9 £4- ^^^ 
 
 $B 111 2T3 
 

/ 
 
 X 
 
 K^t \\eo* 
 
 BEN ISRAEL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 ROM UNDER THE CURSE. 
 
 % Itwisli flag, '>ji 
 
 IN FIVE ACTS, W- 
 
 BY EDWJ^FD W, TULLIDGE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 The Plays of "Oliver Cromwell," ''Elizabeth of England" 
 " Lives' of Famous Historical Characters," etc., etc. 
 
 STAR PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 HALT LAKE. CITY, UTAH. 
 
 1887. 
 
I 
 
 i 
 
BEN ISRAEL; 
 
 OR, 
 
 FROM UNDER THE CURSE. 
 
 \ 
 
 i 
 
 IN FIVE ACTS, I 
 
 BY EDWARD W. TuLLIDGE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 The Flays of "Oliver Crom.ivell,'' ''Elizabeth of England,'' 
 "Lives of Famous Historical Characters,^' etc., etc. 
 
 STAR PRINTING COMPANY, 
 
 v^ALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 
 
 1887. 
 
.CAST OF CHARACTERS: 
 
 DAVID BEN ISRAEL, a Jewish Prince, decended from the "Princes 
 of the Captivity." 
 
 SIR JUDAH, his nephew, agent of the Prince of Orange. 
 
 LEVI, a trusted servant of Ben Israel. 
 
 SIR WALTER TEMPLAR, lover of Rachel. 
 
 CHARLES li. 
 
 LORD HAWKLEY, a malignant plotter against the Jews. 
 
 GABRIEL, servant-companion of Sir Walter, who retains his rustic 
 simplicities. 
 
 RACHEL, granddaughter of Ben Israel. j 
 
 ANNETTI, her foster-sister. ^ \ 
 
 MEG, godmother of Lord Hawley, and a hater of the Jews. ! 
 
 REBECCA, wife of Levi. \ 
 
 AUXILIARIES. j 
 
 Hebrew People, Templar Men, Bishops, Rabbis, Chief Justice, Governor ' 
 of Prison, Chaplain, etc. 1 
 
 Time :—Beign of Charles IL Pi.AC^:— London, 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1875, by 
 
 EDWARD W. TULLIDGE, 
 in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 

 BEN ISRAEL; 
 
 OB, 
 
 FROM UNDER THE CURSE. 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 Scene i — Magnificent gardens and mansion of Rachel, the singer, in 
 the suburbs vf Lo7idon. Several tents pitched and groups of Jews 
 in earnest conversation. The subject is the return of the Jews to 
 England after a banishtnent of four hundred years. Levi, a trusted 
 servant of David Ben Israel, and his wife, Rebecca, in conversa- 
 tion in the foreground. 
 
 Levi. I would the remnant of our tribe were come. I am not 
 trustful of the Christian's love. 
 
 Rebecca. Yet Levi, hath the King of England promised fair. 
 
 Levi. So did a Christian king give us good quit of this fair land. 
 Bah! — a Christian's covenant, and to a Jew! When was it kept, 
 Rebecca. 
 
 Reb. Alas, Levi, when was it kept. The curse hath followed us 
 in every Christian land. 
 
 Levi. 'Tis now three hundred years since a Christian king did 
 banish us from England's shores. 
 
 Reb. More than three hundred years, is it not, Levi ? 
 
 Levi. Aye, so I think; may be three score; yet I am not certain 
 that it be as much; but trouble me not with thy questions. Would 
 the remnant of our tribe were come. 
 
 Reb. I hear voices in the distance. 
 
 Levi. Our people come. The God of Jacob be praised. 
 
 Reb. Nay, Levi; 'tis an alarm. 
 
 mi069 
 
BEN ISRAEL. 
 
 [act 1. 
 
 Levi. Out with our young men. The spoiler is upon us. {^The 
 group seize their firelocks and rush off.) Ho, Reuben ! my son ! 
 (^Calling to one without.') Ho, Reuben, where art thou ? 
 ; {A Voice without.) What, ho, old man? 
 
 ^ ecc '" ' ^^//^r Sir JuDAH OF Nassau. 
 
 "Levi. A Ghifstiali? {In anger and disgust) 
 Sir Judah. Ha, ha ! At thy call, Levi. (^Sardonically.) 
 Levi. I called thee not. Thou hast no business in our camp. 
 {.Sir Judah laughs sardonically again at Levi's mistaking him for a 
 Christain) Get thee gone, lest our young men do thee harm. Thou 
 art a Christian and hath no business with us, I say. 
 
 Sir Judah. Be not angered good Levi. I am not quite a Chris- 
 tian. But there I will not masquerade at home. {Lifting his beaver) 
 Look in my face, Levi. Hath it a Christian mould ? 
 
 Levi. Who art thou ? I cannot recognize thee. Mine eyes are 
 no longer sightful. I know thee not ; who art thou ? 
 
 Reb. (who has seized a flambeau and thrown its gleam across the 
 countenance of Sir Judah). 'Tis Sir Judah of Nassau, our master's 
 nephew. 
 
 Levi. Yes, 'tis the boy. I had known thee Judah, at once, and 
 thou hadst not given our people this untimely terror at thy coming 
 but for thy Christian garb. 
 
 Sir Judah. Why, man, look not with such disgust upon my courtly 
 suit; it hath no moth nor mildew. 
 
 Levi. I like not thy garb, Judah. Nay, by our ancient covenant, 
 I like It not. 
 
 Sir Judah. Yet, Levi, hath it served our people well — aye well in 
 England, where I most would have it well 
 
 Levi. And yet, boy, I like it not. 
 
 Sir Judah. Thou art too exacting, Levi, in thine ancient ways. 
 
 Levi. Shame, Judah ! Despise not our ancient ways; they have 
 preserved our people. 
 
 Sir Judah. As friend and advocate of young Prince William's cause, 
 I have been welcomed at the court of Charles of England, where had 
 I been offensive as the Jew, the Turk had been a better servant for 
 the house of Nassau. 
 
 Levi. What ! didst deny thy race and faith? Didst turn a Chris- 
 tain in the deed as in the seeming? Shame, Judah, shame ! Thy 
 apostacy, boy, for the sake of prince's smiles will break thy uncle 
 David's heart. Would that our people had turned their face toward 
 the East and not come hither. 
 
ACT 1.] BEN ISRAEL, 5 
 
 Sir Jiidah. Nay, good Levi, I denied no race and confessed no 
 faith. 
 
 Levi. Art thou not known at the court of this Christian king? 
 Thy uncle, David, said 'twas Judah who had won us welcome here. 
 
 Sir Judah. Be satisfied with my uncle David's word that his 
 nephew hath prepared in England a welcome resting place for the 
 wandering race, which not even thyself, old man, loves better than 
 does Judah. 
 
 Rebecca. Our people come ! \^Enter a tribe of Jews c. with David 
 Ben Israel among thetn in his concealed character. Rachel is lead- 
 ing them into camp upon her own grounds with a chorus of men and 
 maidens.^ 
 
 We've hung our harps on the willows; 
 
 By the rivers of Babylon wept; 
 We wept when we thought of Zion, 
 
 But the ways of our God we kept, — 
 Our Father's God, 
 
 Who lifts the curse. 
 The curse is lifting — 
 
 Lifting from our heads. 
 
 We take our harps from the willows 
 
 And the songs of our gladness resume, 
 Nor weep when we think of Zion 
 
 But the praise of our God we'll tune,— 
 Our Father's God, 
 
 Who lifts the curse; 
 The curse is lifting — 
 
 Lifting from our heads. 
 
 Rachel, (with a standard in her hand.) These are my grounds. 
 Here pitch ye all your tents, O, men of Judah, and plant this stand- 
 ard of our royal race, {gives the standard to one of the tribe) This 
 land be our second Zion. 
 
 David. A leader ! A leader ! 
 
 Levi. A woman, yet with David's soul. 
 
 Sir Judah. A spirit of the past. 
 
 Rachel. Plant David's standard there, {the tribe hesitate.) What, 
 men of Judah do ye fear to raise the standard of our race ? 
 
 David. Perchance it may offend this Christian king. 
 
 Rachel. Wherefore offend? 'Twas David's horn that did anoint 
 his head ; and Judah's emblem over this proud land already waves. 
 
 David. Maiden, we are not now in our own land. Let thy intent 
 suffice. 
 
 Rachel, Nay, O, Patriarch of Israel, let the standard this day 
 wave above our people. 
 
6 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 1. 
 
 David. Daughter thou temptest me almost beyond the old man's 
 prudence. Yet, child, were it thus in our own land, old as I am, I 
 could not bid thee hold. 
 
 Rachel. All lands are ours ! All lands are ours by the very curse 
 which hath for ages followed us, and destiny hath led us to these 
 shores. 
 
 David. The spirit of her race hath fallen upon her. 
 
 Rachel. The spirits of the mighty dead are moving me. Oft in 
 the silence of the mystic night, I hear their voices speaking won- 
 drous things of Israel's past and still more wondrous words prophetic 
 of his coming destiny. This was my native land, O, men of Jacob. 
 Orphaned at my very' birth, a Christian mother reared the Jewess 
 child as 'twere her own. Yet yearning for my race I found ye out, 
 but still was England my dear native land, {taking the standard 
 back.) Here had I seen great David's standard wave, as thuugh he, 
 hmiself, had sat on England's throne— and fancied in the ages long 
 since gone one of our royal blood did plant it thus— as I do here again, 
 O, England now — thy sign and ours 1 Bow to it men of Judah ! 
 {Picture. Change. ) 
 
 > Scene 2. — A road near the mansion of the Jewess. Enter Lord 
 Hawkley and his foster-mother, Meg. 
 
 Huwkley. Mother Meg, take this letter to Father Peters, of the 
 Holy Order of the Jesuits. You will find him at the house of Tames 
 Duke of York. ' 
 
 Meg. Yes, my son; I know, I know. 
 
 Hawkley. My carriage is yonder in the road; and the coachman 
 has mstruction to drive you to the house of the Duke of York as fast 
 as horse can bear you. Away mother Meg at once. 
 
 Meg. Ay, ay, my son. 
 
 Hawk. Be fleet as the wind, and it be possible, in your return to 
 me with the answer from Father Peters. 
 
 Meg, As fleet my son as your rare blooded horses can speed me. 
 Hawk. Away, then, mother. 
 
 Meg. Aye, my son ; fleet as the wind will your old foster mother 
 ride for you- {Exit L.) 
 
 Haivk. I discern some design on my own aff-airs in Ben Israel's 
 schemes in setthng his accursed tribe in England, as he has already 
 done in Holland. His agents have pursued me, as though they loved 
 me, with offers of heavy loans, at trifling interest, until I am involved 
 beyond redeeming. {Sir Judah appears R., recognizes Hawkley and 
 withdraws.) And these Jews from Holland, who have landed to-day, 
 are those agents and my creditors. They seem, by their humble 
 
ACT 1.] ^ BEN ISRAEL. 7 
 
 manners and garbs, to be the poorest vagabonds of their hated tribe; 
 but I discovered in them my creditors, and know them to be the 
 moneyed princes of Europe. Yet this Ben Israel and his crafty 
 nephew. Sir Judah of Nassau, have designs on me. I must consult 
 the Duke of York and Father Peters on the matter; but be those de- 
 signs on me 'A'hat they may I am heart and hand with the Duke of 
 York to have the accursed tribe again expelled from England. 
 {Exit L.) 
 
 Sir Judah of Nassau enters as Hawkley exits. 
 
 Sir Judah, Yes, my Lord of Hawkley, David Ben Israel and his 
 crafty nephew have some designs on thee, as thou sayest; and for the 
 reason that thou, aiding the Duke of York and the Jesuits, hast some 
 malicious designs against their people. How apt these Christians 
 are — aye wise men too — who are fortified by favored fortune — how 
 apt to talk as they were modern Solomons, risen to shame our great 
 ancestor — with proverbs of the cunning of the Jews. My Lord of 
 Hawkley, cunning is Nature' s protection of the weak against the 
 strong. So look well to thy feet, my Lord of Hawkley, for the cun- 
 ning nephew of Ben Israel is on thy tracks. {Change.) 
 
 Scene 3. Gardens as before in the suburbs of London. Court gal- 
 lants, goblets in hand, come from one of the bowers. 
 
 Charles. Gad's death 1 'Tis time we pledge 
 The hours of this paradise. So to the Star of Judah ! 
 
 Gallants, {all excepting Hawkley) The Star of Judah \ 
 
 Hawkley. The Devil take the Jews ! 
 
 Sir Judah. {entering as 7)ientor of the King and agent from Holland) 
 Amen, my lord. The Devil will take care of them. 
 
 Chas. Ah, sir mentor, just from Holland? Good. 'Tis not be- 
 fore we needed thee. 
 
 Sir Jud. FrDm Holland, sire, envoy from the States General and 
 servant of your majesty's rare nephew, William, Prince of Orange. 
 
 Chas. Ah! How is the young Dutch hero? Gad's death J 
 There's that about the rogue we like, though he hath urged the States 
 to war with England. 
 
 Sir Jud. That is because your Majesty, urged by your brother James, 
 takes up the cause of France against your Protestant allies, the Dutch., 
 
 Chas. The boy is mad and stands in his own light. 
 Why sides he not with Louis and with me. 
 Who'll re-instate his house? We need the help 
 
 Of France, but most the gold of Louis, {is joined by Lord Hawkley) 
 What say you to that, my lord of Hawkley? 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 8 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 1. ; 
 
 Hawk. To what, your Majesty ? \ 
 
 Chas. Do not our ministers need Louis' gold ? 
 
 Hawk. Not more than does their king. 
 
 Sir Jud. Then borrow of the Jews, your Majesty, 
 
 And do not England's honor sell to France, i 
 
 Nor England pawn unto the Papal power. | 
 
 Hawk. Keep guard upon thy tongue. 'Twas thou who didst " 
 
 Persuade his Majesty to hive the Jews \ 
 
 In England after we were quit of them \ 
 
 Four hundred years. 1 
 
 Sir Jud. The bees make honey for the land ; 
 I own I did advise his Majesty to hive them here. 
 
 Hawk. Now may the Devil take the Jews, say I. ^ 
 
 Sir Jud. You said it but a while ago, my lord. j 
 
 Perhaps your lordship hath forgot "\ 
 
 The proverb, that the fiend cares for his own. ! 
 
 Chas. A truce to this banter. We are here to hail the queen of I 
 
 song at her own court. Join with your prince, gallants. Hail to the j 
 
 Star of Judah— Rachel, the enchantress! {Exit into mannon.^ ! 
 
 Courtiers acclaim with the king and follow him into the mansion of \ 
 
 the Jewess, excepting Hawkley, 7vho directs his curse at the house \ 
 
 Hawk. Curse thee, thou subtle agent of this Orange Prince, 
 
 And curse the Jews, whom Rome hath more to fear i 
 
 Than from the heretics about the throne. \ 
 
 And curse thee, too, thou royal fool f Would that ^ 
 
 Thy brother James now reigned in England. ; 
 
 Enter Meg, cautiously looking around. \ 
 
 Meg. Hist, my son. Tis thy old god-dame. 
 
 Hawk. Ha! Mother Meg ! Returned? What say the Holy \ 
 
 Fathers ? , 
 
 Meg. Of that anon. I choked with rage to hear the king drink \ 
 
 to this Jewish witch, and then to hear the courtiers shout as if they ' 
 were about to crown a queen. 
 
 Hawk. You heard the king, then, Meg? 
 
 Meg. Ay ! That did I. A legion fiends possess 
 The fool, I say, for harboring the Jews. 
 
 Hawk. Ben Israel has my castle and estates ^ 
 
 Under his bonds well nigh to their full worth. ■ 
 
 Meg. Thou shouldst have borrowed of the devil first. : 
 
 Hawk. Or taken subsidies from France. i 
 
ACT 1.] BEN ISRAEL. 9 
 
 Meg. Aha! But I will help thee out. I'll send 
 The rumor round that Charles is 'witched to love 
 The Jewess. 
 
 Hawk. Then may the rumor poison every breeze. 
 
 Meg And that she hath dark dealings with the Evil One. 
 
 Hawk. Thou art as deep as he in plotting, Meg. 
 
 Meg. Aha ! Old Meg will work their ruin yet. 
 The holy fathers of the Jesuits will be witn us. 
 
 Hawk. What said their chief? 
 
 Meg, Caution, my son, there may be prying ears about. 
 
 Hank. Yes, yes. We must be guarded in our tongues. 
 
 Meg. Give thy old mother wine. I'm parched with rage, 
 And faint with my long journeying. 
 
 Hawk. (^Fetching goblet from bower. ^ Here, mother Meg, is the 
 untasted wine 
 I would not to the Jewess drink. 
 
 Meg. But I will drink to her. May old Meg's hand 
 Pile fagots high around the Jewess for a witch. {Drinks and throws 
 
 goblet away.') 
 Now come away with me. 
 And hearken what the holy fathers said. 
 
 Enter David Ben Israel l. i e., watching them off, in his character 
 of peddler of the co . rt, 
 
 David. (^Retur?iing to c.) Then is there danger brewing for our 
 race 
 E'en in this goodly land, where I thought 
 Our people, worn with ages of their wanderings 
 Would find rest for their feet. Cromwell the Great 
 Had given us both welcome and enfranchisement, 
 But he did live before his time. The needs 
 Of Charles for moneys serve us better now 
 Than did a great man's tolerance and aims 
 For justice to our persecuted people. 
 King Charles' passion for this Hebrew maid 
 Hath served us too. But from his princely lust 
 Ben Israel's hand must save the child. 
 And yet there's danger brewing 'gainst our tribe ! 
 If once the Jesuits obtain the sway 
 In England, then I fear me much the Jew 
 Will have to leave these shores again 
 And quit the pastures of this thrifty land. 
 The king comes forth. I'll watch and keep mine ears 
 As open doors. (^Exit i.. i e.) 
 
10 BEN ISRAEL. [acT 1. 
 
 Enter Charles with Rachel /;^^;« mansion, to walk in gardens, fol- 
 lowed by train of ladies and gentlemen, who disperse over the 
 grounds. King co77ies to c. with Rachel. 
 
 Chas. Nay, by our royal word, the sun shone not 
 To-day till thy bright face broke through the clouds. 
 
 Rachel. Fie, fie, your majesty! I have no taste 
 For dulcet nothings, even from a king. 
 
 Chas. Maid, by my kingly honor, I would deck 
 Thy fair brow with a duchess' coronet. 
 To hear thee say thou hadst no taste to list 
 To them from other lips than mine. 
 
 Rack. O, Sire, I am but a simple maid, — 
 An orphan child of a despised tribe. 
 Who does not e'en her parents know, — 
 And not a lady of your brilliant court. 
 
 Chas. Smile but upon my suit, and there shall reign 
 None at my court to match my Hebrew love. 
 
 Rach, Rachel, the singer — never more shall I be there. 
 
 Chas. Yes, Rachel with an angel's voice. Rachel, 
 Who shall be queen of a king's heart, and if 
 She wish it so, never shall ear but his 
 List to the notes of her enchanting voice, 
 
 Rach. Forbear ! or I at once retire. 
 
 Chas. Nay, pardon, lady-love. At least you'll grant 
 Permission to Charles Stuart, gentleman, 
 To walk with you this morn. 
 
 Rach. In his plain character of gentleman. 
 
 Cha'^. It is a bargain, sweetheart. 
 
 Rach. Then will I in to my own doors, if thus 
 The gentleman his promise breaks in making it. 
 
 Chas. I'll not offend again, fair lady. (^Exeunt l. u. e.) 
 
 Enter Sir Walter Templar, r. u. e., with Sir Judah. 
 
 Sir W. I would I had not brought her to the court 
 Of Charles. This homage to her genius, which 
 In Italy I dreamt of with such pride, 
 Now startles me. The wanton eye of Charles 
 Is kindled to a blaze when she appears. 
 
 Sir Judah. Does the king know you yet ? 
 
 Sir W. Yes ; that it was 
 Sir Walter Templar who did educate 
 The Jewess and engage her for his court. 
 
ACT 1.] . BEN ISRAEL. 11 
 
 Sir Judah. But knows not that you are the man ? 
 
 Sir W. No, he but thinks me one whom he permits 
 At court to give her musical support. 
 
 Sir Jud. I thmk, Sir Walter, they did say at Rome 
 You had a voice the world could not surpass. 
 
 Sir W. They did. 
 
 Sir Jud. I see. And you assisted her to write 
 This Jewish opera? 
 
 Sir iV. I did. It is my family legend, sir, 
 That Lionel, the founder of my house, 
 Grand Master of the Templar knights, in Palestine 
 Did love and wed a maid of Judah's royal blood. 
 
 Sir Jud. Thou art her offspring ? 
 
 Sir W. I am. 
 
 Sir Jud. 'Tis strange ! 
 
 Sir W. What is strange ? 
 
 Sir Jud. Nothing. Nay, everything. It is all mystery. 
 This complex drama of our mortal life, 
 Which we but poorly read at best. 
 
 Sir W. What mean you? 
 
 Sir Jud. I know the untold history of the maid. 
 
 Sir W. What, my ancestress? 
 
 Sir Jud. No, thy love. Yet had she been that same princess- 
 Who wedded Lionel, the Christian knight, 
 She scarce had been more than she is. 
 
 Sir W. You speak in riddles. 
 
 Sir Jud. I much do err if she be not the lost 
 Grandchild of David Ben Israel. 
 
 Sir W. What, the Jewish prince, of whom 'tis said 
 He is the last of all his line? 
 Sir Judah. The same. 
 
 Sir W. Great heaven ! Then do the guardian angels of the past 
 Bring down their links to weld anew in us. 
 
 Sir Judah. Ah, there you strike a mystery 
 I have not )et quile read. 
 But we must look well to the king. 
 
 Sir W. I will not cross the king unless the king 
 Would wrong my mate. And then let king beware ! ( Exeunt s.. 2 E.) 
 
 Enie^ Gabriel, l. i e. 
 
 Gab. Yes, I'll plague the Jew. 'Twill be a right proper Chris- 
 tian pastime. My patron Gabriel will scratch a mark of good be- 
 
12 BEN ISRAEL. r^e^ 1. i 
 
 havior in his book if I plague the Jew. Why, what are the Tews sent ': 
 into the world for except for Christian pastime? Now, if I plague 
 
 the Jew, the fiend won't plague me with cramps and nightmares : nor ' 
 
 will witches rides me through the air on broomsticks. Yes I'll ' 
 
 plague the Jew and be saved for it. ' ; 
 
 Return Old Meg, r. 2 e. ; 
 
 Meg {Seizing him by the arm.) Then come with me and I'll help ' 
 
 thee plague the Jew. ^ \ 
 
 Gab. O Lord ! O Saints ! O Mrs. Belzebub, have mercy and I'll \ 
 
 plague the Jew. J 
 
 Meg. Come with me and I'll teach thee how to plague the Jew. i 
 
 K ^f;^^'^T' ^^,^,„^'e"d! Grace, good Fiend! Let me off, 
 
 beautiful Fiend, and I'll plague the Jew. J 
 
 Me^. Come with me, fool. -i 
 
 XT ^''f X. ^^yi rl'^^P • ^^^ ^^"^ ^^"^ '^ g^^"g to run away with me. i 
 
 Help ! help ! {He is dragged off by Meg, r. i. e.) i 
 
 Annetti runs in l. i e. i 
 
 Annetti. Gabriel! Gabriel! Where has the simpleton gone? s 
 
 Something has frightened him out of the little wits he has. But where \ 
 
 has he hid himself? Now he would thrash half a dozen lusty rogues ' 
 
 but name a ghost, a goblin or a witch to him and all his wits will for- | 
 
 sake him and his courage melt into his heels. ' 
 
 Gabriel rushes in, blind with affright. 
 
 Gab. Help! help! The foul fiend is flying away with me. Help' i 
 
 help ! {Is caught by Annetti as he is running off, when he falls upon ^ 
 
 f^^knees) Mercy, mercy, good Mrs. Fiend ! Mercy, mercy, Mrs. \ 
 
 Belzebub, and I'll plague the Jew; I'll drown the Jew : I'll do any- i 
 
 thing to the Jew ! ^ ^ / , 
 
 Ann. Get up, you simpleton. Do I look like Mrs. Fiend, or \ 
 
 Mrs. Belzebub ? Take that box on the ear, you fool. Do you know ' 
 
 that ? i 
 
 Gab. Eh ? Is that you, Annetti ? I used to know that signal | 
 
 before the Fiend ran away with me. You're sure you're not the Fiend i 
 
 turned into my Annetti. \ 
 
 Ann. Blockhead ! I say do I look like Mrs, Fiend ? I thought I '■ 
 
 was passingly pretty, )et thou takest me for Mrs. Belzebub. j 
 
 Gab- Nay, nay, Annetti, not you. 'Twas Mrs. Belzebub I took '■ 
 
 for the Fiend. But you are quite sure, Annetti, you are ?iot the Fiend I 
 
 turned into my pretty sweetheart ? Box my ears again, Annetti. I ^ 
 
 know thy box well, it hath such a pretty ring in my ears. ' 
 
 Ann. There then; there, there, there J 
 
 t 
 
ACT 1.] BEN ISRAEL. 13 '■ 
 
 Gab. Quarter! quarter! quarter! That'll do. My ears are ring- ] 
 
 ing chimes. Yes, you are my Annetti. \ 
 
 Ann, You like my hand, eh, Gabriel ? \ 
 
 Gab. Yes, tis a pretty hand; a sweet pretty hand; but it would ^ 
 
 not be safe for any other hand to box me so; no not even Mrs. Bel- \ 
 
 zebub, when my mettle is up. Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, there she is ^ 
 
 again. \ 
 
 Ann. Who ? ; 
 
 Gab, The Fiend. j 
 
 Ann. Simpleton ! come into the house. I have some bottled i 
 
 spirits in my room that will not scare you. {Exit into the house of "'-. 
 
 the Jewess.^ 
 
 Return King with Rachel, l. u. e. i 
 
 Chas. (c) In vain, Rachel, I cannot hold my peace, j 
 This passion will consume me if it find not vent. 
 
 Rach. Oh persecute me not, I do entreat. \ 
 
 This suit dishonors you — outrages me. i 
 
 Chas. Listen a moment, Rachel, to my love. , ^ 
 
 In Holland first we met. I heard you sing, f^ 
 
 And loved you when a fugitive. Had I \ 
 
 Not been an exiled prince, I had not left \ 
 
 The story of that love to tell to day. .= 
 
 Rach. Sire, forbear. What can the Jewess be ^ 
 
 To England's king. ] 
 
 Chas. Queen of his heart ! For your dear sake the Jews i 
 
 I have invited to these shores against \ 
 
 The wish of zealots of each rival church, j 
 
 And granted them protection of the crown. i 
 
 To tell you this I sent to Italy 
 
 And bade my agents bring you here to sing 
 
 At court. Smile, Rachel, on my love, 
 
 And I will swear to you the Jews 
 
 Shall have in England their enfranchisement. 
 
 Rach. Profane not thus the sacred name of love ! 
 Thou knowest not what love doth signify. 
 And knowest not the maid thou wooest thus 
 With wicked tongue 
 
 Chas. By heaven, I speak the truth. I loved thee then. 
 Yet dreamed not of this wondrous change, (^kneels) Rachel, 
 Thou wast born to be the consort of a king. 
 
 Rach. King of England, — orphaned at her birth, 
 Alone, — without one of her parent's kin 
 
14 BEN ISRAEL. 
 
 [ACT 1, 
 
 To own or guard her, the poor Jewess is 
 So much above thy crowned head that she 
 Commands thee, rise ! nor longer thus 
 With wanton homage humble her. 
 
 Chas. Thy words have stung me to my feet and made 
 The king remember who he is, and who 
 The singer Rachel is. Ah ! she is but 
 The outcast Jewess still, — is in our realm, 
 A subject of the king, in the king's power. 
 
 Rack. Then, king, will I invoke the aid of one 
 Who will protect me from thy lawless hands. 
 
 Chas. Sir Walter Templar hath proclaimed himself. 
 
 Rack. Ah ! 
 
 Chas. You saw him speak to me but now ? 
 
 Rach. Yes, yes. i^Aside) Then have 1 cause to fear this king. 
 
 Chas. Sir Walter hath defied me, — threatened me. 
 
 Rach. Oh! Would I were hence 
 
 C/z^s. You see, Rachel, how much I heed him. 
 
 Rach. Remember, king, he is the son of him 
 Who moved all England "gainst thy father's tyrannies, 
 As he would move 'gainst thyself did harm 
 But come to me. 
 
 Chas. Now mark me, Rachel : if it nteds must be 
 I will lemove Sir Walter from my path 
 By banishment and find the cause for it. 
 Yet do 1 think the path is clear. 
 He has returned unto his native land 
 To wed his cousin. So, my queenly maid. 
 Better the consort of a married king 
 Than mistress of a wedded baronet. 
 
 Rach. God of my Fathers, who shall shield 
 The orphan Jewess now ? 
 
 Enter David, with solemn dignity. 
 
 Dav. He to whom thou hast appeal'd, my child 
 The God of thy Fathers shall shield and succor 'thee? (Rachel 
 rushes to the old man for protection. He throws his arms around her 
 and awes back the king. 
 
 Chas. Old man, hast thou been sp3ing on my track? 
 Rach. Save me ! Oh, save me from the king ! 
 Chas. What is this maid to thee, that 'bout thy neck 
 She clings? And who art thou, that in thy rags 
 
ACT 1.] BEN ISRAEL. 15 i 
 
 '\ 
 
 Thus dar'st to wave me back as if thou wert i 
 
 Thyself a king and she thy ward ? ' 
 
 Z>azK What is this maid to me ? An orphan of my race, 1 
 
 Therefore the old man's daughter, though he be -i 
 
 The least of all his tribe. And who am I ^ 
 
 Whose rags can awe a king? A poor old man ; ' 
 
 But virtue clothed in rags hath native majesty ' 
 
 That vice hath not tho' deck'd in purple robes, ' 
 
 Its head encircled with a kingly crown ! ': 
 
 Chas. Begone, old man. ^ ! 
 
 Dav. Nay, not till I have answered thee. Thou saidst •; 
 
 This maid is but the outcast Jewess still. \ 
 
 So have her people been outcast ' \ 
 These sixteen centuries. And yet hath He, 
 
 To whom this child in her defenceless loneliness \ 
 
 Appeal'd, protected and preserved them to this hour — \ 
 Greater to-day than when their princes reign'd 
 As kings in Palestine. Thou told'st this maid 
 
 That for the hope of smiles upon thy wicked suit, ! 
 
 Thou hadst permitted us, after long banishment, ' 
 
 To settle in this land. If this be so ^ 
 
 The humblest of this tribe will answer thee : - 
 
 Then, King of England; take thy favors back, — ' 
 
 Withhold from us enfranchisement until , 
 
 The day of doom, Rather than that our sons i 
 
 Should cease to trust in Israel's God, — | 
 
 Our daughters, chastity be given up j 
 
 To Gentile lust, as purchase of the freeman's rights, \ 
 
 The Jews shall quit these shores again, \ 
 
 Their substance to the spoiler's greed devote, ! 
 
 And pitch their tents in some far distant land, : 
 
 Where still fidelity may be our sons' j 
 
 Fair heritage, and purity our daughters' dower. \ 
 
 Enter Hawkley and courtiers gathered by the impassioned voice of 
 David, Sir Walter Templar and^iK Judah with them. Hawkley 
 
 taking in the situation at a glance, raises a cry against the [ews. \ 
 
 Hawk. Quick ! The king's in danger ! The king is set upon 
 By Jews. I saw a band of them but now 
 
 Prowling about. They fled as I came up. J 
 
 Are you hurt, Sire ? i 
 
 Dav. Fear nothing for your king, \ 
 
 He has but been rebuked by this lone maid | 
 
 And been confronted by a weak old man. . 
 
 Sir W. Come, Rachel, we will London leave at once; \ 
 
16 BEN ISRAEL, [aCT I. 
 
 You shall not breathe the pestilential air 
 Of Charles' Court. 
 
 Chas. Beware, Sir Walter, how you cross my path ? 
 Sir U^. Beware, sir King, and do not cross my love ! 
 
 Sir Walter is leaving with Rachel whe?i David intercepts them 
 
 Dav. Stay, daughter of my people ! 
 I know of one whose claim to guard thee stands 
 The first : I mean thy grandsire. 
 
 Each. My grandfather ! Oh, where is he ? 
 
 Hawk. Let us begone, your Majesty. 
 We have no interest with this vagabond. 
 Let Rachel entertain her tribe, but we 
 Consort not with the Jewish herd. 
 
 Dav. Christian scoffer ! 
 Our race were princes when thy ancestors 
 Were robbers and barbarians \ 
 
 Hawk. Out of ray way, dog of a Jew ! {^He whirls him and 
 David falls.') 
 So do I trample on thy Jewish gabardine, 
 
 Thou vagabond of an accursed tribe! {If alter and Sir Judah at- 
 tempt to interpose, but Rachel bounds to David ) 
 Rach. Nay ! Ltt a Hebrew woman, sirs, chastise 
 This lordly ruffian. 
 
 Hawk. Ruffian ? 
 
 Rach. Ay, ruffian ! The conduct of thy king 
 I fain had hid. But thou hast outraged all 
 My Jewish blood, my people called a herd, 
 This old man trampled 'neath thy haughty feet. 
 Proud lord, the history of my antique ra^'e 
 Stands out the grandest theme 
 Of all the ages past, and shall be theme 
 Of all the ages yet to come. ''Accursed ? " 
 Yet to the Christian gave they oracles [ 
 How hath he paid his debt of gratitude? 
 Why, meanly taken advantage of their fall. 
 Scourged them from land to land, despoiled them oi their gold. 
 And trampled on them as thou did'st this good old man. 
 But Judah shall come fro7n u?ider the curse 
 As gold from the refiner's fire. He shall 
 Redeem himself, asking not Gentile grace. 
 We've kissed the rod; but henceforth, if ye smite, 
 Ye shall pay interest back for every blow, 
 And crawl at Judah's feet to beg his helping hand. 
 
ACT 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 17 
 
 These grounds are mine ; this instant leave. 
 
 Or I will have thee driven hence as thou 
 
 Hadst fain this son of Israel. 
 
 Go, unworthy king ! Ruffian courtier, go ! 
 
 Bear with ye both a Hebrew woman's scorn. {Picture.^ 
 
 END OF ACT I. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 Scene i, — The King's Closet. Charles Discovered. 
 
 Chas. 'Sdeath ! Her exalted virtue provokes me to the con- 
 quest. There is a sublime earnestness about the Jewish character that 
 forces one's admiration. These Jews are not understood. By my 
 soul, were Rachel my queen instead of Catharine, I think I should 
 become a virtuous dog myself. {knock at door.^ Come in. {enter 
 Judah) So 'tis you, Judah ? Have you discovered who the Jewess is, 
 and who this old peddler? 
 
 Sir Judah. Not quite. 
 
 Chas. Your mysterious hint that she is other than she seems has 
 piqued my curiosity. 
 
 Sir Judah. To-night your majesty shall know all. fn the mean- 
 time suppose we take up your affairs with Louis of France. You need 
 money. Sire. 
 
 Chas. Ah! there thou hit'st me on my sorest place. I must have 
 money to be independent of my Parliament, and so, to choose the 
 least of the bondages, I have taken Louis as my banker. 
 
 Sir Judah. It was not well done. Sire, for^ if you mind not, the 
 choice may cost a kingdom. But I have brought you one who shall 
 relieve you from your bondage on better terms. 
 
 Judah goes to door and admits David. 
 
 Chas. How now ! The peddler of the court ? 
 Old man, begone ! or I will have thee scourged 
 Through London streets midst hootings of the mob. 
 
 David. Your majesty, men often from their door 
 With senseless foot their providences spurn * 
 Thy dearest fate shall come patch'd and well-worn. 
 If thou but know'st thy fate 'tis well : she shall 
 'Bide with thee. Bid her but begone, and she — 
 
18 BEN ISRAEL. [acT 2.j 
 
 The angel of thy fortune— shall return no more. ^ 
 
 Shall she hence, Sire, or stay? Thv fortune comes j 
 
 To-day beneath my well-worn gabardine. ; 
 
 C/ias. How canst thou help, old man, a kingdom's needs? ' 
 
 Wert thou Ben Israel, whose matchless wealth j 
 
 Is as the treasures of the Ind, thou might'st. ! 
 
 Thou'rt but a wandering knave. ; 
 
 David. Yet hath my master David sent me to the kmg ' 
 
 To offer loans great as thy kingdom's needs. . 
 
 Spurn, Sire, the servant, and thou hast spurn 'd the one ^ 
 
 Who sent him. Wilt thou take my master's bond ? \ 
 
 Chas. In London none hath seen this Jewish prince. * 
 
 Why keeps he up this mystery ? \ 
 
 Dav. It fits his mood. Wilt take his bond, I say ? ' 
 
 Chas. Art sure Ben Israel will honor it ? \ 
 
 Sir Judah. That will I answer for. , 
 
 Chas. What are his terms, old man ? \ 
 
 Dav. Protection to the Hebrew maid against the king. \ 
 
 Chas. By heaven, she's worthy to be queen. 
 
 Dav. Aye, queen ; but not, sire, worthy to be that \ 
 
 Thy love would make of her. \ 
 
 Chas. Well, well, old man; what further terms? \ 
 
 Dav. That our long suffering people be allow'd \ 
 
 To home in England and in England trade, ^ 
 
 Protected by the crown, j 
 And granted but the welcome countenance 
 
 You'd give the meanest Christian stranger. .1 
 
 If yet in time to come, when England shall have proof ^ 
 
 Of Judah's loyalty ; our people be to her ] 
 
 What the life's vessels are to man, : 
 
 Then let the future give u.ito the Jew ; 
 
 Enfranchisement. Till then we ask j 
 But for the alien's common rights. 
 
 Chas. What, the Jew to England as her life's blood ? j 
 
 Dav. This shall the Jew become ! ! 
 
 Say, Sire, how stands it now with thee? Thy realm | 
 
 Is pawn'd to Louis— thyself a vassal king ; ! 
 
 Thy fleets are crippled on the sea; the Dutch \ 
 
 Again hold empire there. Yea, worse : j 
 
 Thy people murmur and with their reproach ^ 
 
 Are deep-mouth'd threats heard rumbling through the land \ 
 
 As distant thunders on the coming storm. ^ 
 Yet still thou goest to the master kmg 
 
 Who holds the purse, and takes for England's shame '^- 
 
ACT 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 19 
 
 These subsidies, and in return give aid 
 To France 'gainst England's nearest kin. 
 What Louis loans for England's shame shall be 
 By David loan'd for her good honor. Take 
 My nnaster's bond and henceforth she shall lend 
 And shall not borrow. Here the Jew shall find 
 His destiny and through him England hers, 
 And greatness reach beyond all precedent. 
 The time is coming when my antique race 
 Shall throw the wanderer's rags away 
 And Judah rise, as Phcenix, from its dust, 
 Here — here in England will he find his fate. — 
 — Your pardon, sire, I did but dream. 
 Wilt take my master's bond ! 
 
 Ckas. (^awed) Old man, I could have sworn I saw beneath 
 That ragged gabardine an oracle 
 Of that grand race which gave, as Rachel said, 
 The Christian that of which he loudest boasts. 
 
 Z>av. Wilt take my master's bond ? 
 
 C/ias. I will. 
 
 Daz/. Then meet my master David at his house 
 To-night, and thou shalt have the moneys 
 For the interest of the turning it. 
 
 C/ias. Why 'tis a generous bond ! There is no pound 
 Of flesh exacted in't. 
 
 Z>av. (^passionately) But if thou dost betray it thou wilt pay 
 Thy pound of forfeit. King of England ! 
 Deal justly with us and thou wilt have cause 
 To bless the Jew and bless his bond. ^Change.') 
 
 Scene 2. — A Corridor in the house of Ben Israel. Enter Gabriel 
 «;?^Annetti, l. I E. 
 
 Ann. Gabriel, thou art a fool. Thou sawest not a witch. 
 
 Gab. Verily I did, and thus it was: As I was argufying how to 
 plague the Jew to 'scape the Fiend, out of revenge as I should say for 
 forgetting her sex the she Fiend darted down upon me on a streak of 
 lightnings which she turn'd into a dragon's tail, switch'd it around 
 my neck and away she flew with me. 
 
 Afin. Well, thou simpleton, and what then. 
 
 Gab. Why, just then she heard your voice, and got scared, and 
 she dropp'd me on a rose bed, or I should have broken every bone in 
 my body. 
 
 Ann. Dost mean to say I am so ugly as to scare a witch ? 
 
20 BEN ISRAEL. [acT 2. 
 
 Gab. Nay, nay that follows not. 
 
 Ann, What follows not, sir? Now mind thy answer, Gabriel, or 
 I will box thy ears. 
 
 Gab. Why it follows not that thou art ugly. 
 
 Ann. Well sir, what does follow, then? Now Gabriel be cautious. 
 My hand is ready. What follows ? 
 
 Gab, That thou art pretty; to be sure thou art pretty. Let any 
 rogue say thou art not pretty and I'll box his ears. 
 
 Ann. Good. Thy ears are safe, Gabriel. But you have not 
 answered. What follows? 
 
 Gab. Why that you being pretty, and I head and ears .in love with 
 you, the Fiend is envious of your beauty, she being herself so ugly. 
 
 Ann. Thy ears are safe, Gabriel. 
 
 Gab. Now will];i serve the Jew spite of the Fiend and doubly to 
 spite that she-Fiend, providing, Annetti you will take the name of 
 Mistress Gabriel Bramble. Then, being sanctified by my wife's 
 witchery, no she-Fiend will have a virtuous need of me. 
 
 Ann. A bargain — that is, if thou' It keep thy promise to serve my 
 foster-sister Rachel and her grandfather until she marries Sir Walter 
 Templar. 
 
 Gab. But I say, Annetti, who is this grandfather ? 
 
 Ann. That she knows not herself as yet, but he is to be here to- 
 night at the house of this Jewish prince, and we are bid hither ako to 
 meet our new master. The king and Lord Hawkley are to be present, 
 for Ben Israel comes with Rachel's grandfather to loan money to the 
 king. Come haste we in. 
 
 Gab. But keep me within thy charms, Annetti. 
 
 Ann. Blockhead, see to that thyself. {Exeuftt k. i e.) 
 
 Scene 3. — A grand apartment in the house of David Ben Israel, 
 having the appearance of a Jewish palace gorgeously lighted. 
 Enter Judah and Levi, l. c. 
 
 Levi. So, Judah, thou hast travel'd o'er the earth. 
 Sir Judah. My feet have touch'd the soil of every land. 
 Levi. I've heard my master say thou ever wert 
 Of strangest mind. 
 
 Sir Judah. Returning to my father's house at Frankfort, 
 After a score of years of wandering, 
 I learned my uncle David had not found 
 Young Benjamin, his son. Train'd as the hound 
 I follow'd on the tracks which David's son 
 And my lost sister made when iiying from 
 
ACT 2.3 BEN ISRAEL. 21 
 
 The cruelty of Spain, and reach'd these shores 
 Just at the time that Rachel's Jewish play, 
 "The Princess of the Captivity," 
 Was heralded abroad. 
 
 Levi. Ay, ay ! good Judah, when the watchers told 
 My master David oft, it struck his mind 
 As if the Angel of the Covenant had writ 
 A volume in the heavens of which he knew 
 The sign and held the key. 
 
 Sir Judah. And I. And knew the legend of our house. 
 Thus runs the prophecy : 
 
 "If any of our mystic line be lost, 
 An angel from within or from without 
 
 The lost shall find. 
 Their magic blood unto its own shall speak: 
 Though in the darkest night their mystic star shall shine*'* 
 
 Levi. Ay, ay, 'tis wonderful ! And so you read 
 The secret of the child which she did set to song 
 As did your uncle David ? 
 
 Sir Judah. I did. And knew that she was one of usj 
 And that, though all unconscious to herself. 
 To us she told her inborn mystery. 
 
 Levi. Judah, — good Judah. 
 
 Sir Judah. Speak on. 
 
 Levi. Nay, nay; I will withold my tongue; 
 For thou shalt soon thy uncle David see. 
 
 Sir Judah, I've seen my uncle David. 
 
 Levi. And spoken to him ? 
 
 Sir Judah. As oft as I have spoke to thee. 
 
 Levi. Oh, oh ! I see, I see ! 
 
 Sir Judah. My uncle David should not hide from me. 
 
 Levi. Thy uncle David hath oft said 
 His nephew was a mystery few could read, 
 Yet was as wise as Solomon. 
 
 Sir Judah. Then tell him I advise him now to give 
 My sister's child unio the son and heir 
 Of old Lord Leon Templar. 
 
 Levi. Nay, nay ; his blood must not be mixed ; his name 
 Not lost unto his tribe. Thou didst thyself 
 Essay to part them yesterday. 
 
 Sir Judah. But not to-day. His family gives consent 
 That he shall wed my sister Rachel's child. 
 
22 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 2. 
 
 Levi. Now, by the staff uf Jacob, this will cut 
 Thy uncle David to the quick. Judah, 
 We must consult the rulers of our tribe. 
 See, they conie. 
 
 Enter lords and ladies of the court. Next bishops of the Church of 
 England and rabbis, who range themselves on either side, followed 
 by Sir Walter Templar, Rachel and Sir Judah. Last enter 
 King Charles with Lord Hawkley, who come to Centre. 
 
 Hawk. What means this gathering, your majtsty. 
 
 Chas. 'Tis but the princely David's whim. He 'vchemes 
 To have the bishops of the English Church 
 Partakers in the covenant of good • 
 
 Between us and the Jews. 
 
 Hawk. But where is this David Ben Israel ? 
 
 Enter David, who goes aiid converses with the Jews. 
 
 Chas. Didst see that old Jew enter last ? 
 
 Hawk. By heaven, 'tis the peddler of the court. 
 
 Chas. And no David ! There is mystery here. 
 
 Hawk. Which I will prick, {goes down c. and haughtily breaks into 
 the circle of church dignitaties and Rabbis, addressing the former) 
 Surely, most reverend sirs. 
 We are not here to be received by such 
 As these, buyers of old silver — vagabonds. 
 Who peddle through our streets? {goes up to peddler, indicating him 
 
 with insolent disgust) 
 That rusty, greasy, stinking gabardine 
 Most plainly tells the swine with which we mix 
 To-night. Where is Ben Israel? He claims 
 To be descendant of the royal blood 
 Of Judah. If this prince be here 
 Let him appear at once, or we retire. 
 
 David comes to c. 
 
 David. Most princely guests, David Ben Israel 
 Gives cordial welcome to ye all. 
 Charles. Thou Ben Israel? 
 
 David. Thus am I known among my tribe — this "herd" 
 Of Jacob. 
 
 Hawkley. Oh fool, that I have been \ 
 
 David. Nay, 'twas this stinking gabardine that did 
 
 Offend thy perfumed nose. It smelt of swine. 
 
 Good Levi, take it, if it has a smell 
 
ACT 2.] BEN ISRAEL. 23 " 
 
 i 
 
 Of swine, then bury it till it be sweet ! 
 
 As spices of Arabia. ' IMs but {throivs off gabardine and gives it to \ 
 
 Levi, discovering a princely Jewish costume.^ \ 
 Our outside skin, and much offendetn. 
 
 Hawkley. Ah ! This is your revenge, old man, on me; J 
 
 I will be even with you yet. dog of a Jew. {^Attempts to leave, but is I 
 
 interrupted by David, who waves him back. ) * 
 
 David. Stay, my Lord of Hawkley! ' 
 
 I hold some bonds of thine, which, if pressed home .. 
 
 For settlement, would send thee through the world \ 
 
 A beggar lord. They fell due yestermorn. 1 
 
 Leave my poor dwelling thus, to-morrow I '\ 
 
 The settlement will press. The other day j 
 
 Thou spurn'dst Ben Israel, and trampled him i 
 
 Beneath thy haughty feet, and call'd him dog. ; 
 
 'Twas then this maiden for her people stood \ 
 
 As Judith might, who smote the chief \ 
 Of proud Assyria's host. 
 Ben Israel thanks this lord that his outrage 
 
 Did show him such a picture of his race, ., 
 
 And in his gratitude renews the bonds. \ 
 
 But if, hereafter thou but touchest e'en the hem | 
 Of any of my people's robes, ay, though it be 
 
 The least of all my tribe, I will exact • 
 
 The recompense to the last farthing's due. \ 
 
 Hawkley. {aside) Damnation. ] 
 
 Rachel, {to U'alter) Oh what a change is wrought in him ! j 
 
 Now looks he, whom we knew but yesterday -- 
 
 As tlie old peddler of the court, as I { 
 
 Have pictured those of that grand line who reign'd \ 
 
 As kings in Israel. • 
 
 Sir W. Even Lord Hawkley 's pride is cowed beneath '! 
 
 His native majesty, though he fain would j 
 
 Confront him with a show of scorn. ' 
 
 David, (addressing company') I have invited you to-night to hear ,• 
 
 The story of Ben Israel's chequered life. < 
 
 Chas. Thy history ? , 
 
 David. And to give judgment on a cause that sits \ 
 
 As would a mountain on the old man's heart. \ 
 
 Rachel, {to Walter) I shudder with forbodingof I know not what, 1 
 
 Yet feel th-ere is a fate to night that points to us. ^ 
 
 David. E'en like his more illustrious sires, David j 
 Hath dreamt the time must come when Judah's sons 
 
 Would hear the " Comfort ye, my people" swell ' 
 
24 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 2. 
 
 Like hallelujahs from the nations' tongues. - 
 
 Emboldened by the spirit of this new-born age, ] 
 
 He sent young Benjamin, his only son, .■ 
 
 To Spain, where for seven centuries we dwelt. ' 
 
 Alas! he but returned to bear the curse anew. 
 
 The dreaded Inquisition, in its throes of death, \ 
 
 Seized him — the Jew— with savage joy to find ] 
 
 One victim left on whom it could expend 
 
 Its priestly rage. Oh, Benjamin, my son, my son! i 
 
 Rachel. Your story lacerates my heart. The thought ^ 
 
 Of all our people's woes my Jewish blood \ 
 Stirs to its depths; and, wouian though I am, 
 
 1 would I had the power to avenge. ' 
 
 David {recovering from his etnotion). So felt Ben Israel, maiden, I 
 
 once, when like j 
 
 The cedar of famed Lebanon, "! 
 
 He tower'd amoug his people in his strength ; ; 
 
 But, child, long suffering hath chastened him. 
 
 Rachel Good, princely heart; oh, how I honor thee! • 
 
 David. Sire, my children, terror-stricken, fled from Spain, ; 
 
 And Rachel, in her insane love and fear, j 
 
 Hid Benjamin e'en from his father's search. j 
 
 Chas. But found you not your children, princely Jew? \ 
 
 David. Nay, sire; they sleep together, side by side. i 
 
 Yet hath the God of Jacob blessed my search. \ 
 
 Maiden, thou wear'st about thy neck a charm : 
 
 Placed by thy dying mother at thy birth. • i 
 
 Rach. I do ! 'Tis here ! . \ 
 
 David. It IS the same ! 
 
 Lost child, come to thy grandsire's arms ! '• 
 
 Rach. Grandfather ! oh, my grandfather ! : 
 
 Chas. David Ben Israel's grandchild ! 1 
 
 Jews. The princess of our captivity ! -i 
 
 David. Sire, no longer Rachel the singer, '. 
 
 But Rachel, heiress of Ben Israel. 
 
 Sit. W. Good heaven ! Then was her opera inspired. 
 
 Rachel. Oh, grandfather, your looks grow solemn and the lines - 
 
 Of pain furrow your brow. Oh, what can come 1 
 To cloud our world of joy ? 
 
 Sir W. Most reverend sir, if what the king did say \ 
 
 Of my betrothal with my cousin be the cause % 
 
 Which troubles you, 'tis all removed; ^^ 
 
ACT 2.] BEN ISRAEL. - 25 ■ 
 
 My family give consent that I shall wed ' ; 
 
 Her whom I loved ere any of her kin '; 
 
 Knew of her birth. ^ 
 
 David. Judah hath told me all. 'Tis this which makes • 
 
 The mountain of my grief. j 
 
 Sir W. Rachel, what does this mean ? -■ 
 
 Rack. Grandfather, what does this forbode ? •; 
 
 David {to Waltef~). A greater barrier hath come between \ 
 
 Thee and this maid. i 
 
 Rack. Oh, no, no ! \ 
 
 Say not so. 'Tis not possible there now .' 
 Can rise a barrier between our loves. 
 
 Dav. I've said it, child. At first 'twas but a covenant 
 
 Which they who made it could revoke e'en with a breath. 1 
 
 Rack. Oh, sir, if two great families of this proud '] 
 
 Old land, forgetting her despised descent, i 
 Open their arms to take the Jewess home 
 To their warm hearts, what can arise to part us now ? 
 
 David. A hundred generations of thy dead ! 
 
 [f this young noble's family have forgot ^ 
 
 The branded brow we've worn down through the past, i 
 
 When all lands were as hades to our race ; ; 
 
 If they forget our banned origin, ] 
 
 Thy grandfather does not, nor does he, child, \ 
 
 Forget thy ancestors were princes, '-. 
 
 And did reign as kings in Israel ; 
 Ere his proud family had a name on earth. 
 
 Those hundred generations, child, through me, i 
 Last of our sacred royal line, declare 
 
 The Christian and the Jewess must not mate ! ' 
 
 Rachel. O Walter, now I comprehend it all. \ 
 These generations of my dead rise up 
 
 Before me even here as from the grave. * ? 
 
 Their deep solemnity appalls my sense. \ 
 
 David. Daughter of Ben Israel, ] 
 I do conjure thee bow to their dread will ! 
 
 Rach. The curse ! The curse ! 'T has fallen on my head ; \ 
 
 And 'twas thy lips that did pronounce this doom. 1 
 
 David. It is their will, not mine. It must be done ! \ 
 
 Rachel. Oh, grandfather, when you did say that we , 
 
 Must be divorced, it was the curse to me. ' 
 
 Sir J^. And to me. 
 
 David. Divorced ? ' 
 
26 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 2. ] 
 
 Rachel. Yes, yes. I said divorced, for love hath made 
 
 Us mates. Once did I save his life and nursed ,j 
 
 Him through a fever when his soul was wing'd i 
 
 r To take departure on his dying breath j 
 
 'Which scarce did dim the glass. I wooed his soul \ 
 
 As by a magic touch and drew it back to earth. ! 
 
 Then, woman-like, I loved the life I saved, j 
 And garnered that dear life in mine ! 
 
 Grandfather, he is mine. Take hmi not from me ; > 
 
 Make not all my future one dark blank — j 
 
 Blank now, — blank in the great hereafter ! {throwing herself at ; 
 
 David's /<f^/.) '\ 
 
 Oh, bless our union ! O, my grandsire, bless ! J 
 
 Give us thy blessing ; see, 1 kneel for it. "\ 
 
 David, {bowed with grief ^ Rachel! Rachel! '; 
 
 Rach. Revoke this doom of separation, 
 
 , 'Tis more than I can bear ! 'Tis you that speak \ 
 ♦ For all our dead — you who stand over me 
 
 I In solemn grief bowed to the earth. ^ 
 
 ' O, let it be your blessing; and revoke this curse. \ 
 
 David. (^Turning and pointing Rachel to the Bishops and Rabbis. \ 
 
 Rachel quickly fises and turns imploringly to them.) ''] 
 
 See, child, I have gathered these to judge . \ 
 
 For us. Speak, holy men. There stands the last ', 
 
 Of all our royal house. If she now weds • 
 The Christian knight then David's name will die 
 Forever out of Israel. Speak ye, now, 
 
 Judges of our people ; and speak ye, J 
 
 The judges of the Gentiles ; have not I \ 
 
 Pronounced your fiat when I do declare \ 
 
 The Jewess and the Christian must not mate ? \ 
 
 Rabbis and Bishops. You have. {Rachel staggers but is caught \ 
 
 by Walter. ^ \ 
 
 Sir. W. Old man, you've struck her to the heart. ; 
 
 David. Peace, boy ! Think you mine is not stricken too ? /- 
 
 Rach. (reviving) You've heard the judgment, Walter ! They have i 
 
 said ! 
 
 We are divorced. I go — I go. i 
 
 David. Rachel, Rachel, where goest thou ? '\ 
 
 Rach. {turning upon him passionate lyy Out— out ! old man, bear- ^ 
 
 ing the curse your li[)S \ 
 
 And theirs pronounced. j 
 
 He was as father, mother, race and faith to me, J 
 
 And ye have taken him from me. I 
 
ACT 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 27 
 
 I do accept the judgment 
 
 Thus most awfully pronounced upon my head. 
 I go— I go, bearing through the earth my curse. 
 Igo!— Igo! 
 
 David, Rachel ! Rachel ! 
 
 Rack. Follow me not ! Hinder me not ! 
 The doom'd are sacred as the bless'd. {Picture.') 
 
 END OF ACT II. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 Scene i. — 7/z<? Jewish Quartet in London. A view of the street. 
 Exterior of Ben Israel' s house. 
 
 Enter Levi and Rebecca, his wife. 
 
 Levi. By our sacred tribe, I would that Israel 
 Had left his bones in antique Babylon, 
 Ere thus our sons and daughters should 
 Be damned by Gentile mixing. 
 
 Red. But Rachel loves the Christian. 
 
 Levi. And I do hate the Christian. 
 
 Reb. Levi, thou art wrong. 
 
 Levi. What, wrong to pay my debts ? 
 
 Reb. The child would die without the Christian's love. 
 
 Levi. Bah ! Why should she die ? Hath she not found 
 Her people ? 
 
 Jieb. And lost her love \ 
 
 Levi. 'Tis like ye all. Name love to a woman, 
 And she will sell her soul to please 
 Her fancy. Beguile a woman's ear with love, 
 And she will sell her people and betray 
 Her people's God. 
 
 Reb. But chance, yea, fate almost, good Levi, made 
 
 Our Rachel Christian. Her Jewish mother dying 
 
 Her Christian foster mother in her love. 
 Baptized the child. 
 
 Levi. Thou stick'st a dagger in my heart ! 
 Would she had laid our Rachel in her grave 
 Ere baptized her unto the Nazarine. 
 
28 BEN ISRAEL. [aCT 3. 
 
 Enter Annetti as he is speaking. 
 
 Ann. Thou art a brute for saying so. 
 
 Levi. Bah ! Thou art a hussy and knowest not 
 The weight of this grave matter. But thy mother did 
 With lavish kindness rear the child ; 
 So thou may'st say e'en as it pleaseth thee. 
 
 Enter Gabriel, with ribbons in his coat as for a wedding day- 
 Gab. Hurrah ! {business') 
 
 Levi. What ! hath the fool the Christian's legion in him? 
 Gab, No, Levi. Two horns before churching. Two horns only 
 —two horns of good old English twenty-one, or I'm a Jew. 
 
 Levi. Get thee to the Christian's quarter, knave ; 
 Thou hast no business here. 
 
 Gab. Choke down thy choler, for I bring thee news. Rachel is 
 coming home to-day. 
 
 Levi. There's money for thy news. 
 
 Gab. ( Testing it on the pavement) By a Christian's conscience i^ 
 hath a kingly tone. Jew, thou art a Christian— a golden Christian— 
 a right well begotten Christian. 
 
 Levi. Let me pass. {Leaves in disgust and goes into Ben Israel's 
 
 house.) 
 Gab. Gold, Annetti, gold. 
 Ann. The wedding ring? Let me see it. 
 Gab. No, a Charlie; but a golden one. 
 Ann. That for your Charlie ! I thought it was the ring. 
 Gab. But think of golden gifts from a Jew. My master shall 
 «iarry the Jewess. 
 
 Reb. Yea, Rachel shall marry the Christian. Father Abraham 
 forgive me for saying so. But my master David cannot live without 
 his grandchild. 
 
 Ann. Nor Rachel without her mate. 
 
 Reb. Here come our maidens forth with songs to greet her. 
 
 Hebrew men and maidens come out of Ben Israel's house singing. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 Maidens, tune our golden harps 
 
 An sing as in days of yore; 
 Young men, make merry in a stranger land, 
 
 And mourn for our homes no more. 
 
 Chorus: All lands be our home, make merry! 
 
 We'll roam no more from this welcome shore! 
 All lands be our home— make merry. 
 
ACT 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 29 
 
 Maidens, strike a joyful strain, 
 And. bring in our jubilee; 
 
 Young men, make merry in a native land 
 
 For this shall our birthplace be. ' 1 
 
 Chorus: All lands be our home, etc. I 
 
 Enter Rachel and T)XYm, followed by Sir Walter, Judah, Charles, | 
 
 Hawkley, and the Templar Men. Last Old Meg enters. 1 
 
 David. Be this thy native land, O, Israel ! 
 
 Chas. Gad's death ! well said, David. \ 
 
 Hebrews. A jubilee ! a jubilee ! 
 
 Rack. Yes, thanks to him ( Walter^ and to the king. \ 
 
 David. Men of my tribe ! One year ago to-day i 
 
 You did confirm Ben Israel's judgment • 
 
 That Rachel and the Christian must not mate. \ 
 
 Out from our presence went the maid, bearing \ 
 
 The curse which we pronounced. \ 
 
 Rack. But he did turn it into joy. {indicating Walter.) ' 
 
 O, men of Judah ! There stands one who since ^ . 'j 
 That night hath stormed the British Parliament 
 
 With glorious eloquence upon the cause ! 
 
 Of our long suffering people. ■ 
 
 Ah ! was not this a grand revenge? \ 
 
 For he went out with me bearing the curse \ 
 
 Of hates, which to our race hath brought ages of woe. | 
 
 Sir W. Revenge ? And for your priceless love i 
 
 Which hath ennobled me? But you are right. ; 
 
 The curse did fall on me as well. 'Twas then \ 
 
 I felt the burden of your people's wrongs. \ 
 
 'Twas then I swore in my despair j 
 
 That never should my voice be hushed, ' 
 
 Until the Jew with Christian ranked as equal. x 
 
 Dav. Young man, ingratitude is not my people's sin, ^ 
 
 We love not, for we have not been loved, — \ 
 
 Trust not, because we have not been trusted 1 \ 
 
 But thou shalt find the Jew is just : ' 
 
 That he will pay his debt where love is due ' 
 
 With more exactness than his debts of hate. • 
 
 Be this my bond of love and witness of my word : ( Taking Rachel's \ 
 
 hand and giving it to Sir Walter.^ \ 
 
 Take her ! Ben Israel revokes the curse ! : 
 
 Let all pronounce on them the blessings of our fathers ! j 
 
 Chas. Ben Israel, knowing thee I wonder not. ! 
 
 Thy race hath been the sampler of a world. \ 
 
 \ 
 \ 
 
30 
 
 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 3. 
 
 Dav. Didst know the Jew, my king, as he shall yet 
 Be known, thou shouldst confess my pattern is but poor. 
 My people's sampler, sire, is their Fidelity ! 
 
 Sir W, Shame on us Christians— shame ! for we have made 
 That grdiudi fidelity the people's curse. 
 
 Vavid. Sir Walter, bid thy uncle Courtney meet 
 Me and my grandchild here to-night. My gold 
 Shall free thy kinsman's lands of debt, Rachel 
 Shall give the cancelled deed as dower to her 
 Who did release thee from thy family covenant 
 To wed thy Hebrew love. 
 
 Rash. Thus love redeems us from the curse of hates. 
 
 Meg. (as they are going off) Not if my hate wins I {close in) 
 
 Scene 2.— Exterior of the King's Arms Inn. Gabrjel and Annetti 
 come out of the Inn. 
 
 Gab. Now if logic be logic, and blessing be blessing, and mar- 
 riage goeth not in crooked paths, to trip true love up, then cometh 
 we out of Dad Bramble's house with the blessing of our posterity on 
 our heads. 
 
 Ann. Fie ! Gabriel. Never mind about the posterity. 
 Gab. Ah ! But I do mind the posterity, Annetti. What would 
 you have me, a half-begotien father— an unnatural ancestor that loveth 
 not his offspring ? 
 
 Ann. Do you understand that, saucebox? {stops his mouth) 
 Gab. Thou tiast stopped the mouth of the lambs and I will stop 
 the mouth of their dam. {kisses her) 
 Ann. Well, now, I rather like that. 
 Gab. So do I. 
 
 Old Meg rushes across their path, l. i e. 
 Meg, Alarm ! alarm ! The Jews have done a murder ! {Exit^. i e ) 
 Gab. 'Tis the she Fiend ! Murder ! murder ! 
 Ann. Hold your tongue, fool, 'twas only Old Meg. 
 Gab. What! have I been scared by that Papist hag? Well here 
 comes her brood, who will not frighten me. 
 
 Papists rush in. 
 
 Pap. The Jews have done a murder. Murder and the Jews ! 
 
 Gab {pitching into them) Murder and the Papists ! Hurrah for 
 the Jews ! Down with the Papists ! {He drives them off l. i e., and 
 is followed off by Annetti. 
 
 
ACT 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 31 
 
 Meg returns with Hawkley. 
 
 Hawk. It was not done too soon. 
 
 Meg. Soon enough— soon enough, my son, to trap the Jew. 
 
 Hawk. 'Tis his crafty nephew that I fear. He knows how I hate 
 his tribe, and has urged old Ben Israel to foreclose the mortgage on 
 ray castle and estates to make a dower of them for Rachel 
 
 Meg Aha! but he knew not old Meg. We've trapped them and 
 feir Walter Templar will be missing. Bat we'll do more yet— more 
 yet. A storm must be raised in England against the Tews or they will 
 rule the kingdom by their gold. So said the holy fathers. 
 
 Hawk. Yes; the Jesuits hate the Jews for they want not the res- 
 toration of the Catholic power in England. That plotting uncle of 
 the Jewess-he who serves the arch-heretic, William of Orange, aims 
 to break off Charles' alliance with Louis. 
 
 Meg We shall see! we shall see ! Old Meg can plot as well as 
 AAr^. -^ ,""• ^^^^ ^^y witnesses prepared to testify that Sir 
 Walter Templar was murdered by a band of Jews, who did out^ 
 number them qmte two to one. Old Meg will do her part We'll 
 catch them in the trap. Curse them all-heretics and Jews. * Come, 
 my son, to work. {^Exeunt r. i e.) ' 
 
 Scene 3.— 77^^ Quarters of the Jews again. Night. Ben Israel's 
 House Illuminated. Chorus of men and maidens come forth ft cm 
 the house, singing. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 t^ART SECONB. 
 
 Virgins, light your well trimmed lamps- 
 Be brides as in days of yore; 
 
 Young men, go wooing in a stranger land, 
 And sigh for your loves no more. 
 
 Chorus: All lands be our home— make merry! 
 
 We'll roam no more from this welcome shore- 
 All lands be our home— make merry. 
 
 j. Virgins, forth to meet the groom— 
 
 K Return with our jubilee ! 
 
 I..' Young men be wedding in a native land, 
 
 -b or this shall our birthplace be. 
 
 Enter Hawkley and Meg, r. i e. 
 Hawk. There must not be half work to-night. 
 
32 BEN ISRAEI,. [act 3. | 
 
 -i 
 Meg. There shall not be, my son. ] 
 
 Hawk. Destroy the Jewish quarter and we save 
 My castle, Meg. Burn down this house to-night, ' 
 
 And, in the morn, the old Jew's mortgages .• 
 
 Will be but tinder for the match to fire ^ 
 
 The den of every Jew in London. • 
 
 Meg. There's many a spendthrift lord will thank us for the work. ; 
 
 Hawk Before a month the frightened tribe will fly J 
 
 From England's shores again. ] 
 
 But canst depend on Gabriel ? 
 
 Meg, Aye; I have cozened his dull wits. He thinks his master ' 
 murdered by the Jews, and like a maniac cries through the streets, i 
 the Jews ! Revenge ! The devil and the Jews I I must away to lend ' 
 him aid. (^Exeunt "9.. 2 e.) 
 
 Enter David with Levi, d. Q^from the Jewish quarter. \ 
 
 j 
 
 Lev. Trust not the Christian's love, my master. 'Tis 1 
 
 A snare. The curses of our wrongs alight on them. I 
 
 Dav. Nay, Levi, curse them not. \ 
 
 Levi. Have they not been a blight upon thy life? ] 
 
 Dav. It is the heritage of all our race to suffer wrongs* . ; 
 
 Levi. Hark 1 what cries were those? (^Cries heard.) \ 
 
 In, in, my master; for some bloody work \ 
 
 Is near our quarter. i 
 
 Dav. Nay, nay, good Levi. 'Tis the young men's shouts, \ 
 
 Who with their lord have come to celebrate j 
 
 His marriage with my child. \ 
 
 Levi. I trust not the Christian's love. \ 
 
 David. Ha f our people do illuminate. {Cries.) ■ ^,i 
 
 Levi. Those cries again ! 
 
 Dav. Were shouts of joy good Levi. 
 
 Levi. I'd rather feast upon the Christian's hate 
 Than sup his love. 
 
 Dav. In, Levi, now; and bid my household forth 
 To welcome those who come in love to us. {Cries. ) 
 
 Levi. Then hath their love strange tongues. 
 The curse of all our tribe alight on them ! {angry cries.') 
 
 Dav. {listening to the cries) Methinks as they come near those 
 shouts do seem 
 More like anathemas which have so oft 
 Rung in my ears in other lands. 
 Levi! 
 
^^T 3.] BEN ISRAEL. ^ 33 / 
 
 Levi. In, in, my master ! \ 
 
 _Davtd When priests have raised the cry against the Tew, ^ 
 
 Ihe multitude have caught it up in rage , 
 
 Then hunting us like hounds in every street, 
 
 Have driven us as sheep to slaughter, ' i 
 
 And our homes have sacked, {multitude now heard raging near M 1 
 
 l^evi, see what this tumult means. {Exit Levi) ^ ] 
 
 A Cry {without) Murder ! Murder ! 1 
 
 Bav. The God of Jacob be our refuge then. \ 
 
 Enter Sir Tudah. ' 
 
 \ 
 
 Dav Judah, what means it ? ; 
 
 Sir Judah. As yet I cannot fully comprehend. j 
 
 Sir Walter's tenantry came raging through , 
 
 The streets crying, Revenge upon the Jews ! -^ 
 
 We'll drive the Jews from England. ; 
 
 David. Now, by the God of Jacob, 'tis most fit j 
 They thus repay my kind intents. >;.•> ; 
 
 What have I done of wrong ? I had redeemed ; 
 
 Their lands from him who hath supplanted them.. \ 
 
 Enter Charles. 
 
 Chas. Fly, David, fly ! I'll aid you to escape. : 
 My guards disperse the mob who were 
 By thousands gathering round your house. 
 
 David. Fly? Wherefore should I fly? The guilty fly 
 And not the innocent, when they have nerve 
 
 To meet the consequence of other's deeds, j 
 
 And ask as I do now— what have I done ? ^ 
 
 What is the wrong whereof I am accused ? { 
 
 Enter Hawkley followed by Meg, I 
 Hawk. The murder of Sir Walter Templar ' * 
 
 ^ach {coming forth from house-) Murdered*! Walter murdered ? '' 
 No, no ! It cannot be I It is not I ^) 
 
 Meg It is, thou Jewish witch f ' 
 Sir Judah. Hawkley this is foul play. 
 
 Meg. Ha I Thine, wizard, and thy Jews. i 
 
 Jiach. The storm hath burst and on thy a^ed head ^ 
 
 The thunderbolt alights ! \ 
 
 Would it had stricken mine alone, not thine ! ■ 
 
 Dav. Alas, the woe ! Ever the woe ! i 
 
 Hawk. Your Majesty, I cannot quell the mob. i 
 
34 . BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 3. 
 
 The Templar men demand Ben Israel 
 To answer for the murder of their lord. 
 
 Rack. Said'st murdered by the Jews ? 
 My grandsire's hand bathed in the blood 
 Of him I loved ? Look at that grand old man 
 In grief for us, oblivious of himself: 
 Sits guilt enthroned there? Or is it not 
 The picture of a man who fain would bear 
 The burden of the woes of those he loved ? 
 
 Chas. It is. David you answer not. 
 
 Dav. What shall I answer? I have been as dumb, 
 For I did find no matter for my speech. 
 Except, Charles Stuart, matter not mine own, 
 And shadows of dark deeds of others born. 
 I will not further speak till I have heard 
 The circumstances of the charge. 
 
 Chas. David, 'tis said you set men of your tribe 
 To murder Templar. That your fair pretense, 
 To wed him to this maid, was but to break 
 Her to your will. Widow'd ere wed 'twould be 
 In vain for her to hold against your fixed 
 Intent, that she should marry with a Jew. 
 
 Dav. Now grows the damned lie into rank form 
 And dangerous circumstance. Go on ! I list. 
 I see there's more to come against the Jew. 
 
 Chas. Your plot was overheard. 
 
 Dav. Oh ! damned lie again. Go on ! 
 
 Chas. You went abroad to-day. ^ 
 
 Dav. Ay to my kinsman, Levi's, where I should 
 Have met Sir Walter with the moneys. 
 But he came not. 
 
 Chas. He came but went not out. To hide the crime 
 They say you set on fire old Levi's house, 
 Which is in ashes now. 
 
 Dav. My kinsman's house ! Who saw this deed? 
 
 Meg. I, Jew. Old Levi and thyself did it. 
 
 Rach. O, Walter, Walter ! Thus the fowler hath 
 Ensnared us all. 
 
 Dav. Here stand I, then, as stands the stricken oak, 
 By lightning singed from crown to root, 
 Whose railings 'gainst the stroke of fate 
 Would shame its sorrow, which should have no speech. 
 Its blasted majesty, which doth outlive 
 
ACT 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 
 
 35 
 
 Its life, shall better speak for it than words, ] 
 
 And justice shall be done it, e'en in death ! \ 
 
 Come Rachel ! {He is going of to give himself up. ) ! 
 
 Chas. David, what would ye? 
 
 David. I go to meet my chains ! \ 
 
 Rack. Stay, grandfather. This is conspiracy. {He Pently resists ^ 
 
 her but she holds him back.) i 
 
 Nay /will out and meet the Templar men alone. \ 
 
 They dare not touch her whom their master loved. ] 
 
 I will proclaim the truth to them, 
 
 U' alter is not murdered / . \ 
 
 Omnes. Not murdered ? i 
 
 Rach. I have the proof here in myself! \ 
 
 I have received no warning of his death / \ 
 
 Perchance he is in bonds, while we are bowed ] 
 
 Beneath this stroke,— ay, victims all of deep '\ 
 
 Black hearted men. But Walter is not dead ! * \ 
 
 Hawk. Not dead ? ^ 
 
 Rach. {to Hawkley) Beware ! i 
 
 I see the shadows traced by thy base hand, i 
 
 But deeds of darkness wrought ^ 
 
 Shall on the housetop be proclaimed. {Exit Rachel with Annettl> j 
 
 £>av. I'll follow her. What matters it for me? ^ 
 
 If they do thirst for Hebrew blood, \ 
 
 They shall have mine. {Exit David.) : 
 
 (Hawkley and Meg steal of.} \ 
 
 Chas. Judah, you should have followed him. ^ 
 
 Sir/udah. It would offend his princely mood. ^ 
 
 He IS most sensitive. When braving wrath j 
 
 To shield his race I've seen him awe a multitude. I 
 
 T P"^* ^Ir^'^ ^ ^^^^ ^g^^mt the Jews, my brother James \ 
 
 xs head and front of it {he looks of) i 
 
 'Sdeath ! They drive thy people like a flock of sheep. \ 
 
 Mob. [without) Death to the Jews ! 1 
 
 6'/>>^^/,. {drawing his sword) Then be it hate for hate and j 
 
 blood for blood ! {Exit Sir ]uT,Ku followed by the Kmo.) 1 
 
 Enter Levi wounded. \ 
 
 Levi. The Christian's steel hath stricken deep j 
 
 And Reuben, my son, is slain. \ 
 
 Where is my master David ? i 
 
 The Gentile hath betrayed him. \ 
 
36 BEN ISRAEL. [aCT 3. 
 
 Enter Hebrews, men, women and children in flight. Ben Israel 
 
 staggers after them with blood on his brow. ; 
 
 Dav. {speaking to the mob without as he enters) Smite David yet 
 
 again, but spare his people ! {turning to the Hebrews who are gath- 
 ered around Levi) ' 
 
 I am not what I once had been ; 
 
 In thy defence, O, Jacob ! 
 
 Reb. Levi wounded ? " ■ 
 
 Levi^ And our son Reuben slain. : 
 
 Dav. Levi wounded and the boy Reuben slain ? \ 
 
 Then hath the evil day returned. \ 
 
 Enter Charles, who notices gash on David's brou. 
 
 Chas. David art wounded deep ? 
 
 Dav> {awakened from his lament and passionately) Ay, in the stab 
 that reached old Levi's heart. \ 
 
 Wounds? What have I wounds? I felt them not. j 
 
 Ben Israel's wound is in his people's wrongs. \ 
 
 {touching his brow) This had been naught though cloven to the chin j 
 Had they been spared. I 
 
 Chas. Give but some proof of innocence and I j 
 
 Will side with thee, Ben Israel. \ 
 
 Dav. What, Jewish innocence? i 
 
 To Christian judgment 'twould be damning guilt ! 
 
 What would it weigh though I did heap \ 
 
 Volumes of protests 'gainst this charge? : 
 
 Am I not forejudged and foredoom' d ? 
 
 Chas. By Heaven, no ! You do wrong us there ! ' 
 
 David. By Heaven, yes ! And I do wrong ye not. 
 What can I bring except the murdered man 
 Alive to prove I killed him not ? That were 
 Not possible if he be dead. If not, then is this charge 
 Conspiracy against the Jew, such as . \ 
 
 Our people oft have borne, that Christian nobles — ^ 
 
 Ay, and Christian kings, might spoil our substance .j 
 
 And ourselves drive out to other lands, 
 To give them quittance of our bonds. ; 
 
 Chas. I say, by Heaven, you wrong us, Jew ! \ 
 
 David. And I, by Heaven, I wrong ye not, O king. ■ 
 
 Enter Rachel, passionately beating back the Templar men, who are \ 
 headed by Gabriel and with Meg urging them on, 
 
 Rach. Back ! back ! Touch not his hallowed head. 
 
ACT 3.] BEN ISRAEL. 37 
 
 Lay not a finger on that sacred man 
 
 Whose majesty of soul rebukes this violence ! 
 
 Meg. Hang the Jew. ' 
 
 Gab. He murdered my master. 
 
 Rack. Back ! back, I say ! 
 Appease your wrath on me ] Take her who loved 
 Your master more than all your loves for him 
 Though heaped in one. Vent your fierce rage 
 On her who had this day been bride of him 
 You served, but ye shall not e'en touch 
 That guiltless man ; In pieces tear me first ! 
 
 Enter Lord Hawkley. 
 
 Hawk. Quick, your Majesty. The Jewish Quarter is on fire. 
 There is but bare escape. 
 
 E7iter Sir Judah. 
 
 Sir Judah. There's none, villain ! From end to end the fire meets. 
 
 Meg comes cut of Ben IsraeVs house exulting. Fire seen pouring 
 through windows. 
 
 Meg. Aha ! Behold, Ben Israel's house. 'Twill be their funeral 
 pile. In With the Jewess witch, 
 
 David, {advancing with Rachel— manner sublime. ^ Come what 
 will, why let it come! 
 Our people's trust is in the God of Israel. 
 
 TABLEAUX.— 7"/^^ Jewish Quarter on fire. Hebrew peopk 
 kneeling around theit Prince. 
 
 END OF ACT III. 
 
^8 
 
 BEN ISRAEL. [A€T 4. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 i 
 
 Scene i.— discovered. A court: Lard Chief Justice presidhig, sup- 1 
 
 potted by two assistant judges; near them Charles II. in a chair \ 
 
 of state for the occasion. Present: Jews and yeomanry of Sir , 
 
 Walter Templar. The trial. ! 
 
 Ch^J. Let the prisoner, David Ben Israel, be brought into court, j 
 
 Enter David, in the costume of a prince of his people. \ 
 
 Chas. See, my lord, his tottering steps. This is the third day's , 
 ordeal. Let him be seated where he stands. {David seats himself.} : 
 
 jDav. Ben Israel thanks ye for this grace. \ 
 
 Ch. J. David Ben Israel, have you no witness? 
 
 Dav. I have, my lord i Mv people's history. 
 
 Which, in the volumed ages of the past, \ 
 
 Speaks like the awful voice of Sinai ^ 
 
 Of what the Jew hath been, what he hath borne. \ 
 
 {Rising.) O, judge,— | 
 When Europe was unto the world like some 
 
 Huge rock, just blasted from its native bed, ■ 
 
 The Jews, the superstructure uf society i 
 
 Reared for their savage masters and did mould ; 
 
 This civilization which ye have to-day. ; 
 
 Our law, our genius and our wisdom, kept ; 
 And garnered through the ages down, we gave 
 
 As oft our blood, the precious cement \ 
 Of this fabric raised. 
 
 Your cities and your marls of trade, ) 
 
 Ay, the commerce of a world, were first the work \ 
 
 Of the despised Jew. Yet when we dreamt \ 
 
 To find our homes in lands we made to thrive, i 
 Our everlasting exodus has come, 
 
 And massacre on massacre been crowned — , 
 
 Till men have taken lives most dear to them j 
 . In their despair,— mothers with offspring lept 
 
 Into the sea, or down some horrid precipice, \ 
 
 To 'scape the human monsters who pursued, , "; 
 
 Less merciful than death. I 
 
 And thus have perished millions of my race : , 
 
 And all because the Jew is but the Jew ! j 
 
 Oft have I heard, e'en in my time, the cry ^^ I 
 
 Which rang the other day, " Bring out the Jew ! " \ 
 
 Yet hath that self-same Jew been innocent as I. ■ 
 
\ 
 ( 
 
 .ACT 4] BEN ISRAEL. 39 \ 
 
 1 
 
 My people's case is mine; my circumstantial crime ] 
 
 As theirs; so I have called them up before ] 
 
 This judgment seat, my witnesses, and their ] 
 
 Examples make my advocates. ) 
 Now judge ye all, for I am but the Jew, 
 
 •Guilty or innocent, not in mine act, ; 
 
 But in your finding. (David resumes his seat) > 
 
 Ch. J ^^'^ Israel, the Court cannot gainsay your truths^ \ 
 
 Yet stands the charge of murder still direct i 
 
 Against yourself. j 
 
 Rachel enters the Court amidst murmurings. 
 
 Each. Hold ! Sir Walter is not dead ! \ 
 
 Shouts from the Templar Men. 
 
 Ch. J. The proof, lady. 
 
 Rach. I am the proof. There is a prophecy \ 
 
 In me that Walter lives. Yea, he shall come \ 
 
 To prove my words. O, I implore ye, do not pass j 
 
 False jndgment on this reverend head. ' ] 
 
 I am a Hebrew woman, and my race ' 
 
 Hath second sight. If my beloved were dead, < 
 
 Then would he come to me. I should see him — ^ 
 
 Hear him. He is not dead. I know he is not dead. \ 
 ' Ch. J. Poor lady. 
 
 Rach. Ha 1 Heard you not that voice ? 1 
 
 Chas. What voice ? 
 
 Rach. It cried^ hold the judgment 1 [ 
 
 Ben Israel is innocent 1 i 
 
 Chas. Her grief hath overthrown her mind. I 
 
 Rach. I am not mad, nor is this good old man \ 
 
 Guiltv of taking life. The spirits of my race ; 
 
 Tell you, through me, that Walter is not dead. * ^ 
 
 See, grandfather, your judges weep. The chains • 
 
 Have fallen. Sirs, give way. We'll to our home. ;; 
 
 Nay, nay: you shall not part us, sirs. ] 
 
 If justice be not here as Heaven's own gift, | 
 
 A kingdom's ransom take for justice to the Jew ! i 
 
 My lords, pronounce ! Is not Ben Israel free ? \ 
 
 Ch. J. Bear her from the Court. , | 
 
 Rachel, [breaking from the officers and throwing herself at the foot \ 
 
 of the judgment seat.) Here will I kneel for justice till the doom ^ 
 be past ! 
 
 Nay touch me not ! Go on, my lord! \ 
 
40 BEN ISRAEL. [ACT 4. 
 
 Ch. J. Gentlemen of the jury, is the prisoner guilty or not guilty ? 
 
 Foreman. Guilty, my lord I (David rising.) ^ 
 
 Ch. J. David Ben Israel, the penalty is death. You will be taken ! 
 
 back from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution ; i 
 
 and may God have mercy on your soul. j 
 
 David. Art thou a Daniel, that thou judgest thus? j 
 
 Thou prayest to Him for mercy, but yourself ■ 
 There in the judgment seat no mercy give. 
 
 We pray'd for justice, but ye gave it not. \ 
 Why mock ye us with mercy which we ask 
 
 Not for ? The Jew is at the bar for justice ! ^ 
 
 Will ye give us justice ? {silence in the court.) j 
 
 Thy silence is most potent answer. \ 
 
 Take back thy prayer for mercy I 
 O, thou unjust judge. I will myself appeal 
 
 To Heaven. But ask for justice ! Justice! \^Ficture.'\ \ 
 
 Scene 2. — The Jewish Quarter. Levi enters, still feeble from his 
 wounds. 
 
 Levi. The Christian's steel still festers in me. 
 And Reuben slain. My son r my son \ 
 Would they had slain thy father and spared thee, 
 Reuben, my son ! my son r {Enter Lord- Hawklev.) 
 Ha ! Villain ! Christian ! Dog ! 
 It was thy steel that killed my son. 
 
 Hawk. Dog to thee, Jew. Yes; it was my steel 
 That killed thy son; but what of it ? 
 His was but Jew flesh. Dost want thy pound 
 Of Christian flesh to pay it back. 
 
 Levi. Ay, dog of a Christian \ My pound \ my pound f It is my 
 
 due ! My pound for my son Reuben's death at thy hands. Old as I 
 
 am I'll take my just pound. An eye for an eye; a life for a life. My 
 
 pound; my exact pound. Thy life dog [ Thy life, {^grappling with 
 
 Hawkley in deadly hate. 
 
 Hawk. Off with thy hands, Jew. {^fierce struggle. ~\ 
 
 Levi. My pound of flesh 1 My pound for my son 1 Thy life \ 
 Thy life ! [Hawkley throws Levi off, who is exhausted. At the same 
 moment Hebrew families enter driven before Lord Hawklef s 
 soldiers. 
 
 Hawl. [to his soldiers'] Scour up the tribe from every den. Get 
 ye gone from England, murderous tribe ! 'Tis the king's orders that 
 the Jews forthwith be banished from our realm. 
 
 I^eb. [to Hawkley'] Kill us but drive us not again from England. 
 
ACT 
 
 4.] BEK TSKAEL. 4l 
 
 Levi' \Staggers to the side of his wife and again confronts Hawkley\ ' 
 Shame, Rebecca, sue not to the Christian for mercy. I'll none of it. 
 
 Our people have drank the Christian's cup of mercy to the dregs. | 
 
 Let them give us justice, as our prince did ask. I'll have none of their \ 
 
 mercy : none of it. ; 
 
 Hawk. Begone \ The king hath banished your tribe, I tell ye. \ 
 
 Enter Meg. 
 
 Meg. Ay, drive them hence, my son. 'Tis the will of Holy , 
 
 Mother Church. Drive tnem hence, ^ 
 
 Levi. \in scorn'] And are ye its instruments, : 
 
 Hawk. Yes; Jew. : 
 
 Levi. Then hath your Church vile servants. \ 
 
 Hawk. Dog ! Begone with your accursed tribe. Take nothing 
 
 but yourselves. Your goods are confiscated to the crown. Away ^ i 
 
 or soon the mob shall be let loose to hound ye out of London. : 
 
 i 
 
 EnierKhCH'^.i., with majesty. ^ 
 
 Each. Stay, men of Judah, stay ! ] 
 
 Your Prince is captive ; but his grandchild lives ' 
 
 To lead you: True, but a woman in the stead i 
 
 Of him who was as our great ancestor ■ 
 
 In Judah's cause. Yet is the magic blood ; 
 
 Pure in these veins, and in m€ wakes I 
 
 The spirit of my sires, [ 
 
 David's daughter leads ye now, ' \ 
 
 O, men of Israel! | 
 
 Hawk, Then lead them hence. j 
 
 Eachel. The Jews shall not quit England's shores, < 
 
 False lord, I tell thee that our people shall abid-e 1 
 
 Forever here in England. \ 
 
 Hawk, It is the king's commands that they \ 
 
 Be banished from our realm. : 
 
 Each. It is a lying traitor^s tongue that bays it. ' 
 
 Beware, my lord of Hawkley. 1 
 
 Hawk. Insolent outcast ! I 
 
 Each. I tell thee still thy deeds shall soon ' 
 
 Be published on the housetop. Ah ! 'twas thou ! 
 
 Who didst young Reuben kill — and thou who didst \ 
 
 Entrap the missing man. \ 
 
 Hawk. Who told thee so? | 
 
 Each. The dead ! .; 
 
 Hawk. Ha, ha ! Le them gab on, thou Jewish witch .; ■: 
 
42 
 
 BEN ISKAEL, [ACT 4. 
 
 But have a care, or thou wilt burn 
 
 At Smithfield yet, for talking to the dead. 
 
 J^ach I see a gibbet bleached on Tyburn HilL 
 '^Tis thine, Lord Hawkley I 
 
 Hawk. Thou hast dealings with the Evil One. 
 
 Enter Sir Judah. 
 
 Sir Judah. What means this, my lord of Hawkley ? 
 
 Hawk. Dog of a Jew thyself. It means thy 
 Jews are banished. 
 
 Sir Judah. By whose orders? 
 
 Hawk. The king's. 
 
 Sir Judah. Hawkley, thou art a villain ! Soldiers, obey my or- 
 ders ; the king's signet is my authority. Hawkley, look well to thy 
 neck. 
 
 Rach. ^y, took well to thy neck r I see 
 The gibbet still. 'Tis thine I . 
 
 Hawk. Witch! (<f^//.) 
 
 Sir Judah. Guards, you are no longer needed here. {^Exit soldiers. 
 What brings you to the Quarter, Rachel ? 
 
 Rach Some unseen hand. I knew that danger threatened these, 
 and left my grandsire in this dreadful hour— but at his bidding— for 
 he loves his people better than his own life. 
 
 Sir Judah. Rachel, the king to night will open 
 Ben Israel's prison doors. 
 
 Rach The blessings of our people follow him. <^She goes off with 
 Sir Judah Jollowed by her people, who shout, ''Our prince shall 
 be delivered 1 ") 
 
 Levi (who tarries a moment). I trust not the Christian's word, 
 though, perchance Charles meaneth well, or Judah would not say so j 
 but his Papist brother will not let him give us justice. {^He ts seized 
 with an acute pang from his wound.) That pang hath cloven my very 
 heart. The struggle with theViUain hath re-opened my wound. I faint 
 with loss of blood. {Staggers off. Change.) 
 
 Scene 3.—/^ condemned cell. David discovered seated on a stool by 
 a rude table. 
 Dav. It doth repent me that I sent the maid. 
 Lest danger lurk about her path. 
 Yet is she fearless as the lioness. 
 How fares it with our people? 
 Would Rachel had returned. 
 Ha ! footsteps. 'Tis she ! {rises eargerly to meet her.) 
 
ACT 4.] BEN ISRAEL 43 
 
 Enter Charles. 
 
 Dav. The King J 
 
 Chas. Ay, and with news from the Jewish Quarter. 
 
 Dav. My heart is lodged there. Sire, what news ? 
 -Keep me not on the torture of suspense. 
 How is it with them ? 
 
 Chas. Thy nephew saw the soldiers driving them before 
 Their pikes. 
 
 David. Damned be those pikes, and withered be the arms 
 That bore them. 
 
 Had I been there, with but the trusted blade 
 That saved the life of Maurice of Nassau, 
 Old as I am, they should have spiked 
 Me to the earth, ere touched my people. 
 
 Chas. One came, David, to th^ir rescue. 
 
 David. Thyself! thyself! 
 
 Chas. Rachel. 
 
 David. My granddaughter? Brave girl 1 brave girl! 
 
 Chas. A queen, by my halidom. 
 
 David. Our people will not lack a leader, sire^ 
 Yet had I hoped to see her sons. 
 
 Chas. You shall. 
 
 David. Ah ! 
 
 Chas. David, I am here to set you free. 
 
 David. What mean you, sire? 
 
 Chas. Near by are those who soon shall bear 
 You far away from danger. 
 David, {recovering from his momentary eagerness a7id with proud in- 
 
 'tegrity.) It my deliverance hath come in such 
 A form that David might with honor own 
 Then will I forth to light of all men's eyes. 
 Acquitted of this charge. If I dare meet 
 The Majesty of Heaven as face to face 
 Amid the multitude, not shrinking from 
 The blessed sun:; if I may stand before 
 The upright man and hear his tongue pronounce 
 The Jew worthy of life, then will I forth : 
 But if to shun the eye of man or hide 
 For fear my stealthy steps should whispers make, 
 And lest the cry go up to heaven, the Jew 
 Is out to-day ! — the Jew's abroad to-night ! 
 Beware the murderous Jew ! Then will I bide 
 
1 
 
 44 BEX ISRAEL. [ACT 4. j 
 
 Within my gloomy cell, till death shall end 1 
 
 The chapter of my woes ! ; 
 
 C/ias. Odd's fish ! You shall to-night set sail for Holland. i 
 
 Sir Judah. {entering eagerly) Uncle, be guided by the king. 
 I will this villamy unfold, but time 
 
 Is now our need. I am a Jew — j 
 
 Aye, to the very core — but of that stuff \ 
 
 That can return a hate and execute 
 A debt of hate. . 
 
 Chas. Quick, David, fly. The door is open. See t j 
 
 You are free ! 
 
 David. Then be it open till my hour of doom. "^ 
 
 There need no locks or bolts to keep \ 
 
 Ben Israel in his dungeon walls. ^ 
 
 His honor bars the door. '< 
 
 Chas. Odd's fish 1 man, fly to Holland \ 
 
 Till the happier time. We did as much ourself. \ 
 
 David. What, fly dishonored ? Fly beneath the ban { 
 
 Of murder? Have it said it was my gold ] 
 
 That turn'd the locks to let me out? ■ 
 
 I will not so, O, king 1 '; 
 
 I can the scaffold mount, but not bring shame ] 
 
 Upon our sacred name by flight. \ 
 
 Charles, I would not for thy crown : 
 
 Be tempted to thy kmd intent. 
 
 Chas. By heaven, old man, thou shalt. j 
 
 Thy death would haunt us in our merriest mood. \ 
 
 Rachel <f/2/^r^, exhausted and bewildered. 
 
 Rach. They'll not open his prison doors! 
 
 Dav. You see that child, worn down with grief ; 
 
 And watching by my side. i 
 
 Rach. (^Unconscious of their presence) The king hath deceived me. j 
 Dav. I thank thee, sire, that they did leave her here i 
 
 To comfort me. 
 
 Rach. Thy'll not unbar his doors ! 
 
 Dav She shall decide for me. 
 Rachel ! Rachel ! Child ! Arouse thee, child ! ; 
 
 Rach. Grandfather, I am here. ^ 
 
 The king? He hath betrayed us. \ 
 
 Is the dread hour come ? 
 
 Dav. Nay, Rachel, his majesty doth oflfer life > \ 
 
 And freedom. 
 
ACT 5.] BEN ISRAEL. 
 
 Rack. Oh, most gracious prince ! {Returning animation ) 
 Dav. Shall we take the offered boon ? 
 Hold, child ! there is a price. 
 
 Rachel. A price ? Then it is not a boon. 
 What is the price ? 
 
 David. Nought of wrong to thee, but ill to me,. 
 If kind intent should be pronounced an ill; 
 The price is flight. 
 
 Rack. Flight? 
 
 David. Answer for me, Rachel. 
 Shall it be dishonor, 
 Or shall it be death ? 
 
 Rack. Death ! death ! a thousand times ! 
 Death to us all; but not dishonor ! 
 
 David. Sire, thou art answered. 
 Death, but not dishonor. {^Picture.l 
 
 END OF ACT IV. 
 
 45 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 Scene \.~-The Dungeon of Hawkley Castle. Sir Walter Templar 
 discovered, lying on straw, chained to the floor. 
 
 Sir W. Oh ! how I ache with these rude stones 
 Where am I ? God ! it seems a thousand years 
 Since I beheld the light of day. 
 My senses have almost deserted me. 
 The king ! ah, the king ! O, heaven the thought 
 Of Rachel in his wanton power drives me 
 To madness, {pause.) Ah, the king ! {springs to his feet.-) 
 A moment smce I fancied we were gripped 
 In deadly strife. O, for an hour's sanity 
 To clear my path to freedom ! I have ground 
 My chains asunder with these stones. 
 One mighty effort more for liberty. * 
 They break ! I'm free ! I hear the iron doors 
 Unlock and wake the dungeon echoes. Yes; 
 My jailor comes ! {lies down as before.') 
 
 Enter Hawkley, masked. 
 
46 BEN ISRAEL. [aCT 5. 
 
 Hawk. Madman, art tamed ? 
 Sir W. Tell the king, thy master, no. 
 Hawk. Ha ! ha ! the king ? 
 
 Sir W. I'll rouse all England 'gainst the libertine, 
 As England once was roused against his tyrant sire. 
 
 liawk. 'Twill be amongst Algerian slaves. 
 Within a week you sail for Algiers. 
 Sir W. For Algiers ? 
 Hawk. To be sold for a slave. 
 
 Sir W. A slave ! (Jialf rising.^ Villain thou overreachest thyself, 
 Thy feet are in thine own toils. 
 Hawk- Fool, thou mistakest me. 
 
 Sir W. No, thou art the fool, lordly kidnapper. Thou over- 
 look'st the prospect that my friends would trace me to thy castle, 
 which no doubt they have; and, therefore, thou comest to remove me 
 to cover up thy tracks. 
 
 Hawk. Fool, I say again, thou mistakest me, Thou goest to 
 Algiers where thou wilt be sold for a slave, and whipped till the 
 haughty Templar shall crawl to his master for mercy, and kiss the 
 whip dripping with his own blood to woo its sufferance. 
 Sir W. Villain ! 
 
 Hawk. Templar, I hate thee. My vengeance is sweet. If ere I 
 go to Algiers it will be to see thee whipped. 
 
 Sir W. Monster! thou art building thine own gallows, and, like 
 Haraan, thou wilt hang on it. 
 
 Hawk. Ha ! ha ! that reminds me that Ben Israel will be hung 
 to-day. 
 
 Sir W. Ben Israel hung to day ! 
 Hawk. For the murder of Sir Walter Templar. 
 Sir JV. Murdering me ! 
 
 Hawk. Dost thou not see how feasible it was to trace thy taking 
 off to the Jews? To separate thee from Rachel they murdered thee. 
 So it is given out, and the jury believed it. 
 Sir W. Monstrous ! 
 
 Hawk. Thy intended marriage was but a Jewish trick. So it is 
 given out, I tell thee. 
 Sir W. Hellish plot ! 
 
 Hawk. Thou art dead. Sir Walter Templar; and Ben Israel to-day 
 will be hung for thy murder. 
 
 Sir W. Oh, monstrous villain ! A crime without a parallel in 
 enormity ! Sacrifice that good old man to glut thy fiendish malice ! 
 But I will avenge Ben Israel. {He springs to his feet.) 
 
ACT 5.] BEN ISRAEL. 47 
 
 Hawk. Damnation ! his chains broken ? and I unarmed : then am 
 I at the mercy of this madman. 
 
 Sir W. Pray; for thy hour hath come, or I would send 
 Thee to the king to tell him that I go 
 To William, Prince of Orange. 
 
 Hawk. You wrong our good king, on my soul. 
 
 Sir IP. On my soul, then, I will right him 
 With William and an army ! 
 Down, dog, and pray. 
 
 Hawk. Help! help! (Sir Walter advances handishing his 
 chains. Hawkley's mask falls off. 
 
 Sir ?f . Hawkley, as I did think. On thy knees, villain. 
 Then will I teach thee first to crawl 
 
 Before I kill thee. {^He grapples with Hawkley and forces him to his 
 knees.) 
 
 Hawk, Help ! Meg, help ! (Meg, steals in behind, with a bunch 
 of large dungeon keys in her hand.) 
 Help ! Meg, help ! 
 
 Sir W. {raising his chains.) Thus do I avenge Ben Israel. (Meg 
 stnites Sir Walter on the head with the keys. He falls. 
 Hawkley rises.) 
 
 Hawk. Is he dead, Meg ? 
 
 Meg. At least quiet, my son. Aha ! 
 
 Hawk. What is that? Men are storming my castle ! {Loud bat- 
 tering heard. Shouts. The Templar Men break into the dungeon^ 
 led by ]UDAH.) 
 
 Templar Men. A Templar ! a Templar I 
 
 Sir Judah. Seize the villain ! 
 
 Hawk. Villain in thy teeth ! 
 
 Sir Judah. Seize and bind them both. 
 
 Hawk. Off with your hands. {Struggles fiercely but is overcome.) 
 Dog of a Jew {confrofiting Sir Judah,) still do I triumph ! Dog of a 
 Jew, I say, though thou bear'st a knightly handle to thy name. I'll 
 yet have thy accursed tribe driven from England. I swear it by 
 Heaven ! 
 
 Sir Judah. Thou meanest by hell. 
 Hawk. Aye, by hell, then. 
 
 Sir Judah. Hawkley, I will deal with thee hereafter. {Cares for 
 Sir IP alter.) He revives. 
 
 Sir IP. Sir Judah in my dungeon ? 
 
 Sir Judah. Aye, to the rescue. 
 
 Sir H". I must have been struck senseless in the melee. 
 
48 J^EN ISRAEL. [act 5, \ 
 
 Hawk. Haste with thy wits, imbecile, or you will not be in tin^e to , 
 
 see the old Jew hung. i 
 
 Sir W. {springing up) Monster ! I remember. Ben Israel hung ! | 
 
 Hawk, Before you can rescue him. Aha ! 
 
 Meg. Aha, my son ! ; 
 
 Sir W, Monster, if 1 arrive not in time, thou thyself shall hang ! j 
 
 Now, Templars to the rescue of Ben Israel ! i 
 
 {^Picture : Sir l^ alter dashing out leading his men is on the threshold \ 
 
 of the dungeon; Hawkley and Meg malignant in the hands of their \ 
 
 . captors. Sir Judah, self poised, commands the scene. Change.) \ 
 
 Scene 2.— Room in the Mansion of the Jewess. Enter Reuben and \ 
 
 Rebecca. i 
 
 Levi, Sayest thou so, Rebecca? Did Rachel dream she saw her | 
 lover alive in Hawkley dungeon? 
 
 Reb. I said so, Levi. She saw him alive but in bondage. Thou \ 
 
 knowest, Levi, she hath the second sight; so had her mother. 1 
 
 Levi. Aye, the Daughter of the Voice hath followed David's race | 
 
 through all their generations. Yet, I do mistiust our Rachel's dream, ! 
 
 lest her love distraught by grief, hath conjured up these fancies. j 
 
 Reb. Nay, Levi, it was the second sight of her race. \ 
 
 Levi. Yet what matters it if Judah rescue him not, or should ! 
 
 come after our master is hung? Ha ! what cries are those in the ; 
 
 street? (Looks off and listens.) A multitude surround the house, \ 
 
 shouting, Hang the Jews ! Brmg them all out and hang them with < 
 
 their master! (^Cries of rage heard from without.') Father Abra- , 
 ham, the rabble will beat the house down about our heads. The 
 
 door gives way. They rush within. Ha ! some one on horse rides j 
 
 down the rabble and drives them back with his sword, which he lays j 
 
 about them stoutly. 'Tis the king himself. Now, by the staff of ; 
 
 Jacob, for once I will confess we owe a debt of good deeds to a ^ 
 
 Christian. 1 
 
 Reb. Our people's blessing be on the king and all his house. 
 
 Levi. Nay, nay; not on all his house. Not on his brother James, j 
 
 who is the cause of these our ills. On him our people's curse ! If i 
 our master hangs to day; to-hiorrow let James of York and all his 
 
 friends who owe us moneys, let them look to their bonds— let them \ 
 
 look to their bonds ! .; 
 
 Enter the King with Rachel. 
 
 Chas. 'Sdeath, Rachel, we come on the scene but just in time to 
 
 save your mansion, and perchance your lives and our kingly honor, i 
 
 Bv the mass, 'tis time we frown our brother James to good behavior. , 
 
 \ 
 I 
 
^<^T 5.] BEN ISRAEL. 49 I 
 
 Believe me, Rachel, the king hath no hand in this crusade against ] 
 
 your people; in proof of which I am here now to serve you. Your 1 
 
 uncle Judah told me of your dream. I 
 
 J^ac/i. And you believed it, sire. ■ 
 
 Chas. At least I heeded it. Tell me thy dream thyself. ■. 
 
 Rack. Wrought to an agony of mind last night 
 
 By the approachmg doom, I fell into a trance. ' \ 
 
 It was as thougli the hand of death was laid ■ 
 
 On me; for then methought my spirit left :' 
 
 Its clay, and, on the other side, i 
 
 My mother greeted me. \ 
 
 She took me by the hand ; away we sped -^ 
 
 To Hawkley Castle, nor did stop 
 
 Until we came unto an iron gate ! 
 
 Through which we passed. \ 
 
 O, sire, what think you then we saw ? i 
 
 Chas. What, Rachel ? '\ 
 
 Rack. Sir Walter Templar ! \ 
 
 Chas. I^ this no phantasy? \ 
 
 Rack. x\o, no! Did'st send a troop, your majesty ? ' 
 
 Chas. Of my own guards. Your uncle Judah leads them ^ 
 
 Rach. All will be well. ' ^ 
 
 Chas, Yet come they not. i 
 
 Rach. You gave authority to storm the castle ? ^ 
 
 Chas. Yes, if Hawkley dared resistance to his king i 
 
 'Tis near the time ! ^' \ 
 
 Rach. I was oblivious of the time. 1 
 
 O, sire, send fresh horses out to meet them. - \ 
 
 Chas. I will. '\ 
 
 Rach. Haste, sire, haste ! in Heaven's name haste. I 
 
 {Exeunt quit k/y. Change.') ' 
 
 '"^Jl^c^"'^ '"''■ ^'^'^"'^ '" ^'^^^-'^ ^»^'- LEV, i 
 
 Ji^d Woe to our people! David, our prince, will be hune to ^ 
 
 ttn"', !,»' 'w ^'"'''' "''" '"'^ °"^ prince murdered by tlie Chrt '> 
 tian s law. Woe, woe to our people ! ' '-nris- 
 
 Levi. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. But these Chri^f.n. ' 
 
 mock us m the execution of the law they copy from us Ave ?n ^ 
 for an eye, a tooth for a tooth I So will I render t'h.ll' ^^^ 
 
 them; I swear it by the God of Jacob I '^"' 'S'^'"'' \ 
 
50 BEN ISKAEL. [aCT 5. 
 
 Enter David, with the Governor of the prison, 
 
 Levi. Alas, my prince. {Seizes his hand in anguish and kisses it^ 
 as docs also Rebecca.') 
 
 David. Levi ! Rebecca! God be praised that I see ye both again. 
 Sob not thus old friend. All is well with thy master. 'Twill be but 
 a moment's pang. Bear my dying blessing to our people. {David 
 
 puts his servants aside and calmly surveys the scene. ) 
 How sweet the balmy breath of June which fans 
 My fevered brow. The sluggish' blood. 
 Parched by the prison atmosphere, courses once more 
 With promises of health. I seem to live, 
 Not die, to-day. O, glorious sun ! 
 O, blessed air ! O, thrice more blessed liberty — 
 Without which sun and air and all the world 
 Are nought — I have thee now to-day ! 
 O, liberty ! I praise thee with exultant voice : 
 Nor doth that scaffold, though it frowns agains my life, 
 Make thee less dear ; for, if I mount it soon, 
 Then shall I speed away to freedom limitless. 
 
 Eniet Rachel. 
 
 Rachel. Grandfather! {Rushing iiito David' s arms.) 
 
 David. Rachel, weep not. 
 Why weepest thou that I have joy ? 
 
 Rach. Oh, my grandfather ! 
 
 David. I feel a majesty I never felt until this hour. 
 To-day I am above the king of this proud land ; 
 For I to-day shall meet the King of Kings, 
 And join my fathers who have gone before. 
 
 Rach. They come not — they come not ! 
 
 David. They'll come to-morrow. 
 
 Rach. To-morrow ! Oh, what will their coming be to thee ? 
 
 David. They will bring proof of David's innocence. 
 
 Rach. To-morrow ! 
 
 David. Thou shalt a mighty throb ot joy for me 
 Take to thy heart — 
 
 Rach. To-morrow ! 
 
 David. And know it is the throb of joy 
 That I shall feel when men shall own 
 That I was worthy life, yet dared to die. 
 
 Rachel. If they come not in time to save thy life, 
 Let them come not all, or come to find 
 Me dead, that they may bury us together; — 
 
ACT 5.] BEN ISRAEL. 51 
 
 Then confess we both were worthy not to live, 
 Life being all unworthy thee. 
 
 Dav. Rachel, thou art young, while I am but 
 The withered oak at best. 'Tis nothing when I fall : 
 To-day, to-morrow — 'tis the same. 
 
 Rack. Why come they not ? 
 They should have been here hours ago. 
 
 David. I scarce have left e'en the desire for life — 
 Except for thee — and all is now become 
 One infinite desire for thee to live. 
 That David's race might not die out. 
 
 Rack. They come not ! they come not ! 
 
 DaV' {with solemn severity, forcing her attention.) Rachel, I charge 
 thee by our sacred blood ; — 
 I charge thee by our fathers' God; 
 I charge thee by thy hope to meet me in 
 The paradise to come — to live ! 
 Give me thy promise, Rachel ! 
 
 Rachel. Here on my knees, before our fathers' God, 
 With outstretched hands to heaven, I promise thee — 
 And swear by all my hopes that I will live — 
 And by my hopes that I may meet thee 
 In the world to come — I swear 
 If they do put thee to an ignominious death, 
 I will exact such recompense from those 
 Who are the cause that thou shalt not have died 
 In vain. My brain shall plot, our people execute, 
 Until by gold they hold the fate of nations. 
 And the power to root from earth 
 That church accursed ! — accursed ! — accursed ! 
 By ages of our people's wrongs, {Levi kneels and lifts his hands^ 
 
 silently confirming Rachel s oath.) 
 I swear it by the God of Israel. 
 
 Bell tolls. Enter Governor and Chaplain for the execution. Rachel 
 starts to her feet, shrieks and swoons. 
 
 David, {kneeling over her.) Now can I be one of earth again, — 
 A moment with my soul in agony 
 Of love lingering over thee, my child; 
 And in that moment brought an age 
 Of yearning for thee here which I shall feel 
 When I am there I 
 
 Oil ! I cannot part from thee when now the time 
 .Hath come to part. I am as weak as thee 
 
52 BEN ISRAEL. [aCT 5. ] 
 
 Now thou art all insensible to it. J 
 
 This death-like semblance of what I shall be j 
 
 When thou awakest child, wrings tears from eyes • 
 
 I thought had none to weep. We must part now j 
 
 While thou art thus ! . i 
 
 One more embrace and then— {raises her and kisses her ) , 
 Take her, take her ! for I can bear no more. {Levi and Rebecca take \ 
 
 Rachel and bear her off. ) i 
 
 Lead on, for I am ready ! | 
 
 Charles enters quickly, followed by Hebrews. j 
 
 Chas. Hold ! A pardon for David Ben Israel. j 
 
 Hebrews. A pardon ! A pardon ! i 
 
 Chas. David, in spite of James and those who hedge 
 
 About my throne, thou shalt not die. {He is about to give the pat don \ 
 
 to the Governor. i 
 
 David. Let me see it, sire. {Charles gives it to him. 
 
 As I did think — a pardon for the murder ! | 
 
 May I do with this as it seemeth best to me? i 
 
 Chas. 'Tis yours ; 'tis your life's value ! j 
 
 David. Nay, my king, not my life's value. ■ 
 
 For if I did the murder, then am I | 
 
 Not worthy this; if I am guiltless, then \ 
 
 Is this not worthy me ! I take thy gift, \ 
 My king, and thank thee with a fuller heart — 
 Thus— X'^M's,— {calmly tears it) than I could thank thee. 
 Did I let this be ransom for my life ! 
 
 Chas. By Heaven ! it is nut worthy thee. 
 Nor I to stand a king before 
 
 Thy native majesty, reverently uncovers. j 
 
 Dav. What is my life weighed 'gainst my nation's shame ? ; 
 
 My people have outlived a thousand dooms ! ; 
 
 Lead on ! • 
 
 Rach. {rushing in) I charge ye in the name of Heaven to stay ! ; 
 Ten minutes grace ! Walter will be here ! 
 Grace ! grace ! Ten minutes grace ! 
 
 Chas. Stay the execution ! 'Tis your king's command ! , 
 
 Rach. Saved ! saved ! They come ! they come ! j 
 
 I see them coming riding like the wind ! \ 
 Ride, Walter, Ride ! {shouts.) 
 
 Hark ! their shouts. Again ! again ! j 
 Walter ! Walter ! He comes ! 
 
- 1 ^ 
 
 ACT O.J BEN ISRAEL, 53 ^ 
 
 Sir IV. {rushing in followed by Judah and the Templar Men') \ 
 
 Rachel ! Rachel ! ' 
 
 My God that scaffold and Ben Israel about to mount it. What a scene ^ 
 
 in which to claim my Hebrew bride; but thus to hold thee to my '' 
 
 heart, dear Rachel, transforms it all to paradise. i 
 
 Rachel. Yes joy, joy, dear Walter, \ 
 
 The curse is lifted. Joy, joy ! 1 
 
 Chas. Then Rachel's dream was true. ^ 
 
 This is marvelous ! ! 
 
 Bav. Ay, king of England, thou shalt marvels see. ; 
 
 There is a spirit in our sacred race, i 
 
 Which, fan'd, shall send a blaze o'er all the earth. \ 
 
 Our seers shall rise; our psalmists sing; * \ 
 Our Solomons give wisdom to the world, 
 And every land shall bless, not curse, the Jew, {Picture.) ■ 
 
 CUR TAIN. * \ 
 
 END OF BEN ISRAEL. 
 
V.C 1 0207 
 
 741069 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA UBRARY