to the
principle of the society; but that this rule
coTild not in any way apply to a religious
society, whether church or synagogue, because
true religion exerts no authority over ideas and
opinions ; but, being all heart and spirit, only

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550 MOSES MENDELSOHN

desires to use the power of conviction.
Then, taming to his brethren of Israel, he
exhorts tbem to take from the people among
whom they live an example of charity, and not
of hatred or intolerance, and to begin by
loving and bearing with one another, that they
might themselves be loved and tolerated by
others."

In this remarkable and singular controversy
of the Jewish philosopher there are two points
worthy of note. First, that he could, while
holding such sentiments, entirely conceal from
himself the influenceof Christianity over hisown
opinions, and believe himself in all sincerity,
an orthodox rabbinical Jew, In the second
place, it is equally remarkable that, during all
these, discussions, the Babbins should have kept
completely aloof, and let pass so decisive a de«
claration as that of Mendelsohn^ against all
maintenance of order and discipline in the
synagogue.

A solution of the latter point is probably to
be found in a certain consciousness, on the part
of the synagogue, of want of strength to cope
with one of its most influential members on the
grounds of a social and philosophical question.
It must have appeared the safer and more
prudent part to rest satisfied with the obedi-

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AND HIS COTEMPOBABIES. 551

ence ^hich Mendelsohn at all times paid to its
outward ordinances. , Sbon, however, it began
to experience the ejects produced by his in-
fluence and writings on a large portion of the
German Jews, amoi^g whom, from that time
forward, all respect for the Talmud began
gradually to declinCt As for Mendelsohn
himself, the contrast between his practice as a
rabbinical Jew and the principles he advo*
catpd in the preface we have just quoted,
could not fiiil of exciting the attention both of
£h.e Christian and Jewish biographers of this
illustrious man. In a ^^ Letter to Mendel-
sohn"* the inconsistency was openly noticed
between his conscientious attachment to
Rabbinism and his opinions on the subject of
religion, so evidently borrowed from Christi-
anity. To this attack he replied by his
" Jerusalem ; or, a Treatise on Authority in
matters of Beligion and Judaism ; " a work
written with remarkable talent, but which, on
the whole, served to show forth yet more
forcibly the incompatibility of his theory
and practice, and even of his own theory
with itself. According to his view, religion
consists in the disposition of the heart, — and
that is not under the control of any power or
discipline exercised by a church or synagogue.
• Jost IX. 76—79.

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552 MOSES MENDELSOHN

At the same time he asserts, that the law
of Moses (the law equally of Church and
State) was not a law of faith, but of statutes
and prohibitions. How, then, could he deny
to the synagogue the right of condemning and
excluding those who should refuse to observe
that law which he himself, both in theory
and practice, acknowledged to be binding
upon every Israelite! The most zealous
admirers of Mendelsohn have had great diffi*
culty in clearing him from this inoonsistency,
and have even been compelled to acknowledge
it, at the same time excusing him, by sup-
posing that he wished to prove by his own
conduct, that the most complete liberty of
opinion might be allied to the strictest ob-
servance of the law, of which, however, he
wished the spiritual interpretation to be left
to the individual conviction of every Jew.
The true key to this apparent contradiction
is, perhaps, simply this ; inwardly, in the soul
of Mendelsohn, the attractive force of Chris*
tian principle exercised its power, and against
this attractive force he thought to find a
defence in the strict observance of rabbinical
precepts, having, however, never attained to
the very essence of the Christian religion,
which is not to be found in the doctrine alone,
but in the person of Jesus Christ.

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AND HIS COTEMPOR ARIES. 553

Whatever may have caused the inward
struggles of the philosopher of Berlin, it is
certain that, without wishing or suspecting it,
Mendelsohn — as, six centuries earlier, Mai-
monides — stirred up among his coreligionists
a feeling of void that nothing hut the Gospel
of the Son of God could satisfy, which,
through the mercy of the God of Abraham,
was made effectual to many after the time of
Mendelsohn.

It is worthy of remark, that, among Jewish
confessors that Jesus is the Christ, in later
years we find a grandson of this celebrated
philosopher, the highly-famed musical com*
poser, Mendelsohn Bartholdy, who not only
devoted his art to set forth some of the sub-
limest passages in the Old and New Testa-
ments, but also felt in his own soul the power
of that Christian &ith of which he had made
open profession. Moses Mendelsohn died at
the beginning of the year 1786, while em-
ployed in a controversy in which he was
engaged, together with Jacobi, against Les-
sing, the friend of the latter, and the doc-,
trines of Spinoza, which he was suspected of
holding. He was universally regretted, as
well by his own nation as by the Germans.
To the liberal party among the Jews of that

B B

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554 MOSES MENDELSOHN,

country, Mendelsohn had opened, as it were,
a new field, both in religion and literature.
The German Jews, however, at that time
could boast of other men of science and talent
besides Mendelsohn, who also exercised con-
siderable influence over the succeeding gene-
ration. Among the most interesting of his
brethren and cotemporaries, we may mention
his three intimate friends, Hartwig Wessely,
Isaac Euchel, and David Friedlander. Hart-
wig Wessely was the grandson of a certain
Babbi Joseph, who, having escaped from the
massacre by the Cossacks at Bar, in Fodolia,
in 1648, came to establish himself at Amster-
dam, and, as it appears, connected himself
with the Portuguese synagogue of that city.
One of his sons, named Moses, settled at
Wesel (from which place they took the sur-
name of Wessely), and afterwards at Gluck-
stadt, where he established a manufactory of
fire-arms. This was the father of the learned
and talented Hartwig who early acquired
several modem languages, but excdled chiefl^y
in the knowledge of tocient Hebrew. From
his earliest childhood he spared no pains
either in the attainment or the diffusion of
this branch of learning. Placed in Amster-
dam as clerk in a house of business, he

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AND HIS COTEMPOBABIES. 555

employed his leisure hours in collecting his
" Proverbs of the Fathers," and in composing
his valuable work on " Hebrew Synonyms,"
now well known and highly appreciated by
the Jews of Germany, Poland, and Italy.
He published the first edition at his own
expense. At Hamburgh, also, where he mar-
ried in 1770, he passed the day in labouring
for a subsistence, and the night at his favourite
studies. He went to Berlin after the year
1775, and there wrote his Hebrew translation
of the Book of Wisdom. Soon after, he was
for a time reduced to complete poverty by
misfortunes in business, from which, however,
he was shortly rescued by his literary activity,
and the faithful kindness of his friends. It
was at this time that he formed an intimate
acquaintance with Mendelsohn, with whom,
as we have before seen, he afterwards laboured
in concert ; he also shared in the same strict
observance of the rabbinical precepts (though
in an entirely different spirit from that of the
philosophers), being actuated by an enthusi-
astic and heartfelt conviction of the binding
authority of tradition. His good understand-
ing with the Babbins was, nevertheless, for a
time interrupted, because, when the Edict
of Toleration had been promulgated by the
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556 HOSES MENDELBOHN,

Emperor Joseph, he published an address to
the synagogue of Trieste, in which he urged
the necessity of a reformation in a system of
early instruction, by which the study of the
Talmud should be deferred to a riper age.
The Rabbins of Poland, in consequence, at*
tacked and anathematized him with vehe-
mence ; those of Trieste, Venice, Ferrara, and
Reggio, on the contrary, supported him, de»
daring that the opinion he had expressed was
for the advantage of the synagogue. From
that time forward he more than ever per-
sisted, both in observing strictly Jewish cus-
toms and in making strenuous efforts for the
enlightenment and reformation of his people.
He afterwards especially distinguished himself
as a Hebrew poet, both by his lyrical pieces,
his elegy on the death of Prince Leopold of
Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, his panegyric on
the Emperor Joseph, and his heroic poem of
Moses, of which'only the four first parts were
published during his lifetime. He died at
Hamburgh, in 1808, in the eightieth year of
his age. Hartwig Wessely may be considered
the founder of modem Hebrew literature, in
the same way as Mendelsohn was of German
literature amoug the Jews of his age and
country.

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AND HIS C0TEBfFORARI£9. 657

Isaac Euchel, who was bom in 1756, and
ranks far higher than Mendelsohn, and eqnally
high with Hartwig, in Oriental literature,
was the first to undertake a translation of the
Jewish Liturgy into German. This transla^
tion, though not well executed, was never*
theless very useftd, as an eltample for others.
Euchel wrote a translation and Commentary
on the Proverbs of Solomon for the use of the
Jews ; he also wrote in Hebrew a biography
of his friend, Moses Mendelsohn. Like Hart«
wig, this clever and talented author was
obliged to support himself by trade till the
time of his death, which happened in the
fourth year of this Century.

David Friedlander was ^ the third of those
friends of Mendelsohn who, by their inde-
fatigable activity and valuable wor^s, acquired
a name among their brethren and cotempo*
raries in Germany. He was bom at Konigs*
burg, in 1750, and settled, in 1780, at Berlin,
where he married a young lady of the highly
respected &mily of Itzig, and lived in society
with the most distinguished persons of his
age, both Christians and Jews, without ever
losing sight of the main object he had in
view, viz., to seek the improvement of his
nation by every means in his power. With

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558 M08E8 MENDELSOHN.

this view, he translated several German
classical works into Hebrew, and several por-
tions of the Old Testament into German. He
also made a translation of the synagogue
prayers in a better style than that of Eachel,
and by the establishment of schools for the
poor he conferred a benefit which long sur-
vived him.

Always active, sometimes too precipitate in
his zeal for a true and thorough reform of the
Judaism of his age, he wrote (in 1790) his
^^ Letters from Jewish Householders to the
Provost Teller," which elicited several replies
from Christians, but mostly of the Neologian
school. The religion of Friedlander liimself
was far removed from any tendency to Neology.
Though he had opposed with vigour various
prejudices and abuses among his own people^
he was, nevertheless, a rigid Talmudist both
in his doctrine and practice. No one could
regret more than he did the reaction which
had already begun to manifest itself, and to
lead many of those Jews who had cast aside
the fetters of Rabbinism into die opposite
extreme of worldliness, frivolity, and even
complete Infidelity. To an advanced old age
(for Friedlander was still alive in 1828), he
ceased not to labour in the cause of his people

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CONVERSIONS AMONG THE JEWS, ETC. 559

in the different relations in which he was
placed, or to which he had heen called.
Other cotemporaries of Mendelsohn among
the German Jews deserve some mention here :
among them were, the editors of a Hebrew
journal, in 1783, in which Samuel and Dr.
Michel Friedlander, both relatives of David,
were joint labourers; Joel Lowe, afterwards
Professor at the Jewish Wilhelm School, of
Breslau ; Isaac Satrow ; and Jehuda Lob Ben
Seff, known by their Hebrew grammatical
works, and others of the same kind. Dr.
Marcus Herz, celebrated for bis knowledge of
medicine and natural philosophy, had already
distinguished himself in his youth by a dissertap
tion on speculative philosophy in imitation of
Kant. Dr. Bloch was a naturalist, and author of
a valuable work on ichthyology ; his specimens
of natural history were afterwards placed in
the museum of Berlin. Salomon Maimon,
also a philosopher, but especially learned in
mathematics and natural history; he was a
decided adversary of Babbinism, and both in
word and deed zealously advocated the intro-
duction of a new system of instruction for
Jewish youth.

Conversions from the synagogue to the
faith of the Church had occurred from time

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560 C0N7EBBI0NS AMONG THE

to time during the period between the Refor-
mation and the commencement of the revolu-
tionary era, though in number and [import^
ance they will bear no comparison with what
we have related in the history of the Sephar-
dim during the Middle Ages. We have
already mentioned several remarkable con-
versions after the expulsion of the Jews
from Spain. It is a curious fact, that in
the Netheriands some members of Judeo-
Spanish families continued in secret Boman
Catholics, in the same manner as in Spain
many had held the Jewish religion under an
outward conformity with the Roman Catholic
Church. These concealed Roman Catholics
took the earliest opportunity of returning to
Spain, or settling in Belgium. In Italy,
during the course of the sixteenth century, we
find among the distinguished men of learning
Paulo Ricci, formerly a Rabbi and physician,
Jerome of Bologna, and Aquilino. Conver-
sions to the Evangelical or Reformed Churches
were most frequent in Germany, though in
HoUand also we find some interesting ex»
amples during the seventeenth, and especially
the eighteenth, century. Two Israelites, Aaron
Margalitz, and Joseph Jacob, converted to
Christianity, caused their former coreligionists

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JEWS BEFORE 1789. 561

much trouble, by bringing forwatd an accnsa^
Hon of blasphemy against many of their books,
and, among others, the Jewish Liturgy. Even
at that time, as well as during the Middle
Ages, the Jew, when converted to the Chris-
tian fidth, ranged himself rather as the ad-
versary of his former coreligionists, than in
the spirit of the Apostle Paul. (Rom* xi. 1.)
Among the conversions to the Gospel, of
which the results have been most cheering,
was (in 1695) that of the Imperial Physician,
Paulus Werdnerus, whose public defence of
Christianity must have brought conviction to
many Jews. About a century later, a Rabbi,
named Frederic Ragstadt of Weile, was bap-
tized at Cleves in the faith of the Reformed
Church, and his conversion and public con*
fession of the Divine truths of Christianity
were not less remarkable. Shortly after his
baptism, when scarcely twenty-three years of
age, he published a Latin apology (1671), in
which the name of the Messiah, our Lord
Jesus Christ, was gloriously maintained
against the abominable Nizzochen of the
famous Rabbi Lipmann. Weile, who was
afterwards pastor of a Reformed Church at
Spyk, near Gorcum, in South Holland, pub-
lished a sermon in the language of the
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562 POSITION OF THE JEWS

country, upon occasion of the baptism of a
distinguished Portuguese Jew^ named Aaron
Hodrigues Faro, in 1686. Two brothers of the
family of Da Fonseca were soon after converts
from the sameFortuguesecommunity of Amster-
dam, and they also published in writing their
reasons for a change of faith. Thus was there
at all times an accomplishment of the word of
St. Paul : ^^ Even so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according to the elec-
tion of grace." (Rom. xi. 5.) The period
upon which we shall now enter has produced
&r more numerous and striking instances of
the fulfilment of this Divine declaration.

To the Jews also, as well as to all the naticma
of Europe, was the year 1789 the commence*
ment of an entirely new epoch ; an epoch of
improvement according to the views of one
party, and of revolution and anarchy according
to those of another, but certainly in the eyes
of the Christian a period of striking signs and
movements, in which he cannot fail to rec<^^
nise at once the hand of God, and the ap*
proach of that day which He has foretold. In
the period of sixty years now unfolded before
us, the social position of the synagogue, but
more especially its internal organization, under-
went a more essential and significant change

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 663

than any that had taken place since the first
centuries of their dispersion after the fall of
Jerusalem. Behold! in this new period, the
dispersed of Israel rising to cast off their own
ancient nationality, and desiring in all respects
(except abandoning the religion of their am*
cestors) to be reckoned fellow-countrymM
with the Christian nations, and thus possess a
country of their own without the borders of
Palestine. The spirit of the age (under the
guidance of Him who maketh the good and
evil of man to work together in his service)
effected this movement, in concert with the
theories of the day conQeming the origin of
society and states, the rights of men and
citizens, the relation between sovereigns and
their people; principles concerning which a
combat began in the eighteenth century, and
has continued to develop itself on all sides
during our nineteenth century. Two of the
great European countries are experiencing, at
this very moment, the following out of these
principles, and the effects of this combat in a
different and characteristic form. France first
gave an example of the practical application
of these new ideas by violence, and she has
thus diffused them both at home and abroad.
In Germany the same principles were admitted.

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564 POSITION OF t&£ JEWS

bat not widiout some resistance; in that
coontry eq^edally, a long struggle was pre^
paring between the institutions and the results
of manjf centuries^ and the claims of one single
century — our own. The contest between his*
tory and revolution, between the ancient order
of things and the new lights, concerning the
Jews and their position in society, also began
with the year 1789 in France. Two years
before, the Academy of Metz had convened an
assembly to consider the best means of making
the Jews more useful and happier. One of
the prize essays on that occasion was written
by the Abb6 Gr^goire; another essay had
been presented by a Foli^ Jew of great talent,
named Salkind Horwitz, a successor of Fer-
eira as Librarian of the Eojral Library at
Faris. The revolution which shortly after
took place triumphantly decided the question,
as to what position in society the Jews should
fill. The Jews of Luneville and Sarquemines
first presented an address to the National
Assembly, requesting to be put in possession
of those rights which the new state of things
had secured to them. The Fortuguese Jews
of Bordeaux, who had already taken an active
part in the movement in that town, also
requested, through the intervention of 6r6-

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FBOM 1789 TO 1848. 565

goire, in behalf of themselves and brethren in
the countries of the Rhine, an application of
the new principles of liberty, fraternity, and
Equality. The Jews of Lorraine sued for the
same act of justice, not without making bitter
complaints of the treatment they had endured
for many centuries; they only desired the
maintenance of their ancient synagogue, and
a sufficient degree of judicial power to pre-
serve it from irreligion. Those of Paris, on
the contrary, wished for the suppression of all
jurisdiction in the synagogue. In the year
1791 complete equality was proclaimed for all
Jews, without exception or distinction, who
would accept the rights of a French citizen,
upon condition of fulfilling the duties attached
to them.

The reign of Napoleon confirmed what the
revolution had effected in favour of the Jews ;
and the liberal party among them in France
has always testified its gratitude to that em-
peror. He only showed severity towards the
Jewish' population in the provinces of the
Rhine, where they had long been in ill repute
on account of their usury. An Imperial edict
was in consequence published in 1808, im-
posing on every Jewish creditor who should
go to law against a debtor the obligation to^

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566 POSITION OF THE JEWS

procure a certificate of good conduct, attested
by the local authorities, declaring that the said
creditor was not in the practice of taking
usury, or pursuing any disgraceful traffic
The Imperial Government, conscious of the
severity of a measure by which it hoped in a
short time to do away with this abuse^ limited
the continuance of the decree to a period of
ten years. This law was revoked in France
directly after the restoration of the Bourbon
family ; in the Rhenish provinces, which were
restored to Germany, it remained in force till
the end of the ten years. In some of the
provinces, such as Rhenish Bavaria and
Rhenish Prussia, it was even continued and
strictly enforced after that period. Napoleon,
desiring, as we have said, to confirm what
the Revolution of 1789 had effected for
the Jews, convoked at Paris a large assem-
blage (Sanhedrim, or Synedrion) of Israelites,
distinguished either by their learning or
their rank. His object in forming this
association was the establishment of certain
principles among the Jews themselves, to lay
the foundation, both of a new internal organi-
zation of the synagogue, and for the advance-
ment and regulation of the new rights acquired
by the Jews in all the different countries under

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FEOM 1789 TO 1848. 667

the dominion, or immediate influence of the Em-
peror. It was on the 28th of July, in the year
1806, (by a mistake, upon the Sabbath-day,)
that the French Sanhedrim began to sit, and
nominated as President, Abraham Furtado, a
distmguished Portuguese, of Bordeaux. Among
the 110 members of this Assembly, we find
many who, in a succeeding generation, and in
very different circumstances, have acquired a
reputation throughout Europe; among them
were Bodrigues, Avigdor, Cerf-Beer, Cologna,
Cremieux Anschel, Goudchaux, and others.
This assembly being constituted by order of
the Emperor, three Imperial Commissioners,
Mol6, Portalis, and Pasquier, presented them-
selves during the sitting with twelve questions,
to answer which was to be the first and prin-
cipal occupation of the Sanhedrim. These
questions related principally to the Jewish laws
concerning marriage and polygamy — to their
connexions with the countries in which they
were settled, and especially with the French
nation — to the subject of usury, both among
the Jews themselves, and between Jews and
Gentiles. After mature deliberation, the As-
sembly replied — that the Jew, though by
the law of Moses he had permission to take
several wives, was not allowed to make use of

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568 POSITION OF THE JEWS

this liberty in the West, an obligation to take
only one wife having been im^sed upon them in
the year 1030, by an Assembly, over which
Rabbi Gerson, of Worms, presided, — that no
kind of divorce was allowed among the Jews,
except what was authorized by the law of the
country, and pronounced judicially, — that the
Jews recognised not only Frenchmen, but all
men as their brethren, vdthout making any
difference between the Jew and him who was
not a Jew, from whom they differed not as a
nation, but by their religion only. With respect
to Ftance, the Jew, who had there been
rescued from oppression, and allowed an
equality of social rights, looked upon that
country as more especially his oum, of which
he had already given manifest proof on the
field of battle ; — ^that since the revolution no
kind of jurisdiction in France or Italy could
control that of the Eabbins ; — that the Jewish
law forbade all taking of usury, either from
strangers or their own brethren; that the
commandment to lend to his Israelitish bro-
ther, without interest, was a precept of charity,
which by no means detracted from the justice,
or the necessity of a lawful interest in matters
of commerce ; finally, that the Jewish religion
declared, without any distinction of persons.

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FROM 1789 TO 1849. 569

that usary was disgraceful and infamous ; but
that the use of interest in mercantile affairs,
without reference to religion or country, was
legal,— to lend, without interest, out of pure
charity towards all men, was praiseworthy.

The Imperial Government declared itself per-
fectly satisfied with the answers of the Sanhe*
drim. The spirit which dictated its replies is
manifest ; for while maintaining as a principal
point the authority of the Mosaic law, they
gave a plausible interpretation of the Talmudic
principle ; on the whole, it was evident that
the decision of the Sanhedrim tended to set
aside Jewish nationality; or, at least, to render
it entirely subservient to the new civil and
political rights. Since then, the relations be«
tween the Jews of France, and the other
inhabitants of the country, have remained
fixed upon these new principles. A second
Sanhedrim was meanwhile convoked by the
Emperor in the following year of 1807, to
which Jews from other countries, and espe-
cially from Holland, were invited, that the
principles laid down by the first Sanhedrim
might acquire the force of law among the
Jews in all parts. The second meeting, called
the Great Sanhedrim, to which was committed
the forming of a plan of organization for all

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570 POSITION OF THE JEWS

the synagogues in the empire, took ^ace the
following year, under the Presidentship of
Babbi Segre, of Vercelli. Beyond the borders
of France, the principles set forth by the San-
hedrim found but a faint echo, and soon met
with positive opposition, especially in Grer-
many and Holland.. In France the Jews have
retained their social and political equality,
notwithstanding the restoration of the Bour-
bons, and the different Govelrnments which
have since succeeded. The Jews of the so-
called Liberal party had before long good
reason to congratulate themselves on the con-
sequences of these new institutions among their
brethren and coreligionists. According to the
statistic account given by the great Consistory
at Paris, dated two years after the assembling of
the Sanhedrim, out of a Jewish population of
eighty thousand souls, there were in France one
thousand two hundred and thirty-two landed
proprietors, not including the owners of houses
in towns, two thousand three hundred and
sixty workmen, two hundred and fifty manu-
£Eu;turers, seven hundred and ninety-seven
military men, among whom .were officers of
all ranks, and even as some say, Marshals
of the empire, who were Jews, at least by
birth. In 1830, the Minister of Public Wor-

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FBOM 1789 TO 1848. 671

ship, Merilhoa, declared, as the result of his
experience, forty years after the emancipation
of this before oppressed people, '^ that in the
offices of State, under the French banner, in
arts, sciences, and manufactures they had,
during the quarter of a century, given ample
refutation to the calumnies of their oppressors."
We certainly cannot fail to acknowledge that
the emancipation of the Jews in France was
conducted on the most liberal scale, and car*
ried out in the most complete manner ; but, on
the other hand, we cannot shut our eyes to the
fact, that, in that country, not only the nation-
ality, but also the religious principle of the
Jew, has been swallowed up in the feelings
and the movements of the age. From that
want of religion which has unhappily formed
a sad peculiarity of France in our days, the
Jew in that country was best able to become a
good Frenchman, because nowhere else could
he so entirely cast aside the recollections and
the religion of his fathers. Yet, even at the
present time, in France, discussions are entered
into upon the reformation and amendment of
the form of worship, and concerning the rela-
tive merits of Hebrew, and the language of
the country for the liturgy of the synagogue.
In France, as well as Germany, theorists have

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572 POSITION OF THE JEWS

arisen, who have pretended to build upon the
Mosaic code a new and universal i^ligion,
fitted to take the place of Christianity.* As for
conversions to Christianity, but few have been
made publicly known, though doubtless the
Church of Rome has made proselytes of more
or less note among the Jews of France, — to
the Protestant Church there have been but
few.

The revolution introduced by the French
armies into the Republic of the Netherlands
(1795), has also had the efiect of producing by
degrees a complete emancipation of the Jews.
This emancipation was received and estimated
very differently by the Jews of Holland than
by those of France. The great majority of
Jewish synagogues in the Netherlands, were
upon principle opposed to revolutionary ideas.
We have noticed in France Portuguese Jews
placing themselves at the head of a movement,
to obtain for their countrymen the benefits of
the new institutions, without exception or
restraint. In Holland, on the contrary, with
some few exceptions, the Jews of Spain and
Portugal, who were lovers of monarchy and
aristocracy upon principle, and enthusiastically

* Of such was the learned Parisian, J. Salvador, author
of the ** Histoire de la Domination Bomaine en Judee.**

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 573

devoted to the House of Orange, cared not for
a so-called emancipation, which was as little
in accordance with their political attachment^
as with their religious opinions. Even the
Jews of the German and Polish synagogues
of Holland were little disposed to exchange
their ancient Israelitish nationality, for the
new nationality offered to them by the revolu-
tion. Only a small number of individuals of
both synagogues, by whom talent and energy
was unquestionably displayed together with
strong attachment to the spirit of the age,
formed a kind of political association under
the name of " Felix Libertate," for the ad-
vancement of the new opinions, and the main-»
tenance of those rights which had in conse-
quence been granted to their coreligionists.
This difference of political opinions gave rise
to a schism in the synagogue. The partisans
of the new ideas assembled separately for their
religious worship, and founded a synagogue,
naned Adath Jeshurun, which remained apart
from the ancient (German) synagogue of the
Netherlands till the reign of WilUam I.

In the new Batavia Republic, founded in
1795, the opinions of the republicans them-
selves were divided concerning the political
equality of the Jews. There were in them

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674 POSITION OF THE JEWS

many admirers of the Revolation of 1789 in
France, and that of 1795 in Holland, who for
all that did not cease to look upon the Chris-
tian religion as the foundation of the state,
and who were retained by scruples of conscience
from wishing for a complete naturalization of
the Jews. Such, among others, was the pastor
and Professor Van Hametsveld, a zealous re-
publican, but at the same time, a Protestant by
conviction, and a friend of Israel for theGospel's
sake, looking for the national conversion of
the nation and their return to the land of their
Others. With these feelings, he gave his
opinion against conceding to the Jews a right
to vote in the National Assembly of the year
1796. The contrary opinion, however, sup-
ported by the citizen (afterwards Great Pen-
sionary) Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, tri-
umphed in the Assembly ; and soon after, several
Jewish members were admitted to the munici-
pality and the tribunal of Amsterdam, as well
as to the National Assembly at the Hague.
Under the Government, first of Louis Napoleon,
and then of the House of Orange, the Jews of
Holland became reconciled by degrees to their
new political rights. We have seen, however,
that no great sympathy was felt in Holland
with the Sanhedrim of Paris, to which the

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 675

Portuguese synagogue had never deputed any of
its members. Only the synagogue of Adath
Jeshurun sent three deputies ; Charles Asser,
distinguished as a lawyer even after the restorap
tion of the House of Orange ; the physician
De Lemon, who was subsequently (in 1813)
confined in the castle of Ham, on account of
a supposed conspiracy against the Imperial
Government; and an eminent Polish mathe^
matician, resident at Amsterdam, of the name
of littwak.

At the return of the House of Orange to
Holland, and under the different constitutions
of 1813, 1816, 1840, 1848, the principle of
absolute equality among all the inhabitants in
the sight of the law, and, therefore, of the
followers of Moses, also remained imaltered.
Consequently, we find to this day Jews here
and there holding public situations as governors
of towns, members of the judicial body, and
of the National Representative Assembly.
While, on one side, the unheard of prosperity of
the Portuguese Jews has almost entirely dis-
appeared in Holland, the new political position
of the Israelites has given rise to a rapid pro-
gress,— not, howef er, yet to be compared with
that of France and Germany during the last
five-and-twenty years, but of which the reality

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576 POSITION OF THE JEWS

is eyinced by the many that have attained cele-
brity, principally among those who belong to
what are now cdled the Dutch Jews (formerly
German). This synagogue produced, among
others, a man, who, soon after the Bevolution
of 1795, gained great repute for legal science ;
we mean Dr. Jonas Daniel Meyer, author of
the *^ Institutions Judiciaires des principaux
Pays de TEurope," who died in 1808. The
same synagogue may also boast among its phy-
sicians the Dr. Heilbron, author of several
prize works, and Dr. Davids, known by his
zealous efforts to introduce vaccination.

In Belgium, the equality of all religions,
including that of the Jews, in the sight of the
law, has been maintained since the first intro-
duction of the principle, towards the close of
the preceding century, till after the separation
of that country from Holland (1830-39),
thenceforward to the present time.

The new political position of the Jews in
Europe, though constituting a fresh epoch in
history, could not entirely break down the
ancient barrier between the Jewish and Chris-
tian population. This barrier had a far deeper
foundation than any purely human legislation*
It rests upon so wide a difference of religion,
that even absolute indifference on that point

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 677

has not been able entirely to break through it.
It rests, also, on an essential difference of race
and origin, — a difference which, even in these
levelling days, is, nevertheless, in many ways
clearly apparent. This, then, is the reason why
the Christian, resting upon the Word of God,
does not look for the disappearance of this
"middle-wall of partition," or for the amalgama*
tion of Israel with the nations, but for the union
of these two distinct portions of mankind in the
&ith and under the dominion of Christ. Human
law, the law of the revolutions of this century,
may undoubtedly command and effect a degree
of equalization; but historical traditions do
not everywhere give way so rapidly and so
entirely, as we have seen, at least apparently^
in France. In Germany, for example, the
entire emancipation of the Jews, which in
France had been established, as it were, in a
moment, had to struggle for more than thirty
years before; even in connexion with the events
of 1848, it could secure a triumph, — perhaps
soon again to experience a reaction. We will
now cast a glance over the history of this
struggle, as bearing on the great question of
Jewish emancipation in Germany.

Already, before the Revolution of 1789,
we have noticed the measures taken by the

c 0

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578 POSITION OF THE JEWS

principal states of Germany to secure to tiie
Jews some rights, and to amend their con-
dition. What the Emperor Joseph II. under-
took in his Austrian dominions, was carried oat
with far more beneficial results in Prussia by
King Frederic William U., in 1787. The
French Revolution, and the influence of the
French Imperial Government, considerably
aided the cause of the Jews throughout great
part of Germany, especially in Westphalia,
with its capital, FrankfortK>n»the-Maine, and
in Prussia. The reign of King Frederic Wil-
liam III. assured to the Jews, by the edict
published March 11, 1812, the right and title
of Prussian citizens, with some conditions and
restrictions.

When, with regard to the Jewish history of
this period, we speak of social and political
rights, we must, in Germany especially, care-
fully discriminate between the concession of
such rights, and what is understood by full and
complete emancipation. Until the year 1848,
the political rights granted to the Jews were
always so much restricted by exceptions and
provisional regulations, that the ancient exclu-
sion might well be said to be modified, though
it still continued to form a part of the consti-
tution. On this account, the Radical Jews,

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 679

especially during the last twenty years, have
desired a complete" emancipation. From the
year 1813 to 1836, and again from that time
to the present day, we may notice the equal
advance made by this question of emancipation
with the history of revolutionary principle in
general. During this interval of thirty-five
years, we may clearly distinguish two opposing
periods ; the period of reaction from the ideas
of the Revolution during the reign of Napoleon
(an epoch which reached its culminating
point in 1820) ; and the period of revival for
all revolutionary principles in 1830, of which
we are still, in 1848-9, observing the subse-
quent spread throughout Europe.

The statesmen who, in 1814-15, undertook
to reorganize Germany after the fell of the
empire of Napoleon, laid it down as a first
principle^ that they must not disturb the
existing order of things, the state in which
affairs then stood being the result of the events
which had occurred during the last forty years.
The sixteenth article of the federal Act of the
Germanic states, published on the 8th of
June, 1815, imposed upon the Diet an obliga*
tion to take the necessary measures for ad-
vancing the social improvement of the Jews,
and to obtain for, and secure to them, the
c c 2

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680 POSITION OF THE JEWS

enjoyment of all civil rights, on condition of
their fulfilling the duties connected with them.
It is not astonishing that the execution of this
project, met with great obstacles on all sides.
The Jews themselves did not, everywhere,
appear prepared for the exercise of the rights
and duties which their new position entailed.
The prejudices of the Christian population
against the nation (at once ancient and yet
new) were deeply rooted. Lastly, the thirty-
eight states of the Germanic body were, in
many respects, very differently constituted
from one another; their feelings and their
former legislation for the Jews frequently pre^
sented a striking contrast. Great, for ex-
ample, was the difference between the social
position and the moral development of the
Jews, in the Grand Duchies of Baden and
Hesse, contrasted with their state in Hanover,
where, to use the words of a historian, they
were rather under the charge of the police
than under that of the Government. When
to this is added the various systems which
sometimes obtained in the same Germanic
state, according to the personal views of suc-
cessive princes and ministers, it may be easily
understood that the principle of equality of
rights for the Jews encountered in Germany,

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 581

for more than thirty yeats, difficulties, to which
only suchi a crisis as that of the year 1848
could possibly have put a term.

It was not merely in the monarchical states
of Germany that a reaction against the rights
acquired by the Jews during the revolution
first manifested itself, for as early as 1814-15
the free towns of Frankfort, Lubeck, and
Bremen, took measures to restrict and revoke
the rights and privileges of their Jewish in*
habitants* The Congress of Vienna, being
informed of these encroachments on an ac*
quired right, earnestly recommended the
magistrates of the said towns by rescript to
maintain intact the rights of all citizens.
The two great Ministers, Prince Metternich
on the part of Austria, and Prince Harden-
berg on the part of Prussia, wrote to the free
towns in the same-strain^ As to Metternich^
who has since been reproached, with more or
less justice, as the advocate of a political
system of immutability, it is certain that, with
respect to the Jews, he did not approve of the
reaction, nor did he ever appear inimical to
the Israelites as a people. Generally, and
especially in Germany, this enmity is found
to increase as we descend in the scale of
society. As to Governments, they were, per-

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582 POSITION OF THE JEWS

f

haps, negligent, and comparatively even un-
just, to the rights and petitions of the Jews
in the interval between 1815 and 1848 ; but
it cannot be denied that the Jewish com-
munities owe great obligations to the measures
and enactments of the same Grovemments,
chiefly for their intellectual and scientific
development. The severe studies imposed by
the Government of Prussia, previous to ad-
mission into the Rabbinate, produced a great
number of theologians, who are now emi-
nently distinguished for their learning and
refinement.

The first attacks against the Jews, at the
epoch which I have particularized as that of
the reaction, came from the bosom of the
people, from the pens of the literary and the
learned. Irritated by recalling what this
nation had been, what it was, and what it
appeared likely to be in the future, they
loaded them with accusations, insults, and
especially ridicule, to which their new social
position but too often exposed them. Hatred
and satire were redoubled when the Jews
betrayed their sensibility to them ; for example,
when Israel Jacobson (who, under Jerome
Napoleon, in Westphalia, had laboured ear-
nestly for the improvement of his core-

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PROM 1789 TO 1848. 583

ligionists,) prevailed on the Government to
prohibit a drama in which the Jews were
covered with ridicule.

At the same time, the battle for Jewish
emancipation was fought more seriously with
the arms of political science, against the maxd*
fest desire that was felt to oppose the execu-
tion of the sixteenth article of the Treaty of
Federation. The professor, Frederick Eiihs^
openly declared in a pamphlet his opinion
that. the admission of Jews to civil rights in
Germany would be pernicious, in considera*'
tion of their existence as a nation, of the
inherent and deeply*rooted vices of their cha-
racters, and of the very nature of their
religion. -Riihs, consequently, proposed to
ensure to them only the protection of the
State in the same manner as to foreigners.
Fries, in his critique in "The Annals of
Heidelberg'* on the professor^s pamphlet^
went still farther, and deduced their perversity
and stupidity from their &ther, Abraham*
He enunciated as a principle the complete
destruction of Judaism; that is to say, (ex«
cepting that he would have spared individual
life,) he advocated the reproduction of those
enactments of the Middle Ages which tended
to purge Christendom of its Jewish population.

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584 POSITION OF THE JEWS

In the absence of such measures, he foretold
that, in less than forty years, all Christians
would be in a state of dependance on the
Jews. In a like spirit, though, if possible,
more violently, one Frederick, of Frankfort,
published his opinion in an anonymous
pamphlet. Many voices then arose in defence
of the Jews ; among themselves, Z^mmeru, of
Heidelberg, and Herz, of Frankfort; and
among the Christians, Johan Ludwig Ewald
de Carlsruhe and August Kramer, of Ratisbon.
The Jewish historians themselves have re-
marked, that few or none of the Christian
clergy took any part in these inimical attacks on
Israel. The time for such men as Rector
Schudt was no more. But while even some
members of the Roman Catholic priesthood
stood up in defence of the unfortunate Jews, a
reformed rationalist theologian distinguished
himself as the bitterest opponent of the ad-
mission of the Jews to any civil rights. The
Professor Paulus, of Heidelberg, well known
from the antiquated absurdities of his ** Exi-
gesis," in a pamphlet which he published in
1817, declared his opinions to the above effect.
He desired the entire exclusion of the Jews,
as such, from every political right, with the
sole exception of such individuals as could

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 685

bring proof by witness, or otber legal testi-
mony, of personal capacity and worth. When,
fourteen years later, in the discussion of this
question, he stood forth as champion against
the Jews, he encountered more formidable ad«>
versaries among the Israelites themselves than
heretofore. These wereMn Kreisenach, who un-
dertook to reply to him, andDr.Riesser, who fot
many years had warmly advocated the emanci«
pation of his brethren, and who became, in
1848, a member of the Germanic Diet at
Frankfort, which has since been annihilated.
It was thus, during the period of reaction^
from 1816 — 1830, the question concerning
the emancipation of the Jews had considerably
retrograded. Their exclusion from all magis**
tracies, from any rank above that of a sub-
altern in the army, from all professorships,
&c., was the order of the day in the greater
part of the German states* In some places
they went even further. At Lubeck, as early
as 1816, they had already concocted the design
of no longer permitting the Jews to remain
within the limits of their territory. This plan,
as far as the precincts of the city were con-
cerned, was carried into effect in 1819. In
other places the excesses of the Middle Ages
seemed likely to revive among the populace,
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586 POSITION OF THE JEWS

In some parts the old death^cry of "Hep!
Hep ! '' * arose ; the houses and possessions of
the Jews were pillaged and demolished, as in
Hamburg, where a similar outrage was re»
peated as lately as the year 1835.

But in the year 1830, fresh revolutionary
movements arose in France, which spread
afterwards over Europe, and influenced Ger-
many more especially. The old tendency to
a union of the German states, under an Impe-
rial Government, which should be surrounded
by revolutionary institutions, again revived. At
this time a second, and even a third generation
of the liberal Jews had arisen. Amongst them
especially, the ideas of 1815 had developed
themselves with an energy hitherto unknown.
They were no longer the same men who in the
beginning of the nineteenth century had felt
themselves almost encumbered by their re-
cently acquired rights, and who had been pre-
vented making good their pretensions in the
field of politics by the various prejudices of
Jews and Christians. Now, on the contrary,
united with " Young Germany" in a system of

* A crj, the origin and signification of which are still
uncertain. Some have explained it to be the initials of
the three ifords, Bierasoiyma esiperdUa.

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 687

radical liberty, the new Judaism no longer
enforced its claims to a complete emancipation
on any other grounds than that of its forming
an integral part, and a necessary consequence,
of the universal change in the order of things.
Those who were now, for the emancipation,
maintained that, if hitherto all efforts to orga*
nize for the Jews a limited and conditional
equality in the states of Germany had failed,
it was precisely on account of this limitation
and these conditions that it had fallen to the
ground. Then only could the Jewish nation
fulfil its duty to Germany, and Germany be
what it should be to its Jewish and Christian
inhabitants, when, without any reserve or re*
striction whatever, liberty and equality should
be equally insured to all.

In this question, which has been since then
discussed by the press, in the cabinets of kings,
and in the different assemblies in the states
of Germany, opinion was divided into three
distinct parties or views, — the Conservative
party, the Historical school, and the Revo*
lutionary' party. The Conservative party, on
this question, as on all others, would have
preserved, at all idsks, the existing 6rder of
things. The Historical school took history,
and established right as a basis, and starting

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538 POSITION OF THE JEWS

from this point, strove to obtaiitin a Christian
and anti-revolutionary spirit such progress,
improvements, and amendments as were suit-
able to the necessities cf the age. Lastly,
the Revolutionary party, indifferent to all
rights, caring not for the history of the past,
disregarding religion and revelation, especially
as connected with social institutions, desired
the reformation of society and of Judaism, even
though it should entail the entire submersion
of the present state of things.

Such a submersion in particular, with re*
spect to Judaism, was the favourite project of
Bruno Bauer, famous for having supported the
system of the equally celebrated David Fre-
derick Strauss^ In 1842, Bauer, who resem-
bled such men as Voltaire and Fries in his
unbelieving and infidel hatred, declared he
wished not for the emancipation of the Jews,
but for their entire destruction and extinction in
a new race of pantheistical humanity. Against
these absurd and impious theories, many
champions appeared amongst the Jews, partly
to defend their nation against the contempt
which the implacable enemy of both Jews and
Christians cast upon it, partly to expose his
numerous errors and follies with respect to
their rights, history, and all their social rela-

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FEOM 1789 TO 1848. 689

tions. Bat, while learned Israelites, such as
Dr. Philippson, Hirsh, Holdheim, Freund, and
Salomon, opposed the weight of their yarious
opinions to Bauer, there were some Jews
who took part in his pantheistical radicalism.
Jews who had long been weary of the religion
of their fathers were glad to shake off the
remembrance of their birth, and to discard the
remains of their former religious ideas. It was
in virtue of such a principle, as it appears,
that the celebrated Ludwig Borne, who died
in 1832, left the Judaism in which he was
bom, and which he had defended, in the year
1819, against unworthy persecution with
equal spirit and energy. He submitted to
baptism not as an open profession of Christi*-
anity, but as a means of doing away with all
religious differences among the inhabitants of
the German states. About the sanie period
lived and wrote one of the most gifted of the
women of Germany, the celebrated Bahel, the
wife of the Baron of Varnhagen. It was she
who, in the bitterness of her heart at the con^
tempt with which her nation was treated by
all other nations, declared one day, in the
midst of the brilliant and pantheistical circle
to which she belonged, that she submitted to
her fate in having been bom a Jewess in the

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590 POSITION OF THE JEWS

0ame spirit that one submits to an illness, or
resigns oneself to a misfortune.

As to the school or system called '^ the His-
toric," we must observe, that even those Jews*
who were enthusiastic in their desire for
emancipation did justice to the stability of this
Christian party. What, in fact, could exhibit
more true consistency in the Christian man
than his unwillingness either to co-operate in
the extinction of the ancient nationality of
the Jews, or, on the other hand, to commit
legislative and judicial powers in a Christian
state to men who were by profession adver-
saries of Christianity? It was in this spirit of
the Historical school that the King of Prussia
declared himself, in the year 1847, when, after
the great National Assembly for that year, in
which the emancipation of the Jews was dis-
cussed and rgected, he published his edict of
the 23rd of July. This edict, similarly to
that of 1812, secured to his Jewish subjects
throughout the kingdom an equality of rights
and duties, with some important exceptions,
founded especially upon the incompatibility of
their emancipation, or absolute equality with
the well-being of a Christian state.

* Jost, Keuere Geschichte der Israeliteii. fireten Ab«
theUang.— P. 44.

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 591

Th^ events which soon followed are yet
recent in the memory of all. The shock
endured and communicated by France on the
24th February, 1848, caused, in Germany,
the explosion of those designs, theories, and
conspiracies which had been long before pre-
pared. It is known that the emancipation of
the Jews was effected, in its fiiU extent, by
the revolutionary principle, simultaneously
with the entire dissolution, if we may so
express it, of ancient Germany, The great
part taken by the liberal Jews of all kinds in
the recent changes and movements in Bohemia
and Hungary is also well known. Many of
the most decidedly Radical and revolutionary
newspapers were edited by Jews both in
Prussia and Austria. Many Israelites holding
ultra-radical views sat in the German Diet at
Frankfort, and in that of Prussia at Berlin.
Among the deputies to Frankfort were,
besides Dr. Riesser, whom we have already
mentioned. Dr. Veit, Cohen, Hartmann, Ka^
randa of Prague, and other Israelites. One
of the most violent members of the Left in the
Prussian Chamber, after the events of 1848,
was Jacobi, also a Jew. Dr. Jellinck, who,
with Dr. Becher, was shot at Vienna on the
20thof November, wasdescended from the same

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592 POSITION OF THE J£W6

nation which, under so many different dispen-
sations, has ,so often obstinately mistaken its
path of duty.

It is not only among the journalists and tihie
. radical politicians of the time that we meet
with new symptoms of life and energy among
the Jews. We cannot disallow that during
the thirty years' crisis which we have just
sketched, great talents and extensive resources
of the most varied and opposite tendency have
been displayed by Israelites in the different
departments of European civilization* It is
no longer exclusively in a financial capacity
that the Jews of the present day have earned
distinction. They have almost everywhere,
in these times, earned fame in positions and
vocations from which for many centuries they
had been debarred. In Germany and ia
Poland, as well as in France, since the changes
of 1789, the Israelite has proved his capacity
for the profession of arms, and has frequently
maintained the honour of his warlike descent
from his ancestors of Palestine. Already,
towards the close of the preceding century, a
body of Jewish volunteers had been formed
under the banner of Koscinzko, whose chief^
Berek, after having earned many marks of
honour in the war of independence, lost bis

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FKOM 1789 TO 1848. 593

life in battle.. During the war for German
liberty, from 1813—1815, not less than 1,700
Israelites fought in the service of Austria
alone. Thirty-five officers of that nation fell
gloriously on the field of Waterloo, and great
were also the services rendered by Jewish
physicians and surgeons on this occasion. It
was so much the more made a matter of corn*
plaint afterwards by the German Jews, against
the system of reaction, that they were either
entirely excluded from military service, or, as
we have already said, confined to the rank of
subalterns. Meanwhile, great was the pro->
gress made by them in Germany in the paths
of science and literature. In medicine, astro-
nomy, and mathematics, they equalled and, in
proportion to the progress of science during so
many centuries, surpassed the great models of
their nation in Spain during the Middle Ages.
Doctors and professors who are by descent, by
birth, and even by actual profession, Israelites,
have during the last thirty years excelled in
every branch of knowledge* Rabbinical theo-
logy, in consequence of the severe studies
exacted by the Government, assumed from
that period a scientific character. The Arabic,
as well as the Hebraic and Chaldaic languages
and literature, have been cultivated by the

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594 POSITION OF THE XEWS

German Jews witih success and celebrity.
Nomeroos poets have arisen, who have fol-
lowed Hartwig in enriching modem Hebrew
poetry by their remarkable prodactions. Bat
also in the language of Goethe and Schiller,
many Israelites in Germany have spoken with
the voice of talent in poetry and prose. In
the art of Haydn and of Mozart, of Beethoven
and of Weber, they fill the highest ranks;
nor have painters been wanting among them
during the period we are reviewing. In a
word, the Israelites of the dispersion have for
the last two generations presented an entirely
new phase of esiistence in Germany.

And now, what does the Christian think, —
how does he feel when he contemplates this
novel and complete change in the destiny of
Israel ^ The Christian, attached to the Gospel
of Christ, who believes alike in the judgments
and promises of God with respect to the de-
scendants of Abraham, cannot but experience
a mixed feeling. He will certainly be inte-
rested in all that in Israel is characteristic of
the dawning of regeneration ; but at the same
time, how shall he not be moved with grief,
whenever he beholds the talents and the
efforts of the Israelite of the present day
employed to attack and undermine religion

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 695

and social order, employed in the destruction
at once of Judaism and Christianity, in the
service, to sum up all, of infidelity and rebel-
lion ! But yet he will not pause at these first
and transient results. Beyond all the horror
of these phenomena he sees the advent of a
period when these same renewed efforts and
these same talents will be consecrated to the
service of the Gospel, which was formerly to
them a " stumbling-block," and which is now
to them more than ever ''foolishness," but
which, nevertheless, in our days has become
unto several among them *' the power of God
unto salvation.'' In this way the heart of the
Christian may rejoice in hope at aU these
different movements giving proof of life and
progress, considering them to be the '' shaking
of the bones," which, according to the Prophet
Ezekiel (chap, xxxvii. 7) should precede the
resurrection of Israel.

Let us pause for a moment, to consider the
influence of the movements of which we have
just spoken on Judaism as a religion, and on
its ancient strongholds. We have already
more than once remarked, that not only the
nationality but also the religion of the Jews
languishes and declines in the same proportion
in which real or even pseudo-civilization

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596 POSITION OF THE JEWS

spreads amongst them^ or in the world in
general. The doctrines of Pharisaic Judaism
have not, it is true, entirely disappeared in
the synagogues; the institutions of their an-
cestors find sectaries and defenders not merely
among the vulgar, but even in the body of
learned and scientific Rabbins. The old idea
of a personal advent is stiU cherished by many
in the bosom of the synagogue ; nevertheless,
it is an incontestable fact that the Talmud is
losing its authority from day to day, and that,
in these latter times, it is more esteemed for
the light it throws on the history, language^
and laws of the past, than as a code of Divine
authority for the dispersed children of Israel.
Meanwhile the tendency is becoming more
and more general to replace all that was
peculiar to the religious worship of the
Hebrews, by ceremonies and usages borrowed
from the Christians. For example, in 1814,
for the first time, a sermon was preached in
the German language, in the synagogue at
Vienna. At Berlin, also, the banker Jacob-
son lent his efforts to found a Jewish worship
of a completely modem form. The example
was soon followed at Hamburg, where the
service was managed by Drs. Kley and Salo-
mon, who preached in German, and by the

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 697

additional innovation of an organ altered the
old forms. The change was naturally not
merely an exterior one. The spirit of the age
affected the essentials of the Jewish religion,
in a way that had been foretold and feared by
the first authors of the new civilization, such
as Friedlander and his friends. Deism and
Bationalism followed in the synagogue nearly
the same course as in the Christian Churches
and schools. In the synagogue as in the
Church all that was national and Israelitish,
all that was supernatural and beyond the
reach of unassisted human reason, was furiously
attacked and rejected. In Bavaria, as well as
in other places, Neology in the synagogue
gave rise to so much uneasiness that the
Government believed itself justified in inter-
fering, in 1888-39, by decrees to the following
effect, — that no one should be eligible to the
Babbinate, excepting the followers of the
ancient religion of Moses, in contradistinction
to modem Judaism. Soon after, the reigning
spirit of Neology made such rapid progress
that a refarmatiofij according to the ideas of
the age, meant nothing less than an entire
d^oUtion. This idea, in spite of the false pro*
testations of not wishing the destruction but
merely the reparation of the edifice, was pretty

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598 POSITIOK OP THE JEWS

openly proclaimed in a circular by Dr. Gold-
Schmidt, at Frankfort, in 1843, in which is
found the following declaration (a declaration
which bears some resemblance to the cry of
the Israelites in the day of the crucifixion of
Jesus): — " We neither look for nor desire a
Messiah who shall lead the Israelites back to
Palestine; we know no other country than
that of our birth, to which we politically
belong.'* In another assembly of Jewish
reformers of this stamp, it was said that the
idea of a Messiah was still cherished, not as a
personage whose advent was desirable fi>r, and
of importance to, Israel, but only as a figure of
speech, expressive of the progress of the whole
human race. Still later, they proposed, as a
means of preparation fw the fusion of Judaism
and Christianity, henceforth to set apart San-
day instead of the Sabbath. In return for
this concession, Wislicenus, the minister of
the feunous " Friends of Light," in Germany,
in one of their meetings, in answer to the
Israelite Benfey, declared such Jews as should
wish to become members of their religious
society exempted from the necessity of being
baptized.

While thud Mosaic as well as Talmudic
Judaism seemed on the verge of extinction in

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 599

a philosophical and social pantheism, God,
who in all times causes even the wickedness
of man to avail in forwarding his Divine
purposes, made use in our day of this increased
communication hetween Jews and Christians,
to lead several of his ancient people to the
knowledge and confession of the Gospel, and
to assemble here and there the first-fruits of
this great harvest, of which the season is
approaching amidst the manifold signs of the
times. Those who have gone over to the
Protestant Churches from the synagogue have
been more numerous during these few last
years in Germany than they ever were else*
where or before. Amongst a multitude of
Israelites who have doubtless been led by very
different views to receive baptism, a remark*
able number have distinguished themselves by
the sincerity of their profession, having de*
voted the talents received from God either to
the preaching of his Word far and near, or to
Christian science in the different walks of
education, and other social duties. The num-
ber of Jews baptized in Germany during the
last twenty years is estimated at five thousand.
We have rapidly retraced the movements
connected with Israel in France, the Nether-
lands, and Germany. During this period the

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600 POSITION OF THE JEWS

cause of the absolute political emancipation
of the Jews was also progressing in Great
Britain. In this kingdom the spirit of the
age walks with less hasty but more sure and
certain steps. Liberal ideas and institutions,
using the word indifferently in its good and
evil sense, have extended their influence in
England as well as on the Continent; not
indeed by sudden revolutions, but by means of
lawful measures, tending to the- same end,
which, though conceded by the upper to the
lower classes, are often forced as matters of
necessity on the Government of the country
and on the Houses of Parliament by the con-
tinuous action of public opinion. As to the
great question of the political rights of the
Jews in England, their more limited number
and smaller scientific influence in this country,
compared with the same in Germany, has
perhaps given a more or less peculiar character
to the progress of their emancipation in the
three kingdoms. Nevertheless, in the decision
of this question England has only just stopped
short of the repeal of its ancient laws and
usages relative to Israel. The Jews, already
in possession of the right of voting, and
eligible for the duties of the municipal magis-
tracy (having in our time served as aldermen).

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FEOM 1789 TO 1848- 601

are still, however, at this present moment,
excluded from a seat in Parliament, hut the
election of the Baron Lionel Bothschild has
led to the proposal of a law hy Lord John
Bussell, Prime Minister, to change the form
of the oath. This bill, passed by the House
of Commons, but thrown out by a majority in
the House of Lords, will probably, sooner or
later, again be brought forward and passed,
from the influence of public opinion, as
displayed by the recent re-election of the
Israelitish Baron. Here again the Christian,
doubtless, from his reverence for the religious
institutions of the State, from the value also
which he attaches to the distinct nationality
of the Jews, cannot fail to oppose and raise
his voice against such a measure ; but, at the
same time, when it shall have passed into a
law, he will be resigned, and will even rejoice.
He will see the unfolding of the purposes of
God, that, even in that separation of Church
and State which seems on all sides hanging
over the Christian world, and which forms but
a part of the great process of dissolution, soon
to be followed by an entirely new state of
things, under a new dispensation, in the king-
dom of God. It is thus that even the political
emancipation of the Jews becomes, when con-

D D

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602 POSITION OF THE JEWS

nected with the other signs of the times, in
itself a positive mark that '^old things" are
passing away, and that *^new things" are
about to appear, although in a very different
sense to that in which the spirit of the age
rejoices. Of England we must also observe,
in conclusion, that the propagatioa of an irre*
ligious liberality on the one hand is there
accompanied on the other by a remarkable
spread of the Gospel amongst the seed of
Abraham, to whom it is diligently made
known. In Great Britain, as in Germany,
Jews who have received baptism are numerous;
amongst them are several labourers for Christ,
ministers as well as missionaries. Alexander,
the first Protestant Bishop of Jerusalem,
established there by the co-operation of the
Sovereigns of England and Prussia, was an
Israelite, a native of Germany, and for a long
time one of the Professors of an English
university.

We must now glance at the condition of
the Jews in the principal remaining European
countries — Protestant and Roman Catholic,
Greek and Mahomedan. Among the last
mentioned we shall find, even in Asia, that
the effects of the movement of the latter days
are sensibly visible in the position of the JewSj

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 603

although there it has been less rapid and
vigorous.

In Sweden and in Norway, the movement,
considered in relation to the Israelites, would
not appear less remarkable than in Germany,
France, or England, if their number in these
kingdoms, united under the sceptre of Oscar,
had not been so limited. In a population of
four millions there are but eight hundred and
fifty Jews, and yet in favour of these few
Israelites, in 1848, at Stockholm, they dis-
cussed the propriety of introducing a bill of
emancipation. Some time before, a popular
poet of Norway, named Wergeland, had de-
voted his whole life to procure the abrogation
of the ancient law, according to which no Jew
could settle in the country without the express
permission of the King. The Jewish com-
munity in the capital of Sweden has expressed
its gratitude for this benevolent zeal, by the
erection of a monument in honour of the poet,
cast in the foundry of an Israelite aft;er the
model of an artist of the same race. In Den-
mark, where (from 1738) the German and
Portuguese Jews had already obtained a con<-
siderable augmentation of their privileges, a
royal edict of the 29th of May, 1814, contri-
buted much to the amelioration of their social
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604 POSITION OF THE JEWS

position and internal administration of their
synagogues; this principally in the spirit of
the Jewish-German Reformation of modem
times, — their ahsolute emancipation has not,
up to the present day, heen achieved in any
of the Scandinavian countries.

In Roman Catholic lands, in the same
manner as in French and German territories,
these latter days have brought about several
remarkable changes in . the relations of the
Jews to governments, legislation, and popu-
lace. Already, before the year 1848, Pope
Pius IX. set an example of liberality, by his
regulations in favour of the Jewish subjects of
the Church. The Ghetto of the Jews at Rome
was solemnly opened in the evening of the
17th of April, 1847, as if to proclaim the
principle that henceforth the wall of separa-
tion between the Jewish quarter and the city
of Rome was thrown down. A similar open-
ing of the Ghetto had already taken place in
the time of the first French revolution, and
under the Empire ; but after the restoration of
the Bourbon dynasty and system, in 1814-15,
the Jews had signally lost ground. As
formerly, so again, four elders of the syna-
gogue were obliged humbly and solemnly to
supplicate the Pope annually in public, to

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 605

grant tliem permission as a nation to reside in
the capital of the Roman Catholic world.
Pius IX. put an end to this state of things by
a toleration which, some say, was so compre-
hensive, that, in re-establishing the ancient
Order of Virtue and Merit instituted by
Pius IV,, he actually substituted a star for
the cross formerly worn. The same year
Charles Albert also conceded, from his head^
quarters at Voghera, full political rights to
his Jewish subjects. Even the Duke of Mo-
dena permitted, in his states, the first publica-
tion of a monthly periodical by the Jews.
We have already remarked, on a previous
occasion, on the position of the Israelites
relative to the governments of Spain and
Portugal, we shaU now only subjoin a curious
fact, that in Spain, where the laws do not yet
openly sanction the residence of the exiles of
1492, the Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella
the Catholic has been presented to a German
Jew, a banker ; while in Portugal, an English
baronet, also by birth and religion a German
Jew, possesses a noble estate, and bears the
tide attached to it.

In Sclavonic countries, where Boman Cap
tholicism prevails, as well as in Russia, where
the Greek Church is supreme, the social con-

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606 PbSITION OF THE JEWS

dition of the Jews varies with the locality;
In Poland their political and religions ten*
dency is somewhat of a conservative character,
(worldly interests having effected this bias,)
although since Koscinzko there have not
been wanting among them warm partisans of
Polish independence. We may add, that in
all that is, or rather was, Polish territory, the
Jewish population is extremely numerous.
In Cracow there is one Israelite to every
eleven inhabitants. Russia, since the acoes*
sion of its Polish provinces, numbers not less
than 1,120,000 Jews amongst its sixty-three
millions, a proportion nearly equal to that of
the Netherlands. The treatment experienced
by the Jews is naturally less oppressive in the
Polish provinces than in the Moscovite part
The system of the reigning Czar appears to
bear a great, but not altogether wonderful,
resemblance to that of the German Radicals,
whose plan is not to receive the Jews into the
national existence of the body of the people,
but to absorb them, in extinguishing their
nationality by means resembling those adopted
in the Middle Ages by Ferdinand and Isabella
of Spain. It is well known that the universal
principle of the Russian Government tends to
unite all its subjects, not merely under a

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TROM 1789 TO 1848. 607

secular sway, but also under the ecclesiastical
and patriarchal dominion of the Czar. It
appears, however, that the severe measures
adopted with this intention, in regard to the
Jews in that empire, have been considerably
softened during these last years, more espe-
cially since Sir Moses Montefiore's journey to
Russia, undertaken with a view of inducing
the Czar to look more favourably on his
Israelitish subjects. However that may be,
the oppressive measures of Russia have, ac«
cording to some extraordinary accounts of the
interior of this empire, produced in the last
half-century much the same results as those
brought about by the persecutions and forced
conversions of Catholic Spain in the Middle
Ages. It is said that the -influence of Jews
who continue to hold in private the &ith they
have in public forsaken, is not less important
in Russia (where in the last few years it is
calculated 3,000 have been baptized) than it
was in bygone ages in the Spanish peninsula.
From the highest to the lowest ranks of
society, that is to say, from the smallest retail
dealer in Poland to the general officer at
Petersburgh, there is said to exist a line of
Israelites in communication with each other,
through whose hands pass the chief affairs of

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608 POSITION OF thjE jews

(he home departmeBt, as well as the faost
important foreign n^otiations. The cele^
hrated Russian minister of finance, Cancrin, is
said to have been, at least by birth, a Livonian
Israelite.

Sclavonic populations in general continiie to
evince but small favour to the Jews. The
lower we descend in Bohemian and Polish
society, the more deeply rooted are the preju-
dices against them. During the recent move-
ments of the year 1848, to which, in Bohemia
in particular, Jews of the modem school have
lent their aid, they have nevertheless as a
people had much to suffer from the demo-
cratic party. The good-will of the Magyars
towards them tad their political emancipation
contrasts remarkably with the dislike evinced
for them by the Sclavonic races, who form a
considerable part of the Hungarian population.
Hungary in general has been, almost from
time immemorial, a very remarkable country
for the dispersed children of Israel. They
were considered an ancient people in this .
remote country even in the eleventh century ;
their collective numbers in the synagogues of
Pesth, Presburg, Grosswardein, • Arad, and
elsewhere, were calculated to amount to about
270,000 souls. The Hungarian Jews, largely

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F&aM 1789 TO 184a 609

participating in the miseries and oppressions
of their German and Sclayonic brethren, often
fonnd magnanimous protectors among the
Magyar magnates, such as the Counts Falfy,
Bathjany, Erdody, Nadasdy, and Feleky. In
reply to the addresses and propositions touch*
ing the social condition of the Jews, all the
magnates who sat in the diet of 1839-40
declared themselves, with more or less restric-
tion, and some without any reserve whatever,
in favour of the political emancipation of the
Jews.

In Mahomedan countries, Asiatic and
African, the relation between the Israelites on
the one hand and the governments and people
on the other, has progressed in exact propor-
tion to the influence that Christianity and the
growth of civilization have exercised on those
countries. Still great, however, is the con«
tempt in which Jews and Christians, and
more particularly the former, are held by
Mahomedan populations. But on the part of
the governments of the viceroy of Egypt and
of the Sultan of Constantinople, a gradually
increasing favour has been exhibited to the
Israelite. At one time only, in 1840, an
accusation, which had long been unheard, was
on the point of causing, in the East, a general
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610 POSITION OF THE JEWS

persecution of the Jews wherever such an
accusation could find an echo. It will he
recollected that, according to the terrihle
calumny of the Middle Ages in Europe, the
Israelites chose to celebrate the Passover with
human blood, and for this purpose sought to
carry off and sacrifice children, and even adults.
At the time that we have particularized, a
like accusation was levelled against the Jewish
population in Syria, which at that period was
under the rule of Mehemet Ali. A certain
monk, named Father Thomas, who for thirty
years had practised medicine at Damascus, had
suddenly disappeared, and it was soon suspected
that he had been assassinated. The French
Consul, Count Menton, as one who considered it
his peculiar business to watch over the interests
of the Christians in Syria, made various re-
searches into the matter, which, however,
proved abortive. Gradually the r^ort spread
that the monk had been last seen in the
Jewish quarter ; they imagined they had dis-
covered a clue to the crime. A Jewish barber
was imprisoned, closely questioned, and pat
to the torture. At last they extracted from
him a confession to the effect that some of his
brethren had tempted him, but vainly, by the
offer of a sum of money, to assassinate Father

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PROM 1789 TO 1848. 611

Thomas. This denunciation, supported by no
proof, and evidently absurd, was, as part of a
chain of circumstances, considered important
enough to authorize the arrest of all the
Israelites whom the barber had named.
These were chiefly members of the Spanish
synagogue, some of distinguished families,
amongst whom were the Peixotos, the re-
spected consuls of several of the European
powers. The aged and the weak sank under
the horrible torments which were inflicted on
the accused. Others allowed a false confes-
sion to be drawn from them. Some in despair
embraced Islamism, the rest persisted with
constancy in their denial of guilt. The popu-
lace, in the meantime, began to pillage the
synagogues, and to torture the unhappy Jews
as they liked, abetted by the police. This
excitement of accusation and persecution
spread from Damascus to other places,
amongst these to Rhodes, and even in some
parts of Poland similar disorders were appre*
bended.

Meanwhile, there arose from the synagogues
of all parts protestations against the equally
monstrous and cruel accusation which dared
to impute to the Jews human sacrifices in
their rites and mysteries. The European

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612 POSITION OF THE JEWS

powers interested tkemselves earnestly in their
behalf, — France excepted, whose Goyemment
preferred upholding the inexcusable conduct
of its consul. England, on the contrary,
distinguished itself for its zeal in calling for
and accelerating a dispassionate examination of
facts, in order to make palpable the indubitable
innocence of the ill-treated Israelites. The
interest and co-operation of all the different
religious and political parties in Great Britain
was general, when, on the 15th June, in the
London synagogue, a large meeting of the
Jews was convoked, to take efficacious
measures in behalf of their brethren against
the. horrible oppression from which they were
suffering. Yet more remarkable was the
unanimity on this occasion of the Emperor of
Russia and the Government of the United
States of America, who, in concert with Eng-
land, expressed a determination that, once and
for all, an end should be put to such abuses
and such horrors. The meeting in London in
the meantime had decisive results. Sir Moses
Montefiore went in person with his wife to
Syria, accompanied by some learned men,
chiefly of the Jewish persuasion. He passed
through France on his way, where he was
joined by the celebrated advocate, Cr6mieux,

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FROM 1789 TO 1848. 613

who attended the expedition in the capacity
of envoy from the French Jews. Sir Moses
Montefiore, encouraged by th% importance
of his mission, and upheld by the English
Embassy and Consuls at Alexandria, soon
obtained an audience, which Cr^mieux only
effected much later, in consequence of the in-
difference of the French Consul.

The success of the deputation was complete.
Supported by the representatives of all the
European powers, always excepting France, a
firman was obtained from the aged Fasha,
ordering the release of nine Jews, who were
imprisoned at Damascus. Cr^mieux having
observed the word " pardon " had been made
use of in the deed, and fearing that, if allowed
to pass, the real question of their guilt might
be considered undecided, persevered in his
efforts until he had gotten it altered. Soon
afterwards, on the 16th of September, 1840,
the enlarged Jews were conducted in a pro-
cession, in which even some of the Moslems
joined, to the synagogue, wishing first to give
thanks to the Almighty before they returned
home to their families. Cr^mieux and Monte-
fiore, who in all else held entirely different views,
—the latter being a strict Talmudist, and the
former a liberal in religion and politics, —

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614 POSITION OF THE JEWB

after their successful expedition, returned to
their respective countries. Before his depar-
ture, Cremieux endeavoured to obtain from
the viceroy of Egypt the complete abolition
of the use of judicial torture. He also took
advantage of his sojourn in Cairo and Alex-
andria to effect some reformations in the edu-
cational department and in the management of
the hospitals for the sick. Montefiore passed
through Constantinople on his return, where
he procured from the Sultan, Abdul Meschid,
a firman, dated the 12th Ramazan, 1256, (or
6th of November, 1840,) confirming the justi-
fication of the Jews at Damascus, and providing
for their safety in all parts of the Ottoman
territory, particularly at Rhodes. Returning
to England via Rome and Paris, Montefiore
was, on this occasion, presented to Louis
Philippe ; and, soon after he landed in Eng-
land, he received from Jews and Christians of
all classes demonstrations of the esteem in
which they held him. The minutest particu-
lars relative to the dreadful imputation of the
celebration of the Jewish passover with human
blood were afterwards fully explored by
Israelitish and Christian writers, and thus
exposed to merited obloquy. Nevertheless, a
like accusation in the island of Marmora, in

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FKOM 1789 TO 1848. 615

1843, gave rise more lately to renewed mani-
festations of hatred, ill-treatment, and perse-
cution on the part of some misguided Greeks,
to which a new judicial sentence finally put a
term in the beginning of the following year.

The land, towards which the hearts of many
in Europe and America have turned during
the last half-century, if not with stronger, at
least with more enlightened aspirations, is
situated within the territory which at this
present time is under the jurisdiction of the
Turkish Sovereign. It is Palestine, the land
long promised to the remote posterity of the
patriarchs of Israel ; it is^ the city of the great
King which sitteth solitary. And now,
behold, amongst those whose true patrimony
it is, and in that city and that land, singular
rumours are gradually gaining ground in the
midst of the marvellous political vicissitudes of
our age. They tell of the possibility of
restoring Palestine to the seven millions* of

• Of these seven, or (according to other less probably
correct calculations) five, millions, rather more than
a third are to be found in Europe. We have already
mentioned the number in Russia, calculated by some
to be still higher. In the Austrian states there are said
to be 700,000, in Russia 200,000, in France 84,000,
in England 80,000, in the Netherlands 60,000,— of whom
30,000 are settled at Amsterdam,~in Turkey 800,000,

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616 THE PROSPECTS OF ISRAEL.

the posterity of Abraham, who are scattered
throughout the world, either by means of
purchase, or by negotiation, when the great
problems of European policy shall be solved.
They tell of the pos^bility of the rebuilding of
the temple, and restoration of Jerusalem to the
Jews.

Such rumours are in themselves vague and
ephemeral ; and, moreover, it is not the first
time that they have been heard in the great
epochs in history, which have been followed
by events fulfilling striking and ancient pre*
dictions. But we have " a more sure word of
prophecy," where, many times repeated, we
find the reply to this question: — What destiny
is reserved in futurity for the scattered seed of
Israel, preserved from destruction during so
many ages ? Will Israel be kept from age to
age, to the end of days, in a more or less
modified, but always isolated and grievous
position among the nations 1 Or will it, as the
consequence of the civilization and pi*ogressive .
revolutions of a small but important section of
mankind, eventually lose its nationality, and

in Arabia 200,000, in Africa 600,000, in the United
States 50,000, in Persia, China, and India 600,000, —
exdusive, according to general opinion, of the ten
tribes.

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THB PROSPECTS OF ISBAEL. 617

become absorbed among the various races of
the five great divisions of the earth 1 The
probability or the improbability of these events
might afford a curious theme for speculation,
had not the question been already decided
with equal clearness and certainty for Jew
and Christian, — at least, for such as believe in
the prophetic word of the God who cannot lie.
We have repeated in these pages more than
once, that Israel is the only nation whose
history, not only of the past and present, but
also of the future, has been positively and
circumstantially written. This history of the
future will be the final solution and the crown
of all the prophecies, accomplished and still un«
accomplished, of the Old and New Testament
From Moses to Malachi all the prophets, from
the beginning to the end, have been unanimous
in foretelling the great miseries and the
terrible judgments that the Israelites should
suffer during their long dispersion, by reason
of their manifold sins ; and, above all, that one
sin, — ^the rejection of God in Christ. Unani-
mous, also, were they in terminating their
predictions and descriptions with that of the
conversion of the children of Israel to the
Lord their God, their national restoration
under the sceptre of the Messiah their King,

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618 THE PB08PECT8 OP IS&AXi;.

tbeir happiness and thdr splendour among,
and for the benefit of, all the nations upon the
earth, renewed and henceforth to be covered
with the knowledge of the Lord.

The same Moses who painted in such
terrible colours their general dispersion, their
boundless and unexampled misery, foretels, in
indissoluble connexion with these judgments,
the mercy and final restoration in store for
them in the end. After having, as we may
say, poured out the cup of wrath and denunci-
ation on rebellious Israel in the prophecies of
the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth chapters of
Deuteronomy, to the complete fulfilment of
which we have drawn attention in the course
of this history, he continues immediately, as if
in the same breath : ^^And it shall come to pass,
when all these things are come upon thee, the
blessing and tha curse, which I have set before
thee, and thou ahhlt call them to mind among
all the nations, whither the Lord thy God
hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the
liOrd thy God, and shalt obey his voice accord-
ing to all that I command thee this day, thou
and thy children, with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul ; that then the Lord thy God
will turn thy captivity, and have compassion
upon thee, and will return and gather thee

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THE PROSPECTS OF ISRAEL. 619

from all the nations, whither the Lord thy God
hath scattered thee. If any of thine he driven ont
unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence
will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from
thence will he fetch thee : and the Lord thy
God will hring thee into the land which thy
fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess
it, and he will do thee good, and multiply
thee ahove thy fathers. And the Lord thy
God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart
of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all
thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou
mayest live. And the Lord thy God will put
all these curses upon thine enemies, and on
them that hate thee, which persecuted thee.
And thou shalt return, and obey the voice of
the Lord, and do all his commandments which
I command thee this day. And the Lord thy
God will make thee plenteous in every work
of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in
the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy
land, for good : for the Lord will again rejoice
over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy
fathers: if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of
the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments
and his statutes which are written in this book
of the law, and if thou turn unto the Ixftd
thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy
j50ul." (Deut. XXX. 1—10.)

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620 THE PBOSPEcrrs of is&ael.

And in this again the prophets hannonisse
with Moses. In them, also, immediately follow*
ing and inseparably connected with the
terrible judgments whose divine trat^ has
been attested by the history of more than
eighteen centuries, all the oracles of the Old
Testament conclude with promises and descrip-
tions of the felicity of the whole earth which
shall then be, of the re-adoption and re-
establishment of Israel, whose greatness and
glory is to exceed that of the past. '^Fcht
the children of Israel," says the Prophet
Hosea, (iii. 4, 5,) shall abide many days with-
out a king, and without a prince, and without
a sacrifice, and without an image, and' without
an ephod, and without teraphim: afterwards
shall the children of Israel return, and seek
the Lord their God, and David their king;
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in
the latter days." And again, Zechariah says,
(xii. 10,) " And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications ; and
they shaU look upon me whom they have
pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one
mourneth for his only son, and shall be in
bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his first-bom." And again, chap. xiii. 1 :
— ^* In that time shall be a fountain opened

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TBE PB0SPECT8 OF ISRABL. 621

to the house of David and to the inhahitants of
Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness ; " in
that day when, under the reign of Him who
*^ shall come forth a rod out of the stem of
Jesse," ^* the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,"
and ^* the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea ; " in
that day it shall come to pass that the Lord
*^ shall set up an ensign for the nations, and
shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and
gather together the dispersed of Judah from
the four comers of the earth ; " and ^' there
shall be an highway for the remnant of his
people, which shall be left from Assyria; like
as it was to Israel in the day that he came up
out of the land of Egypt And in that day
thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee:
though thou wast angry with me, thine anger
is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
Behold, God is my salvation ; I will trust, and
not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my
strength and my song r he also is become my
salvation." (Isaiah xL 16, andxii. 1, 2.) AU
the twelve tribes are to have part in this glory,
for '* Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will
take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand
of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his
fellows, and will put them with him, even

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622 THE FBOSFECTS OF ISRAEL^

with the stick of Judah, and make them one
stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be
in thine hand before their eyes. And say nnto
them, Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I will
take the children of Israel from among the
heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather
them on every side, and bring them into their
own land : and I will make them one nation
in the land upon the mountains of Israel ; and
one king shall be king to them all : and they
shall be no more two nations, neither shall
they be divided into two kingdoms any more
at all: neither shall they defile themselves
any more with their idols, nor with their
detestable things, nor with any of their trans-
gressions : but I will save them out of all their
dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and
will cleanse them : so shall they be my people,
and I will be their God. And David my
servant shall be king over them ; and they aU
shall have one shepherd : they shall also walk
in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and
do them. And they shall dwell in the land
that I have given unto Jacob my servant,
wherein your fathers have dwelt; and
they shall dwell therein, even they, and
their children, and their children's chil-
dren for ever; and my servant David shaU

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THE FROSFECTQ OF ISRAEL. 623

be their prince for ever. Moreover^ I will
make a covenant of peace with them ; it shall
be an everlasting covenant with them : and I
will place them, and multiply them, and will
set my sanctuary in the midst of them for
evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with
them : yea, I will be their God, and they shall
be my people. And the heathen shall know
that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when
my sanctuary shall be in the midst of
them for evermore." (Ezek. xxxvii 19 — 28.)
Thus shall be also gloriously accomplished
another prophecy: — "He will turn again, hd
will have compassion on us; he will subdue
our iniquities, and thou wilt cast all their
sins into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy
to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old." These are a
few striking passages chosen] from those in
which the Old Testament abounds, relating to
the future, for which Israel still waits, and
which shall complete and carry out the great
theme which pervades the word of prophecy
from beginning to end. Who shall dare to
say. that these things have been already
fulfilled, not, it is true, literally to the actual
descendants of Israel, but in a (so-called)

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624 THE PBOSPEGTS OF IS&AEL.

spiritual sense, to the Christian Church, inas-
much as she has taken Israel's place under the
covenant of the New Testament t As if the
Lord himself had not maintained and sealed
the application of all his promises to Israel as
a people, to the descendants of Ahraham ac-
cording to the flesh, eyen at the very moment
when be was taken up to heaven from the midst
of his apostles. To their question^ (Acts i. 6,)
" Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again
the kingdom to Israel V His reply is by no
means negative as to the fact of restoration,
but by the very delay it indicates is rather
affirmative for the future: " It is not for you
to know the times and seasons which the
Father has put in his own power." (Ver. 7.)
Already he had promised to his twelve apostles
to sit upon the twelve thrones to judge the
twelve tribes of Israel in the time of the rege-
neration. (Matt. xix. 28.) Who shall separate
what God hath joined ? In Holy Writ, in the
Old Testament, the same prophetic Word tells
of the miseries and of the glories of the same
Israel! Who has given us the right, while
contemplating the actual, literal, and complete
fulfilment of the prophetic judgments on the
Hebrews, to alter suddenly the principle of
interpretation, where the curse is changed into

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THE PROSPECTS OF ISRAEL. 625

a promise, humiliation into glory, the ana-
thema into a blessing? Who gives ns the
right by an arbitrary exegesis to apply the
promises to the Christian Church of the Gen-
tiles, when the judgments evidently could not
have been intended for them ?

And all this becomes still more manifest,
when we consider this promise of a national
conversion of the Jews and the restoration of
the kingdom of Israel, in connexion with the
promise of the Great King, the Messiah Himself,
during so many ages before, as well as after
His coming in the flesh, the object of the ex-
pectation of all who in Israel believed in the
Divine authority of prophecy. A King reign-
ing in glory and power over the house of
Jacob from century to century ! This was the
promise transmitted from age to age, from
prophet to prophet in Israel. This was the
expectation of the Hebrews, misconceived by
them, because they comprehended not the
sufferings by which this King ought to enter
into His glory. Now, then, the King has come.
He has obtained their deliverance by His
sufferings. Is the glory, therefore, less surely
promised, less certain to follow 1 By faith in
a crucified King, the expectation of the glori-
fied King becomes legitimate and acceptable

£ £

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626 THE PROSPECTS OF ISRAEL.

in the sight of God. Jesus is this King, not
only spiritually reigning over hearts and minds,
not only in Heaven, and over His invisible
Church, but also some day upon the earth,
over his own people and country, and thence
over all nations, " from sea even to sea,
and from the river even to the ends of the
earth." The kingdom that the Angel Gabriel
announced to Mary for the Son of the Most
High, who should derive his human nature
from her, (Luke i. 32, 33,) is absolutely the
same which the Prophet Isaiah promises to
the family of David, and to the house of
Jacob. This was the kingdom anciently sung
by psalmists and prophets, looked for by all
the faithful in the days of old, sketched and
prefigured in the ordering of the tabemade
and the temple, in the institution of priest
and king, — a kingdom descending from
heaven upon earth, but not less real, visible,
and palpable, than those four monarchies seen
by Daniel in the visions of the night, to
which the Jewish monarchy, under Jesus
Christ, bom and crucified King of the Jews,
comes to put an end. The New Testament,
wliich never annihilates, but always fulfils
the promises of the Old, has certainly not
changed the nature of this last kingdom-

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THE PROSPECTS OF ISRAEL. 627

It is still " the kingdom of our Eather David,"
(Mark xi. 10.) It is with respect to this
kingdom that the apostle of the Gentiles, in
his last Epistle, and in his last hour, exclaimed
once more, " Remember that Jesus Christ, of
the seed of David, was raised from the dead,
according to my Gospel;" and when Saint
John contemplates, in the heavens which were
opened unto him, this King as the Lamb
thaf was slain, he announces him as ^^ the
Lion of Judah, who has prevailed." (Rev.
V. 6.) And Jesus Himself, at the end of this
same opened book of prophecy, calls Himself
" the root and the offspring of David," and
" the bright and morning star." (Rev. xxii. 16.)
There is then a future for Israel! — for the
long-disgraced outcasts an approaching glory !
— and this future, and this glory, are inti-
mately connected with the happiness and the
salvation of all nations : the reign of the Mes-
siah will not be an exclusive one, He will
not revenge Himself on the Gentiles as Gen-
tiles, as carnal Israel, denying the cross of
Christ, has imagined. As little will it be
a reign over a purely typical Israel. But
the wall of separation will be thrown down,
and Israel and the regenerate nations will
triumph together over the Gentiles -who

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628 THE PROSPECTS OF ISRAEL.

have forgotten God, and who oppose the
kingdom of Christ. Tsrael's King will be
King of all nations. The receiving of Israel
shall be to all people " life from the dead ;"
(Rom. xi* 15 ;) an^ thus " the Lord shall
be. King over all the *arth:' for in that day
there shall be one Lord, and his name one."
(Zech. xiv. 9.)

V.-futiT, Great Nrw-strert. Londun. ^ .

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