JEWS As THEY ARE 
 
 Al AM AN
 
 SECOND EDITION OF 
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 BT-CHAELES KENSINGTON SALAMAN. 
 
 LONDON : SIMPKJN, MARSHALL & Co., Stationers' Sail Court, E.C. 
 
 AND 
 WERTHBIMER, LEA & Co., Circus Place, London Wall, E.C. 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM A FEW OF THE NUMEROUS PRESS NOTICES 
 OF THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 "Mr. Charles K. Salaman's 'Jews as They Are' is a book which would 
 have delighted Lord Beaconsfield, for it is pervaded from beginning to end by 
 the triumphant spirit of Sidonia. We believe with Mr. Salaman that the 
 German Jews are persecuted because Christians are jealous of their success. 
 ' They take the lead in art, science, literature, and luxury.' It is the same feel- 
 ing which before now has made Scotchmen unpopular in India and elsewhere. 
 
 In the chapter headed ' Shylock from'a Jewish Point of View ' 
 
 is brought together the archaeology of the story. We specially commend the 
 remarks on conversion to the supporters of the Jews Conversion Societies ; but 
 the whole book is full of interest." The Graphic. 
 
 ' ' Mr. Salaman's thoughtful and interesting work on ' Jews as They Are ' is 
 doubly welcome, since it is written in a singularly fair and impartial spirit, and 
 shows up both the bright and the dark side of the great race, which, notwith- 
 standing centuries of trial and sorrow, still remains united and independent. . . 
 It would be impossible in a short review to give any but a faint idea of the 
 exceptional interest which Mr. Salaman has contrived to awaken in his delight- 
 ful volume for the Jewish race and religion. He is so learned, so enthusiastic, 
 and writes in so graphic and amusing a manner, that one is carried away by 
 his eloquence. There can be no question that his book will be widely read, as 
 indeed it ought to be, and will tend to remove many erroneous opinions and 
 prejudices. . . . The book, from beginning to end, is admirable and of 
 much value, especially at the present moment." Morning Post. 
 
 " There is not only much of interest to be learned from this book, but a 
 candid perusal will suffice to remove from the mind of any candid reader preju- 
 dices indulged against an ancient and illustrious race. The first section reveals 
 much information about the daily life of the Jews, and does away with that 
 veil of secresy long supposed to surround the race. Mr. Salaman makes good 
 bis assertion that there is nothing mysterious in the social life of the Jews, nor 
 about their creed or religious observances. Nothing is easier than to become 
 acquainted with them. Many have been distinguished for their courtesy, their 
 
 honourable spirit, and their breadth of toleration All must 
 
 admit that many of the best men of our day are Jews, and that for philanthropy
 
 they are specially distinguished. Shylock has done duty, and very erroneous 
 duty, for an entire race. Now a better spirit prevails.'and to show of what the 
 modern Jew is capable we need only mention the immortal name of Moses 
 Mendelssohn, to whose memory this little book is inscribed. The Jews have 
 still a great future before them, which Christians must not begrudge them, 
 but rather rejoice in." British Quarterly Review. 
 
 " A book so full of information on a vital subject as the able volume, ' Jews 
 as They Are,' is sure of the attention it deserves. Mr. Salaman could not have 
 written with such convincing effect had he not brought to his argument a great 
 array of facts and opinions. . . . He shows how the best qualities of the 
 Hebrew race have always developed most favourably in communities where 
 toleration has been largest and most liberal. ' A contrast to the condition of 
 Judaism in this country, where a perfect equality of creeds now exists, is 
 afforded by reference to late events under the Russian tyranny. These are re- 
 capitulated with such concentration of authentic evidence as can leave but one 
 
 impression on the mind of an English reader, Jew or Gentile This 
 
 book is remarkable as containing an essay, or short treatise, on ' Shylock from 
 a Jewish Point of View,' which should be valuable as a contribution to Shake- 
 spearian critical literature." Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "We are quite at one with Mr. Salaman in his belief that the world needs to 
 be far better informed than it is as to the inner life of the Hebrew community. 
 . . . . . Among the less educated classes of Europe, the most astounding 
 beliefs are still current in that connection, and to these foolish traditions are 
 due, in no small measure, the aversion for Jews which exhibits itself in some 
 Christian countries. England is not such a sinner against the much persecuted 
 race as other lands that might be mentioned, but among her people there are 
 still too many who hold the Jew in scorn, if not in hatred. "Without doubt 
 this feeling is very largely owing to the continued existence of the myths 
 
 which were articles of faith among Christiana in the middle ages 
 
 A vague charge against the community is that they have no feeling of patriot- 
 ism. Ask the people of Paris whetht-r there was any lack of patriotism there, 
 when the Germans beleaguered the city ? But patriotism can show itself in 
 works of charity and philanthropy as well as in fighting, and when this second 
 test is applied to the Chosen People their complete identification with the in- 
 terests of the countries in which they live comes out very clearly 
 
 Wherever a Jew settles, of that country does he remain a peaceable, law-abiding 
 
 and industrious citizen As for the allegation that Jews enshroud 
 
 their private lives in impenetrable mystery, there must be plenty of witnesses to 
 the contrary in London alone The charge that tht-y are unscrupu- 
 lous and grasping in money matters would carry more weight did it not 
 usually come from those who have experienced the difficulty of trying to get 
 the better of some Jewish monev-lender. . . . Mr. Salaman has done well 
 to take up the cudgels on behalf of his interesting rare, and we would commend 
 his book to the study of all in whose minds yet linger any of the old senseless 
 antipathy to the most persecuted people in the world. . . ." Globe. 
 
 " Recent events give peculiar timeliness to a book which has been issued by 
 Mr. Charles Kensington Salanan, entitled ' Jews as They Are.' This is the 
 title of thefiist chapter of the book, which is followed by a survey of note- 
 worthy events connected with the past half-century of Jewish progress. Then
 
 we have a brief historical survey of the practice of usury in ancient and 
 modern times ; considerable information about the Jewish clergy in England, 
 and other matter of value. This is a book which may often be referred to 
 when information is wanted concerning the deeply interesting people of whom 
 
 it treats. Mr. Salaman is to be warmly thanked for its publication " 
 
 The Christian World. 
 
 ". . . . There is much worthy of consideration in the claim the author 
 makes on behalf of his fellow-religionists to Christian courtesy and fair-dealing. 
 This book is written with much good feeling, and contains a quantity of matter, 
 historical and otherwise, that is worth reading. . . . The author, who has 
 a chapter on ' Shy lock from a Jewish Point of View,' shows that there had 
 
 been many versions of the bond story We read that Germans 
 
 claim to have discovered a version of the pound-of -flesh story, in which the 
 Jew had to undergo, not to exact, the forfeit ; and the occurrence is recorded 
 as a piece of veritable history, taking place in the lifetime of the dramatist who 
 
 chose to transpose the characters All this chapter and appendix 
 
 will be found interesting, and of the whole work we may say that it deserves a 
 thoughtful and considerate perusal." The Queen. 
 
 ' Mr. Salaman' s list of noteworthy events marking Jewish progress during 
 the past half-century (1830-1880), given in chronological order, is useful, and 
 shows great diligence on the part of the author. . . . His essay on Usury 
 introduces some interesting details about the Caorsini, which serve to show that 
 the Jews in the middle ages had by no means the monopoly in money-lending. 
 . . . . The essay on the Jewish clergy contains some interesting details 
 which are, we believe, little known. . . . The bad taste and doubtful 
 
 morality of the Conversionists are pointed out with much force 
 
 The book offers many interesting subjects to Jewish readers, by whom it will 
 doubtless be welcomed as an addition to the scanty store of English books 
 dealing on Jews by themselves." Jewish Chronicle. 
 
 "The name of Jew is associated at once with religion and commerce, with 
 music and philology, with dreams of the past and future, and very practical deal- 
 ings with the present. A more curious compound of an historic ' survival ' 
 and a nineteenth-century institution can scarcely be pointed out than the modern 
 Jew as he lives and moves among the unselect. . . . Mr. Salaman's aim 
 has apparently been to prove that Jews, as they are, are not very different from 
 
 other people He is content to answer Professor Gold win Smith's 
 
 query, ' Can Jews be patriots ? ' by triumphantly pointing to the Master of the 
 Rolls and other Jewish gentlemen who have risen amongst Englishmen to 
 
 posts of honour and emolument In an essay on the Jewish clergy 
 
 he has shown by specimens that their sermons reach respectable rank in that 
 class of literature ; but he has failed to touch upon several topics which in most 
 minds would be suggested by such a subject. How far have Jews been touched 
 by modern rationalism ? Is it true, as asserted by M. Renan in his own way, 
 that the Jew who has given God to the world believes least in him ? . . . 
 In what light modern Jews regard Christ .... why they are eminent 
 in music atd acting, and so mediocre in the other arts ? All these and a thou- 
 sand other questions are left unraised, unanswered, and unexplained by Mr. 
 
 Salaman The book gives an abstract and brief chronicle of the 
 
 interesting events relating to the Jews of England that have occurred during
 
 the past half-century ; an account of the Russian persecutions ; usury as prac- 
 tised in the middle ages by Popes and Cahorsins as well as Jews ; and a 
 
 thoroughly justified protest against attempts at conversion It is 
 
 especially to he regretted that the composer of such charming songs has not 
 touched upon the interesting topic of Jewish music. Wagner's assault upon 
 it is not yet forgotten, or probably forgiven ; and it would be worth while 
 hearing the other side from one who knows so much both about music and the 
 Jews as Mr. Salaman.'' Athenteum. 
 
 " Mr. Charles K. Salaman, well known by his musical works, and especially 
 by a number of charming songs, comes again before the world in a literary 
 character, and, treating in particular of Jews as they are, he tell us at the 
 same time much that is interesting concerning Jews as they were, and as they 
 never ought to have been. The history of the gradual liberation of the Jews 
 from the disabilities which a hundred years ago weighed upon them every- 
 where in Europe was worth tracing ; and the measure in which they have 
 been endowed with civil rights might almost be taken as an indication of the 
 degree of civilisation attained by the various countries which one after 
 another has set them free .... Mr. Salaman, in calling attention to the 
 position occupied by the Mendelssohn family or rather by Moses Mendels- 
 sohn, grandfather of the composer in Prussia, expresses a natural indignation 
 at laws which restricted the right of residence, of marriage, and much else to 
 
 a certain number of Jews in each large city Mr. Salaman points 
 
 out that in the mediaeval tales of compacts with the devil, the diabolical agent 
 was always a Jew. But the Jews may console themselves for this insult by 
 remembering that, in the only tale of this kind which has survived in popular 
 memory, the emissary from ' The Prince Imperial of the East,' as Mephi- 
 stopheles is called in the original version of the ' Faust ' story, is a monk of 
 the unreformed Church. .... There are few questions connected with 
 the present position of Jews which Mr. Salaman does not touch upon ; and we 
 may commend in particular to the purely literary student his chapter on ' Shy- 
 lock from a Jewish point of view.' " St. James's Gazette.
 
 JEWS AS THEY AEE,
 
 x,
 
 V 
 
 CHARLES KENSINGTON SALAMAN. 
 
 ' I will a plain unvarnished tale delirer." 
 
 ; Speak of me as I ain ; nothing extenuate, 
 Nor set down aught in malice." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., 
 
 STATIONERS' HALL COTJBT ; 
 
 WERTHEIMBB, LEA, & CO., CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL. 
 1885. 
 
 All riyhta retervtd.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WERTHEIMER, LHA AKD CO., 
 OIBCTJS PLACE, LONDON WALL.
 
 TO 
 
 THE IMMORTAL MEMORY 
 
 OF 
 
 MOSES MENDELSSOHN. 
 
 2092638
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 71, line IS. Erase " Chancery." 
 
 77 2. For " Emille Leon," read " Emil L6on." 
 
 79 27. For " Alexander Leon," read " Alexandra L6on.' 
 
 86 31. For " e," read '' et." 
 
 93 8. For " nee," read " ne." 
 
 112 19. For " Bsti," read " Este." 
 
 198 8. For " Right Eev.," read " Very ROT." 
 
 225 7. After "great living actor," read " Henry Irving.' 
 
 240 6. For " gladls," read " glado." 
 
 249 5. For " sareiuo," read " faremo."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN presenting to the public a second edition of 
 "Jews as they are," I take the opportunity of 
 acknowledging the generous appreciation which my 
 work has received from all classes of readers, clerical 
 and lay alike. I have been specially gratified by the 
 interest evinced in the subject by my Christian 
 readers, for whose information I had chiefly designed 
 the book. The newspaper reviewers have, on the 
 whole, treated my work with fairness and sympathy, 
 though in a few instances the aim and scope of 
 the book have been mistaken. In the narrow com- 
 pass of a single volume of moderate dimensions it 
 would have been impossible and absurd to have 
 attempted to treat, in anything like an exhaustive 
 manner, the wide subject of Jews as they really 
 are ; nor had I any intention of entering into
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 the theological tenets of the Jews, or of review- 
 ing Judaism in its aspect towards Christianity, 
 though I have given ample references, on page 167 of 
 this volume, to a number of Jewish writings on these 
 subjects. In my collection of essays, however, I have 
 simply tried to give a fair and unprejudiced view of 
 the Jew as he is, and divested of that traditional veil 
 of mystery which, through ignorance and prejudice on 
 the part of his /Gentile brethren, has hitherto sur- 
 rounded him. 
 
 Since the first appearance of " Jews as they are," 
 many noteworthy events have happened to mark the 
 social progress and intellectual prominence of the 
 Jews. Amongst the most important in this country 
 have been the following : 
 
 1. The general respect and admiration shown for 
 the great talents of the Right Hon. Sir George Jessel, 
 Master of the Rolls, on the occasion of his death in 
 1883, when the Queen graciously recognised the 
 distinguished services of the deceased judge, by con- 
 ferring a baronetcy on his eldest son. 
 
 2. The remarkable public demonstration of admira-
 
 PREFACE. xiii 
 
 tion and esteem exhibited by every section of the 
 Jewish community, and joined in by the professors of 
 all religious denominations, in all parts of the world, 
 on Sir Moses Montefiore's entry into, and completion 
 of, his hundredth year of life. And again the uni- 
 versal expression of sorrow at his death, and world- 
 wide tribute of admiration and esteem for the memory 
 of the famous and venerable Jewish philanthropist. 
 
 3. The creation of the first Jewish peer of the 
 realm in the person of Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild, 
 Bart., M.P. for Aylesbury, as Lord Rothschild. 
 
 4. The admission of the first professing Jew into 
 the Conservative Government of this country, Baron 
 Henry de Worms, M.P. for Greenwich, having been 
 appointed Secretary to the Board of Trade in the 
 Ministry of the Marquis of Salisbury (1885). 
 
 In addition to these noteworthy events, the Jews 
 of other countries, notably Italy and Hungary, have 
 witnessed many important advances in their political 
 and social status. 
 
 In conclusion, I would remark that this book was 
 not, as had been supposed, called forth by those bar-
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 barous persecution of the Jews in Russia, Poland, 
 Roumania, and Hungary, which excited so much 
 righteous indignation throughout the civilised world 
 three years ago, and which have, unhappily, not 
 yet ceased to disgrace humanity. I had written the 
 greater portion of this book before these events 
 aroused attention, and only added the concluding 
 Appendix in consequence of those persecutions, with 
 the endeavour to give an enduring form to some of 
 that valuable testimony to Jewish worth which then 
 found expression in all the most honoured quarters. 
 
 CHARLES KENSINGTON SALAMAN. 
 
 24, SUTHERLAND GARDENS, 
 
 ST. PETER'S PARK, W., 
 
 October, 1885.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. JEWS AS THEY ABE 1 
 
 II. A SURVEY OF NOTEWORTHY EVENTS MARKING 
 JEWISH PROGRESS DURING THE PAST HALF- 
 CENTURY, 1830-1880 61 
 
 III. A BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE PRACTICE OF 
 
 USURY IN ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES ... 99 
 
 IV. THE JEWISH CLERGY IN ENGLAND 125 
 
 Appendix : 
 
 1. Sermon by the REV A. LOWY, preached at the 
 
 Consecration of the new Synagogue, Bradford, 
 Yorkshire 160 
 
 Dedication Praver delivered by the REV. DR. 
 STRAUSS, Rabbi, Ph.D 165 
 
 2. Catalogue of Jewish Sermons and Lectures ... 167 
 
 3. A List of some of the Chief Jewish Clergy in 
 
 England ... 169 
 
 Y. JEWISH CONVERSION 175 
 
 Appendix : 
 
 The Mendelssohn Family 208
 
 XT1 CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 VI. SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW 213 
 
 Appendix : 
 
 Various versions of the " Bond and Pound of 
 Flesh" incident in "The Merchant of Venice," 
 from the 12th Century 239 
 
 " The Eoman Wager " (1585), from GREGORIO LETI'S 
 Life of Sixtus V. The full Text in the original 
 Italian 248 
 
 An English Version of the same ... 252 
 
 VII. ADDENDA. PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN RUSSIA 259 
 
 Appendix : 
 
 1. Russian Atrocities (from The Times) ... ... 270 
 
 2. Letter from Mr. Serjeant Simon, M.P., to The 
 
 Times 275 
 
 3. The Memorial from the London Committee of 
 
 Jews to H.I.M. the Emperor of Russia 277 
 
 4. The Requisition to the Lord Mayor of London 283 
 
 5. The Mansion House Meeting, February 1, 1882: 
 
 Speeches by the late Earl of Shaftesbury, the 
 Bishop of London, Cardinal Manning, Canon 
 Farrar 284 
 
 Letters from the Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, the 
 Bishop of Manchester, the Chief Rabbi, Lord 
 Tennyson, the Master of Balliol, the Duke of 
 Westminster, the Archbishop of Canterbury 301 
 
 6. Sermon by the Rev. W. Page Roberts 304 
 
 7. Sermon by the Rev. H. R. Haweis ... ... 305 
 
 8. Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hermann Adler, Dele- 
 
 gate Chief Rabbi 307
 
 No. I. 
 
 JEWS AS THEY AEE.
 
 JEWS AS THEY AEE. 
 
 i. 
 
 THE manifold changes which have taken place during 
 the past half century in the civil, political, and social 
 status of the Jews of Europe would alone have suf- 
 ficed to attract towards the ancient and illustrious 
 Hebrew race a more than ordinary amount of public 
 attention and curiosity. But when to this has been 
 recently added an unexpected and uncalled-for perse- 
 cution of the Jews of Germany and Russia, mildly 
 designated The anti-Semitic agitation, and a still later 
 onslaught upon the Jewish people in an important 
 English magazine, a more extended public interest 
 has been aroused which has already had the effect of 
 elevating the Jews of modern times to a higher and 
 exceptional importance. 
 
 To exhibit Jews as they really are is the design of 
 the following pages. 
 
 Strange, most unaccountable, and almost incredible 
 as it may appear to those who have not hitherto 
 reflected upon the subject, very little of a reliable 
 nature is known of the daily avocations, the social 
 condition and customs, the domestic economy, the 
 religious and political opinions, the home and inner 
 life of the Jews of modern times. There is nothing 
 dark or mysterious in the social life of the Jews, nor 
 
 B 2
 
 4 JEWS AS THEY ATIE. 
 
 about their religious creed, nor in respect to their 
 religious observances. Nothing is easier than to be- 
 
 o 
 
 come acquainted with them. Jews are naturally 
 genial and social companions, and are famed for their 
 hospitality. They cultivate the fine arts, literature, 
 and all the refinements and amenities of social life 
 with assiduity, and with more than ordinary libe- 
 rality. It is surprising how absolutely ignorant are 
 Christians of every country and class, with rare excep- 
 tions, concerning the Jews. The consequences of such 
 want of knowledge, and even of the meagre, imperfect 
 and uncertain acquaintance with the Jews of modern 
 times, which, in some chance manner, some strangers 
 may have acquired, have been to spread broadcast a 
 considerable amount of misunderstanding, misconcep- 
 tion, misconstruction and misrepresentation with re- 
 spect to them personally, to their revered religion, 
 and to their habits of life, which, in these days of 
 active research and enquiry upon all subjects, of easy 
 intercourse, and rapid communication with regions 
 far remotej should not be suffered to remain without 
 some attempt at elucidation. 
 
 Many Christians have doubtless passed their entire 
 lives without having made the intimate acquaintance 
 of any Jews of their own social rank. Others who 
 have interchanged friendships with Jews on the foot- 
 ing of perfect equality have, perhaps, had no other 
 thought or design than to attempt their conver- 
 sion to Christianity. While other Christians, gifted 
 with a larger intelligence and more liberal spirit,, 
 have been content to enjoy the esteem and con- 
 fidence of their Jewish friends, without any ulterior
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. O 
 
 hope, or wish to interfere with their sacred inherit- 
 ance, the full and free exercise of their religious 
 convictions. So long as these are untampered with, 
 Jews entertain towards Christians none but friendly 
 sentiments. They would court their society: they 
 would covet their friendship : they would meet them 
 on terms of strict equality. That Jew r s entertain any 
 dislike, or have any prejudices against those from 
 whom they differ in religious faith is a popular fal- 
 lacy. Jews are not monopolists in salvation ! They 
 believe with the late Rev. Sydney Smith, the liberal- 
 minded canon of St. Paul's, that " A great deal of 
 mischief is done by not attending to the limits of 
 interference with each other's religious opinions ; by 
 our not leaving to the power and wisdom of God that 
 which belongs to God alone." How much happier and 
 more peaceful would the world have been how much 
 happier and peaceful would the world now be, if men 
 had earlier recognised that fact, and would even now 
 cease to intervene arrogantly between man and his 
 Maker ! " You have a right, they say, to believe what 
 you please, but you have no right to believe what is 
 wrong. Their own faith, they say, is so manifestly 
 the right one, and yours so plainly wrong, that it is 
 impossible any man can be sincere in his belief of it." 
 " This," said the late Lord Chancellor Brougham, " is 
 the fundamental doctrine of the code of persecution, 
 stripped from the disguise of phraseology with which 
 it is generally covered." If men would but consider 
 the differences that prevail in the shape and character 
 of God's creatures ; the limitless variety in His \vorks; 
 the infinite dissimilitude in man's bodily formation
 
 6 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 and features ; the endless variety in his mental capa- 
 city ; the multifariousness in human thought, opinion, 
 disposition, genius, belief, action, and inclination, he 
 would not fail to recognise the Divine Wisdom in 
 this marvellous variety. For any man, or body of 
 men to endeavour to force all human creatures to 
 hold identical opinions upon any subject whatever 
 is clearly a presumptuous attempt to interfere 
 with the natural liberty of thought. It is notice- 
 able that many Christian orators and writers, when 
 referring to Jews in general, persist in designating 
 them " The Jews ; " thus mingling in one hetero- 
 geneous mass, and placing on the same social level 
 human beings wholly dissimilar in character and 
 condition ; Jews of all nations ; the denizens of both 
 civilized and uncivilized countries ; those who happily 
 live under free constitutional governments, enjoying 
 the inestimable blessings of liberty of conscience, 
 liberty of thought, liberty of speech and of action; and 
 those who are still unhappily subjected to the capri- 
 cious tyranny of despots, deprived of every kind of 
 intellectual freedom, and of all the natural rights of 
 manhood ; the well educated and the uneducated ; the 
 well-bred and the ill-bred ; those whose disposition, 
 character, and deeds are exemplary and deserving of 
 the highest commendation, and those who are the 
 reverse. How manifestly unjust and absurd, therefore, 
 is it to class together Jews whose daily pursuits would 
 naturally tend to ennoble and refine their character and 
 demeanour, with others whose occupations, perhaps 
 not less honourable, would, nevertheless, be likely to 
 produce an opposite result.
 
 JEWS AS THEY AKE. 7 
 
 The difference between the native Jews of one 
 country and another is easily and clearly discernible. 
 The greater part of the Jews of Russia, Poland, and 
 Hungary are as unlike the Jews of England and of 
 the British Colonies, whether of Spanish, Portuguese, 
 Dutch, or German origin, as are the Jews of France 
 and Italy different from those of Greece, Persia, Abys- 
 sinia or Jerusalem. Writing upon this subject more 
 than fifty years since, the late Isaac D'Israeli remarked 
 that : " The Jewish people are not a nation, for they 
 consist of many nations ; they are Spanish or Portu- 
 guese, German or Polish ; they are Italian, English, 
 and French, and, like the chameleon, they reflect the 
 colour of the spot they rest on. The people of Israel 
 are like the waters running through the countries, 
 tinged in their course with all the varieties of the soil 
 where they deposit themselves. After a few genera- 
 tions the Hebrews assimilate with the character, and 
 are actuated by the feelings of the nation of which 
 they become part. What a distinct people are the 
 Jews of London, of Paris, of Amsterdam, from the Jews 
 of Morocco, Damascus, and the Volga !" " Every native 
 Jew, as a political being, becomes distinct from the Jew 
 of any other nation. If the Jewish military under the 
 Kins; of Holland were to encounter the French 
 
 o 
 
 Israelites, the combat would be between the Dutch 
 and the French. The Hebrew adopts the hostilities 
 and alliances of the land where he was born, he calls 
 himself by the name of his country."* 
 
 Whatever may be their condition of life, or wherever 
 may be the country of their nativity, all Jews, in their 
 . * The G cnins of Judaism, Isaac D'Israeli.
 
 8 JEWS AS THEY AKE. 
 
 religious capacity, as worshippers of God under the 
 Mosaic dispensation, obeying the same divine com- 
 mands, observing the samo religious rites, and be- 
 lieving in the. sublime doctrine of the perfect unity 
 of God, are upon an equality. But even here, 
 although adherents of the same revered religion, 
 there must necessarily be a perceptible diversity 
 among Jews according to the manner in which, 
 as individuals, they observe the precepts of their 
 common faith. 
 
 As among Christians and other religious denomina- 
 tions, so among Jews there exist infinite varieties of 
 intelligence, disposition, temper, and opinion upon all 
 subjects. Among Jews, as among every other people, 
 men and women are divided into numberless classes, 
 differently reared, differently educated and employed ; 
 occupying in the social scale widely different positions ; 
 influenced by distinctly diverse associations of the past 
 and present ; whose tastes, inclinations, talents, tem- 
 perament, sympathies, aims in life, objects of ambi- 
 tion, demeanour, conduct, thoughts and convictions, 
 habits, financial resources, and future prospects are as 
 multifarious as the circumstances which might arise to 
 stir them into activity. How illogical and unfair, 
 therefore, is it to class a great people so diversely cir- 
 cumstanced under one common appellation ! By 
 neglecting, in past times, to judge the Jewish people 
 alike in their individual and collective capacity, as 
 other people, indeed by the only correct rule of judg- 
 ment, they have been grossly and wilfully misappre- 
 hended, misjudged, and misrepresented, to their irre- 
 trievable injury.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 9 
 
 Jews claim to be measured by the standard of 
 other communities. They do not covet undue com- 
 mendation ; but they emphatically protest against 
 depreciation. They do not desire to be thought 
 better than they actually are. Jews are but human 
 creatures, and, therefore, like other human creatures, 
 they are of necessity subject to the infirmities, frailties 
 .and errors common to humanity. They desire to be 
 spoken of as they are ; that nothing in their cha- 
 racter and conduct shall be extenuated, nor aught 
 set down to them in malice. Having endured from 
 the wickedness and injustice of mankind more than 
 eighteen centuries of suffering ; having, more par- 
 ticularly in the barbarous Middle Ages, been subjected 
 to every conceivable phase of wrong and misery ; to 
 oppressive and restrictive laws ; to usurious imposts 
 from royal and noble robbers ; to the exceptional 
 disadvantage of being forced for many ages to pursue, 
 in order to sustain life, many avocations calculated 
 to degrade and depress the human character, it should 
 strike all men of an impartial and unfettered judg- 
 ment who reflect seriously on the subject, and take 
 into unprejudiced consideration the tremendous post- 
 biblical history of the Jewish nation, as bordering 
 almost on the miraculous, that modern Jews should 
 have emerged from so terrible a state of racial ad- 
 versity and degradation with so bright and promising 
 an aspect as they actually present. None but a 
 divinely-protected people could have done so ! It is 
 .an unanswerable demonstration to persistent tra- 
 ducers of the Jewish people that they are an in- 
 destructible race, and destined, moreover, to develop,
 
 10 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 in the undefined future, the yet unrealised glorious 
 designs of the Eternal. To crush, much less to extir- 
 pate the Jews, a people whom God graciously selected 
 from all other nations as " His peculiar treasure " 
 sinful though they have been has repeatedly been 
 proved by the experience of more than eighteen cen- 
 turies to be impossible ! " The world," to quote the 
 late Lord Beaconsfield, " has by this time discovered 
 that it is impossible to destroy the Jews ! The at- 
 tempt to extirpate them has been made under the 
 most favourable auspices, and on the largest scale ; 
 the most considerable means that man could com- 
 mand have been pertinaciously applied to this object 
 for the longest period of recorded time. Egyptian 
 Pharaohs, Ass}'rian kings, Roman emperors, Scan- 
 dinavian crusaders, Gothic princes and holy inqui- 
 sitors have alike devoted their energies to the ful- 
 filment of this common purpose. Expatriation, exile, 
 captivity, confiscation, torture on the most ingenious 
 and massacre on the most extensive scale : a curious 
 system of degrading customs and debasing laws which 
 would have broken the heart of any other people, 
 have been tried, and in vain. The Jews, after all 
 this havoc, probably more numerous at this date 
 than they were during the reign of Solomon the Wise, 
 are found in all lands, and prospering in most. All 
 which proves that it is in vain for man to attempt 
 to baffle the inexorable law of Nature, which has 
 decreed that a superior race shall never be destroyed, 
 or absorbed by an inferior."* "The mixed perse- 
 
 * Lord George Bentincli a Political Biography, by Lord 
 Beaconsfield.
 
 JEWS AS THEY AKE. II 
 
 cuting races disappear ; and the pure persecuted race 
 remains." * 
 
 There is a remarkable buoyancy in the racial spirit 
 of Jews ! When favourable opportunities present 
 themselves they aspire to rise in the world ; and in 
 most instances, they attain, by perseverance, and the 
 exercise of the essential superior qualities, the objects 
 of their laudable ambition. Jews in general are ob- 
 servant, discerning, ambitious and energetic ! Re- 
 cognizing the fact that " there is a tide in the affairs 
 of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to for- 
 tune," they watch the tides and avail themselves of 
 the floods ! 
 
 Regarding Jews from the social stand-point, no 
 difference is observable between the highly edu- 
 cated, accomplished, and well-bred Jewish lady and 
 gentleman, and the highly educated, accomplished, 
 and well-bred Christian lady and gentleman ! The 
 mental discipline of both is the same. Their rules 
 of conduct, and canons of correct taste, and refined 
 and delicate manners are identical. Among Jewish 
 men and women, as among Christian men and women, 
 there exist many who are insufferably ignorant, vulgar, 
 low-minded, purse-proud, and money-inflated; offen- 
 sive snobs, rude and insolent alike in speech and 
 manner. Among Jews, as among Christians, there 
 are, on the contrary, highly-bred, highly-educated 
 men and women : graceful in speech and manner : 
 elegant-minded, of natures refined, charming, delicate 
 and generous ; charitable alike in thought and deed ; 
 and in demeanour modest, unpresuming, and unpre- 
 * " Conviffsby," by Lord Beaconsfield.
 
 12 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 tentious ! It has been a loss to Christianity no less 
 than to Judaism that religious differences should 
 so long have kept asunder such congenial natures ! 
 " Viewing," says Lord Beaconsfield, " the influence of 
 the Jewish race upon the modern communities, with- 
 out any reference to their past history, or the future 
 promises of Israel ; dismissing from our minds and 
 memories, if indeed that be possible, all that the Jews 
 have done in the olden time for man, and all which 
 it may be their destiny yet to fulfil, we hold that 
 instead of being an object of aversion, they should 
 receive all that honour and favour from the Northern 
 and Western races, which, in civilized and refined 
 nations, should be the lot of those who charm the 
 public taste and elevate the public feeling. We do 
 not hesitate to say that there is no race at this 
 present, and following in this only the example of a 
 long period, that so much delights and fascinates, and 
 elevates and ennobles Europe as the Jewish." * 
 
 II. 
 
 Jews do not claim to be exempt from malpractices, 
 misdemeanours, and criminal actions in common with 
 the rest of mankind ; but they exult in the fact that, in 
 the long catalogue of frightful, brutal crimes committed 
 daily and hourly, of which the daily journals furnish 
 reports, a Jewish name very seldom appears. From 
 wife-kicking, assassination, and other unnatural crimes, 
 it is shown by the published records of crime that 
 
 * Lord Gco. Bcntinck a Political Biography, by Lord 
 Beaconsfield.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 13- 
 
 Jews are happily free. It is indeed a most rare event 
 when, in any country, a Jew is found guilty of com- 
 mitting murder, or even of shedding human blood at all. 
 Jews are not more free than Christians from the perpe- 
 tration of illegal acts ; but their criminal offences are 
 so infrequent that it has been the baneful custom of 
 some journalist-reporters to publish the religion of each 
 Jewish malefactor, thus conferring upon him a dis- 
 tinction which is always denied to Christians con- 
 victed, perhaps, of similar offences. The unfairness 
 of such a proceeding is transparent ! Drunkenness- 
 is not a Jewish crime. Conjugal infidelity is a most 
 rare Jewish vice. There is, of course, a criminal 
 class among Jews as among Christians: but their 
 criminals are not characterised by acts of brutal bar- 
 barity. 
 
 The universality of Jewish philanthropy, irres- 
 pective of diversity of religious faith, has been, and 
 is so fully and so substantially illustrated by the 
 munificent public and private charitable donations- 
 of Jews to all kinds of Jewish and Christian insti- 
 tutions, established for charitable and educational ob- 
 jects ; and their generous money-contributions upon 
 every occasion of public and private calamity is so- 
 patent to the world, that an attempt to confirm the 
 averment would appear to be needless. The domestic 
 virtues of the Jewish people, in the sacred character 
 of parents, guardians, husbands, wives, children,, 
 brothers and sisters, and friends indeed in every 
 relation of life have been often freely discussed,, 
 and as freely admitted, even by their religious oppo- 
 nents. In 1833 the then Archbishop of Canter-
 
 14 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 bury, when opposing the removal of the Jewisn 
 disabilities in the House of Lords, thus expressed 
 himself: "The morality of the Jews is derived 
 through the Law and the Prophets from the Foun- 
 tain of Holiness With due allowance for 
 
 human iniirmity, I think it may be pronounced, that, 
 in point of morality, the Jews stand well." On the 
 same memorable occasion, the then Bishop of London 
 said : " As to the personal character of the Jews, so 
 far as I have had an opportunity of forming an 
 opinion, the results of my observations are highly 
 favourable. I had once the care of a large parish in 
 which a large number of that people resided ; and I 
 found them amongst the most liberal, loyal, and quiet 
 of the inhabitants. It is a great pain to me to oppose 
 their claims ! " Sir Robert Ingiis, the Jews' most per- 
 sistent opponent, in a speech, also delivered in 1833, 
 disclaimed " the common vulgar objection to the 
 Jews personally," and he expressed a belief that " in 
 this country there are few classes of the community 
 who are guilty of fewer crimes in proportion to their 
 numbers." He cautiously admitted, that, placed in 
 such a situation as the Jews then were in this country, 
 there were few classes who would be distinguished by 
 such general good conduct. 
 
 That British-born Jews could efficiently share the 
 burdens of State-service with British-born Christians 
 was an idea that, fifty years ago, had not then be- 
 come familiar to the imagination of men of narrow 
 comprehension, who professed to view such a conjunc- 
 ture with apprehension and dread, as fraught with 
 danger to the British constitution ! Many Christians
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 15 
 
 unacquainted with the actual Jewish character failed 
 to grasp the notion that a British Jew might possibly 
 perform the duties of a British subject with as much 
 ability, zeal, discretion, and integrity as a British 
 Christian. 
 
 In the performance of their respective official func- 
 tions many British Jews, during the past half -century, 
 have had numerous opportunities of practically de- 
 monstrating their fitness for exercising all the duties 
 of British subjects, without disturbing the Christianity 
 of Parliament or the country ; not alone with honour 
 to themselves and their religious community, but with 
 real and substantial benefit to their country. 
 
 Jews have always been remarkable for their con- 
 sistent loyalty to the sovereign rulers of the countries 
 cf their birth or adoption. In every country which 
 has bestowed upon Jews the equal rights of citizen- 
 ship they have always been found to be active, and 
 able, and willing in the performance of their civic 
 duties. "The Jew," to quote an eminent British 
 statesman, " has manifestly an interest in the State 
 which affords him protection. . . . He is interested in 
 defending and promoting the interests of the country 
 which contains his family and property. He is inte- 
 rested in upholding the king's constitutional authority. 
 He has a common interest with us in the maintenance 
 of the national freedom. The Jew is as deeply inte- 
 rested in the administration of the laws of his country 
 as the Christian." * 
 
 Since British Jews have been admitted to all the 
 privileges of British citizens upon the footing of perfect 
 * The Right Honourable Robert Grant : speech, 1833.
 
 16 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 equality, to share the responsibilities, the burdens, 
 the duties, and the honours of their native country, 
 they are no longer " insulated." They seek not in any 
 manner to be separated from their fellow-subjects and 
 citizens. Their actions, their pursuits, their religious, 
 convictions, and their individual political proclivities 
 are open to the inspection, the comment, and criticism 
 of the entire world. It is a common error to suppose 
 that Jews, as Jews, entertain special political opinions, 
 and that all Jews hold identical political views. The 
 reverse is the fact. Every individual Jew maintains 
 his individual and independent political convictions. 
 Jews doubtless owe a deep debt of gratitude to the 
 Whigs or Liberals, who were the pioneers of civil and 
 religious liberty in this country, and without whose 
 courageous and persistent advocacy and political in- 
 fluence their admission to all the rights and privileges 
 of British subjects would unquestionably have been 
 much longer delayed. 
 
 III. 
 
 To suppose that Jews are more than other people 
 greedy for the acquisition of riches is another popular 
 fallacy. They are nothing of the kind. The im- 
 patient desire to possess wealth is universal ! This is 
 an undeniable fact of which we have daily and hourly 
 experience. The " golden calf" is worshipped by the 
 whole world ! Even the vague reputation of being 
 supposed to be wealthy is agreeable to many who 
 possess no more substantial claim to worldly adula- 
 tion. Mundane importance and social consideration,
 
 JEWS AS THEY A11E. 17 
 
 which would seem to be dependent upon the pos 
 session of riches, is the ambition of the majority 
 of men of all countries and creeds, who aim alike at 
 power, influence, and worldly distinction. Money is 
 among the chief sources of influence and power. For 
 many ages Jews were incapable of possessing landed 
 property, and of holding offices or places to which 
 power and influence were attached. Money was 
 their only road to these much desired posses- 
 sions. It should surprise none, therefore, that Jews, 
 in common with other people, should have been 
 eager to obtain their only means of acquiring in- 
 fluence and importance. It is therefore idle and 
 absurd, unjust and illogical, to reproach Jews with 
 possessing a more avaricious spirit and a more eager 
 desire for the accumulation of money than other 
 people. Dr. Barnard Van Oven a once famous 
 Anglo-Jewish physician in his Appeal to the British 
 Nation on behalf of the Jetcs (1831), wrote thus : 
 
 " The Jew is accused of love of money ; but it is 
 forgotten that all other means of distinction are denied 
 him ; that he must rise by wealth, or not rise at all ; 
 and if, as he well knows, to ensure wealth be to ensure 
 rank, respect, and attention in society, does the blame 
 rest with him who endeavours to acquire wealth for 
 the distinction which it will purchase, or with that 
 society which so readily bows down at the shrine of 
 Mammon ? It is not pretended that the Jew is a 
 miser, that he desires to acquire wealth merely for the 
 loathsome gratification of hoarding it. ... The Jew- 
 ish merchant is generally profuse in his expenditure ; 
 he has laboured to gain riches on account of the
 
 18 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 respect which they will procure for him, and he is 
 proud of expending them with the same view." 
 
 So great is the worship of money among all people, 
 of all religious creeds, of all countries, and of all classes, 
 that the almost frenzied strife to accumulate wealth 
 is never-ceasing. To obtain riches many a Christian 
 man has imperilled alike his body and his soul. A 
 man reputed to be immensely wealthy, be he mean in 
 character, abject in his nature, harsh and severe in his 
 opinions, mentally deficient, rapacious, and hard- 
 hearted, vulgar in person, and demeanour, ill-favoured 
 in features and figure, intolerant and uncharitable, 
 coarse in language and speech, will usually command 
 an immeasurable amount of notice and regard, if not 
 admiration, as the personification of the world's 
 universal idol, Money ! Whereas if a man be 
 known to be poor, or even limited in his finances, 
 be he generous and kind, noble in his nature and 
 aspirations, gifted with an agreeable manner and 
 charming conversation, refined in his conduct and 
 disposition, widely-charitable in thought and act, 
 and moreover specially talented, he will scarcely 
 attract attention unless by some extraneous circum- 
 stances he should be forced into notice. This is not 
 a truism, but an important truth which should be 
 deeply considered when it is attempted to judge the 
 Jewish people. 
 
 Smollett furnishes a fearful account of the avaricious 
 spirit exhibited by thousands of Englishmen and 
 Englishwomen in 1720 by the delusive prospects of 
 enormous gains promised by the directors of the 
 South Sea Company. The scheme offered, it said, no
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 19 
 
 substantial commercial advantages. It was simply a 
 gigantic swindle upheld by the infamous acts of some 
 of the most distinguished men of the period. In order 
 to raise a capital of one million sterling the directors 
 of the company promised to ensure to their subscribers 
 three hundred pounds for every one hundred pounds 
 capital subscribed. Two millions were forthcoming in 
 a very few days, and the price of the original stock 
 rose rapidly. This wonderful advance would appear 
 to have driven thousands of fortune-hunters and 
 gamblers to a pitch of money-madness. "All distinction 
 of party," says Smollett, i: of religion, sex, character 
 and circumstances were swallowed up in this universal 
 concern, or in some such pecuniary project. Exchange 
 Alley was filled with a strange concourse of statesmen 
 and clergymen, churchmen and dissenters, whigs and 
 tories, physicians, lawyers, tradesmen, and even with 
 multitudes of females. All other professions and em- 
 ployments were utterly neglected, and the people's 
 attention wholly engrossed by this and other chi- 
 merical schemes, which were known by the denomina- 
 tion of bubbles." 
 
 Infatuated by the universal impatient greed for gold 
 the highest nobility of this country, including the 
 Prince of "Wales, the Duke of Bridgewater, and the 
 Duke of Chandos, did not deem it beneath their 
 social dignity to accept the commercial position of 
 governors to public companies and to become them- 
 selves stock jobbers. The South Sea bubble burst on 
 the 8th of September, 1720. Then was heard the 
 " gnashing of teeth," the ravings of grief, of disappoint- 
 ment and despair. Total ruin had suddenly fallen 
 
 c2
 
 20 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 upon thousands who had confidently looked forward 
 to become millionaires. The most eminent financier of 
 the times, " the pillar of state credit," as he has been 
 termed, the Rothschild of his day, was Sir Sampson 
 Gideon, formerly Sampson de Rehuel Abudiente, 
 a descendant of one of the great Jewish families of 
 Spain or Portugal, the ancestor of Sir Culling 
 Eardley, Bart. He was looked up to as an authority 
 in money affairs. He, as well as his co-religionists, 
 had perceived the unreality of the bubble schemes, and 
 had risked nothing. Consequently, when their 
 Christian neighbours were entirely overwhelmed with 
 the loss of all, or nearly all, their possessions, the Jews 
 were found to be unscathed. 
 
 When anti-Semitic agitators have sought to 
 cast odium upon Jews as avaricious gold- seekers, 
 money-traders, and usurious money-lenders, Shake- 
 speare's imaginary Shylock, albeit a purely fictitious 
 dramatic creation, has been found an effective war- 
 spear to hurl at the heads of the Jewish people. 
 These traclucers would appear to have forgotten Mas- 
 singer's no less imaginary Christian money-grasper, 
 Sir Giles Overreach, before whose unsurpassed vil- 
 lainies the harshest vindictiveness of the insulted 
 and contemned Shylock positively pales ! I would 
 ask, while in the realms of fiction, who were the 
 adulators of the miserable Tittlebat Titmouse, when 
 he was supposed to have acquired wealth ? and who 
 scornfully abandoned him to his former wretched 
 condition when he was discovered to be money- 
 less ? I would ask, again, were the Dramatis Pcrsonce, 
 Jews or Christians, who, in the late Lord Lytton's
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 21 
 
 drama, 3Tonei/, treated with cold and cruel insolence 
 the intellectual gentleman, Evelyn, when he was 
 thought to be a poor dependent, and who fawned upon 
 him and almost worshipped him when he became the 
 possessor of vast wealth ? It would not be difficult to 
 multiply ad infinitum, both from the realms of fiction 
 and the romance of real life, instances of the inordi- 
 nate . love of gold exhibited by Christians. How 
 unjust, therefore, to reproach Jews alone with a fail- 
 ing which is universal ! 
 
 Christians labour under the very erroneous impres- 
 sion that Jews, as a people, are immensely rich. This 
 is very wide of the truth. They doubtless gained the 
 reputation of being the richest people in the world in 
 ages when, in reality, through their superior intelli- 
 gence, perspicacity, energy, and frugality, they had 
 obtained the entire control of the financial world. To 
 be " as rich as a Jew " has become a proverb ; but, like 
 similar proverbs adopted without reflection, and re- 
 peated from age to age, it is one entirely fallacious. 
 The notion that all Jews, in all countries, at all 
 periods, acquired their vast wealth by the vile practice 
 of usury is not alone delusive, but absolutely fake ! 
 When notions, however wild and unsubstantial, once 
 take possession of the popular mind, and more espe- 
 cially of the minds of those who are but too willing 
 to receive them, it is hardly to be expected that they 
 may be ever totally dispelled. The term money was 
 during many ages associated more particularly with 
 the Jewish people, and with money was always iden- 
 tified the baleful vice of usury, otherwise the practice 
 of exacting excessive profit, or interest, for the use or
 
 22 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 loan of money. Notwithstanding that usury a term 
 as offensive as its exercise has been practised from' 
 the earliest times by every ancient and modern people 
 of every religious denomination, as evidenced by the 
 historical records of all nations, the character of 
 usurer has been most unjustly fastened upon the Jews 
 of all countries alone as an assumed proclivity a 
 special characteristic of their race, their religion, and 
 their disposition : the fact being that, although many 
 Jews, in many countries, in all periods, in common 
 with Christians of all countries and all periods, have 
 been engaged in lending money upon more or less- 
 excessive interest, at no period and in no country haa 
 the practice of usury so called been limited to the 
 Jews, who, as a community, are unanimous in their 
 detestation and reprobation of the too-often discredit- 
 able money transactions in which, in common with 
 other people, some few, and very few, Jews have been 
 and are engaged. 
 
 It is well known that men of all countries and 
 creeds are ceaselessly engaged in practices most evil 
 in their consequences, which, although they may 
 not always come under the category of illegal acts, 
 are not the less socially criminal, and morally vicious ; 
 and, moreover, fraught with danger alike to society 
 and to individuals. Among such malpractices may 
 be catalogued money-lending and money-borrowing 
 upon excessive interest. Christians no less than Jews 
 are daily and hourly engaged in this discreditable 
 money-traffic, of which the daily journals afford un- 
 deniable testimony. It is said that this kind of 
 money-trading is occasionally carried on by Chris-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 23 
 
 tians under Jewish names, and, vice versa, that it is 
 sometimes practised by Jews under Christian names ; 
 and that it is furthermore exercised occasionally by 
 many tradesmen of excellent repute of both denomi- 
 nations. It is hardly possible to expect that the 
 practice of exacting exorbitant payment for the use 
 of money will ever cease, since, as History informs 
 us, it has always been carried on by all nations of 
 all creeds ; as there will always be spendthrifts, 
 luxurious over-indulgence, extravagance, capitalists, 
 money-lenders, and money-borrowers. Fiat justitia 
 mat ccelum ! Let the obloquy which may reasonably 
 attach to discreditable money-lending fall only upon 
 the transgressors ! Let not those who are wholly 
 innocent and unconcerned in such matters, who, more- 
 over, emphatically condemn and abhor such practices, 
 whether Christians or Jews, suffer the disgrace which 
 they involve. Let it no longer be falsely and \ offen- 
 sively asserted that " The Jews " are the most notorious 
 " usurers " and money-lenders ! Let it no longer be 
 repeated, w r hen a spendthrift seeks to rid himself 
 of his money troubles by money -borrowing, that " he 
 has got into the hands of ' The Jews' " Let the 
 baneful practice be condemned without stint: but 
 let Christians as well as Jews share the condemna- 
 tion when deserved ! 
 
 Since there exist no longer any restrictions in this 
 country to prevent Jews from entering any profes- 
 sion; from holding any government or municipal 
 office ; to their admission to Parliament, and, in 
 fact, to their pursuit of any vocation to which their 
 tastes, inclinations, talents, or the possession of capital
 
 24 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 may lead them, Jews are now occupied in precisely 
 the same manner as their Christian fellow-country- 
 men. They obtain their living by similar means, 
 and in the same manner they become possessed of 
 wealth. 
 
 When, during the barbarous middle ages, there was 
 an occasional lull from excessive tyranny, and when the 
 incubus of persecution and Christian hatred became 
 somewhat lighter, and, therefore less unbearable, Jewish 
 spirit, always naturally elastic, acquired hopefulness. 
 At such comparatively peaceful periods many of those 
 Hebrew literary treasures were produced which are 
 now to be found in some of the most famous libraries 
 of Europe. Mean and degrading as the occupations 
 may sometimes have been by which the unhappy 
 Jews in most European countries were formerly con- 
 strained to earn their daily subsistence, they never, 
 at any period, entirely neglected the culture of their 
 minds. All Jews were more or less learned in their 
 sublime Law : it was always in their thoughts, in 
 their speech, and in their hearts. Whether in po- 
 verty or in wealth, in adversity or in prosperity, 
 Jews usually occupied their leisure hours in study, 
 in contemplation, in learned discourses and Rab- 
 binical arguments. Many Jews specially gifted with 
 poetical genius were wont to employ themselves in 
 composing psalms and prayers, in prose and verse. 
 They also composed Hebrew Lyrics on secular as 
 well as sacred subjects, many beautiful specimens of 
 which have come down to us. Jews also then com- 
 posed those pathetic chants, and some of those touch- 
 ing Hebrew melodies which are yet heard with
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 25 
 
 admiration in the modern Synagogue. In intel- 
 lectual force and mental culture the mediaeval Jews 
 especially those of the Iberian peninsula were 
 far in advance of their contemporaries of other creeds. 
 Thus when other nations were steeped in the mire of 
 ignorance, and were wandering in the obscure mazes 
 of superstition and religious bigotry, the more men- 
 tally-cultivated Hebrews, albeit always cruelly perse- 
 cuted, occupied themselves, nevertheless, in erecting 
 an immortal temple of literary fame, which, in after 
 ages, should prove, that, doomed victims of the In- 
 evitable as they were by the inscrutable decree of the 
 Omniscient and ever-merciful God, the Jews were 
 not, as is commonly imagined, continuously engaged 
 in the acquisition of money as their sole aim and 
 end in life. 
 
 IV. 
 
 In past ages Christians sought no acquaintance 
 with Jews save when they were moved by an evil 
 spirit to outrage and plunder them. Nothing could 
 therefore be known by strangers of the nature of their 
 religion and its observances, of their social and inner 
 life. Extravagant and outrageous notions of their 
 daily avocations, their domestic habits, their national 
 customs, their religious convictions, and sacred rites, 
 as unnatural as they were false, became widely circu- 
 lated among their always hostile Christian neighbours, 
 and by them implicitly credited without enquiry or 
 reflection. Assuming an unjustifiable and arrogant 
 superiority over Jews, their seniors in religion and
 
 26 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 civilisation, Christians presumed to measure them by 
 the standard of their own then ill-conditioned intelli- 
 gence. They stupidly ignored, as a religious com- 
 munity, the most religious people in the world their 
 own religious teachers ! With insensate arguments 
 they urged that because Jews declined to become 
 apostates, and thus abandon their glorious heritage, 
 their divine religion, they must of necessity be " infi- 
 dels" ! Christians presumed to determine, with dog- 
 matic certainty, that because Jews persistently refused 
 to recognise in Jesus the ANOINTED ONE whom God 
 had promised them, and to acknowledge and worship 
 Jesus Christ as God the Father, Creator, Governor, 
 and Preserver of the world, they must d fortiori be 
 without a God, a Redeemer, and Saviour ! that because 
 Jews would not consent to be " converted " to Chris- 
 tianity, they must of a certainty be doomed irrevocably 
 to everlasting perdition in this world, and in the 
 world to come ! The Hebrews were wont to be inso- 
 lently reviled by Christians as " misbelieving Jews," 
 whereas they were, are, and ever will be in fact 
 believing Jeics, i.e., Jews believing implicitly, and with 
 unswerving constancy in their own immutable and 
 more ancient religion. Christians in past ages, in their 
 pride of temporal power, insultingly addressed God's 
 " chosen people," His " peculiar treasure," then weak, 
 unprotected, and powerless, as " infidel dogs " ! " mis- 
 believing dogs " ! with the same contemptuous lan- 
 guage and manner that Mohammedans in Arabia, 
 Morocco, Tunis, and other Moslem countries have 
 since used as it were in retribution to the Chris- 
 tians sometimes domiciled in those countries. Chris-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 27 
 
 tian children were taught by their parents and guar- 
 dians, even in comparatively modern times, to treat 
 Jews with derision and contumely, as Mohammedan 
 children have since been instructed to treat Christians,, 
 and as the ancient Christian Normans treated the 
 conquered Christian Saxons ! 
 
 In his noble romance, " Ivanhoe," Sir Walter Scott 
 has presented, in language as elegant as it is graphic, 
 a true picture of the condition and treatment of the 
 Jews then established in many English counties in 
 the. cruel Middle Ages. He has, with his magic 
 pen, shown us how Christianity was practised in 
 those evil days. His kind-hearted and gentle ideal 
 Jew, Isaac of York, and his lovely, high-minded, 
 and noble-spirited daughter, Rebecca, are photo- 
 graphic portraits. They may be accepted as correct 
 types of the better class of the persecuted Jews of the 
 iron ages of Judaism. Their dastardly treatment by 
 the "noble" Christian knights the Bois Guilberts, 
 the Front de Boeufs, and the De Braceys the " pink 
 of chivalry," as described by Sir Walter Scott, is in 
 precise accord with the too-well, and too-often re- 
 corded facts to be found in the sad post-biblical his- 
 tory of the Jewish people. 
 
 When we contemplate the manner in which the= 
 Christian religion was understood and practised 
 during the " dark ages "; how the conquered of all 
 countries cruelly suffered at the hands of their con- 
 querors ; how Christians treated their brother Chris- 
 tians who happened to differ from them in some points 
 of religious belief; when we recall, moreover, to our 
 memory the histories of the Huguenots, the Albi-
 
 28 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 genses, the Covenanters, the Calvinists, and Lutherans, 
 the Unitarians, the Quakers, the Protestants, and the 
 Eoman Catholics all, in turn, persecutors and perse- 
 cuted we have no astonishment left to devote to the 
 then wicked treatment of Jews. It is clearly intelli- 
 gible in what manner Christian hatred, intolerance, 
 
 o * * 
 
 aversion, and prejudice were generated, fostered, and 
 sustained through so many successive centuries of 
 unmitigated oppression and inhuman cruelty, to 
 the irreparable injury of the unhappy, oppressed 
 Jews, and yet more to the everlasting disgrace and 
 infamy of their persecutors, who, while preaching 
 love and peace, breathed hate, and war, and extermi- 
 nation. 
 
 " To their unparalleled institutions, and because it 
 was decreed that they should be a ' peculiar people,' " 
 the late Isaac D'Israeli traces one of the causes of " the 
 universal hatred which the Hebrews have excited in 
 every nation, and in every age." " They have had," 
 he says, " to encounter with holy intrepidity and glory 
 the antipathies and the calumnies which a ' peculiar 
 people ' only could have endured. In the election of 
 His People, as ' His peculiar treasure,' the Deity ac- 
 companied the grace bestowed upon them by the trial 
 of concomitant afflictions." " To their just veneration 
 of the Holy Code which excited their contempt for 
 the laws of all other nations, is attributable another 
 cause which provoked the hatred of other nations for 
 the Hebrews." " The laws of other legislators," says 
 the same authority, " have passed away, for their 
 views were transient as the glory of the people to 
 whom they were administered ; there was no holy
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 20 
 
 principle in them of enduring potency to carry them 
 beyond the state they governed. But the Laws of 
 Moses, unaltered as they were first delivered to his 
 race, breathing the inspiration in which they origin- 
 ated, and binding together the spirit of religion with 
 the spirit of polity, after countless ages are now 
 operating on their unchangeable people, still ancient 
 and still our contemporaries."* 
 
 The preposterous notion with respect to Jews, 
 which for a successive series of ages was popular 
 among Christians of every sect and class, was that 
 they w r ere an inferior section of the great human 
 family, differently constituted from the generality of 
 mankind, and that, therefore, it was unreasonable to 
 regard them as entitled to the same treatment as other 
 members of the human race. Bigotry, gross igno- 
 rance, and superstition blinded the Christians of 
 past ages to the significant fact that they were in- 
 debted largely to the Jews and their holy inspired 
 Scriptures for their own Christianity ; that the 
 Founder of their religion and all the Apostles w^ere 
 Jews ; and that when insulting the Jewish race from 
 whence they sprung they were in fact insulting them- 
 selves and their own religion ! 
 
 The Christians of the Middle Ages, in their excess of 
 ignorance and fanaticism, professed to regard it be- 
 neath their Christianity to converse with Jews, except 
 at arm's length, and in terms of insolent scorn ; to be 
 domiciled with them ; to eat and drink with them ; to- 
 think of them in a kindly spirit ; in fine, to consider 
 them in any other manner than as legitimate objects. 
 The Genius of Judaism, by Isaac D'Israeli.
 
 SO JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 for oppression and usurious extortions. When it is 
 considered that at the same period Catholic Christians 
 would have condemned to the stake, without any 
 compunctions of conscience, any brother or sister, wife 
 or mother, who might have been charged with, or even 
 suspected of, the crime of heresy, it can hardly sur- 
 prise the thoughtful that Christians were unceasingly 
 irritated and angered at the presence in their midst of 
 a religious people, whom they despised and hated, 
 persisting in the strict observance of their ancient 
 religion, uninfluenced by dogmatic arguments, and 
 undismayed by the fear of persecution. Christians 
 themselves chose to regard Jews as a passive protest 
 against their own religion, their religious doctrines, 
 and themselves ! 
 
 By some inexplicable process of reasoning, Jews 
 were assumed to be wanting in human feeling ! 
 Mercy and compassion were supposed to be unknown 
 to them: they were devoid of faith, hope and cha- 
 rity ; incapable of tender sympathies, friendships and 
 affections. Jews were further credited with the pos- 
 session of an indefinable, unholy, mysterious kind of 
 evil influence. Even the sacred Hebrew language, 
 the language of the Bible, was imagined to be con- 
 nected in some " uncanny " fashion with antagonism 
 and peril to the Christian religion. So persistently 
 were these inane notions encouraged, and handed 
 down by tradition from age to age, that they at 
 length became chronic so to speak and, taking 
 firm root in the untutored popular mind, they be- 
 came, as it were, deeply imbedded in the people's 
 very nature.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 31 
 
 To eradicate Judaism and destroy its adherents 
 was formerly the irrepressible desire, endeavour, and 
 policy alike of benighted monks, priests, nobles, and 
 princes. Any and every agency, however vile and 
 savage, which might effect such a consummation was 
 deemed legitimate and permissible : but they were 
 always used in vain. The most improbable crimes 
 were periodically laid to the charge of the innocent 
 oppressed Jews; the wildest and most extravagant 
 calumnies, the most impossible and unnatural stories 
 were invented and circulated in order to bring odium 
 upon them and their religion, and to increase Chris- 
 tian hate ; and, further, to serve as an excuse for 
 Christian sacrilege, outrage, pillage, extortion, mas- 
 sacre, expatriation, and, if possible, extirpation. 
 
 Because Jews, observing the sanitary laws of their 
 revered legislator, Moses, abstained from eating the 
 flesh of swine and other unclean animals and reptiles, 
 they were sneered at and derided. It was deemed very 
 " smart " and witty to scoff at and insult a Jew by 
 offering to him the impure meats, which, in wisdom, 
 the inspired legislator forbade him to eat. " The 
 laws of the Jewish people constitute their religion." * 
 Their religion enjoins purity, alike of body and 
 mind. The Jewish law enacts frequent ablutions 
 and abstention from unclean food. " With the Jew 
 everything is ancient, but nothing is obsolete." * 
 
 The courageous constancy and determination with 
 which Jews maintained their ancient and revered 
 religion in opposition to the many ensnaring entice- 
 ments and various insidious influences, and all the 
 * Genius of Judaism, by Isaac D'Israeli.
 
 32 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 sophistry with which Christians, in all ages, had un- 
 ceasingly, but vainly, endeavoured to induce them to 
 embrace Christianity, was naturally another permanent 
 source of Christian hate to Jews. Their irrepressible 
 attempts at conversion only served to endear to Jews 
 more and more their own perfect religion, and to 
 strengthen them in their own religious convictions, 
 and to attach them by yet stronger ties to the hal- 
 lowed traditions of their martyred ancestors. 
 
 V. 
 
 As the descendants of an illustrious historic race 
 of inspired prophets, poets, priests, judges, kings, and 
 mighty warriors, the persecuted, oppressed and de- 
 graded Israelites of the Middle Ages, who were scat- 
 tered and dispersed among .all nations, acutely felt 
 the ceaseless cruelty, injustice and folly of their per- 
 secutors. With humble submission to the mysterious 
 Will of God, they recognised the partial fulfilment of 
 His decrees as prophesied by Moses ; and, believing 
 implicitly in their complete fulfilment, they hopefully 
 looked forward to the future. Firm as adamant, 
 they effectually frustrated every machination of their 
 avowed enemies. Unbending as the forest oak, they 
 foiled every insidious attempt to encroach upon the 
 domain of their religion, and their hallowed convic- 
 tions. When benighted Christians would reproach 
 Jews with " blindness and obstinacy " in rejecting 
 Christianity, they scornfully smiled, for they knew 
 full well on which side obstinacy and blindness dwelt.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 33 
 
 They knew that they did not require Christianity ; 
 Judaism being all sufficient for them. They were 
 conscious that whatever of good there is in Chris- 
 tianity is derived from, and is to be found in Ju- 
 daism ; and being convinced of the immutability of 
 the Jewish religion, its efficacy for all ages, all cir- 
 cumstances, places, climes, and all conditions of life, 
 they clung to their holy faith with tenacious con- 
 stancy and courage. To vituperation they opposed 
 disdain and indifference ; while they exchanged Jewish 
 for Christian hate. 
 
 Educated in the school of adversity, Jews became 
 gradually indifferent to its uses. Living in a condi- 
 tion of perpetual perilous uncertainty, they were ever 
 prepared for any sudden outburst of popular fury, 
 and for any national calamity to which it might give 
 rise. Whenever a Christian tyrant, or his nobles, 
 or his people, were in want of money, and coveted the 
 rightful possessions of the more wealthy Hebrews, 
 they were wont to be charged with the commission of 
 abominable and impossible crimes. Always upon 
 perjured testimony Jews would be subjected to 
 physical torture on the rack to force them, in their 
 agonies, to confess themselves guilty. Then they 
 would be proclaimed guilty, without trial ; and would 
 be doomed to pillage, imprisonment, and to forfeit 
 immense sums of money; and often to wholesale 
 assassination. No proofs of innocence would have 
 had the smallest chance of acceptance. Jews were, 
 besides, always held responsible for every fatality 
 which might possibly befall the countries in which 
 they were temporarily domiciled. Should a plague 
 
 D
 
 34 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 break out, the Jews would be accused of poisoning the 
 wells, and would suffer accordingly. Should, during 
 a protracted hot season, a long drought ensue, the Jews 
 would again be charged with causing the drought, and 
 again would be liable to suffer in heavy imposts, and 
 usurious extortions. Should the coin of the realm, 
 from the constant friction of use, be found to be of 
 light weight, the Jews would again be condemned for 
 " clipping the coin of the realm." Should a murder 
 chance to be committed, and the murderer not be im- 
 mediately forthcoming, some distinguished Jew would 
 be accused of the murder in order " to procure blood," 
 as it was said, " for the celebration of the Passover." 
 The infamous, so-called blood-accusations, which, in 
 former ages were frequently made against Jews, and 
 which have been repeatedly proved by the highest 
 incontrovertible ecclesiastical and secular authorities 
 to have been absolutely false, slanderous, and impos- 
 sible, have, nevertheless, even in modern times, been 
 repeated in Mohammedan, as well as in Christian 
 countries, when it has been deemed expedient to fan 
 into a blaze the fires of bigoted Jewish persecution. 
 So implacable has been Christian hatred that Jews 
 have been pronounced capable of the most diabolical 
 crimes and inhuman desires, upon mere imagination 
 inflamed by superstition and ignorance. Their fre- 
 quent savage treatment by Christian fanatics through 
 countless ages, which would have demoralised any 
 other people has failed to demoralize the Jews. Their 
 sole comfort, their temporary alleviation from tribu- 
 lation and national grief, and their precarious, short- 
 lived happiness were in former ages sought for in
 
 JEWS AS THEY AKE. 35 
 
 the bosom of their united and devoted families. They 
 found occasional relief from their heavy burden of 
 misery in the congenial and sympathetic companion- 
 ship of their own people. Confined within the limited 
 area and lofty walls of the Jewries and Ghettos of 
 Europe, the Jews enjoyed among themselves a certain 
 .amount of freedom, and occasional immunity from 
 personal danger. 
 
 It were an error to imagine that during their many 
 -ages of national and individual sorrow", Jews ever 
 entirely lost spirit, or confidence in God's mercies, 
 or that they ever abandoned the hope of a brighter 
 future. It is not an attribute of the Jewish character 
 to yield to continuous repining, to grief, and to des- 
 pondency. * Excelsior ! so to speak, has always been 
 a Jewish motto ! The " Children of Israel " had so 
 long become inured to personal and national insult, 
 to sorrow and degradation, and had so intensely 
 fortified their minds to bear 
 
 " The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, 
 
 The insolence of office, and the spurns 
 That patient merit of the unworthy takes," 
 
 and to submit, in silence, with a " patient shrug," to the 
 gibes, the sneers, and the contempt of their inexor- 
 able foes, that they became at length tacitly proud in 
 spirit, and disdainful of danger, and defiant of adverse 
 opinion. Some high-souled Jews, although by nature 
 stern, deemed it expedient to assume a humble and 
 submissive demeanour. Others, conscious of their 
 own mental superiorit} 7 ', more bold, and less yielding, 
 
 D 2
 
 36 JEWS AS THEY AKE. 
 
 assumed an upright and dignified bearing on every 
 attempted encroachment upon their religious and 
 human rights. Surrounded and encouraged by the 
 sublime devotion of their beloved, faithful, self-sacri- 
 ficing wives and children, the Jews bore their sad,, 
 inevitable destiny with courage and fortitude. It will 
 not be difficult to imagine the frightful consternation 
 that must have prevailed in Jewish households when 
 some horrible Christian outrage upon the sanctity of 
 their homes was apprehended ; when their syna- 
 gogues were pillaged and desecrated ; and when some 
 hapless innocent parent, or son or husband, was carried 
 off by ruthless persecutors to imprisonment, torture, 
 and death ! 
 
 It may easily be imagined with what heaviness of 
 heart, and with what religious fervour, they per- 
 formed the strict rites of their sacred Sabbaths, their 
 sacred festivals, and their fasts; and -with what an 
 amount of heart-earnestness they observed their most 
 sacred fast, on their Day of Atonement ; and on the 
 many woeful anniversaries of their national calamities. 
 
 In their days of gladness they sang among them- 
 selves with heart and soul, as many of their descend- 
 ants in hostile countries yet do, their joyous, sacred, 
 and social national songs ; and in their seasons of 
 affliction alas ! too frequent they wailed forth, in 
 their synagogues and in their homes, their mournful 
 melodies, as, when captives, their unhappy ancestors 
 " sat down by the rivers of Babylon, and wept when 
 they remembered Zion ! " 
 
 Thus did the oppressed Jews preserve their religion > 
 iheir sacred writings, their religious ceremonials, their
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 37 
 
 creed, national customs, their religious and national 
 characteristics, their poetry, and their music. Their 
 young men and maidens were given in marriage, and 
 their conjugal unions were blessed with a numerous 
 progeny. Thus, by their continually increasing num- 
 bers, and their preservation in every part of the 
 habitable globe, have the Jews demonstrated incon- 
 testably their indestructibility, and the truth of Jere- 
 miah's prophecy, "For I am with thee," saith the 
 Lord, " to save thee. Though I make a full end of all 
 the nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I 
 not make an end of thee, but will correct thee." 
 
 '' Duris ut ilex tonsa bipennibus 
 Nigrse feraci f rondis in Algido, 
 Per damna, per ceedes, ab ipso 
 Ducit spes animumque ferro."* 
 
 (HORACE, Ode IV., Bk. 4.) 
 
 Had generous natures then existed in this country 
 and elsewhere ; had common justice been known ; had 
 a truly religious spirit then pervaded the earth ; had 
 the miraculous preservation of the Jews been then 
 thoroughly comprehended; had then the practice of 
 Christianity equalled its theory ; had the divine doc- 
 trine, " Peace on earth, and goodwill to all men," been 
 then less " honoured in the breach than the observ- 
 ance"; had the Jewish tenets, "Love thy neighbour 
 
 * Like an oak on some cold mountain brow, 
 At every wound they sprout and grow ; 
 The axe and sword new vigour give, 
 And by their ruins they survive." 
 
 (ANON.)
 
 38 JEWS AS THEY AKE. 
 
 as thyself," " Do not unto others what you would not 
 that they should do unto you! ; '* the Christian doc- 
 trines, " Love thine enemies !" " Judge not, that ye be 
 not judged!" been actually practised by those who 
 professed to accept them as the teachings of Christ, 
 such sublime heroism, such unparalleled constancy,, 
 such indomitable courage and fortitude as were re- 
 peatedly displayed in the dark Middle Ages by the 
 fallen, persecuted, oppressed, degraded, but always 
 persistent and confident Israelites, should have drawn 
 from their inexorable Christian foes their profound 
 respect and highest commendation ; should have ex- 
 cited their wonder and amazement ; and should have 
 been acknowledged as irrefragable proofs of God's 
 never-failing providence and mercy to His chosen 
 people ! 
 
 Religion, however, in the modern acceptation of the 
 term, did riot then exist. The Christian religion was 
 then a counterfeit, a name, a superstition, a fanati- 
 cism, a priestly domination working adversely upon 
 the untutored minds of the weak and timid ; it was 
 then an arrogant assumption of spiritual power, 
 strengthened by ignorance, and supported by intoler- 
 ance. The Christianity of those benighted times, as 
 exercised by a cunning, bigoted and most untutored 
 priesthood, may be defined as an absorbing evil in- 
 fluence maintained by the force of despotism ! 
 
 The mild and merciful religious precepts, alike of 
 Christianity and Judaism, were then wholly ignored ^ 
 and the men whose vocation and duty it was to dis- 
 seminate the true principles of pure religion were those 
 
 * Eabbi Hillel.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 39 
 
 who most incited their fellow-creatures to hate each 
 other ; to despitefully use each other ; to malign 
 each other ; to arouse in men their vilest passions, 
 and to teach villainy by their own fell example. It 
 may be well imagined that Jews were not favourably 
 impressed by the practical illustrations of Christianity 
 which they then daily witnessed. It was always the 
 design of churchmen to stir up animosity against 
 Jews, whose devoted adherence to their religion they 
 were incapable of understanding; whose sublime 
 heroism they were unable to value ; whose passive 
 defiant scorn they had not the sagacity to appreciate. 
 The sad records of the Jewish people prove, beyond 
 question, that to the malignant feelings and fiendish 
 passions of inimical Christians to whom the true reli- 
 gion of the Bible was then as a sealed volume, and 
 not to anything evil in themselves, their pursuits 
 or their religious code, have the Jews of the Past been 
 indebted for every malicious calumny, and for the 
 aversion, hatred, and prejudice of Christendom. These 
 were also due in some measure to the venomous 
 slanders and the cruel falsehoods contained in the 
 many legends, romances, ribald and obscene ballads 
 and libellous dramas all of them " wicked inventions 
 of the enemy," and written with the special intention 
 of bringing upon Jews and their religion the male- 
 volence of the world. 
 
 VI. 
 
 With the removal of every obstacle to Jewish prc 
 gress in this country ; with free admission to every
 
 40 JEWS AS THEY ARE 
 
 honourable pursuit ; and with, an open pathway 
 leading to every career of distinction, British Jews 
 may now, with complacency, if not with exultation, 
 take a retrospective glance at their anomalous posi- 
 tion in the land of their birth half a century ago, and 
 note, with honest pride and profound gratitude, their 
 steady maich towards the civil, political, and social 
 elevation which they have since happily reached. 
 They have now only to be true to themselves ; jealous 
 of their national honour; proud of their glorious 
 ancestry; constant to their religion and its observ- 
 ances ; and zealous in the discharge of the several 
 duties they owe to their Queen and country, to be 
 among the foremost peoples of the world. British 
 Jews have no longer any dangers to apprehend ex- 
 cept the possible evil consequences of a too-rapid 
 prosperity oftentimes more perilous in its results 
 than adversity. That this was the opinion of Moses 
 is evidenced by the significant warning he conveyed 
 to the Israelites of old : " But Jeshurun waxed fat 
 and kicked ; thou art waxen fat ! thou art grown 
 thick ! thou art covered with fatness ! Then he for- 
 sook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the 
 Rock of his salvation."* 
 
 Jews have never admitted, and never will admit 
 the right of interference with their religious belief. 
 Often in ancient times of unendurable persecution 
 many Jews, less courageous than the majority of 
 their suffering brethren, have found it expedient to 
 succumb outwardly to physical force, and at the 
 approach of the horrible engines of torture, to as- 
 * Deut. xxxii., 15.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 41 
 
 sume an exterior seeming which they have mo- 
 dified as speedily as possible by open retractation. 
 The cruel history of the Spanish Inquisition affords 
 ample testimony to this humiliating fact. Jews have 
 never recognised, and never will acknowledge any 
 assumption of superiority whatever over themselves 
 in religious matters ; and they boldly assert their 
 right, as they have never ceased to do, to the most 
 perfect equality in all things appertaining to religion. 
 As a people, they have never conceded one iota of 
 their religious principles to coercion, oppression, 
 tyranny, or sophistry; and rather than do so they 
 have suffered ages of cruel martyrdom. They have 
 always presented a passive resistance to every as- 
 sault upon their religion and its sacred rites; and 
 have maintained a bold front, which, to quote the 
 late Lord Beaconsfield, "baffled successively the 
 Pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzar, Rome, and the feudal 
 ages." 
 
 The Jewish race and Judaism among the nations 
 of the world may be likened to a towering rock 
 in the midst of the ever-restless ocean. Exposed 
 through countless ages to the hostile influences of 
 storm and sunshine ; to hurricanes and raging tem- 
 pests, fragments of the compact mass have, from 
 time to time, fallen away, to be swallowed up by the 
 foaming billows. But the parent rock still rearing 
 its lofty crest towards the skies has remained firm 
 and unshaken as of old ; and will endure " for ever 
 and ever, throughout all generations," to the end of 
 time. The Jewish religion is to be found in the 
 Pentateuch; it is confirmed by the Prophets, and
 
 42 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 lives with the descendants of those holy men to' 
 whom the Almighty Creator vouchsafed to reveal 
 Himself. As for the disputed question whether or 
 not the Messiah has already appeared, or is yet to 
 come, it does not, in the slightest degree, affect the 
 eternal truths of the Jewish religion, or its laws,, 
 which would exist had there been no prophetical 
 writings but those of Moses. And what is the 
 sublime faith which affords to Jews solace and rules 
 of conduct for this life, as well as assurance and 
 hope for the life hereafter ? 
 
 Concisely stated, Jews believe in the Eternal God, 
 ONE AND INDIVISIBLE, the Creator and Preserver of 
 the world ; the Redeemer and Saviour, and Uni- 
 versal Father of mankind. They believe in a Divine 
 special Providence. They believe in the immortality 
 of the soul, and in a future state of spiritual ex- 
 istence. They believe in the divinely inspired sacred 
 writings of Moses and the Prophets, and of the 
 " Sweet singer of Israel " David. They believe in 
 the resurrection of the dead. They believe in the 
 divinity and immutability of the Laws of God, de- 
 livered to the Israelites by the hands of Moses, their 
 appointed Legislator. They believe that the Eternal 
 God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent ;. 
 that He is acquainted with man's thoughts and ac- 
 tions. They believe that God rewards those who 
 obey His commandments, and punishes those who 
 transgress them. Finally, they believe that, at some 
 future period, which is not within the power and 
 privilege of the finite mind of man to compute, an 
 ANOINTED BEING of the royal house of David, en-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 4'> 
 
 dowed with transcendental wisdom and power will 
 appear ; and that then will be fulfilled the prophecies, 
 which relate to that stupendous event. 
 
 With respect to the so-called Oral Law of the Jews,, 
 handed down, it is said, by tradition as supplementary 
 to the written Law of God, the Jews of modern times 
 hold various independent opinions, some accepting- 
 unreservedly the authority of the ancient learned 
 .Rabbins on points of scriptural difficulty, others re- 
 ceiving the comments and explanations of those- 
 ancient learned Doctors as the opinions of fallible- 
 men. But in respect to the fundamental principles 
 of Judaism, there exists, I apprehend, no difference of 
 opinion whatever. 
 
 Like the professors of other religious creeds,, 
 there are Jews, I admit, who unhappily are indif- 
 ferent to their religion ; who observe little or nothing 
 of what it enjoins. There are those also who, par- 
 ti ally or totally, may disbelieve Divine revelation ; 
 and who are what has been designated Philosophical 
 Deists. But Judaism is not to be judged from 
 the inconsistencies of its professors, but from its own 
 inherent grace and power. The inconsistencies of 
 its professors are not to be used as an argument 
 against the all-sufficiency of the Jewish religion. 
 The efficacy of the Christian religion might, in like 
 manner, be questioned, for are there not amongst so- 
 called Christians, Deists, Infidels, Atheists, and men 
 who hold Reason alone to be their God and Guide ? 
 I am not the apologist of the failings or sins of the 
 ancient Israelites. They grievously sinned against 
 God. They have been punished ! That God's anger
 
 44 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 is not lasting nay, that it is appeased, is sufficiently 
 evinced by the miraculous fact that, despite their 
 sufferings of ages, Jews still exist, and with a glorious 
 future before them. He must indeed be insensible to 
 the inexorable logic of facts who could venture to 
 call them outcasts from the visible tokens of His 
 favour. Upon what other people has the gift of 
 genius been more abundantly bestowed ? Their 
 talents, their learning, their distinction in literature, 
 in art, in science, as philosophers, statesmen, lawyers, 
 and, though last, but not least for it implies mundane 
 power and influence the abundance of their wealth 
 and prosperity, these are the wonder, as they are 
 also the envy, of the world. These blessings, which 
 can only be derived from God, would not be bestowed 
 upon an unforgiven nation ! These stubborn facts 
 outweigh a thousand quotations. It is true that per- 
 secution has not ceased in some countries ; but this is 
 no argument in favour of the continued anger of God ; 
 it only proves that barbarism still prevails among the 
 nations of the earth ; otherwise it would prove too 
 much, for have not the adherents of Christ been like- 
 wise persecuted in ancient, as well as in modern 
 times ; and do we not even now occasionally hear and 
 read of the persecutions of Christians in the East ? 
 
 VII. 
 
 It is a deplorable and humiliating fact that, not- 
 withstanding a considerable amount of the long- 
 existing insensate animosity and prejudice against 
 Jews and Judaism has yielded to the spirit of the
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 45 
 
 age, there yet lingers in the hearts of many Chris- 
 tians a residuum of religious antagonism in every 
 respect worthy of the darkest periods of religious 
 fanaticism. This doubtless will yield in time to the 
 pressure of a more extended enlightenment a broader 
 humanity, and a more rational view of the duties 
 which men, although professing different religions, 
 owe to each other ; and of which, even in these days 
 of boasted increased civilization, the generality of 
 mankind would appear to have acquired but a very 
 imperfect notion. It should be borne in mind that 
 while no practical religion can exist without belief, 
 much belief may exist without the practice of religion ! 
 From reports in the daily journals of the so-called 
 Anti-Semitic Agitation in Germany and Russia and 
 elsewhere on the Continent of Europe, it would appear 
 that, although somewhat modified and temporarily 
 dormant, the ancient vile spirit of Jewish persecution 
 has not in reality died out. It is said that in Germany 
 the Jews of that country are not now persecuted on 
 religious grounds, but for their " tribal exclusiveness," 
 whatever that may mean their disinclination to 
 intermarry with those of a different religion, and 
 because, forsooth, they are "a separate race," and 
 therefore incapable of giving their " undivided devo- 
 tion to the national interest " ; and because, moreover, 
 they are a " cosmopolitan race," with a " tribal bond, 
 tribal aspirations, and tribal feelings of its own ! " 
 They are charged, also, with being " a power, and an 
 interest apart from the nations, though domiciled 
 among them." They are further libellously accused 
 of " avoiding ordinary labour, and spreading over the=
 
 4tf JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 world to live by the labour of others by means of 
 usury, and other pursuits of the same sort" ! ~* 
 
 That the foregoing absurd charges are, in reality, 
 not the causes which have re-awakened the ancient 
 dormant persecutions of the Jews of Germany, can be 
 easily shown ; first, because the assigned causes do not 
 exist ; and if they actually did exist, they would be 
 inadequate to account for the recent unreasonable anti- 
 Jewish agitation. The truth, which it has been at- 
 tempted to conceal under a transparent veil, is that 
 the Jews of Germany have been, and are, actually per- 
 secuted for their exceptional success in all their various 
 undertakings ; because, in fact, they occupy the most 
 important professorial chairs in the German universi- 
 ties ; because in the rapid race for wealth' Jews are 
 mostly the winners ; because they therefore possess 
 more riches, perhaps, than their non-Jewish neigh- 
 bours ; because they drive the best horses, and the 
 handsomest carriages that money can purchase, and 
 inhabit the most splendid mansions in Berlin; because, 
 in fine, they take the lead in the world of art, science, 
 and literature ; because, moreover, they express their 
 political opinions fearlessly in their places in Parlia- 
 ment ; because, in some respects, perhaps, they may 
 hold superior positions to some of their narrow-souled 
 .adversaries, whose envy and jealousy have, in conse- 
 quence, been painfully excited. Jews of all countries 
 have held their own through so many centuries of 
 dire persecution and virulent opposition, compared 
 with which the present spiteful and malignant anti- 
 Semitic agitation in Germany is as naught, that they 
 
 * " The Jewish Question" by Goldwin Smith.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 47 
 
 can well afford to deride their actual traducers, if it 
 were only on the score of the unpardonable and most 
 strange ignorance which they display of Jewish cha- 
 racter and conduct, and of their aspirations and daily 
 pursuits. 
 
 " Tribal objects " ! " Tribal aspirations " ! " Tribal 
 exclusiveness "!" Tribal bonds"! "A tribal God" 
 " The Jewish question " ! What does all this mean ? 
 Jews themselves know nothing of these bugbears ! 
 They are not aware that there is a " Jewish question." 
 If there be a Jewish question, except in the imagina- 
 tion of the enquirer, What is it ? And what is 
 the reply to the Jewish question ? Jews are de- 
 cidedly of opinion, in common with the professors 
 of all religious denominations, notably Koman Catho- 
 lics, and Protestants, and Mohammedans, that it does 
 not conduce to conjugal happiness to intermarry with 
 persons of a different religious creed. Many very reli- 
 gious Jews have notwithstanding intermarried with 
 Christian women who have previously freely embraced 
 the Jewish faith, and who, in most instances, have 
 eventually become among the most strictly-observant 
 Jewesses. Many Jewesses have intermarried with 
 Christians, and having followed throughout their 
 married life their own religion, they have, at their 
 own desire, been buried among their own people. 
 
 We find it written:* "If patriotism means merely 
 a, willingness to perform all social duties, and do good 
 to the community, nobody can deny that it may be 
 possessed in the largest measure by the kinsmen (?) of 
 Sir Moses Montefiore. But if it means undivided 
 * " 1'hc Jewish Question" by Goldwin Smith.
 
 48 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 devotion to the national interest, there is difficulty in 
 seeino- how it can be possessed without abatement by 
 the members of a cosmopolitan and wandering race, 
 with a tribal bond, tribal aspirations, and tribal feel- 
 ings of its own." It is most easy to solve the fore- 
 going assumed " difficulty," but it is not so easy to 
 imagine how such an insensate paragraph could have 
 been conceived and printed in the latter part of the 
 nineteenth century ! The reply to the extraordinary 
 statement that Jews who are surrounded by an 
 assumed "tribal exclusiveness," and possessed of a 
 disinclination to intermarry with persons professing 
 distinctly different religions from their own, " are not 
 the very best candidates for citizenship," is simply 
 this : that Jews actually have performed, and do perform, 
 and generally with distinction, the very important 
 civic duties they are assumed to be incapable of per- 
 forming. It may be confidently asserted that no Jew 
 elected to a civic office, or indeed to any other public 
 function, would undertake it if he were not prepared 
 to devote to its fulfilment his best judgment and his 
 most active and undivided attention. Jews are 
 thorough in whatever they undertake ! Sir David 
 Salomons, Bart., M.P., in 1835 ; Sir Moses Montefiore, 
 Bart., in 1837; and Sir Benjamin Phillips, in 1859 r 
 performed the important and onerous functions of 
 Sheriff of London and Middlesex, with exceptional 
 ability and dignity, being, at the same time, quite 
 unaware that they were endowed with a " tribal 
 exclusiveness" which ought to have paralysed their 
 "undivided devotion" to the interests of London 
 and Middlesex! There have been Jewish Common
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 49 
 
 Councilmen, and Aldermen, and Lord Mayors of 
 London; and there have been Jewish Common 
 Councilmen, and Aldermen, and Mayors of Liver- 
 pool, Bristol, Canterbury, Southampton, Portsmouth, 
 and Taunton, who have efficiently discharged their 
 respective and several duties with a total uncon- 
 sciousness of their " tribal " incapacity. Jewish 
 Deputy Lieutenants, High Sheriffs, and magistrates 
 for several English counties have likewise ably exe- 
 cuted their responsible commissions without being con- 
 scious of any "tribal" incapacity to perform them. 
 The Right Hon. Sir George Jessel, as Queen's Counsel, 
 Member of Parliament, Solicitor-General, Privy Coun- 
 cillor, and Master of the Rolls, has, I apprehend, never 
 encountered any "tribal" difficulty in discharging, 
 with extraordinary ability and dignity, his multi- 
 farious and most important functions. It has not yet 
 been proved that the constituencies of London, Green- 
 wich, Southwark, Dewsbury, Dover, Rochester, Not- 
 tingham, Pontefract, Hythe, Reading, and Aylesbury 
 have suffered by the election to represent them in 
 Parliament of the late Baron Lionel de Rothschild, the 
 late Sir David Salomons, Bart., Mr. Arthur Cohen, 
 Q.C. ; Mr. Serjeant Simon, Sir George Jessel, Sir 
 Julian Goldsmid, Bart., Mi*. Saul Isaac, Baron Henry 
 de Worms, Mr. Sydney "Woolf, Baron Mayer de Roth- 
 schild, the late Sir Francis H. Goldsmid, Bart., Q.C., 
 and Sir Nathaniel de Rothschild, Bart., all Jewish 
 gentlemen, whose assumed "tribal" disabilities have 
 not, as it would seem, prevented them from con- 
 scientiously attending to their parliamentary duties. 
 German Jews, like German Christians, certainly 
 E
 
 50 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 regard Germany as their only country; but their 
 allegiance to their Emperor does not prevent either the 
 one or the other, in common with Scotchmen, French- 
 men, and others, from establishing themselves in 
 foreign lands for the purposes of trading, or of exer- 
 cising their artistic talents. Colonies of Germans, 
 both Christians and Jews, have for many years been 
 domiciled in many parts of London and its environs, 
 and likewise at Manchester, Bradford, and other 
 manufacturing and commercial cities and towns in 
 England. But although the German Christians 
 wander into foreign countries as often, and in greater 
 numbers, than the German Jews, they are not, it 
 would appear, looked upon as a "wandering and a 
 parasite race," although, in fact, they seek their for- 
 tunes in foreign lands precisely in the same manner 
 as their Jewish countrymen. It is idle to assume, 
 and without any foundation whatever for the as- 
 sumption, that British-born Jews do not feel as great 
 an interest in all that concerns the honour and pros- 
 perity of their native country as Christians do. There 
 are many Jewish landed proprietors in England 
 some of whom possess magnificent estates ; and, con- 
 sequently, they have as considerable a stake in this 
 country as the Christian subjects of the Queen. 
 Jewish landlords are admitted to be amongst the 
 most considerate and generous. They study the 
 comfort and happiness of their tenants, contribute 
 largely to local charitable and educational institu- 
 tions irrespective of creed and, in many instances, 
 have presented free grants of land for the building 
 of Christian churches and schools ; and they dispense
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE 51 
 
 the genial hospitality of the true English gentleman 
 with heartiness and munificence. 
 
 " I hold this maxim as the principle by which all 
 civilized societies are bound together," said the Right 
 Honourable Robert Grant, when, in 1833, he again 
 urged upon the House of Commons the removal of 
 all the Jews' disabilities /which then existed. " When 
 men unite together in society they combine for the 
 promotion of common objects ; they are bound to 
 make common exertions, to sustain common burdens ; 
 and, along with the liability to these exertions and 
 burdens for the attainment of that common pur- 
 pose, they should be equally eligible to common 
 honours and privileges. It seems to me that, as well 
 on the ground of expediency, as on high moral 
 grounds, this principle should be enforced. Let so- 
 ciety be formed upon what principle it may, whether 
 the rule of association be drawn from natural religion, 
 or revealed religion, we are bound together by every 
 tie, and by every consideration of justice, to take heed 
 that our own particular differences of opinion should 
 not be unnecessarily obtruded; and that, therefore, 
 offices, situations, and privileges which do not involve 
 the points on which such differences turn, should be 
 common property. To deny privileges to any class of 
 persons, on the ground that they are a small minority, 
 is oppression ; to deny them on the ground of a par- 
 ticular religious creed, is persecution; and both 
 oppression and persecution are alike forbidden by the 
 religion we profess ; a religion which is founded on 
 the principle of peace and good-will to all mankind." 
 
 K2
 
 52 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Jews have no longer anything to fear from the 
 inane attacks of mischievous, bitter-natured men, 
 whose acid malevolence, under the fair semblance of 
 justice and liberality, would tempt them to plant 
 daggers in the hearts of an ancient, illustrious race, to 
 aid oppression and to murder the grand reputation 
 of a renowned people. The overwhelming force of 
 Public Opinion is now universally acknowledged. All 
 public wrongs must now perforce yield to Public 
 Opinion which has long been, and actually is in 
 favour of Jewish progress. It is a vain endeavour to 
 nullify the past half century's steady advance of the 
 Jewish cause, which is beyond any human power to 
 arrest. 
 
 Although impotent for working solid permanent 
 harm to the Jewish people, I would not be disposed 
 to treat the ravings of their traducers with the tacit 
 indifference they doubtless merit. It is neither wise 
 nor expedient to treat with proud disdain the asper- 
 sions of any class of men. He is not to be envied 
 who would, under the guise of reason and justice, 
 endeavour to injure the national character of the most 
 ancient religious people in the world, who, slowly but 
 surely, recovering from the baleful effects of centuries 
 of wicked persecution, are now honourably rising in 
 the estimation of the world by the active exercise of 
 their superior intelligence, their genius, their social 
 virtues, their loyalty, their limitless philanthropy, 
 their unceasing energy, their financial ability, and 
 their able and honest discharge of all the duties and
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 53 
 
 responsibilities of citizenship which they are called 
 upon to perform. It would be a useless waste of time 
 and argument to attempt to convince such modem 
 traducers of the Jews that they are not alone commit- 
 ting a foolish blunder, but an unpardonable crime, in 
 striving, by every means, to excite a rancorous feel- 
 ing between Christians and Jews, whose mutual 
 interest it is to dwell together in amity and peace. 
 It would be difficult to assign a rational motive which 
 should induce a man to go out of his way to revive 
 religious hate to endeavour to sow the seeds of dis- 
 cord in a friendly soil ; to strive to point the finger of 
 scorn and contempt, not alone upon modem Jews, but 
 even upon the Jews of the Past, whom, despite their 
 human failings, God vouchsafed to favour and to 
 pardon. It must indeed be gall and wormwood to the 
 envious and bitter-natured Christian to men of 
 crooked minds and twisted tempers to witness 
 without the power of impeding it, the rapid and 
 steady rise of the Jews of Europe, America, and the 
 British colonies, and to be reluctantly constrained to 
 admit the patent fact. It would seem to be, for some 
 jiersons, as much a physical as a moral necessity to 
 seek in calumny and slander some temporary alleviation 
 from a plethora of mental irritation, which might other- 
 wise tend to disturb their intellectual equilibrium : 
 
 "Xo might nor greatness in mortality 
 Can censure 'scape ; backgrounding calumny 
 The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong 
 Can tie the gall up in the treacherous tongue ? " 
 
 Measure for Measure. 
 
 <f Oh ! " exclaimed the Right Hon. Robert Grant, on
 
 54 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 the memorable 17th of April, 1833, "it is a hard task 
 to forgive those whom we have injured ! The Jews, 
 are certainly now protected from the rack, the axe, 
 the wheel; but the persecution of base, and biting, 
 and sordid ridicule still continues. The natives of 
 Europe, however, have with one voice, put an end to 
 the former species of persecution ; and I trust that the 
 time is not distant when they will join with one 
 voice in sweeping away the latter." 
 
 Referring to the ancient records of the Israelites* 
 captivity in Persia and Babylon, the liberal British 
 statesman proceeded : " The king of Persia was told, 
 ' There is a certain people scattered abroad, and dis- 
 persed among thy people, in all the provinces of thy 
 kingdom ; and their laws are diverse from all people,, 
 neither keep they the king's laws ; therefore it is not 
 for the king's profit to suffer them. If it please the 
 king, let it be written that they may be destroyed.' 
 Now this was following up the argument properly ;. 
 but the king so addressed was Artaxerxes, who was 
 as good a logician as the great man who addressed 
 him. He saw from the argument used, that this 
 person and the Jews could not subsist in the same 
 country; only, instead of destroying the people ob- 
 jected to, he hanged the objector." 
 
 "The preservation of the Jews through so many 
 ages," says the famous Bishop Newton, "and the 
 total destruction of their enemies are wonderful 
 events ; and are made still more wonderful by being 
 signified beforehand by the spirit of prophecy, as we 
 find particularly in the prophet Jeremiah (xlvi. 28) i 
 * Fear not thou, Jacob my servant, saith the Lord,,
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 55 
 
 for I am with thee ; for I will make a full end of all 
 the nations whither I have driven thee, but I will 
 not make a full end of thee.' Where," exclaims the 
 learned Bishop, " are now the great and famous mon- 
 archies (Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Syro-Macedonia, 
 and Rome) which in their turn subdued and op- 
 pressed the people of God ? Are they not vanished 
 as a dream ; and not only their power, but their very 
 names lost in the earth ? Nay, not only nations have 
 been punished for their cruelties to the Jews, but 
 divine vengeance hath pursued even single persons 
 who have been their persecutors and oppressors. 
 Besides many individual Jewish oppressors who came 
 to an untimely end may be named Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes and Herod, who, after having become in- 
 tolerable to themselves and their attendants, died in 
 great agonies ; Nebuchadnezzar, who was stricken 
 with insanity ; Flaccus, governor of Egypt, who was 
 banished and murdered ; and Caligula, who was also 
 murdered in the flower of his age, after a wicked, 
 short reign." The good Bishop then adds : "And if 
 such hath been the fatal end of the enemies and op- 
 pressors of the Jews, let it serve as a warning to all 
 those who, at any time or upon any occasion, are for 
 raising a clamour and persecution against them."* 
 
 " Their history, alas ! contains many dismal in- 
 stances of the oppressions they have endured none 
 of the injuries they have inflicted."! 
 
 A citation from the glorious oration delivered in 
 the House of Commons on the 17th April, 1833, by 
 
 Bishop Xewton, Dissertations on the Prophecies. 
 
 f Lord Bexley's Speech in the House of Lords (1833).
 
 56 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 the Right Hon. Thomas Babington Macaulay, when 
 urging the claims of the British Jews, would appear 
 to be pertinent to this subject. 
 
 "We are told," said the large-minded statesman, 
 " that the Jews are naturally a mean race, a sordid 
 race, a money-getting race, that they are averse to 
 honourable callings, that they neither sow nor reap, 
 that they have neither flocks nor herds, that usury is 
 the only pursuit for which they are fit, that they are 
 destitute of all elevated and amiable sentiments. 
 Such has in every age been the reasoning of bigots. 
 They never fail to plead in justification of persecu- 
 tion the vices which persecution has engendered. 
 We drive them to mean occupations, and then re- 
 proach them for not embracing honourable profes- 
 sions. We long forbade them to possess land, and we 
 complain that they chiefly occupy themselves in trade. 
 There is nothing in their national character which 
 unfits them for the highest duties of citizens. In the 
 infancy of civilization, when our island was as savage 
 as New Guinea, when letters and arts were still un- 
 known to heathens, when scarcely a thatched hut 
 stood in what was the site of Rome, this contemned 
 people had their fenced cities and cedar palaces, their 
 splendid temples, their fleets of merchant ships, their 
 schools of sacred learning, their great statesmen, their 
 soldiers, their natural philosophers, their historians 
 and their poets. What nation ever contended more 
 manfully against overwhelming odds for its indepen- 
 dence and religion ? What nation in its last agonies 
 gave such signal proofs of what may be accomplished 
 by a brave despair ? Let us open to them the House
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 57 
 
 of Commons. Let us open to them every career to 
 which ability and energy can be displayed. Till we 
 have done this, let us not presume to say there is no 
 genius among the countrymen of Isaiah, no heroism 
 among the descendants of the Maccabees." 
 
 In Scriptural language the Israelites are designated 
 a " Peculiar People." Modern Jews glory in the appel- 
 lation, considering from whom it emanated. Their 
 peculiarity, among other religious and national charac- 
 teristics, consists in this : They have outlived 
 tyrannic oppression and persecution in all civilized 
 countries : they have risen above " back-wounding 
 calumny " and vulgar prejudices among enlightened 
 peoples : they have been borne upon the wings of 
 progress : they are now among the foremost in the 
 universal race for intellectual and social development : 
 they have resolved, henceforth, to lead, as well as 
 to follow : they have determined to repress, by moral 
 means, every offensive attempt of their traducers to 
 disparage them in the eye of the world ; and they 
 have, moreover, resolved to enforce reverence and 
 respect for their ancient sublime religion and its sacred 
 observances by their own example. They will continue, 
 with unwavering decision and constancy, to pursue 
 their onward, upward course of mental and social 
 improvement ; and, interfering with none, they will 
 permit no intrusion or interference with themselves in 
 religious matters; but, in accordance with the divine 
 precepts of their creed, they will continue to acknow- 
 ledge all good men and women as their brethren and 
 sisters, whatever may be their nationality, or their 
 spiritual faith.
 
 No. II. 
 
 A SUEYEY OF NOTEWORTHY EYENTS MASKING 
 
 JEWISH PROGEESS DUBING THE PAST 
 
 HALF CENTUEY, 1830-1880.
 
 " THIS PEOPLE HAVE I FORMED FOR MYSELF." 
 
 Isaiah xliii. 21. 
 
 "AND THEY SHALL BE MINE, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS, 
 AN 7 D I WILL SPARE THEM, AS A MAN SPARETH HIS OWN 
 SON THAT SERVETH HIM.'' Malaclli iii. 17. 
 
 " I, THE LORD, HAVE SPOKEN IT ; IT SHALL COME TO PASS ; 
 
 AND i WILL DO IT." EzeTiicl xxiv. 14. 
 
 " I AM THE LORD : I CHANGE NOT." Malaclli iii. 6.
 
 No. IT. 
 
 A SUEYEY OF NOTEWORTHY EYENTS MASKING 
 
 JEWISH PEOGEESS DUBING THE PAST 
 
 HALF CENTUEY, 1830-1880. 
 
 THE gradual steady advancement o the Jews of 
 Europe, notably of this country and Italy, during the 
 past half century has been so remarkable as to de- 
 serve the attentive consideration alike of Christians 
 and of Jews. Of the former, as an illustration of 
 the irresistible force of public opinion when directed 
 towards the attainment of a righteous object ; of the 
 latter, as an exemplification of the priceless value of 
 continuous energy, patience, and perseverance. The 
 significant fact that the rapid progress of the Jews 
 has awakened in some countries envy, jealousy, and 
 unconcealed enmity is conclusive evidence that the 
 Jews of those countries who have arrived at distinc- 
 tion have real cause for congratulation. 
 
 The first decisive move in the direction of civil and 
 religious Kberty in this country was the repeal of the 
 Test and Corporation Acts in 1828. This first gleam 
 of hope was hailed with exultation alike by Roman 
 Catholics, Christian Dissenters, and British Jews. An 
 unintentional consequence of the addition of a clause 
 in the new declaration required from all persons ap- 
 pointed to government offices was to exclude British- 
 born Jews for many years from being eligible for 
 government and municipal offices, and from admission
 
 <J2 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 to Parliament. This clause was the phrase, " On the 
 true faith of a Christian," appended to the Oath of 
 Abjuration. This oath abjured that " Damnable doc- 
 trine" that Princes may be excommunicated for 
 heresy, &c., and it ended thus : " And this I do swear 
 without mental reservation or equivocation upon the 
 true faith of a Christian." This addendum was pro- 
 posed as a protection against any mental reservation 
 on the part of Roman Catholics to jurisdiction in 
 this country. Although not originally intended to 
 affect Jews, the opponents of Jewish interests found 
 it expedient to retain the asseveration as long as pos- 
 sible as a bar to the Jews' admission to Parliament 
 and to offices under the crown, and also to municipal 
 and corporation offices. 
 
 The Roman Catholics Emancipation Bill became 
 law in 1829. It was considered at that date that 
 the period had arrived when an attempt might be 
 reasonably made to relieve also British Jews from the 
 many civil and political disabilities from which they 
 were then suffering. The first bill to effect that pur- 
 pose was introduced to the House of Commons by 
 the Right Hon. Robert Grant, on the 5th of April, 
 1830, and was once read. The bill was lost at the 
 second reading, as expected. The subject of Jewish 
 emancipation was then quite new, and its mere pro- 
 posal in Parliament was therefore regarded as a kind 
 of national heresy, so to speak, by those who were 
 incapable of grasping the novel idea. The public 
 mind was so wholly engrossed with the subject of 
 Parliamentary reform during the sessions of 1831 and 
 1832 that it was deemed expedient to allow the ques-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 63 
 
 tion of Jewish emancipation to remain for awhile in 
 abeyance. The interests of British Jews were, how- 
 ever, not neglected, for in 1831 they were, for the 
 first time, admitted freemen of the city of London. 
 In 1833 the excitement attending Parliamentary re- 
 form had subsided. A reformed House of Commons 
 had been elected, and a Whig government was in 
 office. On the 17th of April, 1833, the Right Hon. 
 Eobert Grant, a member of Earl Grey's government, 
 in an eloquent and exhaustive speech introduced a 
 second Jews Disabilities Bill, which was most ably 
 supported by Mr. Thomas Babington Macaulay in 
 a " maiden speech of surpassing excellence, by Mr. 
 Joseph Hume, Mr. Daniel O'Connell, and other pro- 
 minent Whig members. It was strenuously opposed 
 by Sir Robert Inglis with his whole artillery of argu- 
 ment, and by other Tory members. The bill, never- 
 theless, passed the second and third readings by large 
 majorities, and was soon after introduced to the 
 House of Lords by Lord Bexley in a brilliant and 
 statesman-like speech. The bill was powerfully sup- 
 ported by the Archbishop of Dublin (Dr. Whately), 
 by the Lord Chancellor (Brougham), the Bishop of 
 Chichester, the Duke of Sussex, and other distin- 
 guished Whig peers. It was opposed by the Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury and by the Bishop of London, 
 both, however, eulogising the personal character of 
 the Jews of this country; by the Duke of Gloucester, 
 and by the late Duke of Wellington. The bill was, 
 however, lost by a majority of fifty. 
 
 1833. Mr. Francis Henry Goldsmid was called to 
 the Bar by the Benchers of Lincoln's Inn in 1833,
 
 64: JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 after much discussion, he being the first Jew ever 
 admitted to the English Bar. On the 28th May,. 
 1834, a third Jews' Emancipation, Bill was presented 
 to the House of Commons. Having passed the several 
 stages in the Lower House, it reached the Upper 
 House, where the measure was rejected upon the 
 second reading, on the 2 3rd of June of the same year. 
 
 1835. Mr. David Salomons was elected Sheriff of 
 London and Middlesex in 1835 ; and to enable him to 
 serve the office without subscribing to the declaration 
 " On the true faith of a Christian," a bill was passed,, 
 entitled The Sheriffs' Declaration' Act. In the same 
 year Mr. Salomons was elected Alderman of the Ward 
 of Aldgate, but in consequence of being unable to 
 take the Abjuration Oath as presented to him, lie 
 could not accept the office. Legal proceedings en- 
 sued; the Court of Aldermen declared the office 
 vacant, and a Christian Alderman was elected. 
 
 Mr. Joseph J. Sylvester, of St. John's, Cambridge 
 the first Jew who had entered that university 
 obtained, in 1835, the academical distinction of Second 
 Wrangler ; but as a professor of the Jewish faith he 
 was debarred from taking his degree. 
 
 In this and the following year, 1836, some honours- 
 were conferred upon a few European Jews, which, in 
 our day, would be regarded as of small importance, 
 but which, in former years, were recognised as signi- 
 ficant indications of Jewish advancement in public 
 estimation. M. De Castro received from the King of 
 the Netherlands the Knighthood of the Belgic Lion ; 
 the Knighthood of the Legion of Honour was conferred 
 upon M. Meyers, of Amsterdam, by Louis Philippe,
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 65 
 
 and M. Nunez was created a member of the Eques- 
 trian Order of the Province of Holland. 
 
 It had long been observed by those who compre- 
 hended the spirit of the age that the implacable an- 
 tagonism to Jewish progress in this country must 
 perforce yield in time to the pressure of patience, 
 perseverance, ancl public opinion. It was remarked 
 by Sir James Mackintosh in 1830, and the remark 
 was repeated in 1833 by Mr. Macaulay, that "the 
 real difficulty in speaking in favour of the Jews 
 arose from the circumstance of there being no valid 
 arguments advanced against them." The inveterate 
 
 o o 
 
 opposition to Jewish advancement then exhibited by 
 Tories and Conservatives seemed to have benumbed, 
 so to speak, their reasoning faculties, and to have 
 blinded their eyes to facts which were daily becom- 
 ing more clearly apparent. Their strongest argument, 
 repeated ad nauseam, was this : That England, her 
 people, and her Parliament were exclusively Chris- 
 tian ; that Christianity was part and parcel of the 
 land, and that if Jews once obtained admission to 
 Parliament, to the bench, to the magistracy, and to 
 offices under the crown, all would cease to be Chris- 
 tian, and consequently all would be doomed to per- 
 dition, or, as it were, to an indefinable, inevitable 
 national calamity. It is well known that that ar- 
 gument which was deemed unanswerable by its ad- 
 vancers was answered powerfully and repeatedly by 
 some of the greatest logicians, writers and orators of 
 the period, without, however, producing much prac- 
 tical effect upon the still persistent antagonists of the 
 Jewish cause. 
 
 F
 
 66 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 We have happily lived to see the fallacy and ab- 
 surdity of those adverse opinions, together with the 
 total failure of many sinister predictions; for, not- 
 withstanding that several Jewish gentlemen have sat, 
 spoken, and voted for many years in the House of 
 Commons ; that one of the greatest judges that Eng- 
 land has ever produced who is a professed Jew has 
 sat for some years on the bench ; that the magisterial 
 bench has been, and is yet, occupied by many Jewish 
 magistrates and aldermen ; and that many Jewish 
 gentlemen have performed most important civic func- 
 tions, the British Parliament, the bench, and the 
 British people have remained as Christian as they 
 have ever been, and ever will be. 
 
 The several Jews' Emancipation Bills which had 
 heretofore been brought before Parliament had aimed 
 at the simultaneous removal of every disability which 
 then affected the Jews of this country. In consequence 
 of repeated failures, it was now deemed expedient 
 to attempt their removal gradually by successive 
 efforts. In accordance with this amended view of 
 the question, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
 Mr. Spring Kice, moved the House of Commons, 
 on the 31st of May, 1836, to go into committee, 
 " To consider the laws imposing civil disabilities 
 on His Majesty's subjects professing the Jewish 
 Religion." The following day the House of Com- 
 mons resolved " That it is expedient to remove all 
 civil disabilities at present existing with respect to 
 His Majesty's subjects professing the Jewish religion, 
 with the like exceptions as are provided with respect 
 to His Majesty's subjects professing the Roman Ca-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 67 
 
 tholic religion." The Bill was read in the House of 
 Commons for the first time on the 13th June ; for the 
 second time on the 3rd of August ; and, having been 
 read a third time on the 15th of the same month, it 
 passed out of the Commons, and on the same day 
 was referred to the House of Lords and read. The 
 second reading had been fixed for the 19th of 
 August ; but on that day its discussion was advisedly 
 postponed at the suggestion of the Marquis of West- 
 minster. 
 
 1836-7. Some remarkable incidents indicative of 
 Jewish progress took place abroad in 1836, and the 
 following year, viz., the emancipation of the Jews of 
 Hanover, during the vice-royalty of H.R.H. the Duke 
 of Cambridge ; a proposal to emancipate the Jews of 
 Hesse ; the declared eligibility of Russian Jews to be 
 employed in the State upon taking medical degrees ; 
 the election of two eminent Jewish merchants as 
 members of the Jamaica House of Assembly; the 
 election of M. Fould for the third time to the French 
 Chamber of Deputies; and the appointment of a 
 Jewish Colonel (Cohen) as aide-de-camp to the Govern- 
 ment of Maryland, U. S. 
 
 1837. Mr. Moses Montefiore was elected in this year 
 sheriff of London and Middlesex, and received the 
 honour of knighthood from the young Queen Victoria, 
 upon the occasion of Her Majesty's first visit, after 
 her accession to the throne, to her faithful citizens of 
 London. 
 
 In the same year Mr. David Salomons unsuccess- 
 fully contested the borough of Shoreham, this being 
 the first attempt of any Jew to enter Parliament. 
 
 F 2
 
 ()8 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 1838. Mr. Salomons was appointed a magistrate for 
 the county of Kent. 
 
 The King of Sweden (Charles John) published in 
 this year an ordinance granting to his Jewish subjects 
 equal privileges enjoyed by his other subjects, with 
 the condition that without his licence they would not 
 oe privileged to hold land. Fifty elders of Stockholm 
 endeavoured in vain to induce the King to rescind this 
 ordinance ; but His Majesty of Sweden only conceded 
 that, without his sanction, no Jew would be permitted 
 to settle in other cities of his kingdom than Stock- 
 holm, Gottenburg, Carlscrona, and Norkoping; that 
 they should maintain their own poor, and abstain from 
 all interference in matters relating to the Church of 
 Sweden. 
 
 1839. The Czar of Russia ordained that his Jewish 
 subjects of high personal merit, who had rendered 
 benefits to the Russian Empire in science, art, trade, 
 or manufactures, might bear the title of " Citizen of 
 the first class." 
 
 In this year also it was proposed to the Danish 
 States to emancipate the Jews of Denmark. The pro- 
 posal was, however, rejected by a majority of two only. 
 
 Mr. David Salomons was in the same year ap- 
 pointed High Sheriff of Kent, he being the first 
 Jewish gentleman chosen to fill that important office. 
 He was also appointed, with Mr. Joseph M. Monte- 
 fiore, a magistrate for the county of Sussex. 
 
 1840. The Jews of Hungary were entirely emanci- 
 pated, and were declared eligible for all employments 
 in that country and its dependencies, Croatia, Dal- 
 matia, and Sclavonia, and to be ennobled at the
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARK. 69 
 
 pleasure of the Crown. The Diet of Hungary also 
 voted that the Jewish religion should be protected. 
 
 In this year the Queen of Portugal conferred upon 
 Mr. Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, F.R.S., the distinguished 
 Order of the Tower and Sword. 
 
 1841. A Bill to enable British Jews to fill corpora- 
 tion offices, which had successfully passed the House 
 of Commons, was, in 1841, rejected by the House of 
 Lords at' the third reading. In this year Her Majesty 
 Queen Victoria conferred upon Sir Moses Montefiore 
 the very rare distinction of " supporters " to his coat- 
 of-arms, as a mark of her high esteem for his noble 
 exertions in behalf of his oppressed religious brethren. 
 In this year also Mr. Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, the zealous 
 pioneer of Jewish emancipation, the untiring advocate 
 of civil and religious liberty, and one of the most 
 active and munificent founders of University College 
 in Gower Street, London originally known as the 
 " London University," in 1825 was created a baronet 
 of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was the first Jewish subject 
 of Her Majesty who received that hereditary title. 
 
 In 1841 Herr Ries, a Jewish subject of the King ot 
 Prussia, \vas elected a member of the Royal Academy 
 of Berlin, a distinction which had been refused by 
 Frederick the Great to the immortal Moses Mendels- 
 sohn. 
 
 In the same year Mr. David Salomons unsuccess- 
 fully contested the borough of Maidstone. 
 
 1842. Mr. John Simon was called to the Bar by the 
 benchers of the Middle Temple, he being the second 
 Jewish barrister in England, and the first to practise
 
 70 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 at the common-law bar. Mr. Simon shortly afterwards 
 joined the ^Northern circuit. 
 
 There were now two Inns of Court open to the Jews 
 of this country, viz., Lincoln's Inn and the Middle 
 Temple. A third, the Inner Temple, was subsequently 
 opened to British Jews by the call to the bar of Mr. 
 Augustus Goldsmid. The annual Indemnity Bill re- 
 lieved these Jewish gentlemen from certain penalties 
 which they advisedly incurred by taking the Oath of 
 Abjuration with the omission of the words, " On the 
 true faith of a Christian." 
 
 1842. Mr. E. Barrow Lousada was appointed high 
 sheriff of Devonshire ; and Mr. Barrow Helbert Ellis 
 entered the Indian Civil Service, he being the first 
 Jew in that service. 
 
 The noteworthy Jewish events on the Continent in 
 1842 were the election of Mons. Cremieux, the eminent 
 French advocate, and the able colleague of Sir Moses 
 Montefiore in his noble Mission to the East in 1841 
 besides two other eminent French Jews to the 
 French Chamber of Deputies. 
 
 In this year also Baron James de Rothschild, of 
 Paris, received from King Louis Philippe the highest 
 grade of the Legion (fhonneur ; and Dr. Moses Elias 
 Barscheiner was elected by the Royal Academy of Ber- 
 lin Professor of Natural Philosophy and Mathematics* 
 
 In the same year the Jews of Germany contributed 
 considerably, by a munificent subscription, towards the 
 re-opening of the Cathedral of Cologne, an act of 
 liberality which could not fail to make its mark in a 
 country which had, in former years, so much oppressed 
 its Jewish citizens.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 71 
 
 184-3. The King of Wurtemberg ordained that the 
 same Government grant which was bestowed upon 
 the other religious sects of his kingdom should 
 be conferred upon his Jewish subjects towards the 
 support of their Synagogues, their Schools and their 
 Hospitals. 
 
 1843. An infamous decree, which had been promul- 
 gated by Frate Yincenza Salina, a Grand Inquisitor of 
 Ancona, against the Jews of that and other cities of 
 the Papal States, was revoked in 1843 by Pope 
 Gregory XlVth. In this year also Sir Moses Montefiore 
 was appointed High Sheriff of Kent, and Mr. Jacob 
 "Walev, M.A., was called to the Chancery Bar, Lincoln's 
 Inn. 
 
 1844. By the advice of the Russian Senate, the Czar 
 of Russia published, in 1844, a very remarkable 
 Ukase to relieve from the conscription for twenty 
 years, .and from taxes for fifty years, Jewish agri- 
 culturists who would have their land cultivated by 
 persons of their own religion. Those who would 
 employ from 100 to 200 Russian Jews might be 
 ennobled, and others who would employ more than 200 
 Jewish agricultural labourers would be eligible to enjoy 
 the rights and privileges of the hereditary nobility. 
 
 i\Ir. David Salomons was for the second time elected 
 an Alderman for the City of London, in 1844. He was 
 again precluded from accepting the office, being unable 
 to subscribe to the addenda to the Oath which he would 
 be bound to take. Mr. Salomons, fully conscious that 
 everything comes to the man who can wait, patiently 
 bided his time. In this year Sir Moses Montefiore 
 was appointed a Magistrate for the Cinque Ports.
 
 72 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Bart., F.R.S., in 1844, 
 was created a Portuguese Baron by the Queen of 
 Portugal, by the title of Baron de Goldsmid e da 
 Palnieira. 
 
 A Municipal and Corporation Bill became law. 
 By the provisions of this Act, British Jews were 
 relieved from the obligation to subscribe to the 
 declaration " On the true faith of a Christian " upon 
 being elected to municipal offices. Thus there remained 
 no longer any obstacle which might disable British Jews 
 from the acceptance of any Corporation office. 
 
 1846. By the promulgation of a cruel Ukase of the 
 Russian Government, the Jews of Russian Poland were 
 subjected, in 1846, to considerable oppression. Sir 
 Moses Montefiore, the courageous advocate of universal 
 right and justice, undertook a personal mission to 
 the Emperor of Russia as the noble champion of 
 his persecuted Russian brethren; and was happily 
 successful in obtaining from the Czar, Nicholas 
 himself, a favourable modification of the harsh 
 decrees. 
 
 On his return from his philanthropic mission, Sir 
 Moses Montefiore was created a Baronet of the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, as a mark of 
 Her Majesty's special regard and admiration for his 
 splendid personal services on behalf of his persecuted 
 co-religionists. Baron Anthony de Rothschild was 
 also created in this year a Baronet of the United 
 Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 The first Jew honoured by the Crown of Spain 
 since the cruel expulsion of the Jews of that country, 
 by Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, was Mr. David
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 73 
 
 Weisweller, of Madrid, who this year received, from 
 the Queen of Spain, the Order of Charles III. 
 
 1847. The States of Prussia, in 1847, conferred 
 many privileges upon the Jews of Prussia. 
 
 Mr. David Salomons was, for the third time, elected 
 an Alderman of the City of London ; and, by virtue 
 of the new Municipal and Corporation Act, he was at 
 length able to accept the office and perform its duties. 
 
 This year was prolific of events of the highest im- 
 portance. In order to bring to an issue the long- 
 pending question of the British Jews' admission to 
 Parliament, the Liberal electors of the City of London 
 resolved to avail themselves of the forthcoming general 
 election to return Baron Lionel de Rothschild to Parlia- 
 ment, as one of their representatives. The Baron was 
 elected, and upon the assembling of Parliament, he pre- 
 sented himself in due course at the table of the House 
 of Commons to be sworn. As many eminent lawyers, 
 among whom was Mr. Page Wood, afterwards Lord 
 Chancellor Hatherley, expressed a confident opinion 
 that the words, " On the true faith of a Christian," 
 were not a part of the substance of the Abjuration 
 Oath, and might, therefore, be legally omitted by those 
 upon whose conscience it was not binding, the Baron 
 ottered to take the Oaths of Allegiance, Supremacy? 
 and Abjuration, on the Old Testament, and, omitting 
 the words to which he objected, to end with the as- 
 severation : " So help me God." This was not per- 
 mitted by the House, and the honourable member for 
 London withdrew upon the order of the Speaker. As 
 under the circumstances then existing there appeared 
 to be no immediate prospect of his being able to serve
 
 74 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 his constituents, in his place in Parliament, Baron de 
 Rothschild resigned his seat. He was soon after 
 re-nominated and re-elected by his enlightened con- 
 stituents. Mr. David Salomons, at the general election 
 of 1847, again attempted to enter Parliament. He 
 contested Greenwich, and was again unsuccessful, as 
 it was well known that he would be equally unable 
 with the Jewish member for London to take his seat 
 even if elected. 
 
 1848. Another measure for Jewish emancipation 
 was again brought forward this Session ; and, on the 
 4th of May, it was carried in the House of Commons. 
 It was ably supported by Mr. Disraeli, Sir Robert Peel, 
 and Lord George Bentinck, who had been earnestly en- 
 treated by the then Protectionist party to abstain from 
 recording his vote in favour of the bill. To quote the 
 late Lord Beaconsfield : " Enfeebled by illness, he had 
 nearly brought himself to a compliance with a request 
 urged with affectionate importunity, but from which 
 his reason and sense of duty held him aloof. After 
 long and deep and painful pondering, when the hour 
 arrived, he rose from his bed of sickness, walked into 
 the House of Commons, and, not only voted, but spoke 
 in favour of his convictions. His speech remains one 
 of the best ever delivered on the subject ; not only full 
 of weighty argument, but touched with a rich and 
 even tender vein of sentiment." On the 25th of May 
 the bill was defeated in the House of Lords by a ma- 
 jority of thirty-five Tory peers. 
 
 The most striking events relating to Jewish interests 
 in this most remarkable and memorable year of revo- 
 lutions, were the election of Mons. Creinieux, as
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 75 
 
 a member of the Provisional Government which suc- 
 ceeded the French Revolution in February; the 
 election of Herr J. Manheimer to the Presidency of 
 the Austrian Diet ; and the election of the famous Dr. 
 Gabriel Reisser, as Minister of State to the Prince 
 Protector of Germany, John of Austria. This noted 
 champion of the rights of conscience, alike religious 
 and political, was one of the most prominent characters 
 in Germany at that exciting period which immediately 
 followed the French Revolution of 18-iS. Born at the 
 commencement of the present century in the free town 
 of Hamburgh, he, at a very early period of his public 
 life, began to take an active part in the question of 
 Jewish emancipation in Germany, which he advocated 
 in a most able manner by his argumentative writings 
 and his burning eloquence. Dr. Reisser was as empha- 
 tically a German as he was a zealous Israelite. He 
 boldly claimed for German Jews their inalienable right, 
 as German-born Jews, to participate equally with 
 German-born Christians in the duties, the responsibili- 
 ties, and the honours of State service in every capacity. 
 In 1831 he addressed the Germans of every religious 
 denomination on the position of German-born Jews ; 
 and he argued powerfully, if not always convincingly, 
 with the then most implacable antagonists of Jewish 
 progress, against whom he was ever ready to contend 
 both with his pen and his tongue. In the exercise of 
 the high and responsible office of State Minister, which 
 he held in 1848, it became his duty to offer to King 
 Frederick William IV., the Imperial Crown of Ger- 
 many, which, however, it may be remembered, was 
 not accepted by that Sovereign.
 
 76 JEWS AS THEY AllE. 
 
 1849. Another Jews' Bill, which was brought for- 
 ward in the House of Commons this Session, met with 
 the same fate as former Bills. It was carried in the 
 House of Commons, and defeated .by an obstinate 
 majority in the House of Lords. 
 
 1850. The House of Commons, by a majority of 
 fifty-four, carried a motion to permit Baron Lionel 
 de Rothschild, the duly-elected Member for London, 
 to be sworn upon the Old Testament. Upon a motion 
 of the then Attorney General, the House of Commons, 
 by a majority of thirty- two, pledged itself to support 
 a measure of Jewish emancipation during the next 
 Parliamentary Session. 
 
 1851. Mr. Alderman Salomons was at length re- 
 turned to Parliament as member for Greenwich. 
 Under high legal sanction he presented himself at the 
 table of the House of Commons to be sworn. He took the 
 Oaths of Supremacy, Allegiance and Abjuration upon 
 the Old Testament as far as the declaration, " On the 
 true faith of a Christian," which he advisedly omitted, 
 and concluded with the asseveration " So help me God!" 
 He took his seat, spoke three times, and voted in three 
 divisions on the Jews' Disabilities Bill, which was 
 then read for the first time, and passed by a majority 
 of fifty-four. 
 
 Mr. Salomons had advisedly incurred three penalties 
 of five hundred pounds each, in order to test his Par- 
 liamentary rights in a Court of Law. Having effected 
 his object, and being ordered by the Speaker to with- 
 draw, he did so upon being lightly touched on his 
 shoulder by the Serjeant-at-Arms,as sufficient evidence 
 that he submitted only to coercion.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 77 
 
 For important services rendered to Spanish emi- 
 grants in France, Moris. Emille Leon, of Bayonne, was- 
 in this year appointed by the Queen of Spain a Com- 
 mander of the Royal Order of Isabella la Catolica. 
 
 1852. Mons. Achille Fould was appointed a French 
 Minister of State by the Emperor Napoleon III. 
 
 1852. In this year an action was brought against 
 Mr. Alderman Salomons, the Honourable Member for 
 Greenwich, by a Mr. Miller, a common informer, to 
 recover from him three penalties of five hundred 
 pounds each for sitting, speaking three times, and 
 voting in three divisions in the House of Commons- 
 without having duly taken the oath. The legal ques- 
 tion at issue was whether or not the words, " On the 
 true faith of a Christian," formed an essential part of 
 the Oath of Abjuration. The contention of many emi- 
 nent lawyers was that the phrase objected to by the 
 professors of Judaism was not part of the substance 
 of the oath, but only an averment, which might be 
 omitted by Jewish members of Parliament as not bind- 
 ing on their conscience. This was the question which 
 was argued with surpassing ability, before the late Lord 
 Chief Justice Baron Pollock, and the late Mr. Baron 
 Parke, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Baron Martin, 
 Their judgment was delivered on the 17th of April, 1852, 
 against Mr. Alderman Salomons ; on which occasion 
 Mr. Baron Martin, who dissented from the opinions of 
 his brother Judges, delivered a most lucid judgment in 
 favour of the Honourable Member for Greenwich. The 
 question was afterwards argued in a " Court of Error " 
 in tho "Exchequer Chamber," - lately abolished 
 before Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Justice
 
 78 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Wightman, Mr. Justice Cresswell, Mr. Justice Crompton 
 and Mr. Justice Williams, who unanimously confirmed 
 the judgment of the Court below. A writ of error, 
 which was afterwards to have been heard in the House 
 of Lords, was not proceeded with. 
 
 Mr. Alderman Salomons lost his election for 
 Greenwich in 1852, and remained about seven years 
 out of Parliament. 
 
 1853. Another measure for Jewish emancipation 
 was successfully carried in the House of Commons, in 
 this session, and met with the usual failure in the 
 House of Lords. 
 
 Since 1830 most of the disabilities from which 
 the Jews of Great Britain then suffered had been gra- 
 dually removed by successive legislative enactments. 
 There was little more now for British Jews to attain 
 except the right to sit in Parliament, when duly elected, 
 upon taking an oath which was binding upon their 
 conscience. This right they felt assured must in time 
 be conceded by the House of Lords, and they there- 
 fore resolved to persevere, in conjunction with the 
 .zealous advocates of their cause, until the object of 
 their contention was attained. 
 
 1855. On Michaelmas Day Mr. Alderman Salomons 
 was elected Lord Mayor of London ; and upon the 
 9th of November he entered upon the functions of 
 his high office ; by virtue of which he became not 
 alone the first Jewish Lord Mayor, but the first Jewish 
 Member of the Privy Council. The late Mr. David 
 Salomons was a man of a noble presence ; handsome 
 in feature, and graceful in figure and demeanour. His 
 courtly reception of his royal, noble, and distinguished
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 79 
 
 guests at the more than ordinarily magnificent inaugu- 
 ration banquet was generally admired. Being the 
 first Chief Magistrate of the City of London pro- 
 fessing the Jewish religion, an unusual amount of 
 curiosity was naturally exhibited by all who were pri- 
 vileged to be present on the interesting occasion, and 
 it was unanimously admitted that a more dignified 
 Lord Mayor, efficient in oratory, and easy and courtly 
 in manner, had never before presided over the world- 
 famous annual civic banquet. 
 
 185G. Many events of exceptional interest occurred 
 during Lord Mayor Salomons' } r ear of office, among 
 which may be notified the splendid reception of the 
 King of Sardinia and Piedmont, Victor Emanuele, " II 
 Re Galantuomo," by the Lord Mayor and Corporation 
 of the City of London on the occasion of His Majesty 
 receiving the freedom of the city. 
 
 A measure for modifying the Oath of Abjuration 
 with the object of admitting Jews to Parliament was 
 carried in the House of Commons in this Session, and 
 as usual rejected by the House of Lords. 
 
 Among the incidents in connection with Jewish 
 interests which took place on the Continent in 1856 
 may be named the following : 
 
 The Jews of Turkey were placed upon a footing of 
 perfect equality with the other subjects of the Sultan. 
 
 Mons. Alexander Leon, of Bordeaux, received from 
 the Queen of Spain the distinguished Spanish order of 
 Charles III. Mons. Isaac Pereira, of Paris, received 
 from the Emperor of Austria the ancient order of the 
 Iron Crown of Lombardy. Mr. Dennis Samuel was 
 created a Baron by the King of Portugal.
 
 80 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Baron Salomon de Rothschild also received thi>v 
 year, from the Queen of Spain, the noble Spanish 
 order of , Charles III. Mons. Ettlinger, of Odessa, 
 was created by the King of Bavaria a Knight of 
 Lazare. 
 
 The foregoing incidents, although apparently of 
 minor importance, except to the individuals who were 
 respectively distinguished, were, nevertheless, of real 
 .significance as indicating the increased interest with 
 which foreign Potentates then regarded the Jews of 
 Europe. 
 
 1857. Mr. Benjamin Samuel Phillips, who had been 
 the first Jewish Common Councilman of the Corpora- 
 tion of London, was elected, in this year, an Alder- 
 man for the Ward of Faringdon Without ; while Mr. 
 Arthur Cohen, M.A., was called to the Bar. On the 
 16th of June the " Oaths Bill," to enable duly elected 
 Members of Parliament of the Jewish faith to omit the 
 words " On the true faith of a Christian," was carried 
 in the House of Commons. Four hostile amendments 
 to the Bill were lost by successive majorities of 280, 
 125, 141 and 136. The Bill was ultimately carried by 
 a majority of 123. The House of Lords remained as 
 persistent as ever in its endeavours to keep Jews out of 
 Parliament. It again defeated a modified measure for 
 their admission. The " Oaths Bill" was rejected in 
 the House of Lords by a majority of 34. 
 
 On July 23rd, 1857, Baron Lionel de Rothschild 
 again resigned his seat in the House of Commons, 
 and on the 28th of the same month was re-elected. 
 The Liberal electors of London were not less persis- 
 tent than the Tory peers. They were fighting for a
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 81 
 
 constitutional principle, and were resolved never to 
 cease their contention until their efforts were crowned 
 with success. 
 
 The principal remarkable Jewish incidents of 1857 
 abroad were the following : 
 
 By an ordinance of the Bey of Tunis all his subjects 
 of whatever creed were placed on an equality. In Russia 
 the condition of the Jews was to some extent improved. 
 The Emperor of Russia decreed that his Jewish sub- 
 jects who were under age should not be forcibly en- 
 listed ; that Jewish physicians, and Jewish members of 
 other learned bodies, might serve the State in a civil 
 or military capacity, with all the privileges attached 
 to the particular service ; that young Russian Jews, 
 who had gained academical distinction in the grammar 
 schools, might complete their education in the Univer- 
 sities at the cost of the Crown. That permission might 
 be given to the Russian Jews to reside in villages, and 
 in former military colonies ; and to establish colonies, 
 and to carry on any trade except in spirituous liquors. 
 That Jews living near the frontiers of the Empire 
 might be at liberty to avoid military service by a pay- 
 ment of three hundred silver roubles ; and, lastly, that 
 a pecuniary grant should be annually allowed to the 
 Jews of the Empire for the establishment of educa- 
 tional institutions for Russian Jewesses. 
 
 Mr. Barrow H. Ellis was appointed Acting Commis- 
 sioner in Scinde. 
 
 1858. The Liberal electors of the City of London 
 were patient and forbearing, while successive bills to 
 relieve the British Jews from their remaining disabili- 
 ties were carried through the House of Commons and 
 
 G
 
 82 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 rejected by the House of Lords. After endless discus- 
 sions, fruitless arguments, and references to the highest 
 parliamentary and legal authorities, it was admitted 
 that no law existed which directly excluded duly 
 elected British-born Jews from sitting in Parliament. 
 The fact being, that a circumstance so apparently 
 impossible as the election of a Jew to represent a con- 
 stituency in Parliament had never been in contempla- 
 tion. After a period of more than a quarter of a 
 century it was discovered that, without taking any 
 oath whatever, every duly elected Member of Parlia- 
 ment was privileged to vote for the election of a 
 Speaker ; and. moreover, could be elected to serve on 
 any Committee of the House ; and, furthermore, that 
 he might be subjected to the payment of a fine should 
 he decline to serve without assigning a sufficient 
 cause. Thus, a duly elected member of the Jewish 
 faith, who declined to take the Oaths of Allegiance, 
 Supremacy, and Abjuration with the addenda, " On 
 the true faith of a Christian," as being contrary to 
 his conscience, might serve his constituents in a com- 
 mittee room of the House of Commons, but not in the 
 House itself except when voting for a Speaker at 
 the commencement of a new Parliament. This incon- 
 gruous and unreasonable state of the long-pending 
 question of the British Jews' admission to Parliament, 
 was generally acknowledged to be beneath the dignity 
 of Parliament and no longer sufferable ; but still the 
 persistent majority in the Upper House would not 
 yield to reason, and arguments on both sides became 
 exhausted. 
 
 On the 16th of March, 1858, a new Oaths Bill, ap-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 83 
 
 plying only to Jews, was introduced in the House of 
 Commons, and was carried by a majority of 93. It 
 was referred to the House of Lords, and was passed, 
 with certain amendments which were disallowed by 
 the House of Commons. A conference of both Houses 
 was consequently appointed, and Baron Lionel de 
 Rothschild was named to serve on the committee. 
 The question remaining yet unsettled, a Tory peer, 
 strange as it may seem, came boldly to the rescue of 
 his brother lords, to endeavour to solve the difficulty. 
 This was the Earl of Lucan, a cavalry officer of high 
 distinction, who gave notice to the House of Lords that 
 he would introduce a Bill, authorizing either House of 
 Parliament to admit Jews by resolution, without the 
 obligation to subscribe to the words, " On the true 
 faith of a Christian." 
 
 Lord Lucan's Bill was introduced to the House of 
 Lords, and read a second tune on the 3rd of July, 
 1858 ; and a third time, on the 12th of the same 
 month, with a majority of twenty-one. It was pre- 
 sented to the House of Commons, and read a second 
 time, on the 16th of July, with a majority of ninety- 
 one. The bill was then committed an adverse 
 amendment having been moved and lost by a majority 
 of 131. On the 21st of the same month the bill was 
 read a third time, and carried by a majority of 
 seventy-four ; and on the 23rd it received the Royal 
 assent. The obstacle which prevented a duly elected 
 Jewish member from taking his seat in Parliament 
 being at length removed, Baron de Rothschild pre- 
 sented himself at the table of the House of Commons 
 on the 26th of July. He took the necessary oaths in 
 
 o 2
 
 84 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 the manner binding on his conscience, was sworn on 
 the Old Testament, and at length took the seat to 
 which he had been duly elected eleven years pre- 
 viously. 
 
 1859. In 1859 Mr. Alderman Salomons was, for the 
 second time, returned to Parliament to represent 
 Greenwich, and in due course he was sworn, and took 
 his seat. Baron Mayer de Rothschild was elected for 
 Hythe. In this year also Mr. Alderman Benjamin 
 S. Phillips was elected Sheriff of London and Middle- 
 sex : he being the third Jew elected to that office. 
 
 1860. Sir Francis H. Goldsmid, Bart., Q.C., was 
 returned for Reading. 
 
 An Act to render the resolution of the House of 
 Commons for the admission of Jews to that House a 
 Standing Order passed the House of Lords on the 
 IGth of July. 
 
 Notwithstanding that a duly-elected British-born 
 Jew could now take his seat in the House of Commons 
 by a resolution of the House, that solution of the long 
 disputed question of the Jews' admission to Parliament 
 could hardly be regarded in any other light than as a 
 temporary measure, and not as its ultimate settle- 
 ment ; since, from caprice, or a change of public 
 opinion on the subject, an adverse majority of his 
 fellow members might resolve that any particular 
 member of the Jewish faith should not be permitted to 
 take his seat. It was not, therefore, until the passing 
 of the Bill which substituted for the oaths of Allegi- 
 ance, Supremacy and Abjuration, one uniform oath 
 which might be taken by members of all religious 
 denominations, except Quakers and other Separatists
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 85 
 
 -who might claim to be admitted by affirmation, that 
 the Jewish members of the House of Commons felt 
 themselves to be on a footing of perfect equality with 
 their fellow members. 
 
 1860. In this year Sir Moses Montefiore, Bart., 
 F.R.S., originated a subscription for the relief of the 
 persecuted and suffering Christians in Syria. He 
 was appointed the Chairman of a very influential 
 Committee of Christians and Jews, of which Mr. 
 .Alderman Salomons, M.P., and the Baron Lionel de 
 Rothschild, M.P., were elected members. At the same 
 time the Jews of France, at the invitation of Mons. 
 Crernieux, subscribed liberally for the same object. 
 
 The most noteworthy incidents in connection with 
 Jewish interests abroad, in the same year, were the 
 following: 
 
 The publication of an Imperial decree, authorising 
 Austrian Jews to possess landed property in Lower 
 Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, Transylvania, 
 Illyrica and Dalmatia. It was left to the discretion of 
 the representatives to grant the same privilege to the 
 Jews of the Tyrol, Salzburg, Upper Austria, Carinthia, 
 and Carniola. 
 
 On the surrender of Tetuan, the Jews, who had 
 been cruelly plundered by the Moors, received protec- 
 tion from the Spanish forces. 
 
 By an Imperial decree Herr "Welhoff was appointed 
 a Judge of the Tribunal of the First Instance at Weis- 
 semburg. The King of Sardinia conferred upon Signor 
 Sinigaglia, of Turin, the distinguished order of St. 
 Maurice e Lazare, for his improvements in the manu- 
 facture of silk.
 
 86 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Signer Artom of Turin received the order of Charles 
 III. from the Queen of Spain, and was created a Knight 
 of the Legion of Honour by Napoleon III. 
 
 Mons. Godefroi, the eminent Dutch Advocate, was 
 appointed Minister of Justice by the King of Holland, 
 who also conferred upon Dr. S. Mulder, the Inspector 
 of Jewish Schools, the Dutch order of the Lion. 
 
 Mr. Henry M. Hyams was elected Lieutenant Gover- 
 nor of the State of Louisiana, II. S., by virtue of which 
 office he became the President of the Senate of that 
 State. 
 
 Mr. Barrow H. Ellis was appointed Secretary to the 
 Government Revenue, Financial and General Depart- 
 ment, Bombay. 
 
 1861. The Jews of Sweden were, by a Royal decree 
 issued in this year, privileged to acquire real property 
 in towns and villages. Foreign Jews were allowed as 
 heretofore to be domiciled only in the cities of Stock- 
 holm, Gottenburg, Carlscrona, and Norkoping. 
 
 The Chief Rabbi of Constantinople, Rabbi Jacob 
 Avigdor, received from His Majesty the Sultan of 
 Turkey the order of the Medjidie. 
 
 The Czar of Russia granted permission to foreign 
 Jews to establish themselves permanently at Odessa,, 
 and Sebastopol. 
 
 1862. All civil and political rights were granted to 
 the Jews of Baden-Baden in 1862. The Grand Duke 
 of Baden also issued an edict granting to his Jewish 
 subjects a more independent constitution for their 
 religious worship. 
 
 The civil rights of the Jews of "VVurtemburg were 
 assured to them by a Bill passed by the legislative
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 87 
 
 assembly at Stuttgart. In respect to their civil rela- 
 tions they were placed upon an equal footing with the 
 other subjects of the King of "Wurtemburg, to enjoy 
 equal rights, and be subject to the same imposts and 
 the same duties. 
 
 Mr. Barrow H. Ellis was this year appointed addi- 
 tional member of the Legislative Council of the 
 Governor of Bombay. 
 
 1863. An event of considerable interest to the Jews 
 of Turkey and Jerusalem occurred in 1863, for the 
 particulars of which I am indebted to the late Mr. E. 
 H. Lindo, the learned historian of the Jews in Spain 
 and Portugal. 
 
 The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Chayim David 
 Chasam, was elevated by His Majesty the Sultan of 
 Turkey to the exceptional dignity of Chief Rabbi of 
 all the Jewish Congregations of the Holy Land. At 
 the ceremony of his installation the Pasha of Jerusalem 
 sent to the Chief Rabbi his own horse. The Chief 
 Rabbi, having mounted, was accompanied to the 
 Pasha's palace in procession by the Chief of the 
 Police. At the Palace he was received in solemn state 
 by the whole Divan. The Pasha having placed his 
 reverend guest at his right hand, the firman promoting 
 the Rabbi to his high office was read aloud with the 
 usual ceremonies. The reverend functionary was then 
 conducted by the Pasha with much ceremony and state 
 to the gate of the Court. The guards of the Pasha then 
 escorted the Chief Rabbi with every demonstration of 
 regard and honour through those streets of Jerusalem 
 inhabited by its Jewish residents. On his return to 
 his own house, the honoured religious Chief was waited
 
 88 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 upon by all the elders, and the leading men of the 
 Jewish community, who went. to congratulate him 
 upon the marked distinction which had been conferred 
 upon him and upon his co-religionists ; for such an 
 honour had never before been paid by the Turkish 
 Government to any religious community. 
 
 This year news reached England that two Jews of 
 Tangiers had been cruelly tortured and murdered, upon 
 the unsupported accusation of the Spanish Consul. Sir 
 Moses Montefiore, the illustrious champion alike of 
 Jews and Christians, having already undertaken 
 personal missions to Damascus, Russia and. Rome, in 
 order to defend the assailed reputation of the Jewish 
 people, moved by the impulses of his noble nature, 
 resolved to go forth once more in the cause of 
 humanity and justice although in his 80th year, to 
 rescue his people from persecution and oppression. 
 Her Majesty's Government rendered to the noble 
 patriarch every assistance in their power. One of Her 
 Majesty's ships was placed at the disposal of Sir 
 Moses Montefiore to convey him from Gibraltar to the 
 coast of Africa. The success of his mission to Morocco 
 was announced to the House of Commons by Mr. 
 Layard, the then Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, 
 on the 4th of March, 1864, with high eulogiums on 
 the generous conduct of the illustrious missionary, 
 who had not alone succeeded in obtaining equaliza- 
 tions of civil rights for the Jews of Morocco, but 
 also for the members of all religious creeds. On 
 his return through Spain, Queen Isabella received 
 Sir Moses Montefiore with marks of high considera- 
 
 O 
 
 tion. The Common Council of the City of London
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 89 
 
 having resolved that [an address should be presented 
 to him, for his noble personal exertions in behalf of 
 suffering humanity, the same was publicly presented 
 to him in the Guildhall, by the Lord Mayor and 
 Corporation. 
 
 1S64-. On the llth of February Mr. John Simon, 
 of the Northern Circuit, received from Lord Chan- 
 cellor West bury the dignity of the Coif; in other 
 words, was made a Serjeant-at-law, he being the first 
 Jewish barrister who had received that ancient legal 
 rank. 
 
 In January, of this year, Mr. Julian Goldsmid was 
 called to the Bar by the Benchers of Lincoln's Inn, 
 and joined the Oxford Circuit. The Hon. Barrow H. 
 Ellis was appointed Member of the Council of the 
 Governor of Bombay. 
 
 In 1864, also, Mr. Alderman Benjamin Phillips was 
 elected Lord Mayor of London ; he being the second 
 Jewish Alderman elected to that office. On his re- 
 tirement from the Mayoralty, in 1865, the high repu- 
 tation of which he had maintained by the exercise of 
 remarkable talents, oratory, discretion, and dignity, 
 the ex-Lord Mayor received from Her Majesty the 
 honour of knighthood, on the recommendation of the 
 then Premier, the Earl of Derby. 
 
 1865. The following Jewish candidates were elected 
 Members of Parliament, in July, 1865, viz. : 
 
 Sir David Salomons, Bart., for the third time for 
 
 Greenwich. 
 Sir Francis H. Goldsmid, Bart., Q.C., for the 
 
 second time for Reading. 
 
 Baron Lionel de Rothschild, for the fourth time 
 for London.
 
 90 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Baron Mayer de Kothschild, for the second time 
 
 for Hythe. 
 
 Mr. Nathaniel de Rothschild, for Aylesbury. 
 Mr. Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda, for Tavistock. 
 Mr. Frederick D. Goldsmid, for Honiton. 
 Jdr. George Jessel, M.A., was this year made a 
 Queen's Counsel. 
 
 1866. On the 28th of March, 1866, Mr. Julian Gold- 
 smid was returned to represent Honiton, a vacancy 
 having occurred in that Borough by the lamented 
 death of his father, Mr. Frederick Goldsmid, the late 
 Member. 
 
 1868. At the general election of 1868 the following 
 Jewish candidates were returned to Parliament : 
 Baron Lionel de Rothschild, for London for the 
 
 fifth time. 
 
 Mr. George Jessel, Q.C., for Dover. 
 Mr. Serjeant Simon, for Dewsbury. 
 Sir Francis H. Goldsmid, Bart., Q.C., for Read- 
 ing the third time. 
 Baron Mayer de Rothschild, for Hythe the 
 
 third time. 
 
 Mr. Nathaniel Mayer de Rothschild, for Ayles- 
 bury the second time. 
 Sir David Salomons, Bart., for Greenwich the 
 
 fourth time. 
 Mr. Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda, for the Tower 
 
 Hamlets. 
 
 Baron Henry de Worms unsuccessfully contested 
 the Borough of Sandwich, in the Conservative 
 interest. 
 
 Mr. Serjeant Simon, M.P., received from the Lord
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 91 
 
 Chancellor a patent of precedence, with the rank of 
 Q.C. 
 
 1869. After a very remarkable academical career, 
 the late Mr. Numa Hartog, B.A., of the University of 
 London, graduated SENIOR WRANGLER at Trinity 
 College, Cambridge. As Mr. Hartog was unable, 
 owing to the then ^existing laws of the University, 
 to receive his degree in a manner agreeable to his 
 conscience, the Senate of the University passed a 
 special act of grace to enable him to do so. 
 
 The Hon. Barrow H. Ellis was, in this year, ap- 
 pointed a member of the Council of the Governor 
 General of India. 
 
 1871. By the " University Tests " Act, passed this 
 year, Jews and Nonconformists were admitted to 
 degrees at the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford. 
 
 In the same year, Mr. Phineas Simon Abraham, 
 B.Sc. (London University), took his degree as First 
 Senior Moderator in Natural Science, and Moderator 
 in Experimental Science at Trinity College, Dublin ; 
 and four years later the degree of M.A. was conferred 
 upon him, Stip. con. Hon. causa, when he was placed on 
 the Senate of the University of Dublin. Dr. Abraham 
 has since been unanimously elected Curator of the 
 Dublin College of Surgeons. It should be noted that 
 the University of Dublin was the first of the three old 
 Universities of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
 and Ireland to confer degrees upon the professors of all 
 religious creeds. 
 
 1874. At the General Election of 1874 the following 
 Jewish candidates were returned to Parliament in the 
 Liberal interest :
 
 92 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Sir Francis H. Goldsmid, Bart., Q.C., for Reading 
 
 the fourth time. 
 Mr. Serjeant Simon, for Dewsbury the second 
 
 time. 
 Sir Nathaniel Meyer de Rothschild, Bart., for 
 
 Aylesbury the third time. 
 Mr. Julian Goldsmid, for Rochester the second 
 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Saul Isaac, for Nottingham in the Con- 
 servative interest. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Cohen, M.A., was in this year made a 
 Queen's Counsel. 
 
 1875. The Hon. Barrow H. Ellis was appointed 
 Member of the Council of the Secretary of State for 
 India, and was in the same year created a Knight 
 Commander of the Star of India. 
 
 1880. At the General Election in 1880 the following 
 Jewish candidates were returned to Parliament : in 
 the Liberal interest : 
 ^X Mr. Serjeant Simon, for Dewsbury the third 
 
 time. 
 Sir Nathaniel Meyer de Rothschild, Bart., the 
 
 fourth time. 
 
 Mr. Arthur Cohen, Q.C., for Southwark. 
 Baron Henry de Worms, for Greenwich in the 
 
 Conservative interest. 
 Mr. Sydney Woolf, for Pontefract. 
 Mr. Saul Isaac unsuccessfully contested Notting- 
 ham in the Conservative interest. 
 Sir Julian Goldsmid, Bart., unsuccessfully con- 
 tested Rochester in the Liberal interest. 
 Since the Municipality and Corporation Acts came
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 9& 
 
 into operation in 184G, the following English Corpora- 
 tions have elected Jewish Mayors : viz., Liverpool, 
 Bristol, Canterbury, Portsmouth, Southampton, Taun- 
 ton, and Nottingham. 
 
 In France, as early as the beginning of this century, 
 the Jews of that country had already distinguished 
 themselves, especially in the armies of the First Napo- 
 leon. Marshal Massena, nee Menasseh, and Marshal 
 Soult, besides many other Jewish officers of less cele- 
 brity, revived by their many valiant deeds the splendid 
 renown won by the Israelites of antiquity as w 7 arriors 
 " great in battle." During, and since the reign of Louis 
 Philippe many French Israelites have earned fame by 
 the exercise of brilliant talents at the Bar, in the 
 Senate, in the Army, and also as Ministers of State. 
 The names of Cremieux and Fould are world-famed. 
 In the disastrous Franco-German War, in 1870, many 
 brave French Jews exceptionally distinguished them- 
 selves by splendid deeds of personal bravery. 
 
 The Jews of Germany, the countrymen of the im- 
 mortal Moses Mendelssohn, Heine and Meyerbeer, have 
 also during the past half century, won honour and 
 fame in the fertile fields of Science, Art, Literature, 
 Philosophy and Medicine, and in the German Parlia- 
 ment, of which the following eminent Jewish gentle- 
 men are now members, viz. : Drs. Eduard Lasker, 
 Ludwig Braumberger, Max Hirsch, Anton Ree, Herren 
 Ludwig Lowe, Leopold Sonnemann, and Max Kayser. 
 
 The extraordinary merits of the late Dr. Gabriel 
 Riesser were recognised and appreciated by a past 
 generation. The name of Lasker is known at the pre- 
 sent day as that of a courageous and uncompromising
 
 94 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 statesman, eloquent in the advocacy of justice and 
 freedom. Since the establishment of the Kingdom 
 of Italy under King Victor Emanuel, Italian-born 
 Jews have enjoyed equal civil and political rights in 
 common with their Christian countrymen. Many 
 Italian Jews have already distinguished themselves 
 in the Italian Parliament and in the public service. 
 
 With unalloyed satisfaction may be added to this 
 survey of the interesting Jewish incidents which have 
 taken place since 1830, the welcome fact, that, after a 
 banishment from Spain of 389 years, Jews, by a late 
 decree of the enlightened Government of King Alfonso, 
 will soon be privileged to re-establish themselves in 
 Spain, to become naturalized Spanish subjects, being 
 regarded in all respects as other foreign subjects of the 
 King of Spain upon any of the subjoined conditions : 
 viz., upon marriage with a Spanish lady ; or upon 
 establishing in Spain an invention, or a manufactory 
 of importance : or upon holding land for which direct 
 Spanish contributions are payable ; or upon exercising 
 a trade in Spain supported by their own capital, or 
 upon rendering to Spain some eminent services. 
 
 The foregoing conditions are not compulsory upon 
 Jews and other foreigners who seek only a temporary 
 residence in Spain. 
 
 The cruel edict which banished, in 1492, about 
 170,000 Spanish Jewish families from their native 
 country may be contrasted with the above ; it was 
 worded as follows : " Seeing that the Jews of our 
 States induce many Christians to embrace Judaism, 
 particularly the Nobles of Andalusia ; for this they 
 are banished under the severest penalties."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 95 
 
 Proselytism being, as is well known, directly op- 
 posed to the principles of Judaism, and discouraged in 
 every way, the falseness of the excuse for the whole- 
 sale banishment of the Jews of Spain by Ferdinand 
 and Isabella was at once recognised as base and 
 libellous, and devised in order to disguise the iniquitous 
 designs of the Arch-Inquisitor Torquemada, to force 
 Christianity upon the Jews. 
 
 It can hardly be doubted that the re-establish- 
 ment of a number of enlightened and prosperous 
 Israelites in Spain will tend materially to develop 
 once more the rich resources of that beautiful and 
 fertile country, and to restore its former financial 
 splendour. 
 
 The re-admission of Jews into Spain, with complete 
 religious freedom, and equal civil and political privi- 
 leges, may be regarded as one of the most impor- 
 tant facts, as it is one of the most glorious strokes 
 of high state policy, which has marked the present 
 age of progress ; and it may, perhaps, teach a valu- 
 able lesson to those European Governments who 
 would appear to manifest a desire for retrogression 
 rather than progression.
 
 No. III. 
 
 A BRIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE 
 PRACTICE OF USURY IN ANCIENT 
 AND MODERN TIMES,
 
 " THERE BEING SCARCE ONE SHIRE IN WALES OR ENGLAND 
 WHERE MY MONEYS ARE- NOT LENT OUT ON USURY, THE 
 CERTAIN HOOK TO DRAW IN MORE." 
 
 The City 3/rfaro. Massinger (1584 1640).
 
 No. III. 
 
 ABEIEF HISTORICAL SURVEY OF THE 
 
 PRACTICE OF USURY IN -ANCIENT 
 
 AND MODERN TIMES, 
 
 I. 
 
 To rescue the Jewish name from the unmerited odium 
 which for many ages has been unjustly attached to it 
 in relation to money-lending at an exorbitant profit, 
 commonly termed usury, is the design of this brief 
 historical survey. To hold an entire race, multifa- 
 riously and honourably employed, responsible for the 
 malpractices of a very small minority is manifestly 
 illogical and unjust. As illogical and unjust would it 
 be to cast upon the entire banking, mercantile and 
 trading communities of this great Empire, the oppro- 
 brium attached to the almost daily reported swindles, 
 frauds, embezzlements, forgeries, perjuries, and other 
 high crimes and misdemeanours, which, more especially 
 of late years, have somewhat shaken public confi- 
 dence in the commercial integrity of this country. 
 
 The practice of usury has been common to every 
 nation of antiquity. Its severe condemnation by Cato, 
 Seneca, and Plutarch, is undeniable proof. 
 
 By the important discoveries of Egyptian papyri 
 recently made at Thebes, and by the labours of 
 the demotic students who have ably deciphered 
 them, many hitherto unknown facts of intense in- 
 
 H 2
 
 100 JEWS AS THEY AKE. 
 
 terest relating to the domestic life of the an- 
 cient Egyptians have been disclosed. We learn 
 that their priests and scribes were occupied in lending 
 and borrowing money, and from the terms of their 
 legal contracts now openly exposed for the first time,, 
 we find that they practised usury in a very severe 
 form. We learn that loans were invariably contracted 
 for short periods; that repayment was rigidly and 
 punctually enforced ; that a creditor would accept no 
 instalment before the day fixed for repayment, nor 
 would he permit even a delay of a few hours. It 
 would appear that 50 per cent, was the usual amount 
 of interest charged, and, as security, a debtor would 
 be sometimes obliged to mortgage all he possessed. 
 These usurious Egyptian money-lenders were mostly 
 priests of Osiris. 
 
 "These Choachytes, or Colchytes, officially styled 
 Pastophori of Amen, were a subordinate class of 
 custodian priests attached to the Theban necropolis ; 
 and it was their duty to perform funereal rites and 
 memorial services. They would appear to have been 
 a busy and a prosperous body, not content to live by 
 merely sacerdotal work, but keen at buying and sell- 
 ing, and adepts in the art and mystery of usury. In 
 the Louvre collection of Contracts we find various 
 papyri relating to matters of loan and interest, all 
 duly drawn up by professional notaries, and signed by 
 numerous witnesses. Abbreviating and omitting much 
 that is purely formal, we re-translate from the French 
 version of M. Revillout, two of these bonds, the one in 
 regard of a loan of wheat, the other in regard of a loan 
 of money :
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 101 
 
 " ' 1. (Date, the fifth year of Cleopatra-Circe and 
 second year of Ptolemy-Alexander, her son.) The 
 receiver of taxes upon stuffs, Thoth, son of Amenhotep, 
 whose mother is Tanoum, to the Pastophorus of 
 Amen-Api of the Necropolis of Djem, Neckhtmonth, 
 son of Horus, whose mother is Chachperi, saith : For 
 the wheat thou hast lent to me, thou hast to reclaim 
 from me nine aureus, interest included. I engage to 
 pay thee thy nine aureus above-named in pure un- 
 ground wheat (value of the said money) paid back, 
 carried, and delivered into the hands of thy servants 
 in thy house at Djem, without cost or outlay, on the 
 30th day of the month Pakhons. And I may pay thee 
 no part of the above-named until the 9th Pakhons at 
 the time and day herein appointed. I may not say to 
 thee, ' I have already deposited wheat with thee,' or ' I 
 have made thee a payment on account of thy wheat.' 
 There is no redemption (of the debt), excepting accord- 
 ing to this deed, the legal consequences of which rest 
 upon me and upon my children. The whole of my 
 goods which I now possess, and all such as may here- 
 after become mine, are pledged to thee as security for 
 thy nine aureus ; and if I fail to act conformably to 
 this writing, the whole penalty will be due, and I 
 must cede to thee without opposition or delay all that 
 which is herein pledged.' 
 
 " { 2. (Date, the loth year of Euergetes I.) Thou 
 hast lent to me (names omitted) five argentei, making 
 one outen of silver. I have received this money from 
 thy hand. The sum is complete, leaving no balance 
 outstanding. My heart is satisfied. At the time thou 
 hast fixed for thy five argenteus which thou hast lent,
 
 102 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 I will repay them. I have 30 days of credit before 
 the time for repayment. I will give thee, less the 
 interest, thy five argenteus, making one outen, the 
 day after the 30th day above-named, not counting 
 costs or interest, and that without delay. This bond 
 provides for no other redemption of the debt. The 
 above legal writing is in thy hand, for thy five argen- 
 teus and the costs and interest thereunto accruing. 
 It rests upon me and my children. All the goods I 
 possess, or may in future possess, are mortgaged to 
 thee in security for thy argenteus and the costs and 
 interest thereunto accruing. Thy servants] may em- 
 ploy against me any means of coercion in respect of 
 that which is here written, and that without opposi- 
 tion on my part.' 
 
 " It is especially to be noted that the lenders are 
 always Choachyte priests, who, at the risk of being 
 hereafter unable to recite before Osiris the celebrated 
 ' negative confession' pronounced by the justified 
 dead, united the two callings most abhorred by the 
 people of Egypt namely, usury and monopoly. Such 
 being the hard conditions upon which Egyptian 
 creditors dealt with Egyptian debtors, one is not sur- 
 prised to learn that it went even harder with the 
 luckless native who borrowed from a Greek. The 
 British Museum, for instance, contains a demotic pa- 
 pyrus (No. 478, Hay) in the form of a mortgage, 
 whereby, for the miserable consideration of fifty sekels 
 (i.e. about 1. 15s.) a father signed away in pledge 
 not only the inheritance, but the personal liberty of 
 his children."* 
 
 * Buried Treasure, a Review. TJie Times.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 103 
 
 That the ancient Greeks lent money upon "usurious 
 interest" is clearly evidenced by the repressive legis- 
 lative enactments of that illustrious nation. Plato and 
 Aristotle are said to have regarded usury as criminal 
 and unnatural, and sure to bring calamities upon the 
 usurious money-lender. The latter philosopher, says 
 Mr. John Addington Symonds, " is supposed to have 
 laid it down as an axiom, that as the use of money is 
 only to facilitate barter, it is naturally barren, and the 
 attempt to make money breed money is preposterous 
 and unlawful. The passage is believed to be spurious ; 
 but it faithfully represents the public opinion of many 
 centuries." The maxims of the seven sages of Greece 
 bearing upon this subject have been preserved. Theo- 
 genes and Solon even employed verse to repress unjust 
 gain. The folio wing may be cited as an example: "He 
 who gets wealth from Zeus by just means, and with 
 hands unstained, will not lose it. That which is 
 acquired unfairly, though it may seem at first to bring 
 gain, turns at last to calamity, and the mind of Heaven 
 prevails." " Nowhere," s&ys Mitford, " had the poor 
 ready means of getting a livelihood by creditable in- 
 dustry. The rich, to acquire at the same time revenue 
 and influence, lent their money ; the poor, averse to 
 employment which put them, in appearance at 
 least, upon a footing with slaves, and often unable to 
 obtain hire even for such employment, borrowed at 
 exorbitant interest with their persons only to offer for 
 security. 3 '* 
 
 Although the term usury is not here employed, we 
 have nevertheless its synonym in the " exorbitant 
 * History of Greece. Mitford.
 
 104 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 interest," exacted by the rich Greeks from their less 
 wealthy fellow-citizens, whose persons were held as 
 securities. What a cruel example of ancient Greek 
 usury in its vilest aspect ! The splendour of their fame 
 doubtless shielded the ancient Greeks from the infamy 
 of their usurious transactions, of which, in the follow- 
 ing citations from Mitford's " History of Greece," we 
 have undoubted evidence. " Everywhere the laws gave 
 the lender certain rights over the person of the bor- 
 rower. Thus the wealthy, to the power always attend- 
 ing property, added a power not originally intended 
 by the constitution, yet derived from the laws, and 
 confirmed by them." " At Athens an insolvent debtor 
 became slave to his creditor, and not himself only, but 
 his wife and children also, if less would not answer the 
 debt. Sometimes a debtor would sell his children to 
 save himself." 
 
 Usury, in its most cruel phase, was so universally 
 practised by the ancient Romans, that, A.U. 429, a 
 law was passed to mitigate its severity. Roman usurers, 
 according to Livy, were restrained by new laws from 
 keeping their debtors in irons, or in bonds, only the 
 goods and not the persons of debtors could be given 
 up to creditors. 
 
 What is usury, and what is interest ? According to 
 the original signification of those words they are syno- 
 nymous expressions. The translators of the authorised 
 version of the Old Testament rendered the Hebrew 
 word TTK73 "usury." Jewish translators have ren- 
 dered the same word " interest." There can be no doubt 
 whatever that the latter is the correct rendering. 
 In its origin, as used by Moses, neschech meant simply
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 105 
 
 a reasonable payment for the use of money ; whereas 
 it has since been held to indicate an excessive and un- 
 reasonable amount of payment, or interest, and, in that 
 sense, it has acquired an invidious and offensive signi- 
 fication. 
 
 The interest of money throughout the Middle Ages 
 was enormously high. " At Verona," says Hallam, " it 
 was fixed by law, in 1228, at 12| per cent. In 
 1270, at Modena, it appears to have been as high as 
 20 per cent. The Republic of Genoa, towards the 
 end of the fourteenth century, when Italy had grown 
 wealthy, paid only from 7 to 10 per cent, to her 
 creditors. But in France and England the rate was 
 far more oppressive. An ordinance of Philip the 
 Fair, in 1311, allowed 20 per cent, after the first year 
 of loan. Under Henry III. of England, according to 
 Matthew Paris, the debtor paid 10 per cent, every two 
 months; but this, as a practice, is supposed to be 
 absolutely incredible." 
 
 Usury, or lending money for profit, < was treated as 
 a crime by theologians of the Middle Ages; and, 
 although the superstition has been eradicated, some 
 part of the prejudice remains in our legislation. The 
 greater part of the money traffic, as well as the ordi- 
 nary inland trade throughout Italy, France and Spain 
 in the Middle Ages was, as is well known, in the hands 
 of the Jewish people domiciled in those countries. 
 There then flourished in Malta, Greece. Portugal and 
 Venice, Jewish merchants of high repute, whose exten- 
 sive commerce with the East procured them vast 
 wealth. Their argosies, richly laden with spice, and 
 silks, and precious stones from India, Egypt, and other
 
 106 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 oriental countries, were known in every Mediterra- 
 nean port. The Jews of Spain, Portugal and Italy, 
 and also of other European countries in which they 
 were domiciled, had gained the command of great 
 wealth, and the entire monetary influence in those 
 countries, indeed of the whole world, by the exercise 
 of a superior intelligence, perspicacity, industry and 
 thrift. It ought not to be surprising that Jews should 
 have availed themselves of favourable occasions to 
 increase their wealth by claiming, as others did, those 
 high rates of interest for the loan of money to which 
 historians refer, more especially as their tenure of 
 wealth was at all times precarious and uncertain, 
 and held under conditions dependent upon the will 
 and caprice of tyrannic rulers. Having, spider-like, 
 enticed the Jews of England into his web, King John, 
 in 1210, suddenly withdrew the privileges he had 
 granted them to induce them to settle in England, 
 and claimed to know their entire wealth, which he com- 
 manded should be paid into his exchequer ; and more- 
 over, iniquitously imprisoned all the Jews and their 
 families until they should consent to disclose it. 
 
 Those who pleaded poverty and showed unwilling- 
 ness to yield u p their riches were barbarously tortured 
 until they had parted with their last farthing. To 
 thrust out an eye was, as Stowe informs us, not an un- 
 common penalty. Rapacious and savage deeds such 
 as these were of frequent recurrence in every country 
 in Europe in which Jews of the Middle Ages sojourned. 
 Having become the sole possessors of wealth they were 
 always subjected to the most frightfully usurious extor- 
 tions from those who were forced byfinancial exigencies
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 107 
 
 to resort to them for help, while they were hated for 
 their religious constancy, and for their superior intel- 
 ligence. In 1241 the Jews of England had 20,000 
 marks levied upon them. In 1243 they were forced to 
 submit to another extravagant extortion. In 1250 
 Aaron of York, under cruel compulsion, paid Henry III. 
 30,000 marks ; while from other wealthy Jews this 
 usurious tyrant exacted other large sums of money. In 
 1255 the rapacious monarch claimed from the Jews 
 80,000 marks with the alternative of their being all 
 hanged. The money was paid into the royal ex- 
 chequer, but the patience of the plundered Jews 
 was fairly exhausted, and they petitioned Henry to 
 allow them to leave his inhospitable kingdom. But 
 this the wily robber would not permit, for he con- 
 fessed himself to be a beggar, that he was moneyless, 
 that he already owed 200,000 or 300,000 marks, 
 and had, none the less, " to supply his son Prince 
 Edward with 15,000 marks annually, and that there- 
 fore he must have money from any hand, any quarter, 
 or by any means." Hume, again citing Matthew 
 Paris, further informs us that " interest, in 1272, had 
 amounted to an enormous height, as might be expected 
 from the barbarism of the times, and men's ignorance 
 of commerce. Instances occur of 50 per cent, being 
 paid for the use of money." " Philip Augustus, about 
 the same period, issued an edict limiting the interest 
 on loans to 48 per cent. Money-lenders were permitted 
 legally to accept that rate of interest. Braving " the 
 grievous oppressions to which, from the prevailing 
 bigotry and rapine of the age, they were continually 
 exposed," the Jews of England were tempted to remain,
 
 108 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 in order that they might participate in the high profits 
 which were then given for the use of money. Jews 
 having been banished from England in 1290, when, as 
 it was supposed, King Edward could extorb no more 
 gold from them, "the practice of usury," says our 
 English historian, " was thenceforth exercised by the 
 English themselves upon their fellow-citizens, or by 
 the Lombards, and other foreigners " (not Jews), " as it 
 was impossible for a nation to subsist without lenders 
 of money, and none tcould lend without compensation" 
 " It is very much to be questioned whether the dealings 
 of the new usurers were equally open and unexcep- 
 tionable with those of the old." " The several statutes 
 made to prevent usury after the Jews had left the 
 kingdom prove it to be," says Dr. Tovey (Anglia 
 Judaica) " a crime no ways peculiar to the Jews." " The 
 Pope," says the same writer, " was wont to carry 
 on that infamous trade in such a shameful manner, 
 by the help of several Italian merchants called Caur- 
 sini, that the Jews themselves might have profited by 
 his example. For though, according to the strict and 
 legal acceptation of the word, his contracts were not 
 " usurious," yet the effects of them were the most 
 unheard of usury. His method was this : if a person 
 wanted a sum of money which he would not repay 
 under six months, he would lend it to him for three 
 months without any interest at all ; and then covenant 
 to receive five per cent, for every month afterwards that 
 it should remain unpaid. " Now in this case, said he, 
 I am no usurer, for I lent my money absolutely without 
 interest, and what I was to receive afterwards was a 
 contingency that might be defeated." A bond of this
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 109 1 
 
 kind, which surpasses everything of modern invention, 
 is transmitted by Matthew Paris, who says, " when 
 the Jews came to understand the Christian way of 
 preventing usury, they laughed very heartily." 
 
 The Caursini were a notorious tribe of Christian 
 usurers ; almost, if not quite, as notorious as the Lom- 
 bards, whose city, Asti, was infamous for its usurious 
 money-lending transactions. The following is a spe- 
 cimen of a bond or obligation, made to the Caursini,. 
 for the repayment of money upon loan : 
 
 " To all that shall see this present writing. Thomas 
 the Prior, and the Convent of Barnwell, with health 
 in the Lord ! Know ye that we have borrowed and 
 received at London, for ourselves profitably to be ex- 
 pended for the affairs of the Church, from Francesco 
 and Gregorio, for them and their partners, citizens and 
 merchants of Milan, 104 marks of lawful money 
 sterling ; 13s. 4d. sterling being counted to every mark. 
 Which said 104 marks we promise to pay back on the 
 feast of St. Pietro ad Vincula, being the 1st day of 
 August, 1235, at the New Temple, in London. And if 
 the said money be not all paid at the time and place 
 aforesaid, we bind ourselves to pay to the aforesaid 
 merchants, or any of them, or their certain attorney, 
 for every ten marks forborne for two months, one mark 
 of money for recompense or damage, which the afore- 
 said merchants may incur by the non-payment of it ; 
 so that they may lawfully demand principal, damages,, 
 and expenses as above expressed, together with the 
 expenses of one merchant for himself, his horse, and 
 servant, until such time as the aforesaid money be 
 fully satisfied. And for the payment of such principal.
 
 110 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 interest, damage, and expenses we oblige ourselves, 
 our church, and successors, and all our goods, and the 
 goods of our church, moveable or not moveable, eccle- 
 siastical or temporal, which we have or shall have, 
 wheresoever they shall be found, to the aforesaid 
 merchants and their heirs. And do further recognise 
 and acknowledge that we possess and hold the said 
 goods from the said merchants by way of courtesy, 
 until the premises be fully satisfied. Renouncing 
 also, for ourselves and successors, all help of canon and 
 civil law, all privileges and clerkship, the Epistle of 
 St. Adrian, all customs, statutes, lectures, indulgences, 
 and privileges obtained for the King of England from 
 the See Apostolic, as also the benefit of all appeal or 
 inhibition from the King of England, with all other 
 exceptions whether real or personal that may be 
 objected against the validity of this instrument. All 
 which things we promise faithfully to observe, and in 
 witness thereof have set to the seal of the Convent." 
 (London, 24th April, 1235.) 
 
 The royal hypocrite, St. Louis of France, ordained 
 that, " for the salvation of his own soul, and the souls 
 of his ancestors," all Christians should be released from 
 a third part of their debts to Jews. This instance of 
 dishonesty combined with superstition is worthy to be 
 recorded. According to Hallam, it was by no means 
 an uncommon circumstance for kings, who sought 
 money no less than popularity, to ordain that all debts 
 due to Jews by Christians should be abolished, except 
 a portion which, as the price of their bounty, they 
 themselves retained. Should their rapacity and 
 cupidity be inadequately satisfied by the seizure of
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. Ill 
 
 the Jews' possessions, then were the Jews banished 
 from the kingdom. 
 
 The Jews justified the high rate of interest they 
 charged for the loan of money upon the same prin- 
 ciple that, at the same period, the Christians justified 
 their extortionate impositions for marine insurances ; 
 viz. the principle of risk, to which the Jews were 
 always subject in lending money to those who, in a 
 summary manner, had both the will and the power to 
 cancel all their money obligations. 
 
 " One species of usury," says Hallam, " and that of 
 the highest importance to commerce, was always per- 
 mitted on account of the risk attending it ; this was 
 ' marine insurance,' which could not have existed until 
 money was considered in itself as a source of profit." 
 
 On the same authority we learn, that in the thir- 
 teenth century the Lombard usurers established 
 themselves in all countries, in spite of much obloquy ; 
 and that the bigotry which had barred their reception 
 succumbed to the irresistible advance of commerce. 
 The illustrious family of the Medici were not alone 
 .sovereign princes, but bankers, merchants, and money- 
 lenders at exorbitant interest, by which they acquired 
 immense wealth. It is written that by a timely loan 
 of money from the Medici, Edward IV. was enabled to 
 recover his throne. He paid in proportion to the risk, 
 which no doubt was very considerable ; as we are 
 informed that two money-lenders of Florence, who 
 lent to the same monarch a large sum of money, were 
 losers to the extent of 3G 5,000 golden florins. 
 
 The Peruzzi and the Bardi were famous Florentine 
 bankers and money-lenders, who lent to the then
 
 112 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 King of Sicily, and Edward III. of England, consider- 
 able sums of money. When these two great financial 
 houses failed, in 1345, the English king owed to the 
 two firms, for the loan of money and interest, no less. 
 a sum total than one million golden florins, and 
 600,000 golden crowns. This was indeed money- 
 lending and usury on a princely scale ! 
 
 Mr. John Addington Symonds, in his Renaissance 
 in Italy, names the following among the most noto- 
 rious families during the age of despots : viz. The 
 Medici, of Florence ; the Bentivogli, of Bologna ; the 
 Baglioni, of Perugia; the Gambacorti, of Pisa; Panolfo 
 Petrucci, of Siena (1502) ; and Borneo Pepoli, the 
 Usurer of Bologna (1323). The bastards of popes, 
 says the same writer, who, like Sixtus V., had no- 
 pedigree ; merchants, like the Medici ; the son of a 
 peasant, like Francesco Sforza ; a rich usurer, like 
 Pepoli, had almost equal chances with nobles of the 
 ancient houses of Esti, Visconti, or Malatesta. 
 
 In reply to a petition presented to the Cortes of 
 Toledo, in 1462, King Henry IV. confirmed and ap- 
 proved the penalties established by justice and the 
 laws of his kingdom " against Christians, Jews, and 
 Moors, who lent upon usury." 
 
 The Castilian nobles were proud, indolent, and ex- 
 travagant; they neglected their finances and were 
 always in need of money. The Jews of Spain, on 
 the contrary, frugal and attentive to their mundane 
 interests, accumulated vast wealth. Legal interest in 
 Spain in 1300 was 33^ per cent. The spendthrift 
 Spaniard borrowed of the provident Jew, and too fre- 
 quently found it inconvenient to repay the debt he
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 113 
 
 had contracted. Then arose a popular cry against 
 the " crime of usury," and the Jewish lender was 
 plundered and murdered by the Christian borrower 
 as the readiest mode of cancelling his debt. 
 
 At a Cortes held at Tarragona in 1233 it was 
 enacted that a Jew should not lend money at a 
 higher rate than 20 per cent, in Arragon or Cata- 
 lonia, and the interest was never to exceed the 
 principal. James I. of Spain in 1234 issued "Regu- 
 lations against the cruelty of usury," in the preamble 
 of which it is stated that : " Christians had almost 
 renounced usury." The intention of the new regula- 
 tions was, " not to prevent Jews from lending money, 
 for it was useful to Christians that they should do so, 
 but to arrest abuses." It was enacted at Burgos that 
 "henceforward no Jew shall presume to lend on 
 usury, nor at a higher rate than 33^ per cent. If it 
 should be proved and verified that any Jew has lent 
 at a higher rate, his person and his property shall be 
 confiscated to the King."* 
 
 Queen Dona Maria, notwithstanding her implacable 
 prejudice against Jews and their religion, appointed 
 as her " receivers general " two distinguished Israel- 
 ites, viz : Don Juan Garcia, and Rabbi Don Moses. 
 Alfonso XI., and Peter, suraamed " the Cruel," like- 
 wise employed Jewish treasurers in the 13th century, 
 although by doing so they incurred popular odium. 
 "What incontestable evidence of Jewish intelligence, 
 integrity, and honour ! 
 
 Writing in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Lord 
 Bacon says of usury : " Since there must be borrowing 
 * Lindo's History of the Jews in Spain and Portugal. 
 I
 
 114 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 and lending, and men are so hard of heart as they 
 will not lend freely, usury must be permitted." He 
 continues : " It is a vanity to conceive that there could 
 be ordinary borrowing without profit, and it is impos- 
 sible to conceive the number of inconveniences that 
 will ensue if borrowing be cramped ; therefore to speak 
 of the abolishing of usury is idle; all States have 
 ever had it in one kind, or rate, or other." * 
 
 Bacon further declared that only a " Utopian 
 Government would attempt to suppress usury." Be 
 it remembered that usury could then only have been 
 practised by Christian, or Lombard usurers in Eliza- 
 beth's reign, as Jews were then not permitted to be 
 domiciled in England. 
 
 Owen Feltham, the famous moralist, writing in the 
 17th century, says : " Usur}>- is something difficult to 
 be kept in the mean, easy to be led into excess, and 
 almost by all nations at once decried and practised."f 
 
 Isaac D'Israeli mentions, in his Curiosities of Litera- 
 ture, a notorious Christian usurer of the 17th century, 
 named Audley. He was a lawyer, and a money- 
 lender on a gigantic scale. He invented a systematic 
 mode of procedure, and justified his excessive pro- 
 fits for the use of his money by the following 
 argument : 
 
 " Interest is nothing more than rent for money, as 
 rent is nothing less than usury for land." In Audley 's 
 day the legal interest was 10 per cent. But he was 
 not satisfied with less than 30, 50, and 60 per cent. 
 He attributed his considerable gains to the folly of his 
 
 * Lord Bacon's Essays (15604626). 
 
 f Owen Feltham's liesolvcs (17th century).
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 115 
 
 clients and his own greater genius. " Audley," says 
 D'Israeli, " knew mankind practically, and struck 
 into their humours with the versatility of genius." 
 A lord, to whom he lent money, reproached him with 
 his extortions. " Have you no conscience ? " exclaimed 
 the peer. " Yes, most certainly I have," replied 
 Audley, "and hereafter I intend to use it. We moneyed 
 men must justly balance our accounts. If you do not 
 repay me, you cheat me ; if you do repay me, I cheat 
 you." This Christian usurer died unmarried, loaded 
 with the curses of his victims. A stranger grasped 
 the million he had raked together. 
 
 To cultivate the soil, to practise any art, even to 
 trade, was, in many countries, forbidden to the Jews of 
 the Past. They possessed no citizens' rights. The 
 only career open to the then nomad Israelites was 
 commerce, and to this calling they applied themselves 
 with the zeal, acuteness, prudence, energy, diligence, 
 and discernment characteristic of their race. Jews 
 thus accumulated riches, and thereby secured a kind 
 of perilous power, and some amount of temporary 
 influence and consideration. Possessing the almost 
 exclusive command of money, they were willing 
 to lend it to those whose necessities obliged them to 
 borrow. It had been prophesied by Moses (Deut. 
 xv. 6) that Israelites should lend unto many nations, 
 but should borrow from none. 
 
 II. 
 
 It will, perhaps, be remembered that at Paris, in 
 1806, was held a remarkable assembly of the most 
 notable Jews of France, Italy, and Germany, who 
 
 i 2
 
 116 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 had been summoned to his capital by the Em- 
 peror Napoleon I., under the designation of the 
 Parisian Sanhedrim. They were invited to deliver 
 their individual and collective opinions on twelve 
 important questions relating to the Jewish people, 
 their religion, their customs and obligations, in order 
 to ascertain if there actually existed anything unfavor- 
 able in them which might prevent French Israelites 
 from becoming citizens of France, with the certain 
 possession of every social, civil and political right en- 
 joyed by French Christians. 
 
 The eleventh question was this : 
 
 Does the Laiv forbid Jews from taking usury from their 
 brethren ? 
 
 The twelfth (and last) question was the following : 
 
 Does it forbid, or does it allow to take usury from 
 strangers ? 
 
 In the Preface to the English version of the Tran- 
 sactions of the Assembly. Kirwan, the translator and 
 editor, remarks : 
 
 "The usurious practices of the Israelites of some 
 departments of France were only a pretext " (to sum- 
 mon the Jewish council), for "it is well known 
 that they were not the only people in France who 
 followed that nefarious traffic; the total want of 
 laws to repress it; the universal laxity of morals, 
 and the uncertainty of every kind of speculation, 
 had made it almost general among moneyed men ; and 
 five per cent, per month has been not unfrequently 
 exacted by Christian money-lenders, even with the 
 security of landed property."* 
 
 Transactions of the Parisian Sanhedrim, with Preface by 
 F. D. Kirwan, Esq. (1807).
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 117 
 
 In reply to the eleventh question: "Does the 
 law forbid Jews from taking usury from their 
 brethren?" 
 
 "The Hebrew word ("n^;) (ncschech}" it was 
 answered, "has been improperly translated by the 
 word usury : in the Hebrew language it means interest 
 of any kind, and not usurious interest. It cannot, then, 
 be taken in the acceptation now given to the word 
 usury." 
 
 In Deuteronomy (chap, xxiii. ver. 19) we find, 
 " Thou shalt not lend upon interest to thy brother, 
 interest of money, interest of food, interest of any 
 thing that is lent upon interest. Unto an alien thou 
 mayest lend upon interest ; but unto thy brother thou 
 shalt not lend upon interest ; that the Eternal, thy 
 God, may bless thee in every performance of thine 
 hand in the land whither thou goest to possess it." 
 
 The evident aim of the inspired Legislator in for- 
 bidding Israelites to lend upon interest to one another 
 was, it was said, to bind them together in closer 
 relations of brotherly and family love and friendship ; 
 to teach them reciprocal benevolence, and to engage 
 them to assist each other in their necessities with dis- 
 interestedness. The Law of Moses, therefore, for- 
 bids any profit to be given for the loan of money, not 
 only between Jews themselves, but between Jews 
 and their fellow-countrymen. If the loan be for 
 temporary assistance unconnected with commerce it 
 must be gratuitous. " We must not forget that these 
 humane and admirable laws were made for a people 
 which then formed a State and held a rank among 
 nations Although filled with the spirit of
 
 118 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 their legislation, Jews have been sensible," since their 
 dispersion among all the nations of the globe, " that 
 the letter of the law could not possibly be carried out 
 when its principle was gone ; and they have therefore,, 
 without scruple, lent money on interest to trading 
 Jews as well as to men of different religions. It 
 should always be borne in mind that no invidious 
 meaning was formerly attached to the word usury, 
 and that it simply meant any kind of interest." 
 
 To the inquiry Does the Law forbid or does it allow to- 
 take usury from strangers ? the following unanimous 
 reply was given by the assembled Council of 
 Israelites : " In the answer to the foregoing question 
 it will be seen that the prohibition of usury consi- 
 dered as the smallest interest was a maxim of charity 
 and benevolence rather than a commercial regulation. 
 In this point of view we are forbidden, on the score of 
 charity, to lend upon interest to our fellow-citizens of 
 different religions as well as to our co-religionists. 
 The disposition of the law which allows to take in- 
 terest from the stranger clearly refers only to nations in 
 commercial intercourse with us; otherwise there would 
 be an evident contradiction between this passage and 
 many other ordinances of the sacred writings such as 
 the subjoined : 
 
 " The Lord your God loveth the stranger ; love ye,, 
 therefore, the stranger," &c. "One law shall be to 
 him that is home-born, and to the stranger." " Judge 
 righteously between every man and his brother, and 
 the stranger that is with him." " If a stranger sojourn 
 with thee in your land you shall not vex him." 
 '* Thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him,
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 119 
 
 for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." " If thy 
 brother be waxen poor, or fallen into decay, thou shalt 
 relieve him ; yea, though he be a stranger or a 
 sojourner," fcc.* 
 
 "Thus the prohibition extended to the stranger whc 
 dwelt in Israel. Holy Writ places the stranger unde; 
 the safeguard of God : he is a sacred guest, and God 
 ordains that he is to be treated as the widow and the 
 orphan. It is evident that the text of the Vulgate 
 Extraneifcenaberisfmtri tuo nonfcenaberis can be under- 
 stood only as meaning foreign nations in commercial 
 intercourse with us ; and, even in this case, Holy Writ, 
 allowing interest to be taken from the stranger, does 
 not mean an exorbitant profit, oppressive and odious 
 to the borrower. Non licuisse Israelites, say the 
 doctors, usuras immodemtas exigere ab extraneis etiam 
 divitibus, res cst per se nota." 
 
 M. Clermont-Tonnerre in the first National Assem- 
 bly held in France made the following remarkable de- 
 claration : " It is said that usury is permitted to the 
 Jews. This assertion is grounded only on a false in- 
 terpretation of a principle of benevolence and frater- 
 nity which forbade them from lending money to one 
 another upon interest." 
 
 This is also the opinion of PufFendorf, and of other 
 writers on the Law of Nations. " It cannot be with 
 reason supposed that God, the Universal Father, would 
 have made usury a precept ! " 
 
 The unanimous opinion of the Jewish doctors is that 
 profit for the use of money, even among Israelites 
 themselves, may be legally taken in commercial opera- 
 
 * Transactions of the Parisian Sanhedrim, p. 201-3.
 
 120 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 tipns where the lender, running some of the risk of 
 the borrower, becomes a sharer in his profits. The 
 Council of the Parisian Sanhedrim concluded their 
 replies to the llth and 12th questions submitted to 
 them in the following terms : 
 
 " It is evident that opinions, teeming with absurdi- 
 ties, and contrary to all rules of social morality, can no 
 more be imputed to the general doctrine of the Jews 
 than similar notions, if advanced by Catholic theo- 
 logians, could be attributed to the evangelical doctrine. 
 The same may be said of the general charge made 
 against the Hebrews, that they are naturalty inclined 
 to usury. It cannot be denied that some of them are 
 to be found, though not so many as is generally sup- 
 posed, who follow that nefarious traffic condemned 
 by their religion. 
 
 " But if there are some not over scrupulous in this 
 particular, is it just to accuse one hundred thousand 
 individuals of this vice ? Would it not be deemed an 
 injustice to lay the same imputation upon all Chris- 
 tians because some of them are guilty of usury ? " 
 
 III. 
 
 The usury laws of England, which had regulated 
 the rate of interest that might be legally taken for 
 the loan of money throughout Great Britain and 
 Ireland, were repealed in 1854, by the 17th and 
 18th Victoria, c. 90, whereby it was enacted : " That 
 where interest is now payable upon any contract for 
 payment of legal interest, or where upon any debt
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 121 
 
 or sum of money interest is now payable by any rule 
 of law, the same rate of interest is recoverable as if 
 that Act had not passed." 
 
 The statute which the new Act repealed was en- 
 titled, "The Statute against usury." It was passed 
 in Queen Anne's reign, and limited the legal rate of 
 interest to 5 per cent. 
 
 " The entire freedom of money from unnecessary 
 restrictions," says an anonymous writer on finance, 
 " was probably brought about by a work of the 
 celebrated Jeremy Bentham, the value of whose ar- 
 guments was more clearly perceived day by day, till 
 the burden of the restriction became too great to be 
 borne. It was observed that other things might be 
 hired, money paid for their hire, and profit accrue 
 therefrom. I hire a house, and I pay interest or, more 
 strictly speaking, usury for it only I call it * rent.' 
 I hire a servant, and I pay usury for him only I call 
 it * wages.' I hire a horse, and again I pay usury, 
 only in this case I call it ' hire.' Why should I not 
 in like manner hire so many ounces of gold, and pay 
 usury for it under the name of 'interest ' ?" 
 
 " The rate of interest under present circumstances 
 is regulated by the general law of supply and de- 
 mand." " A great amount of reasoning was expended 
 on behalf of the usury laws, none of which would 
 bear any close examination." It was " remembered 
 that there is no natural rate of interest ; the rate 
 depending upon the time when and place where, 
 as well as from whom and by whom the capital is 
 borrowed." " It is clear that the notion that the 
 usury laws were necessary to the wellbeing of the
 
 122 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 agriculturist was founded upon a series of fallacies 
 which, though supported by names as respectable as- 
 those of Adam Smith, and Hume, were unable to 
 resist the flood of light which Jeremy Bentham 
 poured upon them. They had never been brought to 
 the test of experience, and like many other theories 
 of a similar nature as soon as the experiment was 
 tried the old doctrine disappeared, and the wonder 
 was that it had been able to hold its place so long."" 
 "It was resolved, in the year 1854, that the usury 
 laws should no longer retain their place in the 
 English statute-book. They were repealed with the 
 approbation of the most enlightened portion of the 
 mercantile community, and no enactment of modern 
 times has been more completely justified by the 
 result." 
 
 The repeal of the usury laws in Great Britain and 
 Ireland renders legal the receipt of any amount of 
 interest for the loan of money to which the borrower 
 and lender of money may find it expedient to agree ; 
 thus the ill-reputed term, usury, in its objectionable 
 sense as formerly comprehended, should now become 
 obsolete ; for it must be obvious that if the term usury 
 be held to indicate " illegal interest," and there be no- 
 such thing recognised by our laws as "illegal interest," 
 the word has lost its quondam significance, and there- 
 fore has no present use in this country.
 
 No. IV. 
 
 THE JEWISH CLEEGY IN 
 ENGLAND.
 
 "WHEN YE GLORIFY THE LORD, EXALT HIM AS MUCH 
 AS YE CAN ; FOK EVEN YET WILL HE FAR EXCEED : AND 
 WHEN YE EXALT HIM, PUT FORTH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, 
 AND BE NOT WEARY; FOR YE CAN NEVER GO FAR 
 ENOUGH." Ecclcsiastictis xliii.
 
 No. IV. 
 
 THE JEWISH CLEEGY IN ENGLAND. 
 
 i. 
 
 A FEW years since there appeared in a London pe- 
 riodical an article entitled " The Jewish Clergy," in 
 which, in most admired disorder, were mingled some 
 few truths with numerous errors much inaccurate 
 information joined to facts, which, without expla- 
 nation, would naturally lead to misapprehension. 
 Under the guise of amicable interest was discernible 
 the malevolent spirit of depreciation. The writer had 
 doubtless been " crammed," and, from his apparent 
 unacquaintance with his subject, it was evident that 
 he was incapable of separating the chaff from the 
 wheat the false from the true. It will be my en- 
 deavour, therefore, to make clear some matters in 
 relation to the constitution of the Jewish Synagogue 
 in this country, and also of the Jewish Clergy, which 
 would appear to be misunderstood by those outside 
 the boundaries of Judaism. 
 
 The ministers of the Jewish Synagogue are commonly 
 mentioned by non-Israelites as "priests" and "rabbis." 
 This is a pardonable error. No Jewish minister is a 
 priest unless he be descended from the priestly family 
 of Aaron; nor a Rabbi, unless that theological degree be 
 conferred upon him by a rabbinical authority. He is 
 not ex-qfficio either a priest or a rabbi ; but he may
 
 126 JEWS AS THEY AttE. 
 
 be one or the other, or he may be both, or neither. 
 If he be a priest he does not act officially in that 
 capacity, the office of priest having ceased with the 
 destruction of the Holy Temple of Jerusalem in the 
 70th year of the Christian era. A Jewish minister 
 adopts the prefix " reverend " in conformity with the 
 modern clerical custom. 
 
 The " Children of Israel " are, upon divine authority, 
 a " nation of priests, and a holy people ;" and, by 
 virtue of that high sanction, if otherwise duly qualified 
 by learning, by moral and religious conduct, every 
 Jew, whatever may be his social position, is possessed, 
 by inheritance, of the sacred privilege of performing 
 not only Divine service, but also, with few exceptions, 
 very religious rite. It has been an occasional re- 
 proach to Jews that their clergy are, as a rule, men of 
 humble birth. Even if this were true, it is an objection 
 which comes inconsistently from Christians, whose 
 first religious teachers were the fishermen of Galilee. 
 Jewish ministers of religion of humble origin who 
 have raised themselves to that honoured status by per- . 
 sonal merit must be men possessed of many natural 
 gifts, and a capacity for religious ministration. How 
 honourable to Hebrew congregations who accept their 
 spiritual teachings and guidance, despite their humble 
 birth ! It should not be forgotten that a large pro- 
 portion of all congregations of worshippers, of all 
 denominations, consists of, so called, self-made men, 
 whose origin may have been even lower than that of 
 their religious teachers, and who have most praise- 
 worthily elevated themselves in the social scale by per- 
 sonal ability and persevering industry ; and that some
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 127 
 
 of England's most illustrious judges, and many popes 
 of Rome, before whom emperors and kings were 
 wont to bend the knee, have been men of humble 
 origin. 
 
 It has been admitted that, " taken as a whole, the 
 members of the Jewish clerical profession are an 
 exemplary body of men, whose behaviour the ministers 
 of other religious sects would do well to emulate, and 
 that, for the most part, the Jewish clergy resident in 
 London are well-bred gentlemen, and, despite their 
 humble birth, can lay claim to being as thoroughly 
 au fait with the regulations of good society as the 
 highest aristocrats in the land." What more should 
 be required of them as regards their social character ? 
 It is likewise freely acknowledged that, " as a rule, 
 the metropolitan Jewish clergy are fairly educated, 
 although the ministers of several London synagogues 
 know little else than Hebrew." This assertion is very 
 wide of the fact. I am acquainted with no metro- 
 politan Jewish minister who has not received a sound, 
 although, perhaps, not a classical education. But 
 there are many members of the acting Jewish clergy 
 who are as highly cultured as the best educated among 
 the Christian clergy ; and many who possess a larger 
 amount of scriptural and classical knowledge than 
 many Christian clergymen. It would be unfair to 
 point to individuals in illustration, but it may be 
 confidently averred that in this country, on the conti- 
 nent of Europe, in America and Australia, there are 
 Jewish ministers whose general academical and theo- 
 logical attainments may vie with those of the most 
 learned Christian theologians of any age ; and of
 
 128 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 whom any religious community may be justly proud. 
 Among the Jewish clergy, as among the Christian 
 clergy, not excepting those of the established Church 
 there are of course inferior as well as superior men 
 It has been remarked that as the greater portion 
 of the Jewish liturgy is of a musical character, a good 
 voice in a Jewish minister is indispensable. It is. 
 undoubtedly true, that in the, so called, orthodox 
 synagogues throughout the world the principal por- 
 tion of the Hebrew liturgy is chanted, or intoned, in 
 the ancient Oriental manner peculiar to Jews ; conse- 
 quently a good voice is required in a C/iazzan (7?n.) 
 or reader, or chanter, as it is in a vicar-choral, part of 
 whose clerical duty it is to intone or chant the Church 
 service in a protestant cathedral; or in a Koman 
 catholic priest who intones the vespers in a Roman 
 basilica. Be it remembered that it has always been 
 the custom to recite oriental languages in a kind of 
 chant or " sing-song," and that the ancient Greek 
 Drama was so intoned. In synagogues where the 
 prayers are read in the English manner, according to 
 the sense of the words, and where only the Psalms 
 and other more recent sacred poems are chanted or 
 sung by a trained choir, no special vocal qualification 
 is called for in a Jewish minister. It is, however, not 
 sufficient that a Chazzdn should be gifted with a musi- 
 cal voice ; he must, besides, be an excellent Hebraist,, 
 and possess a thorough acquaintance with the Mosaic 
 code, oral as well as written, and although he may 
 not be a preacher, he must be competent to interpret the 
 Holy Scriptures when required to do so; and, moreover,, 
 his character and conduct must be beyond reproach.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 129 
 
 In the Jewish Synagogue of ancient times the 
 (7?H) Chazzdn, or the (noagn-^tn) Chazzdn-hakkeneseth, 
 the " Legatus," or appointed Clerk of the Synagogue, 
 was regarded as an official of humble pretensions, 
 holding, as he then did, the office of Watcher, or Over- 
 seer of the congregation. During the existence of the 
 Holy Temple of Jerusalem, the Chazzdn was the Server 
 (tfttQT) of the congregation. His duty on the Day of 
 Atonement was to take the Roll of the Law from the 
 Ark and hand it to the JRosh-hakkeneseth (noaisrrttW-i), 
 " Chief of the Synagogue," who, in turn, handed it to 
 the Sagdn (i?9), who then presented it to the High 
 Priest. A remarkable parallel has been observed be- 
 tween the four orders of the Holy Temple, and the 
 minor and major orders of the Roman Catholic 
 Church. In the former the Chazzdn, the Rosh-hak- 
 keneseth, the Sagdn, and the High Priest ; and in the 
 latter the Server (sub-Deacon), the Deacon, the Priest, 
 the Bishop, (Archbishop, or Pope). 
 
 The Chazzdn of the ancient Synagogue gradually 
 rose in importance from being only a Server to becom- 
 ing a minister of the congregation, and subsequently 
 a Jewish Reader, or Precentor. It has been supposed 
 that the name Eiria-icoTros (Episcopos) may have been 
 adopted in the Christian Church as corresponding 
 with the title Chazzdn, whose root, chazzah, signifies 
 " to see." It has been pointed out, also, that the bearer 
 of that denomination rose from being a minister of 
 the congregation to be God's' appointed minister to 
 the congregation, and that his promotion culminated 
 in the highest priestly office of bishop. It would 
 appear that there existed anciently another functionary 
 
 K
 
 130 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 attached to the Synagogue whose office was always 
 honorary, and regarded as one of marked distinction. 
 His title was Shellach Tziblur fn^S rnbp) Deputy of 
 the congregation.* It was his duty to recite the prayers. 
 It will be seen hereafter that a similar custom still 
 obtains in many provincial synagogues in our own 
 day. The office is now, as a rule, merged in that held 
 by the duly appointed professional Chazzdn, now 
 known as the Reader of the Synagogue. He is not 
 necessarily a preacher, neither is a preacher of neces- 
 sity a reader. A Jewish minister may be both a 
 reader and a preacher, or he may be only a preacher or 
 only a reader. The second reader of some syna- 
 gogues is now often appointed to discharge also the 
 duties of secretary. The clerical staff varies in num- 
 ber in each synagogue. In the West London Syna- 
 gogue of British Jews there are three ministers, 
 besides a secretary. The duties of a Jewish minister 
 are alike heavy and responsible. In addition to his 
 synagogue functions he is called upon to visit the 
 poor, and to attend the sick and dying ; to attend 
 funerals, and to read the burial service. He has like- 
 wise to visit industrial schools, asylums, hospitals, and 
 prisons. The Jewish clergy are, as a rule, most worthy 
 excellent men, self-sacrificing and ever ready to give 
 up their personal ease and comfort to attend the 
 bereaved mourner, the sorrowful and afflicted, and to 
 impart spiritual truths to willing ears craving for 
 religious consolation ; and, further, to inspire the 
 blessed hope of a blissful hereafter to the hesitating 
 
 * " The Memor-Book of Niirnbcrg" A.D. 1349. Edited by W. 
 H. Lowe, M.A.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 131 
 
 and the despairing. Jewish ministers have in prospect 
 no remunerative clerical appointments to reward them 
 for a life of anxiety and labour in the zealous dis- 
 charge of their multifarious sacred functions. At the 
 very best their stipends are moderate in value, although 
 the incomes of some members of the Jewish clerical 
 profession exceed in amount those of many worthy 
 and talented rectors and vicars of the Established 
 Church of England. It is unhappily true that there 
 are man} 7 " excellent Jewish ministers actively employed 
 in small provincial towns, as miserably remunerated 
 as are numerous highly-talented and most excellent 
 Christian curates, who are, as they are, obliged to 
 supplement the amount of their small stipends by 
 private tuition. A Jewish minister who is capable of 
 increasing his income by giving instruction in his own 
 and in foreign languages, cannot be deficient in culture, 
 as many anti-Semites would endeavour to make him 
 appear to be. 
 
 It has been asserted that " the provincial Jewish 
 clergy are far inferior to their London colleagues." 
 Formerly this might, in some instances, have been 
 partly true, but at the present time it cannot be 
 accepted as a correct statement ; although, of course, 
 in the Jewish, as well as in the Christian clerical 
 profession, there are, and always will be found 
 gradations of ability, as in other professions. It has 
 also been stated that "the greater part of the 
 Jewish clergy who officiate in country synagogues 
 are natives of Poland, and that they are generally 
 ignorant of the English language." This statement 
 is very far from being accurate. It is not to be 
 
 K 2
 
 132 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 denied that among the able Jewish ministers engaged 
 in the provinces there are some foreigners. Many 
 may be only moderately learned in the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, while others may be highly cultured and accom- 
 plished men who have pursued their secular education 
 at one or more of the continental universities, and 
 their theological studies at one or more of the famous 
 rabbinical colleges which abound on the continent. 
 It is even possible that a born German or Polish Jew 
 self-educated, it may be, like the immortal Moses 
 Mendelssohn, having in his own country been en- 
 gaged as an artizan, like Benedict Spinoza, and other 
 illustrious Jewish philosophers, or in following some 
 honourable trade, like the learned David Levi, his 
 antecedents bearing a strict scrutiny, and, moreover, 
 his numerous qualifications as a Jewish minister and 
 religious teacher being undoubted, may wend his 
 steps to this country, and, in time, may be appointed to 
 some provincial synagogue, and afterwards to a metro- 
 politan synagogue. The communal history of the 
 Jews of all European countries furnishes innumerable 
 examples of such honourable and praiseworthy intel- 
 lectual advancement. Such a foreign Jewish minister 
 may, or may not be, an English classical scholar, but 
 he will most likely know, in addition to his native 
 language, and the Hebrew tongue, some one or more 
 modern languages. There are in many large and 
 small towns in England, Ireland, and Wales some 
 very small resident Jewish communities consisting, 
 perhaps, of a few families only, the heads of whom are 
 daily engaged in commerce or trade. These are wont 
 to assemble regularly on the Sabbath, and on the
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 133 
 
 festivals and fasts, for public prayer. The congre- 
 gation may be too limited in number to warrant the 
 engagement of a professional minister and the cost of 
 a synagogue. The latter is perhaps represented by a 
 sufficiently commodious apartment consecrated for 
 divine worship, and the office of minister is delegated, 
 as in ancient times to a Sheliach Tzibbur p-12' 1 ? rp/Zp) t 
 " Deputy of the Congregation," whose theological and 
 ministerial qualifications enable him to undertake the 
 honorary sacred office. In every congregation of Jews 
 there will always be found some members whose 
 superior attainments and high character naturally 
 point them out as leaders, or elders of their congrega- 
 tion, and who take a prominent and zealous part in 
 all religious and public matters. They may be ac- 
 cepted as representative men of Israel. The perform- 
 ance of the clerical functions by such selected mem- 
 bers of the community has sometimes given rise to 
 very ridiculous errors, misconceptions, and consequent 
 misrepresentations. For instance, it may happen that 
 a Jewish watchmaker, or a jeweller or picture dealer of 
 the town, who may have been seen on the Jewish 
 Sabbath performing divine service, and preaching a 
 sermon in the synagogue, or in the apartment used as 
 its substitute, may during the ensuing week be 
 recognised by a non-Israelite at his place of 
 business engaged in his ordinary vocation, /vending, 
 perhaps, a watch, or a necklace, or a picture. It 
 would at once go forth, and receive general acceptation, 
 and a wide circulation that a " Jewish clergyman" had 
 been seen to sell a watch, or a necklace, or a picture, 
 and the strange news would possibly be welcomed with
 
 134 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 expressions of religious horror and strong condemna- 
 tion ; whereas the innocent vendor of the articles of 
 his legitimate trade was not a "Jewish clergj^man," but 
 an honourable watchmaker, jeweller, or picture dealer. 
 Such absurd misconceptions and misrepresentations, 
 have been of very common, and frequent occurrence. 
 
 II. 
 
 That there exist two large and distinct Jewish 
 communities, denominated respectively the " Spanish 
 and Portuguese Jews," or Sephardim, and the " Ger- 
 man Jews," or Ashkenazim, is known to many non- 
 Israelites ; but, in order to make intelligible what I 
 shall have to remark with respect to both congre- 
 gations, it will be expedient to state that they are not 
 necessarily Jews born in Spain, Portugal, or Germany, 
 and, that, according to the country of their nativity, 
 they may be Englishmen, Frenchmen, Irishmen, 
 Dutchmen, or Germans. The subject of the Jewish 
 clergy in England will oblige me to make frequent 
 allusions to the two great Jewish communities, and 
 it will, therefore, be desirable that the uninformed 
 should at once have a clear conception of their origin,, 
 and of their mutual relations. 
 
 It will be known to those who have studied the 
 tremendous narrative of the destruction of Jerusalem 
 by Titus, and the sad history which recounts the 
 wholesale dispersion of the Jews, that, after having 
 been engaged in repeated conflicts with their over-r 
 whelming assailants, whereby hundreds of thousands 
 of their valiant Jewish warriors were slain and taken
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 135 
 
 captive, the undaunted Hebrews, again and again, con- 
 fronted their implacable foes in astounding numbers, 
 with unquelled spirit and unabated vigour, in defence 
 of their homes, their country, their political life, and 
 their religion. 
 
 The Jews, with renovated strength, revived from 
 their unceasing death-struggles. Their country lost 
 to them, their national life extinct, they ceased to be 
 a nation ; but they remained, nevertheless, a distinct 
 and mighty people, united by the same religion and 
 laws, bound together by indissoluble ties of brother- 
 hood obeying in common the same ordinances, and 
 pursuing the like national usages and sacred obser- 
 vances. Eventually they spread throughout the 
 entire habitable world, divided however into two 
 extensive communities, respectively entitled Q^TiSD 
 (Stphtirdini), and C> T??^ (AshkZnazini) ; more com- 
 monly known as the " Spanish and Portuguese," and 
 the " German Jews." The word Sephdrdlm was de- 
 rived from "DSD (Sephdrdd), which was held to 
 represent Spain ; while the term M3IZ7N AshJcendz 
 (Jeremiah li. 27), being in sound like Askania, a pro- 
 vince in Germany, was adopted as the name of the 
 whole country. AshkSndz (Genesis x. 3) is mentioned 
 as one of the grandsons of Japheth. 
 
 The Spanish Jews, who claim direct descent from 
 the House of David, and the Tribe of Judah, found in 
 the 20th verse of Obadiah a satisfactory confirmation 
 of their cherished tradition, that long antecedent to 
 the fall of Jerusalem their ancestors were established 
 in Stphdrdd, otherwise Spain. The " German Jews," 
 likewise, claimed to have had almost as ancient a
 
 136 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 community in Germany, and having, as it appears, 
 given a sufficiently convincing proof that their fore- 
 fathers had, from time immemorial, inhabited the 
 imperial city, Worms, obtained from the then 
 emperor of Germany special privileges. 
 
 Separated by distance, and by various circumstances 
 the Judaism of both communities remained intact. 
 Some inappreciable difference appeared in their seve- 
 ral rituals, and considerable diversity was observable 
 in their mode of pronouncing the sacred language, 
 that of the Spanish Jews being generally deemed the 
 more ancient, and the less corrupt ; but there never 
 existed any difference in their religious belief. 
 " Whence came those Mosaic Arabs whose passage 
 across the state from Africa to Europe long preceded 
 the invasion of the Mahommedan Arabs, it is impos- 
 sible to ascertain. . . . Whatever may have been 
 their origin in Africa, their fortunes in southern 
 Europe are not difficult to trace ; though the annals of 
 no race in any age can detail a history of such 
 strange vicissitudes, or one rife with more touching or 
 romantic incident. . . Even after the fall of the 
 principal Moorish kingdoms, the Jews of Spain were 
 still treated by the conquering Goths with tenderness 
 and consideration." Thus wrote the late Lord Beacons- 
 field. 
 
 The history of both Jewish communities is to be 
 traced in that of every country in which they from 
 time to time sojourned. Upon their dire persecutions 
 and unspeakable sufferings, of which there exist 
 ample records, it is unnecessary to dwell ; it is more 
 agreeable to refer to their occasional prosperous con-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 137 
 
 <lition in many countries, more particularly in Spain 
 and Portugal, under the reigns of the Moorish 
 -sovereigns, when, by means of their acute intelligence, 
 their remarkable learning, and their boundless wealth, 
 they commanded consideration, and occupied positions 
 of honour and great splendour. Alternately banished 
 and recalled ; abandoned, and again protected ; and, 
 often hovering on the verge of extermination, the 
 Jews still held on perseveringly, and in the 17th 
 century were to be found in almost every country. 
 When, in 1655, permission was granted to them to 
 return to this country, after an exile of 365 years, it 
 was the descendants of the banished Spanish and 
 Portuguese Jews who first landed in England, and 
 built the first synagogue in London in 1656. 
 
 Among the SSphdrdlm were several families whose 
 ancestors had been ennobled in Spain and . Portugal, 
 and who had held high offices in their native country 
 when under Moorish rule. These comprised eminent 
 physicians, men of learning, and wealthy merchants, 
 who soon began to occupy important financial po- 
 sitions, and to maintain princely homes in the large 
 mansions, situated at the east end of London, the then 
 fashionable locality, where the merchant princes of 
 England " most did congregate." The newly arrived 
 Sephtb'dic community included the families of the 
 Alvares, the Lopez, the Mendez, the Nunez, the 
 Villareals, the Garcias, the Francos, the Salvadors, 
 the Rebellos, the De Castros, the Da Costas, the 
 Ricardos, the Bernals, the Furtados, the De Souzas, 
 and others too numerous to notice. These Jewish 
 emigrants were characterised by a stateliness of man-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 ner, a haughtiness of demeanour, and pride of descent. 
 Being foreigners,'they were, of course, but imperfectly 
 instructed in our language, and they therefore con- 
 tinued to use their own language in all their syna- 
 gogue and communal transactions. A few years after 
 their establishment in London, another Jewish com- 
 munity, of Teutonic origin, migrated in large 
 numbers from Germany, Poland, Holland, and Hun- 
 gary. Their antecedents had not been so splendid as 
 those of their Spanish and Portuguese brethren in 
 faith. In point of fact they had, for ages, suffered 
 such continuous frightful oppression from the rulers 
 and people of their native countries, which they 
 at length abandoned, that they had been forced, 
 nolens volcm, to pursue vocations which could not 
 possibly tend to elevate their national character. They 
 were consequently regarded by the proud Scphardim 
 as an inferior section of their own race, which, in 
 reality, they had become. Although connected by 
 the potent bond of religious brotherhood, socially 
 they were separated from the Spanish and Portuguese 
 Jews. No intermarriages were permitted to take 
 place between the families of the Ashkenazim and 
 Sephardim until the lapse of many years after 
 their resettlement in this country. The "German 
 Jews " built an independent synagogue of their o\vn 
 in 1692 ; and the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of 
 London built a new and larger synagogue in 1701. 
 It is curious to note that whereas when the Jews, 
 after a banishment of many centuries, were readmitted 
 to England, it was the Scphardic community who 
 were, for a long period, the foremost Jews in this
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 139 
 
 country ; it is now, and has been for some years, 
 past, the Jews of Teutonic origin, with some 
 very honourable exceptions, who are actually the 
 most famous ; for the abundance of their wealth ; as 
 professional men ; as members of the English Bar ; as- 
 magistrates ; as high civil and municipal officers ; as 
 Members of Parliament ; as Indian Civil servants ^ 
 as judges ; as architects and civil engineers ; and as 
 musicians, painters, and poets. If the Sephardim have 
 produced a Benedict Spinoza, the Ashkenazim have 
 given to the world a Moses Mendelssohn. There now 
 happily exist thoroughly intimate relations between 
 the two, formerly separated, Jewish communities, which 
 are each year becoming, if possible, stronger by inter- 
 marriages, and other powerful social influences. At 
 the head of both stands grandly conspicuous the 
 majestic figure of the venerable and illustrious 
 Hebrew patriarch, and universal philanthropist, Sir 
 Moses Montefiore, Bart., F.R.S., now in the 98th year 
 of his age. 
 
 The first Jewish settlers in England were, of 
 course, foreigners ; their sons were British-born ; their 
 grandsons, and their descendants were, and are, as 
 thoroughly Englishmen as the descendants of the 
 Grosvenors, the Bentincks, the Granvilles, and other 
 English Christian families whose names betray their 
 foreign origin. 
 
 Although scarcely credible, it is a curious fact that 
 there positively exist many Christian Englishmen and 
 women, who are supposed to be well informed upon most 
 subjects, but who, nevertheless, still regard Jews and 
 Jewesses born and bred in England as "foreigners,"
 
 140 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 because, forsooth, their ancestors were Israelites, and 
 they elect to follow their ancient religion ; and more- 
 over, because they may bear, or their ancestors may 
 have borne, scriptural, or foreign-sounding patro- 
 nymics. Not long since a famous English legislator 
 was credited with having inconsiderately asserted of 
 the late Earl of Beaconsfield, presumably in the spirit 
 of disparagement, that he " had not a drop of English 
 blood in his veins," evidently ignoring the patent fact 
 that not only he himself was born in London, but that 
 his father and his grandfather were British-born, and 
 that his blood, derived from his glorious Jewish an- 
 cestors, was as pure, and as rich in colour and quality 
 as that which flows in the veins of any other English- 
 man, Irishman, or Scotchman, whose ancestors may 
 have been Saxon, Danish, Norman, or Celtic. 
 
 III. 
 
 Until within comparatively recent times the Jews 
 of Great Britain and Ireland, whether of the Sephardic 
 or Ashkcnazic congregations, obtained their clergy 
 from abroad. The former from Holland or Italy, the 
 latter from Holland, Germany, Poland, and countries 
 adjacent.' Until the University of London and the 
 London Jewish College were instituted, a sound secular 
 and theological education fitting for a Jewish minister 
 of superior pretensions was difficult of acquirement 
 in England. The long-established, and famous foreign 
 universities, and the many rabbinical colleges of the 
 continent then offered facilities for a solid theological 
 and classical training, which had, in addition, the
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 141 
 
 attraction of cheapness. Since Jews, besides being 
 admissible to the London University, can now gra- 
 duate at the older Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, 
 and Dublin, many young Englishmen of the Jewish 
 faith have gained high academical distinctions at 
 those universities, some of whom are now zealously 
 and successfully engaged in the Jewish clerical pro- 
 fession in London and also in the provinces. It is 
 generally believed that others, inspired by religious 
 emulation, are preparing for the sacred profession of 
 the Synagogue under similar favourable auspices. 
 
 Since pulpit instruction is becoming every year more 
 appreciated, and, consequently, more in demand as an 
 essential part of the synagogue service, a higher 
 standard of education, alike secular and theological, is 
 now imperatively demanded from all candidates for 
 the Jewish clerical profession than when synagogue 
 preaching in the vernacular was more the exception 
 than the rule ; also a loftier religious tone in his sacred 
 aspirations, and a more elevated intellectual character 
 are now exacted from the Jewish preacher. 
 
 It is supposed that the first English sermon heard 
 in a synagogue was preached in 1701 by the Chacham, 
 ( c ?n) Rabbi Nieto, who was the first ecclesiastical 
 head of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of 
 London. One or two English sermons were after- 
 wards preached, but at distant intervals. An English 
 Jewish sermon was delivered at the great synagogue 
 of German Jews in 1805, on the occasion of Lord 
 Nelson's funeral. An English sermon was also preached 
 in the synagogue in 1820, when George III. was buried. 
 Some Jewish sermons were heard in English at Liver-
 
 142 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 pool about the year 1829, but from some cause not 
 known they were discontinued. The late Rev. Professor 
 D. M. Isaacs established weekly sermons in English in 
 the Bristol Synagogue nearly half a century ago ; and 
 on his removal to Liverpool, in 183G-7, he continued 
 to preach regularly every week on the Sabbath ; and, 
 afterwards, on alternate Sabbaths at Liverpool and 
 Manchester. Some very able sermons were also 
 delivered about forty years ago by the Rev. Moses 
 ^Nathan, at Kingston, Jamaica, which served to arouse 
 an increased amount of religious fervour in the 
 Scphardic and Ashkcnazic congregations of that once 
 famous British colony. 
 
 English preaching in synagogues, except upon 
 special occasions, and then not unfrequently by learned 
 Jewish laymen, does not therefore date back beyond 
 fifty years. Sermons in the English language were 
 consequently but seldom heard in this country, 
 although regularly delivered in Philadelphia, U.S., 
 ty the late learned, and most valued minister, the 
 Rev. Isaac Leeser, and in other cities of America by 
 many eminent Jewish pastors. Even up to the present 
 time English preaching in the synagogues of Great 
 Britain and Ireland has not become regular, except 
 in certain synagogues to which I shall specially refer 
 hereafter. There are now, however, many young and 
 most promising Jewish preachers, moved by the 
 genuine religious spirit which pure Judaism inspires. 
 The majority of these young men, although they 
 may bear foreign patronymics, are none the less 
 Englishmen by birth and training. To those who are 
 sincerely interested in Jewish advancement, it cannot
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 143 
 
 "but prove satisfactory to notice the unmistakable 
 progress which is gradually taking place in Jewish 
 communal affairs, and more particularly in all that 
 relates to the clerical service of the Synagogue. During 
 the past twenty years several new synagogues have 
 been erected in various parts of the metropolis. Jewish 
 families have been always disinclined to reside far 
 from their house of worship. When they first re- 
 established themselves in London, and for a long- 
 period afterwards, they were all domiciled at the east 
 end of London, and their synagogues were, conse- 
 quently, built within a walking distance of their homes. 
 When, after the lapse of many years, Jews were 
 induced to remove to the west end of the town, they 
 again built their synagogues as near as possible to 
 their residences. Now that the increase of their 
 numbers, and their dispersion to every district of this 
 ever increasing metropolis and its environs, in common 
 with their Christian fellow-citizens, have necessitated 
 the establishment of several new synagogues in various 
 directions, a demand has been created for a larger 
 number of Jewish ministers of a higher standard of 
 excellence than was, in former years, required. This 
 noticeable improvement in synagogue transactions, and 
 the increased spiritual activity which it has inspired 
 in those who honourably take the lead in religious 
 matters, cannot but be productive of very remarkable 
 and beneficial results to every Jewish congregation 
 throughout the empire. 
 
 With a few brilliant exceptions the preaching of 
 the Jewish clergy is of the average merit to be found 
 among the great majority of Christian preachers.
 
 144 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 A vast number of various qualifications are required 
 to constitute a first-class preacher, which are but 
 rarely combined in one person. A preacher of genius, 
 with the ability to suggest new ideas, or old ideas made 
 to appear like new ; and the power to stir the human 
 heart, and arouse permanent religious feeling, is indeed 
 seldom found in the ministry of either the Church or 
 the Synagogue. There have been many preachers of 
 that high class. in the olden time, and there yet exist 
 some few who possess that magic power. We must 
 hope to see it more fully revived in the Jewish Syna- 
 gogue, in which, it must be admitted, a painful degree 
 of supineness and religious indifference has too long 
 obtained. 
 
 It would indeed be absurd to contrast, in any 
 manner, the Church with the Synagogue as a profes- 
 sion ; when the large Christian congregations and their 
 requirements from the Christian clergy, and the small 
 Jewish congregations and their requirements from the 
 Jewish clergy are considered. It is obvious that na 
 possible relative estimate or comparison can be made 
 between them. In most Christian families holding a 
 certain rank in society there will always be found one 
 or more sons " destined for the Church ; " whether they 
 be by nature, constitution, taste or talents duly fitted, 
 or, on the contrary, unfitted for that sacred calling. The 
 profession of the Church carries with it a pronounced 
 social status which all men are more or less desirous 
 of attaining, either for tjiemselves or their sons ; even 
 setting aside family, or friendly influences which might 
 be within the reach of those who would aspire to 
 clerical dignities which generally command substantial
 
 JEWS AS THEY. ARE. 145 
 
 worldly remuneration. Not so the profession of 
 the Synagogue. Independently of higher views the 
 office of Jewish minister ensures, as yet, no special 
 social position, and, consequently, it offers no particular 
 attraction to wealthy and ambitious parents who are 
 naturally desirous of seeing their sons rise to worldly 
 distinction, and, if possible, to wealth. Unless, there- 
 fore, a talented and aspiring young Israelite be led to 
 the Jewish clerical profession by an inner conscious- 
 ness of the sublime truths of Judaism, and by an 
 ardent religious spirit, he would probably perceive in 
 the vocation of the Law a wider scope for intellectual 
 advancement, and a nearer prospect of professional 
 eminence. 
 
 No man should enter the profession of the Synagogue 
 who is not deeply impressed with the serious respon- 
 sibilities it involves, and who does not fully realise 
 the magnitude of his holy mission. If he be thus in- 
 spired he will recognise the vocation of a Jewish re- 
 ligious teacher and guide to be one which cannot be 
 surpassed for intensity of purpose, and sanctitude of 
 practice. His own inspirations will be reflected in the 
 holy aspirations of his congregation, who will instinc- 
 tively discover in their minister a character worthy of 
 their highest respect and reverence. Jewish young 
 men of independent means, who may be filled with 
 the fervent spirit of their religion, and moreover, 
 flushed with academical honours, will then seek to 
 enter the profession of the Synagogue, and still claim 
 their rightful rank in society. Other spiritual-minded 
 young Jews will eagerly follow such examples, and 
 will occupy, in time, the honoured clerical positions now 
 
 L
 
 146 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 held by the many worthy and esteemed pastors who 
 have grown grey in the exercise of their sacred func- 
 tions. It cannot be doubted that there is already a 
 perceptibly significant movement among the more 
 wealthy class of British-born Jews towards the pro- 
 fession of the Synagogue, which cannot but tend to 
 its future glory. Much will depend upon the coun- 
 tenance and encouragement given by the great body 
 of the Jewish people in this country to zealous young 
 aspirants to the Ministry ; but even more will depend 
 upon the high educational standard, the spiritual 
 character, the moral conduct, and the ardent, united 
 action, as a religious body, of the forthcoming young 
 Jewish clergymen themselves. 
 
 IV. 
 
 A synagogue established upon reformed principles 
 was consecrated in London about forty years ago. It 
 was founded by a united congregation of influential 
 " Spanish and Portuguese " and " German " Jews, 
 under the designation of The West London Synagogue 
 of British Jews ; the term British Jeics being adopted 
 not with the object, as was at first conjectured, of 
 instituting a new Jewish sect, but merely with the 
 view of discarding the long-existing distinction be- 
 tween the "Spanish and Portuguese" and "German" 
 Jews in respect to that particular congregation, whose 
 members were British-born. This active Jewish 
 movement has exercised a very beneficial influence 
 upon the general conduct of divine service in all
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 147 
 
 synagogues throughout the country. In order that 
 the character of the synagogue, its object, and 
 the motives which inspired its foundation may be 
 fully comprehended by those outside the pale of 
 Judaism, I will venture to cite a few interesting ex- 
 tracts from a lecture delivered by its chief minister, 
 the Rev. Professor D. W. Marks, at the Philosophical 
 Institute of Edinburgh in 1871. 
 
 " Up to the year 1841 the English Synagogue con- 
 tinued to be in every way a copy of that of the 
 Middle Ages. Repeated efforts had been made by 
 some of the better educated of the laity to induce the 
 ecclesiastical authorities to sanction modifications in 
 the ritual, by means of which it might be brought into 
 harmony with the requirements of the age, but with- 
 out any avail. The rulers of the Synagogue not only 
 refused to inaugurate any improvements in the pre- 
 vailing mode of worship, but they broadly declared 
 that there existed nowhere any authority that could 
 sanction a single deviation from the customary syna- 
 gogue discipline, to which time and prescription had 
 imparted the force of immutable law. When all hope 
 of synagogal reform emanating from the Ecclesiastical 
 Board was at an end, a small body of Jews in the 
 metropolis determined to take the important work into 
 their own hands, and in January, 1842, was opened 
 the first reformed English synagogue. This move- 
 ment was the cause of wounding many old and honest 
 prejudices, and of arousing some bitter feelings. Time 
 and reflection have healed many differences, and 
 have assuaged angry feelings. We are yet divided 
 on some questions, purely and wholly ritual ; we are, 
 
 L 2
 
 148 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 nevertheless, drawn closely together by a common 
 belief, and by mutual sympathies, and for all com- 
 munal purposes we act as one inseparable brotherhood. 
 The new congregation has rapidly increased in num- 
 bers, and we now occupy a spacious synagogue in 
 Upper Berkeley Street. Our ritual has been adopted 
 by a large congregation at Manchester, as well as by 
 many of our brethren in the Colonies and America." 
 
 The majority of the founders of the West London 
 Synagogue being of the Scphardic community they de- 
 termined upon adopting for divine service the Spanish 
 and Portuguese pronunciation of the Hebrew language 
 as in their old synagogues. The prayers, and the 
 selected weekly portions of the Pentateuch and the 
 Prophets which form part of the Sabbath and Festival 
 ritual are plainly read, and not chanted as in the older 
 established and so-called orthodox synagogues. The 
 Psalms are chanted, or sung to regular compositions, 
 both ancient and modern, by a trained choir, accom- 
 panied by the organ. English sermons form part of 
 every service. It is due to the chief minister, the Rev. 
 Professor Marks, to mention that it was he who, in 
 1842, established the first regular weekly Jewish pulpit 
 in London. He was ordained minister, at the request 
 of his whole congregation, by the late venerable Mr. 
 Moses Mocatta, its oldest member, who was deputed 
 to induct him in his sacred office in their name, and 
 in their behalf. 
 
 A few words upon the subject of the ordination of 
 Jewish ministers, which would not appear to be gene- 
 rally understood, will be found interesting. 
 
 In the 27th Chapter of the Book of Numbers, verses
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 149 
 
 18-23, we read: "And the Lord said unto Moses, 
 Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is 
 the spirit, and lay thine hands upon him ; And set him 
 before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congre- 
 gation ; and give him a charge in their sight. . . . 
 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him: and 
 he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the pries^ 
 and before all the congregation ; And he laid his hands 
 upon him, and gave him a charge, as the Lord com- 
 manded by the hand of Moses." And again we read, 
 in the 34th Chapter of Deuteronomy, the 9th verse : 
 '" And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit 
 of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him; 
 and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and 
 did as the Lord commanded Moses." These are the 
 earliest Biblical notices of the ordination of an ap- 
 pointed minister, or, as anciently understood, teacher. 
 His privilege of imparting religious instruction was 
 originally conferred upon him by the imposition of 
 hands, the S&neecha ( n 2 >> '?P) ; and, according to a tra- 
 dition of the Rabbins, its practice continued to be 
 observed until the last representatives of the " Syna- 
 goga Magna " had passed away, when it gradually lost 
 its obligatory character. The custom was obliged to 
 be discontinued in consequence of the terrific perse- 
 cutions of the Jews at the commencement of the 
 second century of the Christian Era. For having 
 ordained five disciples during the reign of Hadrian, 
 the learned Rabbi, Joshua ben Baba, suffered a cruel 
 martyrdom. Rabbi Jochanan, the head of the school 
 of Tiberias, is supposed to have been the last who 
 conferred the rite of ordination ; as it was generally
 
 150 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 understood that that ceremonial was to be no longer 
 observed, either within or without the boundaries of 
 Palestine. Every attempt to revive this ancient re- 
 ligious custom has been unsuccessful. The imposition 
 of hands, or Semeecha ( rr ? > *?p), which has been 
 mentioned subsequent to the first half of the sixth 
 century of the Christian Era, had no religious cha- 
 racter, but referred only to a secular rite relating to 
 the election of the " Prince of the Captivity." Three 
 distinct classes of religious teachers, or, in modern 
 parlance, ministers, are noticeable in the history of 
 Judaism. The first class, which, it is assumed, did 
 not survive the third century, comprised those who 
 had been ordained in Palestine by the imposition of 
 hands. The second included those who exercised the 
 functions of a minister, or teacher, upon the licence 
 and authority of the Prince of the Captivity The 
 Mesh G-eloutha (sniba am). The third class acted 
 upon the absolute will of the congregation only, with- 
 out further licence or authority. It would appear 
 that the famous Jewish traveller of the 13th century, 
 Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, confirms this view, inas- 
 much as he avers that the Prince of the Captivity 
 gave licence and authority to every Jewish congre- 
 gation to elect its own minister. This historical fact 
 is, I apprehend, not generally admitted by those mem- 
 bers of the Jewish body who seek to uphold a kind 
 of priestly authority in the matter of ordination. As 
 I undertake only to state facts, as far as my means 
 of information will enable me to obtain them, I must 
 leave to others to settle among themselves any 
 points of difference upon this interesting subject.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 151 
 
 In the Introduction to the revised prayer book, as 
 used by the congregation of the West London Syna- 
 gogue of British Jews, the following notice of the 
 several liturgies of the Synagogue by the Rev. Pro- 
 fessor Marks, the editor of the work, will be read with 
 interest : 
 
 " The greater part of the liturgies in use among 
 the Israelites are compilations from the Bible text, 
 adapted, according to the judgment of the compilers, 
 to the various occasions for which prayer is instituted. 
 Although there does exist a notable difference in the 
 various orders of service as used in different countries, 
 and even by different congregations in the same 
 country, still the general uniformity which charac- 
 terises the several liturgies, with respect to the prin- 
 cipal prayers, is such as to enable us to speak of the 
 Jewish ritual as of one work. 
 
 " The history of the ritual till lately lay buried 
 beneath a mass of critical difficulties, to remove which 
 has only within the last generation become the task 
 of several of our eminent continental co-religionists, 
 such as Zunz, Kapaport, and others, to whose valuable 
 and conscientious labours we are indebted for informa- 
 tion that has greatly facilitated the accomplishment 
 of our undertaking. From their researches it becomes 
 manifest that the Hebrew ritual, before reaching its 
 present form, had undergone great and repeated 
 changes ; that some portions, fortunately few in num- 
 ber, considered by many as the genuine remnants of 
 our ancient temple worship, owe their origin to an age 
 of persecution and to a state of suffering and degrada- 
 tion now fast disappearing, and every trace of which
 
 152 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 will by Divine aid speedily be effaced to the honour 
 of religion, and the common welfare of mankind." 
 
 In accordance with the foregoing principles of 
 theological criticism the founders of the new syna- 
 gogue unanimously sanctioned the curtailment of the 
 old Sephardic liturgy in general use, by omitting 
 many portions which are not regarded as prayers. 
 But the revised and curtailed prayer book, is, in sub- 
 stance, matter, and spirit identical with the Minhag 
 (2n2ft), or custom, which has prevailed for many 
 centuries in the Sephardic Synagogue in all parts 
 of the world. 
 
 The ecclesiastical head of the German Jewish 
 community of Great Britain bears the honoured title 
 of Chief Babbi, not that of " High Priest," a dignity 
 which has often been erroneously assigned to him. 
 The sacred offices of "High Priest" and "Priest" 
 ceased with the destruction of the Holy Temple of 
 Jerusalem by Titus. The Jewish priesthood, whose 
 members are entitled cohanim (cohen in the singular), 
 still survives in the descendants of Aaron and his 
 family, but neither the priestly office, nor the official 
 designation exists any longer. 
 
 The title of the ecclesiastical head of the community 
 of "Spanish and Portuguese" Jews is C3n (chdchani), 
 sage or learned man. Since the lamented decease of the 
 last chdchdm, the Rev. Professor Benjamin Artom, a 
 man remarkably distinguished for his profound learn- 
 ing, his high character, and his elegant and numerous 
 accomplishments, the vacant office has not been 
 filled. At his installation, which took place in 1866, 
 at the ancient Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, he
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 153 
 
 preached a very able sermon on The duties of the 
 Jewish Pastor in the Present Age, from which I shall 
 hereafter venture to cite a few extracts in order to 
 exemplify the character of a Jewish minister and the 
 religious spirit by which the preacher was moved. 
 
 Among the predecessors of the Rev. Rabbi Dr. 
 Artom were Rabbi Dr. David Nieto (1701), and 
 Rabbi Dr. Raphael Meldola, whose venerated 
 memories yet survive in the Sephardic congre- 
 gations. 
 
 The Rev. the Chief Rabbi, Dr. Solomon Herschel, 
 who died a little more than forty years ago, was for 
 many years the ecclesiastical head of the Ashkenazic 
 community in Great Britain and Ireland. It is not 
 generally known that he was an Englishman, and 
 born in London, his father being at the time of his 
 birth the Rev. Chief Rabbi of England. He upheld 
 his sacred office with exceptional dignity of conduct 
 and demeanour. He was a man of profound learning, 
 and of a noble presence. His venerable and patri- 
 archal appearance readily recalled in imagination the 
 ancient prophets of Israel. He was a man before 
 whom Alexander the Great might have bent the 
 knee. He had a wonderfully sonorous voice. He 
 was generally, but erroneously, styled by non- 
 Israelites " The High Priest of the Jews." 
 
 I cannot withstand the temptation of repeating here 
 the well-known and beautiful incident of Alexander 
 the Great's royal state visit to Jerusalem -after, or 
 during the siege of Tyre. When the presence of the 
 illustrious conqueror of Persia was recognised by the 
 inhabitants of the Holy City, the High Priest went
 
 154 JEWS AS THETf ARE. 
 
 forth from the gates of Jerusalem to meet him, clothed 
 in his magnificent pontifical robes, crowned with his 
 mitre, and with the Urim and Th'umim on his breast, 
 accompanied by all the priests of the Temple attired 
 in their high ceremonial costume, followed by the 
 chief inhabitants of Jerusalem clad in snow-white 
 vestments. As the splendid procession silently ad- 
 vanced towards Alexander he dismounted from his 
 war-horse and fell prostrate at the feet of the High 
 Priest. On being questioned by Parmenio why he, 
 who was worshipped by the whole world, condes- 
 cended to worship a Jew, Alexander solemnly replied : 
 " It is not the High Priest that I worship ; it is his 
 God ! That noble figure, costumed as he is now, ap- 
 peared to me in a vision at Dios, in Macedonia, and 
 exhorted me to pass on to Asia, and to conquer Persia." 
 The latter years of the Rev. the Chief Rabbi Her- 
 schell's life were much disturbed by the establishment 
 of the new reformed synagogue, which he resolutely re- 
 fused to sanction or to recognise in any manner. He 
 also condemned every curtailment of the ancient 
 Hebrew liturgy, and every approach to change of any 
 kind. The London Committee of Deputies of the 
 British Jews thereupon " RESOLVED, that the guidance 
 of the community in religious matters shall remain, as 
 heretofore, with the ecclesiastical authorities," viz: 
 the Rev. the Chief Rabbi and two or more learned 
 Jewish Rabbis called Dayanim, or judges, who consti- 
 tute the Beth Din, or College of Learning. Thus the 
 old, so-called, orthodox synagogues remain, as formerly, 
 under ecclesiastical authority, and the "West London 
 Synagogue, and other synagogues at Manchester and
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 155 
 
 Bradford, whose congregations have adopted their 
 liturgy, remain independent. 
 
 Upon the lamented death of the Chief Rabbi, Dr. 
 Solomon Herschel, there were numerous candidates to 
 fill the vacant office ; a public announcement of the 
 vacancy having been made by a committee appointed 
 for that purpose, and for declaring the regulations 
 which were to be observed bv those who mi^ht be 
 
 */ O 
 
 desirous of becoming candidates. 
 
 There were thirteen applicants for the sacred office, 
 from whom four were selected as having fulfilled in 
 their applications the conditions laid down by the 
 committee. These were The Rev. Dr. Nathan Marcus 
 Adler, Chief Rabbi of Hanover; The Rev. Dr. Benjamin 
 Auerbach, Chief Rabbi of Darmstadt; The Rev. Dr. 
 Hirsch Hirschfeld, Chief Rabbi of Wollstein ; and The 
 Rev. Samson Raphael Hirsch, Chief Rabbi of Emden. 
 In publicly sending forth their printed Report, with the 
 names and testimonials of the respective selected can- 
 didates, the committee added the following paragraph : 
 " In conclusion, the committee feel pleasure in observ- 
 ing that so highly satisfactory are the testimonials of 
 the selected candidates, and so high a reputation do 
 these reverend gentlemen respectively enjoy for reli- 
 gion, morality, and learning, that on whomsoever the 
 election may fall there can be no doubt as to the 
 competency of the successful applicant to fulfil his 
 sacred and important duties." * 
 
 The election fell upon the Rev. Dr. Nathan Marcus 
 Adler, whose high qualifications for the sacred office 
 of Chief Rabbi of England are set forth in the follow- 
 Aug. 5th, 1844.
 
 156 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 ing extracts from the Report, which I have preserved 
 among my literary treasures : 
 
 Rev. NATHAN MARCUS ADLER (ordained by the 
 Rev. Abraham Bing, Chief Rabbi of Wiirzburg, 27th 
 March, 1828,) DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Diploma from 
 the University of Erfangen, dated oth June, 1828 ; born 
 llth December, 1802 ; Chief Rabbi of Oldenburg in 
 1829 ; at present Chief Rabbi of Hanover ; appointed 
 August, 1830. Testimonials to Dr. Adler's Biblical 
 knowledge and attainments, to his having studied, in 
 addition to Theology and the oriental languages, the 
 ancient classics and the French and English languages; 
 certificates of examination from the university of 
 Wiirzburg and of attendance at lectures on the fol- 
 lowing subjects: 1, Logic; 2, Theoretical Philosophy; 
 3, Practical Philosophy; 4, Political Economy ; 5, Ora- 
 tory; 6, Mathematics; 7, Philology; 8, Grecian Mytho- 
 logy ; 9, Universal History ; 10, Chaldaic and Syriac 
 languages. Dr. Adler was a son of the late Chief 
 Rabbi of Hanover and nephew of a former Chief Rabbi 
 of England, the Rev. Dr. Solomon David Shiff. 
 
 The venerable Chief Rabbi, now in his 80th year, 
 being obliged from age and illness to retire from the 
 active exercise of his responsible and laborious func- 
 tions, his worthy and talented son, the Rev. Rabbi Dr. 
 Hermann Adler, preacher of the Bayswater Syna- 
 gogue, has been appointed Delegate Chief Rabbi. 
 
 The folio wing extracts from the Installation Sermon 
 of the late lamented Professor Benjamin Artom, 
 will afford information of interest on the momentous 
 subject of the Jewish pastor's mission and clerical duties. 
 The Rev. preacher expressed himself almost over- 
 whelmed with the difficulties with which a Chief Rabbi
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 157 
 
 has to contend in the exercise of his solemn vocation in 
 the present century. In ancient times the refuge and 
 comfort of a Jewish pastor " lay in the study of the 
 Law, and the Traditions of the Fathers ! In those 
 times every man received a religious education. The 
 head of every household became a teacher of the 
 faith, and every home became a school, and at the 
 head of all was the Spiritual Chief the teacher of 
 teachers. His mission was truly a holy one; and 
 when to the zeal of faith he added wisdom and learn- 
 ing his task was easy. When he spoke all listened. 
 He was understood and obeyed. Then religion 
 reigned supreme ; on her hallowed breast the weary 
 exile rested and was comforted. There he found the 
 peace of mind which was doubly grateful to him 
 since all other peace had fled." . ..." At no former 
 period of their career was it ever more than at present 
 needful for the Jewish people to be well instructed in, 
 and thoroughly acquainted with, the principles and 
 practice of their faith in order to be able to teach 
 them and to defend them. This duty is especially 
 the mission of the minister, who should strain every 
 nerve to expel religious ignorance from the congrega- 
 tion which he guides ; and this task has been truly 
 described in the Talmud ' Religious teachers can 
 aspire to no repose.' ' " I make thee guardian of the 
 House of Israel " said the Lord to Ezekiel.' Yes, the- 
 Pastor should be, in truth, a warder of the holy trust 
 confided to his guardianship. In the homes, in which 
 he should strive to be an ever welcome guest by 
 reason of his sacred calling and of his spotless life 
 in these homes he should watch these holy interests, 
 and be ever ready to counsel and guide parents of
 
 158 JEWS AS THEY ABE. 
 
 families in the religious training of their children : he 
 should help them, by his influence, to place their little 
 ones on the righteous path. . . . His education should 
 be such as to train a child to become, at the same 
 time, a good man, a good citizen and a good Jew. 
 But if secular instruction be the sole object of atten- 
 tion, the boy thus taught will become a heartless 
 man a man cold to all the higher sentiments of our 
 nature a man who will easily repudiate his faith, 
 his nationality, the past glories, and the future 
 promises of his race ! " . ..." From all the treasures 
 of knowledge, but more especially from the mine of 
 history, the religious teacher should bring to light the 
 immortal truths of our faith, and its glorious morality, 
 which is the source of the moral teachings of all later 
 creeds. He will urge the most careful attention to 
 the education of young girls, for it especially depends 
 on woman to render home a hallowed temple." 
 
 " Go," said the Lord to Isaiah " Go, preach ! cry 
 out ! fear nothing ; raise thy voice with a sound loud 
 as the trumpet, and reveal to my people its trans- 
 gressions, and to the House of Israel its iniquities." 
 ..." From the Pastor's lips the truth must go forth 
 to his flock, and it is from the pulpit that he has to 
 declare it to the faithful. For if we appreciate the 
 preacher's mission with intelligence and feeling, surely 
 we must feel that it is a solemn hour that in which 
 he stands amid his silent auditors and utters the 
 message of everlasting truth ; teaching men the ordi- 
 nances of faith, and the precepts of civil life ; teach- 
 ing men their duty to their neighbours, and to the 
 fatherland which is so dear to them ; their duty to 
 the sovereign, and the respect due to the laws; teach-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 159 
 
 ing them the rules and precepts which render life 
 happy on earth, and the promises of undying hap- 
 piness in the world to come." ... "It is, moreover, 
 the Pastor's duty to superintend all works of public 
 charity, the accomplishment of which will render him 
 ' the father of the orphan, and the protector of the 
 widow.' "...." Sad sights and sounds may lacerate 
 his heart, but they shall not keep him from his duty. 
 As he feels no repulsion from the hovel of the in- 
 digent, so he shall feel no attraction for the mansion 
 of the wealthy. . . . He shall seek to soften every 
 grief, to wipe away every tear. . . . He must be the 
 friend of every family, of every home ; he must seek 
 out the sufferer, if the sufferer does not come to seek 
 him ; he must try to discover the hidden source of 
 discord, the concealed injustice and secret wrong, and 
 strive to remedy the evil. He must be ready to give 
 advice and counsel ; he must promote good works, and 
 be the living link between the rich and the poor, and 
 thus maintain the vital spirit which has rendered the 
 Jewish character the type of true charity." 
 
 Would that all ministers of religion, whether of the 
 Synagogue or the Church, might take this teaching to 
 heart, and learn from the mouth of a Jewish pastor 
 what the holy spirit of Judaism enjoins as the true 
 vocation of a religious minister ; and that, instead of 
 fighting over incomprehensible dogmas, and sowing in 
 the hearts of their congregations the seeds of mis- 
 trust, doubt, discord, and never-ending religious con- 
 troversy, they would strive by every means to spread 
 among them peace, harmony, charity, and universal 
 love. That is the real object of Keligion ; that is the 
 sublime office of her Ministers.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 i. 
 
 The following Sermon on " The Jew as a Member of 
 the Synagogue, and the Synagogue in its relation to the 
 Community," was preached by the Kev. A. Lb'wr, Second 
 Minister of the West London Synagogue of British Jews, 
 at the inauguration of the New Synagogue at Bradford, 
 Yorkshire, in March, 1881. 
 
 MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS, This edifice, which we 
 now are consecrating as a House of God, is destined to be 
 a lasting .memorial of the unostentatious zeal which ani- 
 mates many members of our Jewish community. Prompted 
 by such zeal, the worthy minister of this congregation and 
 the energetic founders of this synagogue have earned for 
 themselves the gratitude, it is to be hoped the enduring 
 gratitude, of their Jewish fellow-townsmen, by engaging 
 in the arduous and laborious work which has culminated in 
 the solemn ceremony for the celebration of which we are 
 assembled. Those who now take part in the inaugural 
 rites, and those who will pray in this synagogue in days to- 
 come, will behold in this House of God a monumental 
 illustration of the words with which the Psalmist begins 
 the 84th Psalm, words which I have selected for the text 
 of the present discourse. " How lovely are Thy habita- 
 tions, O Lord of Hosts. My soul longeth and yearneth 
 for the courts of the Lord ; my soul and my mortal self 
 shall sing for joy before the living God!" Faithful de-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 161 
 
 votedness to the religion of our fathers has laid the 
 foundation of this house of prayer; earnestness of purpose 
 the great characteristic of our race has completed the 
 structure; unpretending simplicity of taste has adorned the 
 interior, and now the portals are opened for the devout, the 
 earnest, the modest, the submissive, followers of our ancient 
 precepts which are hallowed hy their own intrinsic worth, 
 by their intelligibleness, their simplicity, their adaptation 
 to all the phases and stages of human experience. On 
 entering to-day for the performance of the inaugural public 
 service, the Israelite acknowledges that a new era of 
 religious pi-omise is dawning upon his position in the 
 community. 
 
 Two groups of reflections present themselves to our con- 
 sideration. We consider first, the place of the Jew as a 
 worshipper in the House of God. Next, the position which 
 this synagogue must hold amongst sister synagogues and 
 amidst the wider circle in the family of man. 
 
 Let us begin with the connection of the Jew with his 
 synagogue. There are not wanting the thoughtful and the 
 pious-minded heads and members of families who will 
 thoroughly comprehend the inspiring words of the 
 Psalmist : " The sparrow has found a house and the 
 swallow a nest for herself in which she places her young; 
 I have found Thine altars, O Lord, my King and my 
 God." They, whether in young days or in advanced years, 
 shall be lead into this house of prayer through their 
 own pious disposition, through the loyal example which the 
 living set unto the living, through that love which the children 
 of our people always have paid and ever will pay to parents 
 living amongst them, or to parents sleeping the sleep of 
 death and resting in the bosom of the Almighty. Into this 
 House of God will be called the younger portion of the 
 community, to be protected against blighting and withering 
 
 M
 
 102 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 materialism, by which all moral innocency and all purity of 
 condition are sacrificed unto the Moloch of gross selfishness. 
 Here in the synagogue the rising generation shall prove 
 and avow that by the side of progress, in the knowledge 
 of arts and sciences, by the side of efforts for procuring 
 the artificial comforts of life, the heart can acquire refine- 
 ment and consolation ; it can acquire a natural state of 
 comfort, which is " more precious than gold, and than 
 much fine gold." Here in the synagogue the Israelite will 
 have opportunities for religious self-culture, which lifts 
 man away from degrading occupations, and makes him the 
 heroic conqueror and subduer of life-consuming passions. 
 Here the Jew and the Jewess will draw from the sources 
 of Divine blessings when the bridegroom will present him- 
 self with the bride before the ark of the Holy Law to 
 sanctify life unto life, and to make in the synagogue the 
 sacred vow for the life-long union of hearts. Into this 
 holy house will come the affectionate mother to invoke 
 blessings without end for her tender little offspring, for her 
 child to whom she so cheerfully sacrifices the freshness, 
 the bloom, the vigour of her days, in the fond hope that 
 the beloved child shall be lead along the sunny path of a 
 reproachless career. Into this sacred house the severely 
 tried and afflicted suppliant will take refuge when sorrow 
 and distress fall sorely on the heavy heart, and here religion 
 will always hold out the soothing Scriptural advice, " Cast 
 thy burden upon the Lord and He will sustain thee." Into 
 this house of Divine consolation will come, in the inevitable 
 times of mourning, the bereaved son and daughter, the 
 sorrowing father, mother, brother, sister, and friend, to 
 fathom the depth of that undaunted faith which is breathed 
 forth in the words, " Although I walk in the valley of the 
 shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me; 
 Thy staff and Thy support they shall comfort me."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 103 
 
 (Ps. xxiii.) Here the faithful shepherd will lead his flock 
 in the path of righteousness, and in these sacred precincts 
 he will cause the voice of religion to be heard " powerfully 
 and majestically." In the Temple of God the Israelite 
 will offer the free-will offerings of his devotion and sub- 
 mission to the glorious Creator of man. 
 
 We now have to consider the second theme, the position 
 which the local Jewish community, or rather this syna- 
 gogue, has to take amongst other synagogues. In this 
 relation the religious institution maintains and establishes 
 peace a wisely consolidated peace amongst its members 
 and their fellow-believers. The synagogue proclaims un- 
 chaugeableness in those principles and those command- 
 ments which, in the earliest days of our religion, were 
 engraven on the Tablets of the Law, and which, 
 during the process of thousands of years, have been 
 engraven on the tablets of the hearts of all Israel. The 
 synagogue publicly proclaims the inviolability of those 
 Mosaic laws and precepts which were retained during 
 Israel's dispersion by the millions of Jews who accepted 
 the Law of Moses as the solid foundation of Judaism. It 
 is a rule, sanctioned by every congregation which vests its 
 ministers with authoritative functions, that our public 
 -observances shall be of such a character as to edify the 
 conscientious and cultivated Israelite, and that all our 
 customs and usages shall be of such a nature as to 
 strengthen and uphold a deep Jewish sentiment of religion ; 
 and there never will exist a rancorous feeling so long as 
 each congregation will studiously and consistently adhere 
 to those great and essential precepts that are dictated by 
 Divine wisdom, and that are accepted by the Israelite for 
 his own spiritual advancement, and for his children's ad- 
 vancement in virtue and in happiness perpetual precepts 
 which are entirely independent of temporary usages that 
 
 M 2
 
 164 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 have arisen in one age and been modified in another. 
 Concerning such essential precepts of Judaism we retain in* 
 our Kitual the all-important lesson recorded by the 
 Psalmist : " Remember his covenant for ever, the word 
 which He commanded unto a thousand generations, the- 
 covenant which he made with Abraham." This venerable 
 injunction is crowned by that national exhortation which 
 has become the password of the Israelite in this life and 
 from life unto death by the great exhortation, " Hear, O 
 Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One." Such teach- 
 ings Avill in this synagogue be developed in their complete- 
 ness from Sabbath unto Sabbath ; and you will find that 
 in these teachings there can be no pause, no stand-still, for 
 it remains the great aim and object of the Jewish syna- 
 gogue to hand down from age to age the traditions of 
 Judaism in their venerable purity. These teachings will 
 feed and fan the fiery zeal of this congregation, whose 
 members will be kept mindful of the truth that by con- 
 sistency and by unwavering determination they are to con- 
 tinue to be true to the duties they owe to their community, 
 true to the duties they owe to their fellow-citizens, to 
 their country, to their government, to their position as the 
 inheritors of the undying precepts of morality and brotherly 
 love. These teachings shall take deep root in your lives 
 and in every action which shall distinguish you as true and 
 useful members of the community. They shall induce yon 
 to maintain your synagogue in all its efficiency. They 
 shall induce you to rid your synagogue of a penurious and 
 struggling condition. No debt should encumber a house 
 of worship ; no pecuniary difficulties should be permitted 
 at the outset to cripple the work of a Jewish house of 
 worship. Indeed, we have in this respect to look beyond 
 mere local circumstances. It is one of the misfortunes of 
 our modern age that our several congregations do not com-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 1G5 
 
 bine with eacli other, thoughtfully and sympathetically, in 
 all communal benefactions, so as to lift the poorest of 
 Jewish congregations in the provincial towns from a state 
 of decay, of helplessness, of an inability to find and 
 remunerate competent teachers of the Jewish religion. 
 Hence it happens that in many poor Jewish congregations 
 the lament of the ancient prophet may still be remembered, 
 " On this account my people is the captive of wretched- 
 ness : it is left without religious knowledge." Oh that this 
 warning, here publicly uttered, might reach the minds and 
 the hearts and the good-will of many faithful and truly 
 active members of the community, and that there would 
 be devised and introduced a proper system by which the 
 Jew will learn to take a large-minded and large-hearted 
 interest in the religious education and in the general well- 
 being of the indigent and the untaught classes of our 
 people. Let charity, as the conflux of so many Jewish 
 virtues, be practised by the members of a united community. 
 Let our co-religionists, in their provisions for religious 
 education, make a common effort with each other, and then 
 the Jewish worshippers entering the synagogue will fer- 
 vently join the Psalmist in proclaiming, " How lovely are 
 Thy habitations, O Lord, God of Hosts." 
 
 The Dedication Prayer delivered at the consecration of 
 the New Synagogue at Bradford, Yorkshire, by its minister, 
 the Rev. Rabbi, Dr. Strauss, Ph. D. 
 
 "Almighty and Eternal God ! Creator and Ruler of 
 -all. The whole universe is Thy temple, the heaven Thy 
 throne, and the earth Thy footstool. Still from the time 
 Thou didst choose the people of Israel to be the flock of 
 Thy pasture, Thou didst set apart a place where we should 
 acknowledge Thy walkings in holiness ; where we, should
 
 166 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 offer up our adoration unto Thee, and pour out our suppli- 
 cations before Thee a place where we, separated from all 
 worldly occupations, might meet Thee, and remember our 
 afflictions and our joys, our holiness and our glory.. 
 Thou didst inspire us with a just desire to possess a 
 sanctuary. There now stands the House of God, reared 
 up in all its glory, beauty, and strength. Feelings of 
 fervent joy and gratitude pervade us, that Thou, O Lord,, 
 hast enabled us to complete this Tabernacle so successfully 
 Tinder Thy protection. And we are now assembled to 
 invoke Thy blessings, Eternal Father, for this sacred 
 edifice. We dedicate on this solemn occasion this house 
 to Thee, O God, and consecrate it to Thy service. Grant 
 that the worshippers, penetrated by the awe of Thy 
 presence dwelling in this Thy sanctuary, will enter it and 
 approach Thee with true devotion, fervour, and earnestness;: 
 will turn unto Thee with sincere penitence, cast themselves 
 into Thine arms, weep in times of sorrow on Thy bosom, 
 and thank Thee in times of joy for Thy mercies. Inspire 
 our brethren with a longing for the courts of their Lord, 
 that they and their families may come to this synagogue 
 and worship Thee with fervency and in purity of heart. 
 Stir up their hearts to bring offerings to Thy Tabernacle. 
 Let them remember that when they come nigh unto Thy 
 house, they must come nearer to Thee, O God, nearer to 
 Thy covenant ; that their whole life may correspond with 
 their prayers, that they may be warm in the fulfilment of 
 Thy precepts, and zealous in the accomplishment of noble 
 deeds, of humane works. Grant that this new house of 
 worship may be a strong link in the chain that binds our 
 brethren together in unity, and let it also be a means to 
 bring near to Thee those of our brethren in this town that 
 stand aside yet from Thee, the God of their fathers. Let Thy 
 light and love enter their hearts, that they may come to this-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 1G7 
 
 sanctuary and worship Thee in the midst of their brethren. 
 Let Thy choicest blessings descend on all those who have 
 assisted us in promoting this sacred work ; shower the 
 dew of Thy blessing on all the inhabitants of this our 
 beloved town ; grant peace, happiness, and prosperity to 
 this great country and to all mankind. Hasten the time 
 when nations shall learn to war no more when their 
 swords will be turned into ploughshares, and their spears 
 into pruning hooks. Blot out from the earth all oppression 
 and injustice, so that all the universe will be a great united 
 Temple of Faith, Peace, Love, and Truth. Amen." 
 
 II. 
 
 The following Catalogue of SERMONS AND LECTURES 
 by Jewish Authors may, it is hoped, prove useful to 
 those who would seek for information relating to Jeics 
 and their religion. 
 
 1. A COURSE OF SERMONS " On the Biblical Passages 
 adduced by Christian Theologians in Support of the 
 Dogmas of their Faith." Preached in the Bayswater 
 Synagogue by The Rev. Dr. HERMANN ADLER, M.A. 
 
 2. A DISCOURSE on " THE PASSOVER." Preached in 
 the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue by The Rev. Dr. 
 L. LOEWE, M.R.A.S., &c. 
 
 3. A DISCOURSE on " THE PENTECOST." Preached in 
 the Great Synagogue of the " German Jews " by The 
 Rev. Dr. L. LOEWE, M.R.A.S., &c. 
 
 4. A DISCOURSE, preached in the Spanish and Portu- 
 guese Synagogue, 011 the Day of Burial of H.R.H. the 
 Duke of Sussex, by The Rev. Dr. L. LOEWE, M.R.A.S., &c. 
 
 5. ARGUMENTATIVE AND DEVOTIONAL SERMONS on 
 " The Jewish Religion." Preached at the Synagogue,
 
 168 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Mikveh-Israel, Philadelphia, U.S., by The Rev. ISAAC 
 LEESER, between the years 1829 and 1841. In three 
 volumes. 
 
 6. " TWENTY-FOUR SERMONS preached, on various oc- 
 casions, at the West London Synagogue of British Jews," 
 by The Rev. Professor D. W. MARKS. First Series. 
 
 7. SERMONS preached on various occasions at the West 
 London Synagogue of British Jews," by the REV. PRO- 
 FESSOR D. W. MARKS. Second Series. 
 
 8. A SERMON on " The Second days of the Jewish 
 Festivals " by the Rev. DR. NATHAN MARCUS ABLER, 
 Chief Rabbi of England. 
 
 9. A SERMON on " The Duties of the Jewish Pastor in 
 the Present Age," preached at the Spanish and Portuguese 
 Synagogue by the REV. PROFESSOR B. ARTOM on the 
 occasion of his installation as Chacham or Ecclesiastical 
 Head of the Sephardim community in England. 1866. 
 
 10. SERMONS preached at several London synagogues 
 by the REV. PROFESSOR B. ARTOM, Chacham of the 
 Sephardim community of Jews in England. Second 
 Edition. 
 
 11. "TiiE DEVELOPEMENT OF THE RELIGIOUS IDEA IN 
 JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND MAHOMEDANISM." TWELVE 
 LECTURES on the History and Purport of Judaism, de- 
 livered in Magdeburg in 1847 by the REV. DR. LUDWIG 
 PHILIPPSON, Phil.D. Translated from the German by 
 ANNA MARIA GOLDSMID. 
 
 12. " TWELVE SERMONS " by the REV. DR. GOTTHOLD 
 SALOMON. Preached in the New Temple of the Israelites 
 at Hamburg. Translated from the German, with a preface 
 by ANNA MARIA GOLDSMID. 1839. 
 
 13. "THE INQUISITION AND JUDAISM." A Sermon ad- 
 dressed to Jewish Martyrs, on the occasion of an Auto da Fe 
 at Lisbon in 1705, by the Archbishop of Cranganor,
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 169 
 
 together with A REPLY to the Sermon by Carlos Vero. 
 Translated from the Spanish by MOSES MOCATTA. 
 
 14. "JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY." A REPLY to a series 
 of Lectures on this subject, delivered at St. George's 
 Hall, iu 1877 by the Rev. Professor Cairns, D.D. ; The 
 Rev. Canon Cook, M.A. ; The Rev. Professor Leathes ; 
 The Right Rev. Bishop Claughton, D.D. ; The Rev- 
 Donald Fraser, D.D. ; The Rev. Professor Birks, M.A. ; by 
 DR. ABRAHAM BENISCH, Phil.D. with an APPENDIX con- 
 taining a review of the articles, in the Contemporary 
 Review, on " The Trial of Jesns Christ," by Alexander 
 Taylor Innes. 
 
 15. " THE CRUCIFIXION AND THE JEWS." AN ESSAY 
 by the REV. DR. LUDWIG PHILIPPSON. Translated by 
 Maurice Mayer, of the New York Bar, with a Preface by 
 the Rev. Isaac Leeser. Philadelphia, 1866. 
 
 16. "THE JEWS OF MODERN TIMES." Two Lectures de- 
 livered at the Philosophical Institute, Edinburgh, by the 
 Rev. Professor D. W. MARKS. 1871. 
 
 17. JUDAISM SURVEYED, being a Sketch of THE RISE 
 AND DEVELOPMENT OF JUDAISM, from Moses to our Days. 
 A Series of FIVE LECTURES delivered in St. George's 
 Hall, by Dr. ABRAHAM BENISCH, Ph.D. 1874. 
 
 III. 
 
 A list of some of the Chief Jewish Clergy actually 
 engaged in the Synagogue Service in the Metropolis 
 and in the Provinces. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. NATHAN MARCUS ADLER, Ph.D., CHIEF 
 RABBI OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. HERMANN ADLER, B.A., Un. Lon.; M.A., 
 Ph.D., Un. Leipzig: DELEGATE CHIEF RABBI. Un. Lon.
 
 170 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 (1854-59), Highest Prizes in Greek and English; Phil. 
 Mind; Logic; Moral Phil.; Hist, of Phil., Un. Lon. (1856) 
 Honours in Classics; B.A. (1859); Honours in German; 
 Eng. Language and Literature; Classics; Ordained Rabbi 
 by the Rev. Chief Rabbi, Dr. Rapaport (1863) ; Theological 
 tutor, Jews' Coll., Lond. ; appointed Chief Minister of 
 the Bayswater Synagogue (1864) ; Delegate Chief Rabbi 
 (1871). 
 
 The Rev. Professor D. W. MAKKS, Prof. Heb. Un. Lon.; 
 late Dean of the London University; Chief Minister of the- 
 West London Synagogue of British Jews (1842). 
 
 The Rev. A. Lowy, Minister of the West London Syna- 
 gogue of British Jews (1842); Secretary of the Anglo- 
 Jewish Association; Editor of the Works published by the 
 Society of Hebrew Literature. 
 
 The Rev. A. L. GREEX, Chief Minister of the Central 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. S. SIXGER, Minister of the New West-End 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. S. M. GOLLAXCZ, Preacher to the New 
 Synagogue, St. Helen's, E.G. 
 
 The Rev. ISIDORE HARRIS, B.A., Un. Lon.; Junior 
 Minister of the West London Synagogue of British Jews 
 (1881). 
 
 The Rev. A. P. MEXDEZ, Preacher to the Spanish and 
 Portuguese Synagogue, Bevis Marks. 
 
 The Rev. B. A. ASCHER, Acting Minister for the United 
 Synagogues. 
 
 The Rev. B. BERLINER, Minister of St. John's Wood 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. BEXJAMIX SPIERS (Duyan), Assistant Rabbi, 
 London. 
 
 The Rev. D. PIZA, Minister of the Spanish and Portu- 
 guese Synagogue, Bevis Marks.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 171 
 
 The Rev. J. GOULDSTEIX, Minister of the North London? 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. J. A. SIMMONS, Minister of the Brixtoii 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. M. HAST, Minister of the Great Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. J. PIPERXO, Minister of the Spanish and 
 Portuguese Synagogue West End Branch. 
 
 The Rev. M. KKIZER, Second Minister of the Great 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. ISAAC SAMUEL, Minister of the Bayswater 
 Synagogue. 
 
 The Rev. HYAMSOX, Jews' College (not attached to 
 any Synagogue). 
 
 The Rev. SIMCHA HARRIS, Head Master of the Jews' 
 Hospital, Lower Norwood. 
 
 The Rev. MORRIS JOSEPH, B.A., Un. Lon.; Chief 
 Minister of the Liverpool Old Congregation. 
 
 The Rev. JOSEPH POLACK, B.A., Minister of the Liver- 
 pool Old Congregation. 
 
 The Rev. G. J. EMMANUEL, B.A., Un. Lon.; Chief 
 Minister of the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. G. STRAUSS, Ph.D., Rabbi, Minister of 
 the Synagogue, Bradford, Yorkshire. 
 
 The Rev. L. M. SIMMONS, B.A., Minister of the Syna- 
 gogue of British Jews, Manchester. 
 
 The Rev. J. II. VALEXTIXK, Minister of the Spanish 
 and Portuguese Synagogue, Manchester. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. L. LOEWE, Ph.D., President of the Monte- 
 fiore College, Ramsgate; Fellow of the Royal College of 
 Preceptors. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. SALOMON, Ph.D., Minister of the Great 
 Synagogue, Manchester. 
 
 The Rev. P. PHILLIPS, Minister of the Glasgow Hebrew 
 Congregation.
 
 172 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. STERX, Ph.D., Minister of the New Hebrew- 
 Congregation, Liverpool. 
 
 The Rev. DAVID FAY, Minister of the Hebrew Congre- 
 gation, Bristol. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. JOSEPH ABRAHAMS, Ph.D. (Not attached 
 to any Synagogue.) 
 
 The Rev. J. J. MAUENBERGER. (Not attached to any 
 Synagogue.) 
 
 The Rev. A. BARNETT, First Reader, New Synagogue, 
 Great St. Helens.
 
 No. V. 
 
 JEWISH CONVERSION.
 
 YE THE LAW OF MOSES MY SERVANT, WHICH I 
 
 COMMANDED UNTO HIM IN HOREB FOR ALL ISRAEL, WITH 
 THE STATUTES AND JUDGMENTS." Mdldchi iv. 4.
 
 Xo. V. 
 
 JEWISH CONVERSION 
 
 i. 
 
 THE irrepressible Conversionists would appear to 
 be as persistent as ever in their fruitless attempts 
 to induce Jews to exchange Judaism for Chris- 
 tianity ; and so long as they can succeed in collect- 
 ing from the pockets of well-meaning but deluded 
 Christian enthusiasts for Jewish conversion, the annual 
 revenue of forty or fifty thousand pounds required 
 to support the active operations of their societies, 
 it would be unreasonable to expect that they will 
 willingly retire from an established profession which 
 furnishes profitable occupation to a numerous staff 
 of missionaries, secretaries, clerks, printers, and other 
 persons, both at home and abroad. Although Jews 
 may, in these days, well afford to treat their vain 
 efforts with silent indifference, if not with disdain, yet 
 they owe it to their ancient religion, to the memory of 
 their ancestors, to their unparalleled history, to them- 
 selves, as free intelligent beings, and also to their 
 children, and, moreover, to the important position 
 which they now happily occupy in this country and 
 elsewhere, not to suffer any further offensive inter- 
 ference with their religion. Jews must now teach
 
 176 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 all intrusive conversionists, who may be amenable 
 to reason, that every endeavour to force upon them 
 a religion which they have steadily repudiated through 
 countless ages of martyrdom, will no longer be toler- 
 ated. Their arrogant pretensions must, in these 
 days of religious freedom, be met with becoming 
 boldness : they must be powerfully counteracted, and, 
 if possible, paralysed. 
 
 The " London Society for promoting Christianity 
 among Jews," whose annual revenue in 1823 was 
 about ten thousand pounds, had already distributed,, 
 in the first six years of its institution, seventy thousand 
 tracts ; and, with boundless confidence, it had gra- 
 tuitously presented to Jews, with a view to their 
 conversion, not less than eight thousand New Testa- 
 ments. As the fruitful results of these extensive- 
 operations they had made, according to their own 
 Report,* six proselytes annually, amongst which were 
 found many boys and girls taken from the lowest 
 Jewish class. I believe it will be found, upon a fail- 
 calculation, that, in the present day, Jewish " con- 
 verts " are not less expensive. 
 
 In the days of chivalry, religious conferences some- 
 times took place in public, in the hope of converting 
 the Jews to Christianity. A kind of theological 
 tournament was held, to which Christian Abbots and 
 learned Jewish Rabbins were invited. Duly mar- 
 shalled, they entered the lists, and boldly and fear- 
 lessly encountered each other with tilting-lances 
 pointed with polemical argument. Crowds of Chris- 
 tian auditors, entirely ignorant of the moot-points 
 Jewish Repository, Vol. II., p. 304.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 177 
 
 under discussion, as well as crowds of Jews, were 
 wont to give loud expression to their approval 
 or dissent, according as their respective champions 
 seemed to triumph or to suffer defeat. The Christian 
 combatants always claimed the victory, as their op- 
 ponents, being disinclined from sad experience to 
 arouse fanatical animosity, deemed it the better part 
 of valour not to dispute their claim. A curious 
 picture of these barbarous times is furnished by Join- 
 ville, an ancient chronicler of France, who narrates, 
 in quaint language, an anecdote illustrative of the 
 rough and ready manner in which polemical discus- 
 sions were then carried on. 
 
 In the 13th century, an old abbot of the Monastery 
 of Cluny met at a polemical conference an ancient 
 learned Rabbi. He had expended upon him nearly 
 all his theological ammunition without having pro- 
 duced any apparent effect whatever upon his erudite 
 antagonist ; and the attention of the auditors naturally 
 began to flag. An ancient knight, who had been 
 leaning on his staff watching the course of the discus- 
 sion with evident interest, began to lose his patience, 
 and begged permission of the abbot to advance an 
 argument which he felt convinced would at once end 
 
 O 
 
 the controversy. The abbot having become some- 
 what weary of the arguments of the still unconvinced 
 Israelite acceded to the knight's proposition. The 
 ancient warrior was concise ! " Are you," asked he of 
 the Rabbi, "a believer in Christianity?'-' "No!" 
 curtly replied the Rabbi, " that is the very subject 
 of our contention." "Then," exclaimed the knight 
 furiously, "you are mad, and also insolent; since 
 
 N
 
 178 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 you dare to come to a monastery of Christ. For this 
 you shall know him, and shall lack no remembrance 
 of him." So saying, the stout Christian knight raised 
 his staff, and felled the bold Kabbi to the ground with 
 a tremendous blow under his ear. This forcible 
 mode of argument immediately put to flight all the 
 Jewish portion of the auditors. The abbot was 
 thereupon very angry with the knight, who, he said, 
 had lost him a great victory ; insisting that the Rabbi 
 was just upon the very point of being converted by 
 his last irresistible argument when he was so cruelly 
 interrupted. 
 
 This story was told to St. Louis, the then King of 
 France, who indirectly intimated that the knight, not 
 being a learned scholar, had done wrong in attempting 
 to refute the Jew, but that he had done quite right in 
 knocking him down ! Many and various polemical 
 conferences have since been held both in ancient and 
 modern times, but with as little chance of converting 
 Jews. Professorships were instituted in vain for the 
 like purpose in France, Germany, and Italy. Jews in 
 Rome were forced to listen to courses of lectures 
 which it was hoped would have the effect of con- 
 vincing them of their errors ; but they remained most 
 provokingly unconverted. In more modern times 
 great and continuous efforts have been exerted to pro- 
 mote Christianity among Jews, but they have all 
 signally failed. 
 
 II. 
 
 In relation to Jewish conversion in Great Britain 
 Christians may be conveniently divided into three
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 179 
 
 large and distinct classes. The first class comprises* 
 those who approach Jews openly, honestly, and con- 
 scientiously, face to face in a truly religious spirit, as 
 it is desirable and just that one religious community 
 should meet another : on that broad basis of pure and 
 simple religion; upon that wide tract of neutral 
 spiritual territory where the zealous adherents of all 
 religions may assemble in peace, amity, and fraternal 
 and sisterly love, with a mutual tacit understanding 
 to seek for points of religious agreement rather than 
 for seeds of dissension. Among this worthy class I 
 have through a very long professional career enjoyed 
 the happiness of friendly and most intimate inter- 
 course with many most sincere, most loving, and 
 loveable Christians, without any attempt ever having 
 been made on either 's part to disturb the other's 
 cherished religious opinions. I can conscientiously 
 say, with the illustrious Moses Mendelssohn, in his 
 reply to John Caspar Lavater ; " I am so fortunate as 
 to count amongst my friends many worthy men who 
 are not of my faith. We love each other sincerely, 
 notwithstanding that in matters of religious belief we 
 differ widely in opinion. I enjoy the delight of their 
 society, which both improves and solaces me. Never 
 has my heart whispered, Alas! for this excellent 
 man's soul ! " 
 
 "Behold how good, and how pleasant it is for 
 brethren to dwell together in unity ! " and to love 
 their neighbours as they themselves would wish to be 
 loved. " Have we not all One Father ? Has not One 
 God created us all ? " 
 
 Among the second class of Christians are comprised 
 K 2
 
 180 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 those who, without appearing to desire our conversion,, 
 affect to love us with an overpowering spiritual 
 affection, who profess to " take great interest in the 
 Jews," in a patronising spirit ; who are unceasingly 
 anxious about the actual condition, and the future 
 salvation of our souls, of which they presume to 
 think we ourselves are culpably indifferent. These- 
 meddlesome Christians lose no opportunity of suggest- 
 ing to us texts from Scripture often disjoined from 
 their contexts, notably from the writings of our own 
 inspired prophets, with which, with unaccountable 
 perversity of disposition, they take for granted we are 
 unacquainted, and which, with almost amusing pre- 
 sumption, they would appear to suppose they are 
 presenting to our notice for the first time. They are- 
 wont to ask questions with respect to controverted 
 points which would seem to them to be unanswerable, 
 with the vague idea of confusing us ; of insinuating^ 
 doubts in regard to what they have been accustomed 
 to consider Scriptural "difficulties," with the aim of 
 unsettling, if possible, our long established religious 
 convictions, and of proving thereby how very wrong 
 tee are, and how very right they are ! The same 
 class of Christians are pleased to natter us by the 
 generous expression of their unbounded admiration 
 for the religious constancy we have for ages exhibited, 
 while they do not hesitate to urge upon us sophis- 
 tical arguments in order to render us inconstant. 
 They manifest ignorance of the fact that there is. 
 not an argument against the correctness of Jewish 
 Scriptural interpretations which has not been re- 
 peatedly answered, ad nauseam, by the most learned
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 181 
 
 Hebrew authorities of all countries, alike ancient and 
 modern, to the satisfaction of themselves, and no less 
 to the impartial judgment of many erudite Christian 
 theologians of the Past and Present. Amateur-con- 
 versionists so to speak, are little aware how weary 
 Jews have become of religious disputations. They 
 have ever been powerful in arguments in defence of 
 their sacred faith, and have never exhibited deficiency 
 of polemical strength, for they have always considered 
 their religious position to be impregnable. Jews now 
 feel, however, that they have had enough of religious 
 contentions, and that it is time they should cease ; and 
 they are therefore indisposed to re-open, and to re- 
 consider religious questions, which, however open to 
 controversy, have been long since answered by their 
 own theologians to their own satisfaction. 
 
 In the third class of Christians are included those 
 who openly avow their wish and intention to trans- 
 form Jews into Christians, nolens wlens, by any means 
 which they may legally employ ; who stupidly accuse 
 Jews of blindness and obduracy in not abandoning 
 the sublime religion of their historic ancestors; a 
 religion not of yesterday, the religion of Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob ; of Joseph, Moses, and Joshua ; of 
 David, Elijah, and Isaiah. The religion of Judas 
 Maccabeus ! The religion of Jesus Christ ! 
 
 It may be enquired by what presumed right do 
 Christians intrude their opinions offensively upon such 
 a religious people as the Jews ? They admit no such 
 right. If Christians claim the right, they must, by parity 
 of reasoning, and in common justice, concede the same 
 to Jews. Jews claim to be on a perfect equality with
 
 182 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Christians. Such terms as " toleration " and " libe- 
 rality," applied to religion are very offensive, since they 
 imply a claim to superiority on the part of those who 
 would presume to " tolerate." The professional con- 
 versionists so to speak who, with candour and 
 confidence, inform Jews that, unless they implicitly 
 believe as Christians believe, they being, of course,, 
 infallible, Jews will be irrevocably sentenced to eter- 
 nal damnation in this world, as well as in the next,, 
 exhibit, at least, the courage of their convictions.. 
 By unmasking their spiritual batteries, and firing- 
 direct upon Jews their whole artillery of argument, 
 and by further declaring war d I'outrance, they, at any 
 rate, afford their opponents the opportunity of doing- 
 likewise. This class of conversionists is of the material 
 of which the Spanish Inquisitors of the 15th Cen- 
 tury were formed. In the dark ages, and even 
 much more recently, they would, without any scruples 
 of conscience, have employed many unpleasant phy- 
 sical " agencies" to effect their aggressive purpose. " No 
 doubt," according to II Padre Curci, " the soul ought 
 to be of more account than the body ; but the soul 
 is man's exclusive, absolute, intangible, own posses- 
 sion. The Law deals with men's acts ; it cannot 
 reach their conscience. It leaves the conscience to 
 God ! " How much human suffering would have 
 been spared had this glorious and veritable doctrine 
 been earlier promulgated ! Is it not astonishing that 
 fallible men should ever have dared to torture and 
 destroy the bodies of their fellow men in order to> 
 ensure safety for their souls ? Experience must have 
 * II Padre Curci On Religious Interference.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 183 
 
 repeatedly proved to them that it was not only a 
 cruel but a useless operation. Did they never recog- 
 nise the evident fact that a man has no control over 
 his belief ? that he either believes or disbelieves ; and 
 that the dislocation of his joints, and the roasting of 
 his body, were positively the very worst kind of 
 arguments that could have been advanced to convince 
 the disbeliever of a religion of its claims to mercy, 
 charity, and godliness. As a matter of fact they 
 never had any converting influence whatever upon 
 Eoman Catholics, or Protestants, or Jews, upon whom, 
 in turn, those potent arguments were tried. What 
 lesson should be learned by modern conversionists 
 from these patent historical facts, but that it was, and 
 is an unpardonable, arrogant assumption of power by 
 fallible man to interfere with the conscientious re- 
 ligious convictions of his fellow man ? " God has given 
 to each of us," says a Protestant Christian writer, "His 
 inspired word, and a rational mind to which that 
 word is addressed. He has also made known to us, that 
 each for himself must answer at His tribunal for his 
 principles and conduct. What man, then, or body of 
 men, has a right to tell me, ' You do not think aright 
 on religious subjects, but we will tolerate your error ?' 
 The answer is a most obvious one : ' Who gave you 
 the authority to dictate ? Or what exclusive claim have 
 you to infallibility ? If my opinions do not lead me into 
 conduct inconsistent with the welfare of my fellow 
 creatures, the question as to their accuracy or fallacy is 
 one between God and my own conscience ; and though 
 a fair subject for argument is none for compulsion.'" 
 
 * Duncan's Travels, Vol. II., pp. 330-328.
 
 184 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Having, in the foregoing citations, given the opin- 
 ion of a Christian Catholic, and also of a Protestant 
 writer on the subject of religious interference, I now 
 turn to that of a Jewish philosopher. 
 
 " And moreover," says Moses Mendelssohn, " a 
 jurisdiction over opinions, over our fellow-men's views 
 of immutable and necessary truths ! What man, what 
 society of men dare to arrogate it ? As those opinions 
 do not immediately depend on our will, the only right 
 that belongs to ourselves is the right of examining 
 them, of putting them to the rigid test of reason, and 
 suspending our judgment until it has decided, and so 
 
 on Foregoing one's opinion so as not to act 
 
 thereon is one thing ; and giving up one's opinion 
 itself another. Acting rests immediately with our will 
 and pleasure, opinion does not." * 
 
 " What a world of bliss we should live in did all 
 men adopt and practise the true principles which the 
 best among the Christians, and the best among the 
 Jews have in common." -f 
 
 III. 
 
 Why are these converting Christians so very de- 
 sirous of converting Jews to the belief in the divine 
 mission of Jesus Christ ? Why do they desire that 
 Jews should declare themselves Christians ? With 
 what view do they squander their thousands annually 
 in order to arrive at this grand result ? Why does the 
 Jews' continued belief in Judaism give Christians so 
 
 * Mendelssohn's Jerusalem, Vol. I., p. 107. 
 f Moses Mendelssohn's Eeply to Charles Bonnet.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 185 
 
 much concern? Why do they insist that they are 
 * l blind and obstinate," and fail to see that it is they 
 themselves who are " blind and obstinate" ? Why 
 cannot their painful restlessness cease ? When the 
 Christian reads the history of the Jews from the 1st 
 to the 19th century, written in tears and blood, their 
 bold resistance of conversion, and their unswerving 
 constancy to the religion God Himself gave them 
 from Mount Sinai, how can he still entertain any 
 hopes that the Jews will ever become Christians ? 
 Why are they not at last amenable to common sense 
 and the experience of ages ? and why do they not 
 allow the Jews to follow their religion in peace ? In 
 fine, why do they not leave them alone ? 
 
 Does any sane man or woman believe that it is 
 really for love of the Jews ? Does any rational being 
 imagine that the Christians would give themselves so 
 much anxiety and trouble, squander so much money, 
 and occupy so much valuable time in their endeavour 
 to ensure the salvation of Jewish souls ? Might they 
 not employ their time and money to more advantage 
 in trying to save the souls of many who, although 
 born of Christian parents, yet refuse to accept 
 Christianity ? 
 
 Failing the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, 
 and their full acknowledgment of Jesus Christ as 
 the Son of God, as the Almighty Father, and Creator 
 of the Universe, as the Saviour and Redeemer of the 
 world, and as the Messiah promised to them by God's 
 inspired Prophets, the Christian system, according to 
 the Very Rev. Dr. Bickersteth, Dean of Lichfield, 
 remains imperfect and incomplete. " And when we
 
 186 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 remember," he says, " how every thing that is most 
 Morions in the future of the Church is connected 
 
 O 
 
 with their conversion, it seems to me that we ought 
 to leave no agencies untried by which this great con- 
 summation may be hastened."* Alas ! for the " most 
 glorious future of the Church" if it be dependent 
 upon the conversion of the Jews to Christianity ! 
 
 We have here a distinct avowal from a dignitary 
 of the Established Church of England that it is in 
 reality for the Christians themselves that they mani- 
 fest so impatient an anxiety to convert the Jews to 
 their faith. We have here a modern appeal to 
 religious passion which readily recalls the days of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, in whose cruel reign was 
 instituted the Spanish Inquisition for the salvation of 
 Jewish souls. Every " agency " that the Arch- 
 tormentor Torquemada could devise was then tried 
 upon the unhappy Jews of Spain and Portugal. All 
 that the cruel ingenuity of man could invent has 
 been practised, both by Catholic and Protestant Chris- 
 tians, during a period of nearly nineteen hundred 
 years, to " hasten the great consummation ; " but it 
 remains as far off as ever. Not only have been 
 practised upon the Jews of all nations the " agencies " 
 of fire and water, famine and the sword ; and mental 
 torture in every form ; but the milder, and more in- 
 sinuating " agencies " of sophistry, cajolery, and bribes 
 of every kind. They have all been heroically resisted; 
 and the Jews, as Jews, not only exist in greater num- 
 bers than ever in every part of the globe, but actually 
 hold a very considerable position among every nation 
 
 * Letter to the Standard, on Parochial Missions, to the Jews y 
 August 1, 1877.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 187 
 
 that may be regarded as civilized. They are besides,, 
 wonderful to relate, more prosperous, more influen- 
 tial, and more distinguished than they ever were ! 
 
 Should not these startling facts prove to the con- 
 versionists how vain, how futile are their attempts to- 
 disturb the constancy of such a wonderful people ? 
 Should they not make them pause in their worthless 
 efforts, and reflect thus : " Surely this is a marvellous 
 nation ! The vitality of a religion which has endured 
 through ages of frightful persecution, of inhuman 
 cruelty ; which has defied inquisitions, tortures, 
 oppressive and exclusive laws ; which is yet the 
 guiding star of millions scattered throughout the five 
 portions of the world, is impossible of extinction. It 
 must be upheld by God, its Omniscient Author ! Let 
 us not seek to destroy it ; for, after all, we are but 
 frail human creatures : we are not infallible, and we 
 ourselves may possibly be in the wrong." 
 
 The Jewish religion is acknowledged to be the stem 
 upon which Christianity has been engrafted. The 
 Old Testament is the foundation, the New Testament 
 the superstructure. " We ought not to forget," said 
 the Bishop of Chichester, " that the Jews are the elder 
 brothers of the Christians, and that Judaism was the 
 spring and source from which Christianity arose."* 
 
 Jews require not Christianity ! Judaism is all- 
 sufficient for them. Whatever of good exists in 
 Christianity is derived from, and is to be found in,. 
 Judaism. Without the Judaism which Christianity 
 has embodied, Christianity, as a distinctive form of 
 religion, could not stand ; for wherever it has departed 
 
 * Speech in the House of Lords, 1833, on the Jews' Disa- 
 bilities Bill.
 
 188 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 from its strictly Jewish element it has been a miser- 
 able source of discord and perplexity. 
 
 Jews can dispense with the superstructure ; Chris- 
 tianity cannot stand unsupported by its foundation. 
 'The Christian religion is therefore dependent upon 
 Judaism, which comprises every rational religious 
 doctrine, every source of consolation, every law to 
 govern human nature, every teaching of love, and 
 mercy, and charity, which may ensure the happiness 
 of mankind in this world of probation for an ever- 
 lasting life hereafter. What more can Christianity 
 offer to Judaism than what she already possesses ? 
 It has been asked " What is there in your best and 
 purest hopes that Christianity would disappoint if 
 you accepted it ? " I would reply by a question. 
 What is there in our " best and purest hopes " that 
 Judaism is insufficient to supply ? It has also been 
 .asked " What then can there be to indispose the mind 
 of a Jew to-day, clinging to the hopes and promises of 
 his forefathers, to the reception of Christianity ? " I 
 would reply : " The hopes and promises of his fore- 
 fathers ! " Again it has been asked " Can you imagine 
 a higher, or a holier access to God than through His 
 Son, and by His Spirit ? " I would answer, emphati- 
 cally, "YES!" I abstain from quoting Scripture, 
 although many texts at once suggest themselves to 
 my mind, if it were necessary to appeal to them for 
 proof, that we, who have direct access to God Himself, 
 require no intercessor. 
 
 Christians should remember that Jews were their 
 teachers, therefore they should respect them; they 
 should respect their laws and their religious constancy.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 189 1 
 
 They should respect " those who still hold, as dearer 
 than life, the faith and the hopes of their sainted 
 forefathers." 
 
 Christians should regard with religious awe the 
 miraculous preservation, of the Jews, and the preser- 
 vation of their religion. They should regard any at- 
 tempt to disturb Jewish faith as sacrilegious. They 
 should honour Judaism if only because it was the 
 religion of Jesus, whom they claim as the Founder of 
 their own religion. 
 
 Addressing the Jews of Manchester, in a conversion- 
 sermon, preached at his Cathedral on the 5th of May, 
 1875, Bishop Fraser said : ; 
 
 " Your system has come to an end ; the sacred fires- 
 on your altars are extinguished ; your very priesthood 
 is uncertain ; Jerusalem is trodden down, and occu- 
 pied by strangers ; you are scattered and dispersed." 
 But he added with commendable generosity, " Your 
 constancy is admirable !" Yes ! we are constant to 
 our religion, notwithstanding that we are dispersed ; 
 notwithstanding that our sacred fires are extinguished, 
 and our Temple is destroyed. Can there be a more 
 powerful argument in favour of the eternity and 
 immutability of the Jewish religion its efficacy for 
 all ages, all circumstances, places, climes, all conditions 
 of human life, than that it does exist ? that its 
 followers still cling to their holy faith with a tenacity, 
 with a constancy which calls forth, even from one 
 who seeks to make them inconstant, the highest 
 praise ? Should not this remarkable fact have made, 
 a deep impression upon his mind ?
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Israelites were the Chosen of God,' and they 
 remain the Chosen of God : for the Eternal Om- 
 niscient God changes not ! He, who could see into 
 the Future, selected them from all the nations, as His 
 Ministers ; His Prophets ; as the conservators of His 
 Word ; the promulgators of Divine Revelation ; the 
 teachers of Divine Truth. The Almighty vouchsafed 
 to reveal Himself to them ; He gave to them His 
 Laws for the good of the world. They are eternal ; 
 without them society could not exist. 
 
 " The Law of the Lord is perfect."* The Mosaic Law 
 is " The Law of the Lord." The Israelites were the 
 selected receivers of Divine Revelation ; the appointed 
 depositaries of the Holy Scriptures their trusted 
 guardians. They were the people selected to spread, 
 far and wide among all peoples, the sublime doctrine 
 of the Unity of God. They disobeyed the Command- 
 ments of God. Surrounded by idolatrous nations, the 
 ancient Israelites were unfaithful to their exalted 
 mission, and they have, in consequence, suffered all the 
 terrible penalties which, in his last book, Moses pre- 
 dicted would befall them. 
 
 Ancient Jewish History records the sacred trusts 
 imposed upon them, their actual misdeeds, and their 
 future punishments. Jews have never claimed for their 
 ancestors freedom from the errors common to humanity. 
 It has always been accepted as a powerful argument in 
 favour of the truth and authenticity of Holy Writ 
 that the authors of the Bible do not describe the 
 Psalm xix. 7.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 191 
 
 Patriarchs, the Prophets, and their successors as men 
 wholly free from human failings. They were naturally 
 endowed with human passions, and were, therefore, 
 not proof against the temptations and failings inci- 
 dental to human nature. They were men in whom God 
 nevertheless confided ; they were grand characters, and 
 divinely gifted with a greater amount of inspiration 
 than was possessed by men of the surrounding nations. 
 They were certainly favoured with a more perfect 
 knowledge of God, and of His divine attributes ; and 
 they held His high commission to impart that know- 
 ledge to others. It will have been remarked by those 
 who have attentively studied, and have reflected upon 
 the ancient history of Israel, that no man or woman 
 ever committed sin in ancient times without receiving 
 an adequate punishment, either immediate or delayed. 
 That Scripture " difficulties " abound throughout 
 the pages of the Bible is unquestionable. To reconcile 
 contradictory, and apparently, irreconcileable biblical 
 statements has been the life-occupation of many 
 learned theologians. Before any man should presume 
 to censure and condemn the acts of our immortal 
 .ancestors whom God vouchsafed to favour with His 
 divine grace and countenance, he should be assured 
 that he possesses the ability to comprehend the 
 manners, the customs and modes of thought of our 
 remote Antiquity, and of the social life, manners and 
 habits of oriental nations generally, and more espe- 
 cially, those of our forefathers. We should bear in re- 
 membrance, before we condemn their apparent errors 
 by comparison with our modern ideas of civilization, 
 that they lived in the infancy of the world, and that
 
 192 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 although by God's favour the Israelites of old were- 
 enlightened above all the nations in close proximity 
 with them, yet, after all, they lived at a period only 
 semi-civilized. It would be obviously irrational and 
 unjust, therefore, to contrast the moral code of an An- 
 tiquity so remote with our own, the result of ages 
 and ages of dearly purchased experience and human 
 civilization and advancement, and to endeavour thus 
 to clear away every vague notion which may happen 
 to tell against the perfect morality and freedom 
 from sin of ancient Israel. It is clearly manifest 
 that the protracted terrible sufferings of the Jewish 
 people have been in fulfilment of the prophecies which 
 Moses enunciated in the last book of the Pentateuch 
 as punishments for the crimes of Judah and Israel ; 
 and not, as our adversaries have in vain endeavoured 
 to make us believe, for having rejected Christ and 
 Christianity. What do we find in the 29th Chapter 
 of Deuteronomy ? 
 
 " Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the 
 Lord done thus unto the land ? What meaneth the 
 heat of this great anger ? Then men shall say : 
 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord 
 God of their fathers which He made with them when 
 He brought them out of the land of Egypt ; for they 
 went and served other gods, and worshipped them; 
 gods whom they knew not, and whom He had not 
 given unto them: and the anger of the Lord was 
 kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the 
 curses that are written in this book ; and the Lord 
 rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath,, 
 and in great indignation, and cast them into another 
 land, as it is this day."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 193 
 
 These, the prophecies which foretold the seasons 
 of Israel's punishments, protracted sorrow, tribu- 
 lation, and adversity, and which have been already 
 fulfilled with astonishing accuracy, are followed by 
 prophecies written by the same hand, which foretold 
 Israel's present and future prosperity, and which, it 
 cannot be doubted, are in actual process of accomplish- 
 ment. 
 
 " And it shall come to pass, when all these things 
 are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which 
 I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to 
 mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God 
 hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy 
 God, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I 
 command thee this day, thou and thy children, with 
 all thine heart and with all thy soul, that then the 
 Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have com- 
 passion upon thee, and will return and gather thee 
 from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath 
 
 scattered thee And the Lord thy God will put 
 
 all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that 
 hate thee and persecuted thee. And thou shalt return 
 and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His com- 
 mandments which I command thee this day. And 
 the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every 
 work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in 
 the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, 
 for good : for the Lord will again rejoice over thee for 
 good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers : if thou shalt 
 hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to keep 
 His commandments and His statutes which are written 
 in the book of the law, and if thou turn unto the 
 
 o
 
 194 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy 
 
 soul See I have set before you this day life and 
 
 good, and death and evil I call heaven and 
 
 earth to record this day against you, that I have set 
 before you life and death, blessing and cursing : there- 
 fore choose life that both thou and thy seed may 
 live."* 
 
 With God's ancient immutable covenant with the 
 Children of Israel in view, how pitifully small, how 
 insignificantly trifling appear the abortive efforts of 
 the conversionists to subvert the evident design of 
 God ? Can they not in wisdom perceive that the time 
 has arrived when they should raise the siege of that 
 impregnable fortress, the religion of the Jews ? There 
 can be no doubt whatever, that if both Jews and 
 Christians would but carry into practice in their daily 
 life the sublime teachings which abound in the respec- 
 tive codes alike of Judaism and Christianity, and 
 resolve to abstain from further mutual contentions in 
 respect to the correct interpretation of many perplex- 
 ing dogmas, which it is quite certain will never be 
 solved with universal satisfaction, they would find 
 sure acceptance from the Allwise God, and might 
 be certain of the enjoyment of eternal bliss in the 
 life hereafter. What more should be desired ? 
 
 " If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted ? " f 
 " And now Israel, what does the Eternal thy God 
 require of thee, but to fear the Eternal thy God, to 
 walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve 
 the Eternal thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 thy soul ?" | 
 
 * Deut. xxx. f Gen. iv. 7. J Deut. x. 12.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 195 
 
 V, 
 
 Many Christian theologians, some of whose names 
 may possibly occur to students of Biblical lore, all 
 devout men, and gifted more or less with scriptural 
 scholarship, have, with becoming reverence, subjected 
 to critical examination and comment the Mosaic 
 code, the ancient Jewish records, and the dicta of the 
 Holy Prophets of Israel. They have thus conferred 
 alike upon Jews and Christians an important service. 
 If the former cannot in every instance conscientiously 
 accept as reasonable the interpretations of Chris- 
 tians, they can at least appreciate their theological 
 acumen, their religious zeal, and their honesty of 
 purpose. The opinions of such men are always 
 worthy of consideration, and should always be received 
 with respectful attention. But there is another class 
 of Christian religionists who, being entirely ignorant 
 of the real points at issue, and totally unacquainted 
 with what has been written upon the subject by 
 learned JewisTi doctors and philosophers ; brimful, 
 moreover, of sectarian prejudices, if not of hate, never- 
 theless offensively intrude their religious views upon 
 Jews, with much discredit to their own religion and 
 its professors. Before assuming the responsible cha- 
 racter of scriptural teacher and interpreter they 
 should qualify themselves for the office by an 
 earnest study of the interpretations and teachings of 
 those whose religion they would indiscreetly assail. 
 I would say to the ignorant commentators, with the 
 late Rev. Sydney Smith : " It is not your ignorance 
 
 o 2
 
 196 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 I blame, you have no means, perhaps, of acquiring 
 knowledge, the circumstances of your life have not 
 led to it, may have prevented it ; but then I must 
 tell you, if you have not had leisure to enquire, you 
 have no right to accuse." No man is obliged to- 
 acquire knowledge, but he who has the temerity to 
 enter into the wide area of polemics is bound to- 
 make himself thoroughly familiar with the salient 
 points in dispute, and more particularly when he 
 would contend with a people who generally are so- 
 learned in Holy Writ as the Jews, and who, with 
 reason, may be justly credited with the possession 
 of a more thorough knowledge of their own inspired 
 writings, their ancient language, and the claims of 
 their own religion than it is possible that any other 
 people can have acquired. 
 
 The Jewish religion is revealed in the Pentateuch ; 
 it is confirmed in the prophetical writings, and it 
 survives in the descendants of those to whom it was 
 given. This sublime boon was to be preserved by 
 them FOR EVER. In accordance with the divine de- 
 cree it has been preserved, and will continue to be 
 in the future. In the course of many ages there 
 have been, from a variety of causes, apostates and 
 renegades from the original stock of the patriarchs, 
 as there have been from all religious communities. 
 Some have been too feeble in spirit to bear up against 
 torture and persecution; others have been unable 
 to resist the temptations occasioned by adversity; 
 while many, on the contrary, have been unequal to 
 the task of withstanding the fascinations of pros- 
 perity.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 197 
 
 By renouncing Judaism and adopting Christianity, 
 a Jew by descent does not thereby cease to be a Jew ; 
 but having yielded up his religious character, he 
 remains a Jew only by race. Of this character he 
 can no more divest himself and his offspring, for at 
 least two generations, than of his characteristic form 
 -and features. When religious prejudice ran high 
 against the Jew personally, and against his creed* 
 when every road to honourable public and private 
 advancement was closed against him, and the finger 
 of scorn was pointed at every Hebrew, in every 
 country, however spotless his character and honour- 
 able his conduct, because he refused to abandon the 
 religion of his fathers; when, by abjuring Judaism 
 and embracing Christianity, parliament, the bar, the 
 army and navy, and every liberal profession became at 
 once open to his ambition, and he was received by 
 his Christian countrymen and women with a more 
 than ordinary welcome, it was beyond the moral 
 strength of some few wealthy and ambitious Jews, 
 who sought a public career, and upon whom their 
 religion sat lightly who valued worldly favour 
 above religious and national constancy, to withstand 
 temptations so powerfully inviting. It was not that 
 they loved Christianity more than Judaism, but that 
 they valued those distinctions which could be ob- 
 tained only through the portals of Christianity. 
 
 Various other powerful influences have occasionally 
 led Jews from their ancient religion, among which 
 may be named matrimony. Very few Jews, if any, have, 
 I apprehend, been really and truly converted to Chris- 
 tianity. However that may be, it is certain that
 
 198 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 the great body of the Jewish people; who are spread 
 all over the world, have resisted with persistent 
 firmness every kind of attack upon their religion 
 which, from time to time, has been made upon it, 
 and upon themselves, in their religious capacity. 
 
 It would seem that as all previous efforts to induce 
 Jews to forsake their most glorious heritage have 
 signally failed, it occurred to the Right Rev. the Dean 
 of Lichfield, Dr. Bickersteth, to address a letter in the 
 month of August, 1877, to the editor of the Standard ' y 
 in which he urgently advocated sending " Parochial 
 Missions to the Jews " for the purpose of " extending 
 the knowledge of Christianity" among them. He 
 had discovered a more excellent way, by which " the 
 Jew might be approached in a manner less aggressive 
 and more likely to win him, than through the action 
 of a missionary, having no necessary relation to the 
 incumbent of the parish." 
 
 The Jew was to be " approached " stealthily, 
 silently, and mildly not with the acknowledged ag- 
 gression of former times by parochial curates, who, 
 with winning wiles, and " a good knowledge of He- 
 brew, and conversant with the habits of thought and 
 opinion of modern Jews, and possessing other necessary 
 qualifications for the work " the nature of which was. 
 left to the imagination were, it was presumed, to- 
 enter Jewish houses upon the plea of parochial mis- 
 sionary visits, and, by the irresistible power of their 
 new patent improved method of theological discussion,, 
 and by the no less irresistible force of their own meek 
 Christian example, to bear down all opposition ta 
 their arguments, and to win from their Jewish.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 199 
 
 parishioners an unconditional surrender of their re- 
 ligious doctrines and opinions. This was, no doubt, 
 a well-devised, cleverly-planned scheme ; but it has 
 been decidedly unsuccessful in effecting the object so 
 much desired. It was confidently assumed that 
 should parochial missionary curates presume to invade 
 the sanctuary of Jewish homes it would not be very 
 difficult to predict the kind of reception they would 
 be likely to meet with. Neither Jewish men nor 
 women, it was believed, would be ensnared by the 
 mild insinuating manners of Christian curates, nor 
 suffer their religious opinions to be trifled with any 
 longer. 
 
 I would venture to exhort both Jews and Jewesses 
 not to be tempted either by prosperity or adversity 
 to forsake their glorious religion ; to beware more of 
 the temptations of prosperity, which has always been 
 proved to be more dangerous than adversity. Re- 
 ligious faith, it is acknowledged, has always been 
 strengthened by persecution. It is contrary to man's 
 nature to submit to coercion in matters of religious 
 faith. This principle has been strikingly exemplified 
 in Jewish history. The isolation in which the bar- 
 barous Christian persecutions of the Middle Ages 
 obliged the Jews to live, was doubtless a powerful 
 element in the preservation of their religion. How 
 was it possible that Jews could be attracted towards a 
 religion which in its daily practice exhibited towards 
 them such inhuman cruelty and barbarism ? Jews 
 and Jewesses should be ever ready to defend their 
 religious creed ; but they should never obtrude it 
 upon the notice of others. To those who can tho-
 
 200 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 roughly estimate the true spirit of Judaism, its sub- 
 lime teachings, and the sacred trust which it imposes 
 upon its adherents, it must be considered a blessed 
 boon to Jews, who ought to exhibit its true nature and 
 value by its favourable effects upon their own conduct 
 and character. They must always respect the re- 
 ligious opinions of their Christian neighbours, and 
 claim from them in return an equal amount of regard 
 for their own. They ought at all times to avoid re- 
 ligious controversy; but they should understand the 
 points which have always been in dispute between 
 Jews and Christians, and carefully study the inter- 
 pretations of controverted texts which learned Jews, 
 both ancient and modern, have given. Should any 
 doubts, or difficulties, or misapprehensions arise in 
 their minds they ought at once to inquire of their 
 own clergy and of other learned Israelites. Con- 
 troversy has always been proved to be unsatis- 
 factory and unconvincing ; a waste of time, and a 
 waste of mental energy. 
 
 VI. 
 
 In 1787 there appeared, in pamphlet form, five 
 published Letters to the Jews, inviting them to an 
 amicable discussion on the Evidences of Christianity, 
 by Joseph Priestly, LL.D., F.R.S., to which the fol- 
 lowing " Advertisement " was appended : " These 
 Letters are printed chiefly to be distributed among 
 the Jews; and if there should appear to be any 
 prospect of their answering the end for which they 
 were composed, they will be translated into Hebrew
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 201 
 
 for the use of the learned Jews, in all parts of the 
 world; to engage them, if possible, in an amicable 
 discussion of the subject." 
 
 In his first letter, Dr. Priestly addressed his readers 
 in the following manner : " Children of the stock of 
 Abraham, and heirs of the sure promises of God ! 
 Bear, I entreat you, with the serious address of a 
 Christian who reverences your nation ; is a believer 
 in its future glory, and is a worshipper of the God of 
 jour fathers, without admitting any other to share in 
 the right of divinity with Him." 
 
 By at once announcing himself as a Unitarian 
 Christian, Dr. Priestly evidently thought that he 
 would more easily gain the ear of the Jews, who 
 would consequently, and with much less difficulty, 
 fall an easy prey to his arguments. The gage which 
 he thus boldly flung at the feet of the whole Jewish 
 nation was fearlessly taken up by David Levi, a 
 learned Hebraist, the author of many useful Jewish 
 works notably a complete Dissertation on the Jewish 
 Prophecies, and the English translation of the Jewish 
 Liturgy. In the last century, when the British Jews 
 had not gained an assured position in this country, it 
 was not deemed prudent or expedient for a Jew to 
 defend his own faith ; as by doing so he might be led 
 unwittingly to trench upon the religious convictions 
 of his adversary in controversy, and therefore cause 
 considerable public offence. 
 
 David Levi, feeling himself strong as a giant in 
 Hebrew knowledge and in religious argument, and 
 powerful in his correct Jewish interpretation of the 
 Hebrew Scriptures, published in the same year (1787)
 
 202 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 three letters of 103 pages, also in pamphlet form, 
 addressed to Dr. Priestly, whom, perhaps in derision, 
 he likened to the Philistine giant, Goliath ; while he 
 compared himself to David, the young shepherd. He 
 displayed a remarkable fund of theological knowledge, 
 and completely overturned Dr. Priestly's position, 
 while he replied incontrovertibly to his arguments. 
 This aroused the anger of the Unitarian Doctor. He 
 had unexpectedly unearthed, as it were, a champion 
 more valiant than he anticipated. Instead, therefore, 
 of addressing his second Series of Letters direct to his 
 adversary, as in courtesy he ought to have done, he 
 again addressed himself to the Jewish Nation. David 
 Levi replied to them in three more letters addressed 
 to the Doctor ; and at the same time he boldly encoun- 
 tered five other correspondents whose religious ire 
 and jealousy he had aroused by his first series of 
 replies. Thus this famous controversy ended, as all 
 religious controversies have always terminated, viz. 
 with a display of mutual ill-feeling between the parties, 
 engaged, and between their supporters. 
 
 The correspondence of Dr. Priestly and Mr. David 
 Levi is now extremely rare. It affords valuable scrip- 
 tural information, from a Jewish point of view, to 
 those who may be interested in the subject ; but it 
 unfortunately exhibits too much heated temper and 
 impatience on the part of both polemical combatants. 
 
 Since the end of the last century persistent efforts* 
 have been made to promote Christianity among Jews, 
 Christians remain, however, uneasy and dissatisfied,, 
 while Jews are actually as unconverted as ever.
 
 JEWS AS THE^ ARE. 203 
 
 VII. 
 
 It would appear to be incomprehensible to many 
 Christians that Jews never seek to make proselytes 
 to their creed. 
 
 " It has often struck me," writes a Protestant vicar,. 
 " as a remarkable fact, that the believers in Judaism 
 do not seek to propagate their faith. Surely truth 
 must be the property of the whole world. People of 
 various views have sought to persuade me to embrace 
 the particular form of belief they have adopted, and 
 I have always regarded this as a proof of their 
 earnestness. " 
 
 It is true that Jews do not seek to make proselytes, 
 because, among other reasons, Jews do not presume to 
 think that salvation is to be found only in the Jewish 
 religion. It is deemed, therefore, neither necessary 
 nor expedient to propagate their religious creed. Ac- 
 cording to the authority of the ancient Hebrew 
 Rabbins, all nations who strictly observe the seven 
 precepts of the Sons of Noah, or NoacMdes, will cer- 
 tainly be accepted and blessed by God. These pre- 
 cepts, which constitute what has been termed the Law 
 of Nature, are: First: Not to commit idolatry. Second: 
 Not to blaspheme. Third: Not to commit incest- 
 Fourth : Not to commit murder. Fifth : Not to steal. 
 Sixth : Not to eat a member of a living creature. 
 Seventh : To appoint just and upright judges, in order 
 that justice may be maintained and administered ta 
 all men. Those who strictly practise these precepts 
 are called, " The Pious of the nations of the world,"
 
 204 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 and will, no doubt, participate in the bliss of an 
 everlasting life. 
 
 My authorities for the foregoing statements are 
 Moses Maimonides, and Moses Mendelssohn. 
 
 The latter, in his reply to John Caspar Lavater, in 
 1769, says : " Every one knows that there is an 
 internal as well as an external religion ; the former 
 includes no other precepts than those of the religion 
 of nature which we are bound to propagate, and of 
 which I endeavour to spread the knowledge to the 
 best of my power. Our external religion, on the con- 
 trary, was not designed to be propagated ; as its pre- 
 cepts are limited to a particular race, as well as to 
 .special times and circumstances. We undoubtedly 
 regard our religion as the best of all religions, because 
 we believe it to be divine. But it does not hence 
 follow that it is absolutely the best. It is the best 
 for us and our posterity. What external religion 
 may be best for other nations I cannot know; but 
 this I believe, that no external religion can be uni- 
 versal. By making proselytes to Judaism, therefore, 
 I should be extending the religion of my ancestors 
 beyond the boundaries originally prescribed for it." 
 " Whoever is not born conformably to our laws has no 
 occasion to live according to them. We alone are 
 bound to acknowledge their authority ; and this can 
 give no offence to our neighbours." 
 
 Moses Maimonides enunciated the Jewish principle 
 that when a person expressed a desire to become a 
 proselyte to Judaism, strict enquiry should be made 
 -as to his antecedents, and his motives. Should no 
 corrupt design be discovered, he was to be thus ques-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 205- 
 
 tioned. "What is it that moves thee to become a 
 proselyte to Judaism ? Dost thou not know that 
 Israelites at this time are subject to woe ; that afflic- 
 tions are continually coming upon them ; and that they 
 are expelled and devoured by all nations ? " The strict- 
 ness of the Mosaic law was then to be pointed out to 
 him ; he was to be reminded of the then temporal 
 condition of the Jews, and that in joining himself to 
 a people labouring then under oppression and affliction 
 he was accepting great and uncalled-for responsi- 
 bilities. It was not with the object of depriving- 
 would-be converts to Judaism of the blessings 
 promised to the Jews that the ancient Rabbins dis- 
 suaded non-Israelites from embracing the Mosaic Dis- 
 pensation, but from motives of mercy, charity, and 
 justice to men upon whom the rigid Laws of Moses 
 are not compulsory. As the Israelites of antiquity 
 entered into an everlasting holy covenant, for them- 
 selves and their posterity, to obey the Laws of God 
 promulgated by Moses, it is the unanimous opinion of 
 the Jewish fathers that they alone are bound to ob- 
 serve them. 
 
 But setting aside the foregoing reasons for not 
 attempting to make proselytes, there are other potent 
 considerations for not doing so. Has it never oc- 
 curred to those who would venture to advise such a 
 proceeding, what would be the state of public feeling 
 in all countries where Christianity is the dominant 
 religion ? Imagine what would be the excitement,, 
 anger, indignation, and, perhaps, something more, 
 were our clergy to announce sermons to be preached 
 with the avowed purpose of withdrawing Christians-
 
 206 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 from their faith; and if they were to circulate in- 
 sidiously amongst Christian families papers in ad\ r o- 
 cacy of their own religious opinions, treating with 
 something like scorn and contempt those of their 
 Christian friends and fellow-citizens ? 
 
 It is not difficult to conceive what an animosity 
 against Jews would be aroused if they were to an- 
 nounce the institution of a " London Society for pro- 
 moting Judaism among Christians," and to advertise 
 for money-contributions to a fund for defraying the 
 expenses of various Jewish converting establishments, 
 and branch establishments all over the country and the 
 colonies ; and for the payment of Jewish missionaries, 
 and other essential functionaries to be employed in 
 attempting to convert Christians to Judaism ? It was a 
 strong and effective argument used by many members of 
 both Houses of Parliament, when advocating the claims 
 of British Jews to public appointments and to seats 
 in Parliament, that the Jews are not a proselytising 
 race. It might have been added, that they em- 
 phatically condemn alike the principle and the prac- 
 tice of proselytism, under any circumstances, as un- 
 just, unfair, unprofitable, and utterly useless to pro- 
 mote Christianity among the Jews. 
 
 " If," wrote Moses Mendelssohn to Lavater, " after 
 so many years of investigation, the decision of my 
 mind had not been completely in favour of my reli- 
 gion, it would infallibly have become known through 
 my public conduct. I do not consider what should 
 rivet me to a religion, to appearance so excessively 
 severe, and so commonly exploded, if I were not 
 convinced in my heart of its truth. Let the result
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 207 
 
 of my investigation have been what it may, so soon 
 as I discovered the religion of my fathers not to be 
 the true one, I must, of course, have discredited it. 
 
 Thus you see, Sir, that, but for a sincere 
 
 conviction of my religion, the result of my theological 
 investigations would have been sealed by a public 
 act of mine ; whereas, on the contrary, they have 
 strengthened me in the faith of my fathers. I do 
 not mean to deny that I have detected in my religion 
 human additions and base alloy, which, alas ! but 
 too much tarnish its pristine lustre. But where is 
 the friend of truth who can boast of having found 
 Jiis religion free from similar corruptions ? We all, 
 who go in search of truth, are annoyed by the pesti- 
 lential vapour of hypocrisy and superstition, and wish 
 we could wipe it off without defacing what is really 
 good and true. Yet of the essentials of my religion 
 I am as firmly, as irrefragably convinced as ever you 
 can be of yours. And I herewith declare, in the 
 presence of the God of truth, your and my Creator 
 -and Supporter, by whom you have conjured me in 
 your dedication, that I will adhere to my principles 
 so long as my entire soul does not assume another 
 
 nature "We must finish certain enquiries 
 
 once in our life, if we wish to proceed further. This, 
 I may say, I had done, with regard to religion, 
 several years ago. I read, compared, reflected, and 
 made up my mind." * 
 
 * The Reply of Moses Mendelssohn to Johann Casper Lavater, 
 12th December, 1769.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 THE MENDELSSOHN FAMILY. 
 
 ASTOXISHMENT has often been expressed that the children* 
 and grandchildren of Moses Mendelssohn should have been 
 induced to renounce the ancient religion of their race,, 
 which their illustrious father and grandfather upheld and 
 defended with such consistent zeal, constancy, and eru- 
 dition. I apprehend that astonishment will cease when 
 the following facts are made more generally known and! 
 considered in all their bearings, by the world at large. 
 By an edict of Frederick the Great, dated 1752, that 
 despotic monarch limited the number of Jews whom he- 
 would permit to reside in Berlin, and ordered that the 
 exclusive privilege should be purchased. A Prussian Jew 
 was obliged to pay for permission to marry ; he had also 
 to pay a tax upon every child ; and if the number of Jews 
 in the Prussian capital exceeded the limit fixed by the- 
 King's edict, the surplus was forced to quit the country. 
 Prussian-born Jews were not allowed to enter the army,, 
 nor to become agriculturists, nor manufacturers, nor to 
 pursue liberal professions. They were only privileged 
 to study medicine and mathematics. A Jew who was not 
 born at Berlin could not obtain permission to reside there,.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 209 
 
 unless he were in the service of one of his privileged co- 
 religionists. Moses Mendelssohn, a native of Dessau, was- 
 tolerated at the capital in the capacity of a shopman to Bern- 
 hard, his co-religionist. He was indebted to a Frenchman 
 for the privilege of residing freely at Berlin. The Marquis 
 D'Argens addressed a petition to Frederick in favour of 
 Mendelssohn, to whom the king was partial. The me- 
 morial was in the following terms : "A bad Catholic 
 philosopher entreats a bad Protestant philosopher to grant 
 the privilege to a bad Jewish philosopher." * The King, 
 perhaps amused at the oddness of the appeal, granted to 
 Mendelssohn the permission asked for ; but which, it was 
 understood, was not to be extended to his descendants ; 
 and for this grant a thousand thalers were demanded. This 
 tax was, however, remitted. 
 
 The foregoing statement would appear to be almost in- 
 credible but for the exhibition of narrow-minded illiberality 
 and antagonism to Jewish interests of which the modern 
 German Anti-Semites have lately given the world a too 
 infamous experience. It would account for the descendants 
 of Moses Mendelssohn having abandoned Judaism and pro- 
 fessed Christianity ; and not only the members of that 
 gifted family, but such eminent artists as Heine, Mos- 
 cheles, Ferdinand Hies, Ferdinand Hiller, Joachim, Rubin- 
 stein, and numberless other distinguished German, Polish, 
 Hungarian, and Russian Jewish musicians, poets, painters, 
 literati, and scientists, who, finding that the religion of 
 their fathers would interfere with the free exercise of their 
 professional career, renounced its practice, and professed 
 the dominant religion of their native country which at 
 once removed every obstruction, and restriction, and 
 religious prejudice from which they might otherwise have 
 suffered. The eminent genius, and illustrious philosopher 
 
 * Curiosities of Judaism, by Philip Abraham. 
 P
 
 210 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 of Germany, who was merely tolerated as the " shopman" 
 of a Berlin merchant, was 
 
 " MOSES MENDELSSOHN, 
 
 The greatest sage since SOCRA.TES, 
 
 His own nation's glory, 
 
 Any nation's ornament, 
 
 The confidant 
 Of LESSING and of Truth. 
 
 He died, 
 
 As he lived, 
 
 Serene and wise."* 
 
 or, according to Professor Rammler's monumental inscrip- 
 tion : 
 
 " MOSES MENDELSSOHN, 
 Born at Dessau, of Jewish parents, 
 
 A sage like Socrates, 
 
 Faithful to his ancient creed, 
 
 Teaching immortality, 
 
 Himself immortal."f 
 
 * Inscription on a bust in Professor Herz's studio at Berlin. 
 
 f Inscription on a monument erected to Mendelssohn by 
 Professor Rammler, at Berlin. From Memoirs of Moses Men- 
 delssohn, by M. Samuel.
 
 No. VI. 
 
 SHYLOCK, 
 
 FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW.
 
 VI. 
 
 SHYLOCK, 
 
 FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 NATIVE and foreign writers have long been engaged 
 in criticising, commenting and speculating upon 
 Shakespeare's inimitable drama "The Merchant of 
 Venice " ; and it will doubtless furnish matter for 
 further criticism, exposition and learned discussions to 
 writers yet unborn. Innumerable, and apparently in- 
 exhaustible literary antiquaries and commentators have 
 occupied themselves in searching for, and investigating 
 the probable sources whence Shakespeare derived the 
 elements of its plot, its incidents, and its characters, 
 upon whom he has conferred an immortal personality ; 
 and also of minutely analysing every part of the play 
 with reference to its complete design. In comment- 
 ing upon this magnificent drama I have had in view 
 an entirely different object, which is to vindicate the 
 Jewish name from a large amount of unjust obloquy 
 which it has too long sustained in its connection with 
 Shakespeare's ideal Hebrew. 
 
 The raison d'etre of the " Merchant of Venice" is, un- 
 questionably, Shylock, the Jew, who is justly regarded 
 as one of Shakespeare's most masterly dramatic crea- 
 tions. Noble in conception, transcendent in execution,
 
 214 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 and powerful in human interest, this remarkable 
 character may be considered the primnm mobile of the 
 play ; while the execrable supposititious incident of 
 the bond and pound of flesh, which leads to its most 
 dramatic " situation," may be viewed as its cardinal 
 motive. Upon his much-maligned imaginary Israelite 
 grave, stern, proud, shrewd, logical, defiant and in- 
 flexible Shakespeare has profusely expended some 
 of the sublimest efforts of his genius ; but for stage- 
 effect, and in order to conform to the religious pre- 
 judices of his age, he has unhappily at the same time 
 heaped upon him many vile propensities, abhorrent 
 alike to Jew and Christian, to religion and humanity. 
 Under the seal and sanction of his illustrious name 
 the fictitious Shi/lock has been universally accepted, 
 and as widely condemned, without a sufficiently im- 
 partial investigation, as a true impersonation of a, 
 wealthy Jew of the Middle Ages. Thus has beea 
 ruthlessly cast upon the entire Jewish race a foul 
 slander, an immense enduring wrong. 
 
 The fancy portrait of the Venetian Jew, which,, 
 with marvellous intuitive faculty and profound know- 
 ledge of the springs and actions of the human heart,, 
 Shakespeare has so artistically drawn, shows, un- 
 doubtedly, many correct outlines of the Jewish cha- 
 racter ; but its dominant feature, the inhuman desire 
 to wreak upon Antonio, his self-avowed and impla- 
 cable enemy, his " lodged hate," by cutting from his 
 body a pound of flesh, in accordance with the terms 
 of his " merry " bond, has, unquestionably, no warrant 
 in reality ; no place in any authentic Jewish record ; 
 no sanction in Jewish laws, nor in Rabbinical tradi- 
 tions.
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 215 
 
 Shakespeare misinterpreted Jewish feeling when he 
 put into the mouth of Shy lock the sentence : " I hate 
 him for he is ' a Christian." Shi/lock would not have 
 hated Antonio because of his Christianity; but because 
 Antonio hated his sacred nation ; because he railed 
 against him, and his bargains in the public thorough- 
 fares ; because he rated him about his moneys, and his 
 profits ; because he insulted his revered religion, and 
 himself ; because he spat upon his beard and gaber- 
 dine, and called him " misbeliever," " cut-throat dog," 
 and spurned him as a cur. Had Shylock so treated 
 Antonio, would the Christian have loved the Jew ? If 
 the Jew of the Middle Ages hated the Christian, it 
 was only in return for the " lodged hate " which the 
 Christian bore the Jew. Jews at no period of their 
 mediaeval history, nor since, have hated Christians 
 on account of their religion ; but on account of the 
 cruel oppressions they suffered at their hands ; the in- 
 human persecutions and savage treatment, and insults, 
 and contempt which Christianity and its professors 
 brought upon them and their beloved families, as well 
 as upon their hallowed religion. Jews are, and have 
 always been taught to forgive their enemies ; they are 
 not instructed to love them. When Christians sin- 
 cerely love their enemies, Jews, by " Christian ex- 
 ample," will be prepared to "do likewise." 
 
 By all who have attentively studied the spirit of 
 Judaism it will be acknowledged that Jews are strictly 
 enjoined to practise forbearance, and mercy, and 
 charity in its widest sense to all men; and to deal 
 impartial justice to the stranger no less than to each 
 other. They are commanded by their immutable
 
 216 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 divine Law to love their neighbours as themselves, 
 and to treat all living creatures with kindness, 
 mercy, and humane consideration. When slaughtering 
 animals required for food, they are forbidden to tor- 
 ture them, or to subject them to prolonged suffering. 
 To mutilate any living creature, much less a human 
 being, is strictly opposed to the merciful spirit of the 
 Jewish Law, as it would be abhorrent to the Jewish 
 nature. It may be confidently averred that no Jew 
 that ever had existence, beyond the inflamed imagina- 
 tion of a romancer or a balladmonger, was ever justly 
 charged with the abominable crime of animal muti- 
 lation, or even with the barbarous disposition to 
 mutilate, which is ascribed to Shylock. The mere 
 suggestion that so horrible a desire might be possible, 
 has been viewed by all Jews as a foul libel upon Jewish 
 character. Cruelty to the person has never been a 
 Jewish vice. An animal that has been wounded, or 
 upon which any kind of cruelty has been perpetrated, 
 is pronounced by Jewish law, and by Jewish practice 
 to be wholly unfit for human food. 
 
 Shakespeare's " Merchant of Venice " will, doubtless, 
 endure. as long as the language in which it is written ; 
 consequently the odium which now attaches to its 
 principal character will be as permanent, unless some 
 all-potent counteracting influence be publicly brought 
 against it. 
 
 Shakespeare has dramatised many villainous, brutal, 
 and detestable Christian characters notably Mac- 
 beth, King John, Richard III. and logo. Other great 
 dramatists, in like manner, have placed upon the 
 stage non-Jewish characters not less execrable, among
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 217 
 
 whom may be mentioned that arch-villain, Sir Giles 
 Overreach ; but they have left no trace of stigma or 
 reproach upon any community of Christians ; whereas 
 the purely imaginary, vengeful, inhuman desires un- 
 justly fastened upon the entirely fictitious Hebrew have 
 balefully recoiled upon the whole Jewish race, with 
 an injury to the character of modern Jews which 
 may be regarded as almost irremediable. It is surely 
 time that this too-long endured national wrong should 
 cease. It is time that Christians should know Jews 
 as they are, and not judge of them as they have 
 been misrepresented in the Middle Ages ; nor, indeed, 
 as they are too often misapprehended and misrepre- 
 sented by intolerance and ignorance even at the present 
 day. It would appear but scant justice rendered by 
 modern Christians to the Jews of modern times, who 
 are their fellow-subjects and citizens, their legis- 
 lators, their magistrates, their judges, their legal 
 advocates, their colleagues in office, their associates 
 in commerce, their social intimates, their friends that 
 they should openly avow, and freely and widely 
 acknowledge that the vicious propensities and in- 
 human dispositions which are dramatically ascribed 
 to Shy lock are not in reality Jewish attributes, and 
 that the stage representation of them as such is a 
 libel upon Jewish character, and a perpetual wrong to 
 the Jewish race. The poison should be succeeded by 
 its antidote ; the wrong should be followed by its 
 acknowledgment.
 
 218 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 II. 
 
 JEWS had not been known in England for a period 
 of about three hundred years when " The Merchant 
 of Venice " was written. It is but reasonable, there- 
 fore, to suppose that many unfavourable traditions 
 respecting them may have been handed down from 
 generation to generation, coloured, and re-coloured 
 by the jaundiced imaginations of those who spoke 
 and wrote of them ; and that many slanderous legends 
 and stories relating to the " mysterious people " 
 who had been banished from the country in 1290, 
 distorted and exaggerated by each successive nar- 
 rator, may have prepared playgoers and readers of 
 plays to believe Jews capable of any enormity which 
 might be placed to their discredit. Thus the cha- 
 racter of Shylock would have been at once welcomed 
 as a true representative of the people whom they 
 had been taught for ages to despise and to hate. 
 
 In what manner Shakespeare acquired his impres- 
 sions of Jewish character must for ever remain con- 
 cealed among the many hidden secrets of the Past. 
 He would seem to have possessed prolific sources of 
 knowledge which his critics and commentators have 
 yet failed to discover. He may possibly have had 
 access to many ancient records relating to the ancient 
 Jews of England, dating from 1066 to 1290, some 
 of which have been preserved in the Tower of 
 London and in other depositories of national docu- 
 ments, and from which some compilations were pub- 
 lished in the last century, under the title of " Anglia. 
 Judaica," by Dr. Blossieres Tovey, LL.D.
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 It may be imagined with what absorbing interest 
 the large-hearted, large-minded Shakespeare would 
 have perused such interesting records ; and how 
 earnestly, with his pure religious spirit and his ardent 
 impressionable nature, he would have studied and 
 appreciated the Biblical and post-Biblical history of 
 the Jews; and with what tenderness of feeling he 
 would sorrowfully have contrasted their glorious Past 
 with their then down-fallen state. That our illustrious 
 bard comprehended, and deeply sounded the inner- 
 most nature of the proud, although oppressed, Israelite, 
 and warmly sympathised with his strictly conservative 
 religious and national sentiments, his deeply-rooted 
 racial aspirations, is clearly shown in his wondrous- 
 creation of Shylock, whose incisive utterances, rich in 
 radiant flashes of lightning scorn, bitter irony, tren- 
 chant invective, epigrammatic retort, sparkling wit, and 
 inexorable logic, occasionally tempered by emotional 
 allusions to his wife ; as when, for instance, he was 
 informed by Tubal that Jessica had exchanged a ring 
 for a monkey, he burst forth with : " Thou torturest 
 rne Tubal ! It was my turquoise : I had it of Leah 
 when I was a bachelor : I would not have given it for 
 a wilderness of monkeys !" His marvellous variety of 
 thought, his exuberance of ideas, his magic power of 
 language have invested the despised, but feared, Jew 
 with a moral grandeur, an irresistible racial dignity 
 wholly impervious to the mean gibes and arrogance 
 of the cravens whom he condescended to honour with 
 his "lodged hate," his "certain loathing," and his- 
 withering contempt. 
 
 It may be conceived with what amazement the first-
 
 1220 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Christian audiences of the " Merchant of Venice" must 
 have listened to the following trenchant argument 
 from the mouth of a Jew whom they had been taught 
 from infancy to regard as an inferior being possessed 
 of no natural rights. " He hath disgraced me, and 
 hindered me of half a million ; laughed at my losses, 
 mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my 
 bargains, cooled my friends, heated my enemies ; and 
 what's his reason ? I am a Jew ! Hath not a Jew 
 eyes ? Hath not a Jew hands ? organs, dimensions, 
 .senses, affections, passions ? fed with the same food, 
 hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same 
 diseases, heated by the same means, warmed and 
 cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian 
 is ? If you prick us do we not bleed ? If you tickle 
 us do we not laugh ? If you poison us do we not 
 die ? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge ? If 
 we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in 
 that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his 
 humility ? Revenge ! If a Christian wrong a Jew, 
 what should his sufferance be, by Christian example ? 
 Why, revenge ! The villainy you teach me, I will 
 execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the 
 instruction." That Shakespeare should have had 
 the temerity to put such bold words into the mouth 
 of his ideal Jew whom the other characters of his 
 play were at the same time holding up to public 
 abhorrence and contempt, to ridicule and derision, is 
 even now a subject for astonishment. It unques- 
 tionably shows the powerful sway, the irresistible 
 influence that the immortal dramatist must have 
 exercised over the minds of his audiences. However
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 22 L 
 
 we may deplore the circumstance that the immense 
 genius of Shakespeare has been employed in dissemi~ 
 nating an evil impression of Jewish character, and 
 thus of perpetuating a great national wrong, it must 
 be freely confessed that he is entitled to Jewish grati- 
 tude for endeavouring to suggest a human motive for 
 the action of Shylock, by exhibiting on the one hand 
 the intolerable insolence and oppression and injustice 
 of his religious adversaries, and on the other hand 
 his acute sense of what was due to him as a rational 
 man, and a Jew. As pourtrayed by Shakespeare 
 Shylock is, as other men, subject to the infirmities of 
 humanity. " If," says Hazlitt, " he carries his revenge 
 too far, yet he has strong grounds for the ' lodged 
 hate he bears Antonio,' which he explains with equal 
 force of eloquence and reason. He seems to be the 
 depositary of the vengeance of his race ; and though 
 the long habit of brooding daily over insults and 
 injuries has crusted over his temper with inveterate 
 misanthropy, and hardened him against the contempt 
 of mankind, this adds but little to the triumphant 
 pretensions of his enemies. There is a strong, quick, 
 and deep sense of justice mixed up with the gall and 
 bitterness of his resentment." 
 
 He cannot love those who detest and despise him ; 
 who scorn all that he holds most dear his religion 
 and his nation; who rob him of his daughter, the 
 only child of his beloved Leah ; who would strip 
 him of his wealth his " well-won thrift ;" who would 
 wound his soul by their petty insults; who would 
 goad him to madness by their indignities ! With 
 what indomitable courage, with what withering
 
 222 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 scorn, with what nobility of spirit and utterance 
 Shylock exposes the abject meanness of the Venetian 
 fop, Gratiano I With what loathing he shrinks from 
 his approach ! How he dwarfs him into insig- 
 nificance by his glance ! How superbly, how in- 
 dependently, and with what unanswerable logic he 
 replies to the Duke f How contemptuously he informs 
 Bassanio that he is not bound to please him with his 
 answer! Encircled by his bitter enemies, Shylock 
 bears himself proudly as the isolated representative 
 of a once great nation. He is a giant among pigmies, 
 a monarch in his grand desolation, sublime in his 
 complete misery ! 
 
 " Excellent Will," exclaims, with generous spirit, 
 the gifted authoress of "John Halifax, Gentleman," 
 " in spite of his noble protest, ' Hath not a Jew 
 eyes?' wrung, as it were, out of his own manly, 
 honest nature, which not all the prejudices of his 
 time could wholly subdue, did a cruel wrong to a 
 whole nation when he painted the character of 
 Shylock. Yet, in spite of himself, the Poet, like many 
 an intelligent actor succeeding, has contrived to put 
 some grand touches into the poor old Jew. Mean 
 as he was, you cannot but feel that the Christians 
 were meaner; that they returned evil for evil, in 
 most unchristian fashion; encouraging swindling, 
 trickery, and domestic abduction in a way that was 
 not likely to raise their creed in an adversary's eyes. 
 And even when Doctor Portia's quibble triumphs, 
 and Shylock is dismissed to ignominy, the most ex- 
 cited playgoer cannot but be aware, in that un- 
 comfortable portion of his being called 'conscience/
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 223 
 
 of a slight twinge, suggesting that two wrongs will 
 never make one right ; and that a certain amount of 
 injustice has been done to the miserable old man, 
 cheated at once out of his ducats and his daughter 
 nay, the very ring that he had from Leah, when he 
 was a bachelor." 
 
 Douce says, in concluding his Commentary on the 
 " Merchant of Venice," p. 292 
 
 " It is much to be lamented that this exquisitely beau- 
 tiful drama can neither be read nor performed with- 
 out exciting in every humane and liberal mind an 
 abhorrence of its professed design to vilify an ancient 
 and respectable, but persecuted nation. It should be 
 remembered that contempt and intolerance must 
 naturally excite hatred ; that to provoke revenge is 
 in fact to become responsible for the crimes it may 
 -occasion; that to those who would degrade and 
 oppress us, it is but justice to oppose craft ; and that 
 nature has supplied even the brute creation with the 
 means of resisting persecution. It will be readily 
 conceded that there happily exist in the present 
 moment but few remains of the illiberal prejudices 
 complained of, the asperity of which has been greatly 
 mitigated by the laudable and successful exertions 
 of a modern dramatic writer, to whom the Jewish 
 people are under the highest obligations." 
 
 Critics and commentators have variously judged 
 the character of Shylock. Some have considered it 
 in the broad spirit of generosity and justice ; others, 
 on the contrary, in the narrow spirit of malice and 
 intolerance. Some have viewed it by the lights of 
 reason and warm sympathy ; others in the dim ob-
 
 224 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 scurity of social dislike and bigoted prejudice. But 
 under every aspect and presentment Shakespeare's 
 Shylock has, for nearly three centuries, stood promi- 
 nently forth as the embodiment of assumed evil attri- 
 butes, in deference to the then existing state of un- 
 reasonable popular feeling. 
 
 When, about forty years ago, the eminent French 
 Israelite, Monsieur Cremieux, advocate, deputy, and 
 philanthropist, presented to Louis Philippe an ad- 
 dress from the Consistoire Centrdle of Paris, he received 
 from the King the following significant reply : " Con- 
 tinue," said the sagacious monarch, " to instruct your 
 youth, and combat by your incessant efforts the 
 prejudices against the Israelites which may even 
 yet exist. Bear in mind that water which falls- 
 drop by drop will ultimately wear away the hardest 
 stone." 
 
 Some actors who have been incapable of soaring to 
 the immeasurable heights of Shakespeare's trans- 
 cendent fancy have misapprehended, and conse- 
 quently misrepresented alike the human nature and 
 dramatic character and demeanour of Shylock. Actors,. 
 in bygone years, were wont to impersonate him as 
 a cruel, cringing, remorseless, gold-grasping money- 
 lender, servile and abased; an aged, red-haired de- 
 crepit, revengeful monster, unworthy of considera- 
 tion. That such a distorted specimen of humanity 
 was not " The Jew that Shakespeare drew " has been 
 since clearly evidenced. 
 
 Some actors of genius who have recognised in 
 Shakespeare's ideal Jew a descendant of an illus- 
 trious ancient race of heroes, prophets, and kings ; a-
 
 SIIYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 225 
 
 man " no less sinned against than sinning " ; a man 
 of a naturally noble nature, moved to revenge by 
 long-sustained injuries and insults; a man whose 
 nature has been made hard and inexorable by cruel 
 circumstances, have flung around him the imperial 
 mantle of dignity and honour. It has been left, how- 
 ever, to a great living actor to impersonate for the 
 first time " The Jew that Shakespeare drew " : to 
 impart to that remarkable character a native dignity 
 and expression which, as it would appear, was never 
 dreamt of in the philosophy of earlier actors. 
 
 Shylock is a wealthy Jew of Venice, such as the 
 Jews were in that Republic in the fifteenth, sixteenth, 
 and seventeenth centuries. Now it is an historical 
 fact that the rich Israelites domiciled in the Venetian 
 Republic before and after their wholesale expulsion 
 from the Iberian Peninsula, were a very superior 
 section of the Jewish community. They were either 
 Spanish and Portuguese born, or the descendants of 
 that once distinguished portion of the great Hebrew 
 family. They were proud in spirit, and dignified in 
 demeanour. As merchants they held a very dis- 
 tinguished position. As early as A.D. 1400, the Ve- 
 netian Senate had placed the Jews of their Republic 
 on a substantial footing, by granting to them the pri- 
 vilege of establishing a bank in the City of Venice ; 
 and in 1472 the Doge and the Senate protected them 
 from popular outbreaks, besides commanding the 
 magistracy of Padua to treat them with the same con- 
 sideration as all the other subjects of the Venetian 
 Republic. In common with the illustrious family of 
 the Medici, who, as it is well known, were at the 
 
 Q
 
 226 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 same time, sovereigns, bankers, and money-lenders, 
 and who, in the latter capacity, made immense profits 
 from loans upon which they received exorbitant rates 
 of interest, and, in common, also, with the people of 
 all nations, both ancient and modern, the Venetian 
 Jews no doubt lent money to those who sought to 
 borrow it ; but to imagine that at any period of their 
 chequered history every Jew was a money-lender 
 and " usurer " is so preposterous a calumny as to be 
 unworthy of refutation. 
 
 Among the most remarkable and honoured Israelites 
 domiciled in Venice in the fifteenth century was the 
 noble, gifted, and esteemed Don Isaac Abarbanel. 
 He was of an illustrious family of Spanish origin, 
 and had been Finance Minister to Ferdinand and 
 Isabella. He had been afterwards appointed Mi- 
 nister to Alfonso V. and Ferdinand II. of Naples. In 
 the department of Sacred Literature he immortalised 
 his name by his " Dissertations on the Holy Scrip- 
 tures." The presence in Venice, in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury, of an Israelite of such wide fame, and such 
 general respect as a statesman, a diplomatist, and a 
 philosopher, must have sufficed to ensure favourable 
 treatment to the . Jewish people, of whom he was 
 such a remarkable example. 
 
 Mons. Maximilian Misson, in his " New Voyage 
 to Italy," in 1688, says : " There are some Jews in 
 Venice who drive a great trade, especially the Portu- 
 guese, who are very rich here, as well as at Amster- 
 dam and elsewhere. That part of the city which is 
 allotted to them is called II Ghetto, or The Jewry. 
 They wear hats covered with scarlet, doubled and
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POIXT OF VIEW. 227 
 
 edged with black; but the poorer sort use waxed 
 linen instead of cloth." 
 
 Indulging one fine September afternoon in 1840, 
 in a solitary ramble over the Lido, a strip of terra 
 jirma, artificially made to keep out the Adriatic from 
 the City of Venice, I was induced by the fineness 
 of the sea-air to wander farther than I had intended. 
 At the approach of twilight I found myself in an 
 unenclosed piece of land, which, from its damp and 
 mildewed appearance, had evidently been washed by 
 the waves of the Adriatic. I was about to retrace 
 my footsteps to find my gondola when my foot struck 
 against a half-sunken stone. I stopped to examine 
 it, and discovered, with great surprise, that it was 
 inscribed with Hebrew characters, and was the upper 
 portion of a Hebrew grave-stone. My curiosity was 
 quickly aroused, and, with a glow of national emo- 
 tion, I proceeded to inspect other grave-stones, some 
 partially embedded in the earth, which I found scat- 
 tered about in many directions. I at once conjectured 
 that my ramble had led me into a very old and ap- 
 parently disused Jewish cemetery. I became more 
 and more interested ; I thought of Shylock, and the 
 Jewish merchants of Venice of the olden time, as, in 
 my solitude I stood among the ancient tombs of my 
 ancestors, decyphering, not without some difficulty, 
 the dates and inscriptions upon the several grave- 
 stones which I approached. I noticed particularly 
 a stone upon which was engraven the outspread 
 hands, the insignia of the Jewish priesthood ; and 
 other stones upon which were engraven coats of arms, 
 with the addition of a closed helmet. I then copied 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 an indistinct date, 1693, and read the following in- 
 scriptions on two separate stones : " Deo Grazia, 
 Consorte di Davide Emamiele Moccate Falecio, 21, T., 
 1546;" and " Elias Davide Emamiele Moccate, 1542," 
 and a date, 1469, as far as I could make it out. 
 The ancient cemetery seemed capable of containing 
 the dead of many centuries. 
 
 The twilight had been gradually deepening, and, 
 fearing to be overtaken by darkness, I reluctantly 
 returned to seek my gondolier, who had been im- 
 patiently awaiting me. I was unavoidably prevented 
 from again visiting the ancient Jewish cemetery, as I 
 had proposed to do ; but I had seen sufficient to 
 assure me that the Venetian Jews in the fifteenth, 
 sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries had been " men 
 of mark " among the merchants of Venice, that 
 on the JRiatto, where merchants most did congre- 
 gate, they had held their own against the Antonios, 
 the Bassanios, and the Gratianos of the time ; and that 
 the Jews of Venice were not of the mean, abject stamp 
 which the vulgar imagination has so long associated 
 with the Venetian Shy lock. 
 
 III. 
 
 It is notorious that at certain unhappy intervals 
 during the Middle Ages, aptly styled the " Iron Ages " 
 of Judaism, gross-minded rhymesters and ribald 
 romancers were wont to give free vent to their foul 
 fancies in obscene, infamous stories which furnished a 
 kind of unwholesome literary food suited to the 
 vitiated appetites of the intolerant, superstitious
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 229 
 
 readers of those times. The stories which were found 
 most entertaining introduced as the principal charac- 
 ter a rich Jew surcharged with evil propensities and 
 improbable crimes ; a dastardly, sordid, and abased 
 creature, craving for gold and practising " cruel usury/' 
 These slanderous ballads and legends, the ravings of 
 spite and malice, served the purpose for which they 
 were written, viz., to excite popular fury, and to sus- 
 tain irrepressible hatred of the Jews, whose intellec- 
 tual superiority and remarkable sagacity enabled them 
 to acquire a monetary influence and power which their 
 religious antagonists professed to despise, but which in 
 reality they envied. To some of these insensate ballads 
 -and romances to which I shall presently makd further 
 reference probably written between the fourteenth 
 and sixteenth centuries, in different countries, has the 
 world been indebted for those libellous dramas in 
 which a Jew has been made to act an abhorrent part. 
 The first play of this kind is mentioned by Stephen 
 Gosson in his " School of Abuse," 1579 under the 
 title of " The Jew." Its author is not known. It is 
 said by Gosson to have represented " The greedinesse 
 of worldly chusers, and bloody mindes of userers." In 
 it " You will find never a worde without witte ; never 
 a line without pith ; never a letter placed in vaine." 
 It is conjectured as probable that its plot must have 
 included the incidents of the caskets and the pound of 
 flesh, and was essentially the same as that of " The 
 Merchant of Venice." This ancient play, which, as 
 Gosson says, " was showne at the Bull " (Theatre), was 
 followed in 1590-1 by Christopher Mario w's " Rich 
 Jew of Malta," a powerfully written tragedy, but replete
 
 230 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 with horrible incidents, and dramatic " situations " so 
 exaggerated and improbable as to border on the realms 
 of caricature. The principal character is Barabas, a 
 very rich Maltese Jewish merchant, whose richly-laden 
 argosies sailing to and from the east were known in 
 every Mediterranean port. The rich Jew of Malta 
 was not, strange to relate, represented as a " usurer." 
 To show how the Jewish merchant was regarded by 
 the Christian Maltese merchants, I will cite the fol- 
 lowing lines from the tragedy itself : 
 
 SCENE 1. BARABAS discovered in his Counting-house with 
 heaps of gold before him. 
 
 Bur. Bags of fiery opals, sapphires, amethysts ; 
 Jacinths, hard topaz, grass green emeralds, 
 Beauteous rubies, sparkling diamonds, 
 And seld seen costly stones of so great price, 
 As one of them, indifferently rated, 
 And of a carat of this quantity, 
 May serve, in peril of calamity, 
 To ransom great kings from captivity. 
 This is the ware wherein consists my wealth. 
 
 ENTER a Merchant. 
 
 Mer. Barabas, thy ships are safe 
 
 Riding in Malta Road ; and all the merchants 
 With their merchandise are safe arrived, 
 And have sent me to know whether yourself 
 Will come and custom them ? 
 
 Bar. The ships are safe, thou sayest, and richly fraught ? 
 
 Mer. They are. 
 
 Bar. Why then go bid them come ashore 
 
 And bring with them their bills of entry :
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 231 
 
 I hope our credit in the custom-house 
 Will serve as well as I was present there. 
 Go send them three score camels, thirty mules, 
 And twenty waggons to bring up the ware. 
 
 ENTER Second Merchant. 
 
 2 Jller. Thine argosie from Alexandria, 
 
 Know, Barabas, doth ride in Malta Road, 
 Laden with riches, and exceeding store 
 Of Persian silks, of gold, and orient pearl. 
 
 Bar. . . - , . 
 
 What more may Heaven do for earthly man 
 Than thus to pour out plenty in their laps, 
 Ripping the bowels of the earth for them, 
 Making the sea their servants, and the winds 
 To drive their substance with successful blasts ? 
 Who hateth me but for my happiness ? 
 Or who is honored now but for his wealth ? 
 Rather had I, a Jew, be hated thus, 
 Than pitied in a Christian poverty, 
 For I can see no fruits in all their faith 
 But malice, falsehood, and excessive pride : 
 Which, methinks, fit not their profession. 
 
 I must confess we come not to be kings ; 
 
 That's not our fault ; our number's few, 
 
 And crowns come either by succession 
 
 Or urged by force ; and nothing violent 
 
 Oft have I heard tell, can be permanent. 
 
 Give us peaceful rule, make Christians kings, 
 
 That thirst so much for principality. 
 
 I have no charge, nor many children, 
 
 But one sole daughter, whom I hold as dear 
 
 As Agamemnon did his Iphigine ; 
 
 And all I have is hers.
 
 232 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 The Sultan of Turkey sends an embassy to Malta 
 to claim the payment of an overdue ten years' tribute. 
 The sum is too large for the Government of Malta to 
 pay, and the Jews of the" island are called upon to 
 contribute towards it. Barabas, the richest Jew in 
 Malta, is unjustly stripped of all his wealth and worldly 
 possessions ; he is, besides, robbed of his only daughter 
 who is made to apostatise, and to enter a convent of 
 nuns. Goaded to madness by insufferable indignities, 
 by wholesale rapine, and personal insult ; and, more- 
 over, provoked beyond human endurance to a pitch of 
 frenzy, Barabas determines upon revenging himself. 
 He plans and executes many atrocious crimes ; is 
 brought to trial, and is condemned by the Governor of 
 Malta, the hateful originator of all the concomitant 
 evils, to be boiled alive. This inhuman sentence, 
 executed with life-like truth, was daily repeated upon 
 the stage to the inexpressible delight of crowded 
 applauding audiences. " The impossible slanders of 
 the Christian play-wrights which, to-day, would be an 
 insult to common sense, were then," says Mons. 
 Fra^ois Victor Hugo, " consecrated by universal 
 assent. The poets repeated in verse the calumnies 
 that the preachers re-iterated in prose : the stage- 
 boards of the theatre echoed the pulpits of the church. 
 The public enthusiasm was immense at the end of the 
 play, when Barabas, the Jew, was thrown into the 
 foaming cauldron. Nearly the entire population of 
 the good city of London went to see the spectacle. 
 Not being able to roast the bodily form of a Jew, as 
 had been recently done by the citizens of Metz, the 
 Christian populace of London went every day to see
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 233 
 
 one of the race burnt in effigy. Protestantism, instead 
 of allaying the prejudice then existing against the Jews, 
 fanaticised them." What a woeful and humiliating 
 manifestation of Protestant superstition, bigotry, and 
 hate in the brilliant intellectual age of Elizabeth ! 
 
 Hazlitt, the elder, describes the " Rich Jew of Malta " 
 as " extreme in act, and outrageous in plot and catas- 
 trophe : as a tissue of gratuitous, unprovoked, and 
 incredible atrocities, which are committed one upon 
 the back of another by the parties concerned without 
 motive, passion, or object." 
 
 From the extraordinary popular success of Marlow's 
 tragedy, the immediate precursor of " The Merchant of 
 Venice," it may be fairly assumed that the play -goers 
 of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were al- 
 ways ready and willing to welcome any dramatic re- 
 presentation, however extravagant and opposed to 
 probability, which might serve to hold up Jews to 
 public scorn, to derision and unlimited condemnation. 
 Marlow's tragedy prepared the English public for 
 Shakespeare's greater play. The suppositions atroci- 
 ties committed by the grossly-injured ideal Jew of 
 Malta, pioneered the fictitious evil designs of the ill- 
 used ideal Jew of Venice. Shylock was, so to speak, 
 the corollary of Barabas. Shakespeare may possibly 
 have borrowed from Marlow ; but he totally eclipsed 
 him by his dazzling brilliance. 
 
 Of the two principal incidents out of which the plot 
 of " The Merchant of Venice " is formed, viz., those of 
 the caskets, and the bond, or pound of flesh, I am 
 concerned only with the latter, of which there exist 
 numerous versions, all of them being different, and
 
 234 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 purely imaginary, with one exception which I shall 
 hereafter more particularly notice. It was evidently 
 a popular story for many ages, and is supposed to 
 have originated in the east. All the various versions 
 bear more or less a resemblance to the bond story of 
 " The Merchant of Venice." I leave to Shakespeare's 
 commentators to settle among themselves the yet 
 undecided question whence Shakespeare may have 
 borrowed the incidents of his drama, whether from 
 the ancient play, " The Jew," of which Stephen Gosson 
 speaks, or from the more ancient Italian novel, 
 entitled // Pecorone, in which are narrated the adven- 
 tures of Gianetto ; or from the old ribald ballad in 
 three parts, called " Gernutus, the Jew of Venice;" or 
 from another libellous ballad, named " The Northern 
 Lord ;" or from Gregorio Leti's quaint narrative of the 
 wager between a Christian and a Jewish merchant, 
 which took place at Rome in 1585. With my special 
 aim alone in view, it is sufficient for me to point to 
 the significant fact of there being extant so many 
 versions of the same story. 
 
 Many thoughtless persons, it is well known, are in 
 the habit of making use of inflated language upon the 
 most ordinary occasions. To lay wagers in an un- 
 meaning manner is a common foible. How often we 
 listen to such insensate phrases as the following : 
 " I will lay my life !" " I would give the world !" 
 " I bet you anything in the world !" and so on. It 
 would appear, in like manner, to have been an ancient 
 custom in Italy, and probably in other countries, to 
 use such senseless expressions as "I lay you my head!" 
 (Scomctto la mia testa /) or " I betj you a hand !"
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 235 
 
 (Scomctto una memo /) or "I wager you a pound of 
 flesh from my body !" Scomctto una libra di came del 
 mio corpo ! and so on ; with as little intention of for- 
 feiting a pound of flesh as of forfeiting a life, or a 
 head, or a hand, in the faithful discharge of a debt of 
 honour, or a wager. This would seem to be a 
 sufficiently reasonable explanation of the existence of 
 such numerous and varied versions of the pound of 
 flesh bond story. 
 
 Attempts have been made by some Shakespearean 
 critics to cast doubt upon the incident of the " Roman 
 wager," written in quaint Italian, in minute detail, 
 by Gregorio Leti, the biographer of Pope Sixtus V. 
 It has been insinuated that his narrative is not to be 
 depended upon. The motive for this is not far to 
 seek. Had the inexorable claimant .of the pound 
 of flesh, Secchi, been a Roman Jew, instead of being 
 a Roman Christian, and the unfortunate loser of the 
 wager, Cenado, been a Roman Christian instead of 
 being a Roman Jew, there would undoubt'edly have 
 been no difficulty experienced in receiving the story 
 as authentic. In their Introduction to the Clarendon 
 Press edition of "The Merchant of Venice," Messrs. 
 Clarke and Wright conclude with a reference to 
 different versions of the story told by Gregorio Leti, 
 in his ' Life of Sixtus V.,' which (they say) rests on 
 very slight authority. They do not state any grounds 
 for regarding the ' authority ' of Leti as ' slight.' Its 
 author claims for his narrative of the wager-inci- 
 dent equal authority with his narrative of other 
 extraordinary incidents in the life, full of startling cir- 
 cumstances, of one of the most remarkable Pontiffs
 
 236 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 who ever sat upon the Papal throne, and the truth 
 of which has never been doubted. Ellis Fame worth, 
 the English translator and editor of the interest- 
 ing old chronicle, published in London, in 1745, 
 directs attention in a foot-note to the probability 
 of Shakespeare having borrowed the incident of the 
 pound of flesh from the old Italian biography. Al- 
 though he says of Gregorio Leti that when he wrote 
 his work he had grown into the talkative and tau- 
 tological age of man, he, at the same time, freely 
 acknowledges that his statements are for the most 
 part correct, and that they have been confirmed by 
 contemporaneous historians. What possible motive 
 could Leti, who was a Roman Catholic, have had in 
 inventing the incident of the wager, which tells 
 against a merchant of note of his own religious 
 creed ? 
 
 A German book-worm is said by the Germans to 
 have " first' disclosed the curious fact that Shakespeare 
 had borrowed the incident that leads up to the chief 
 situation in Shakespeare's play from a quaint chro- 
 nicle by one of his Italian contemporaries, named 
 Gregorio Leti," and that the Teutonic Shakespeareans 
 hold that the Swan of Avon, besides changing the 
 scene from Rome to Venice, and altering the cha- 
 racter of the contract, transferred the objectionable 
 part of the transaction from the Christian to the Jew, 
 in deference to the rampant religious prejudices of the 
 age he lived in. However this may be, no doubt can 
 be reasonably entertained of the actual occurrence, 
 ^,s described by Leti, during the manhood of our illus- 
 trious bard. The circumstances which surrounded
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 237 
 
 the Roman wager, as well as the incident itself, were 
 so remarkable, that it would appear hardly possible 
 for a report of them not to have reached England, and 
 not to have come under the notice of Shakespeare 
 before he had produced his " Merchant of Venice." 
 
 The full text of Leti's narrative, which I have ex- 
 tracted from " La Vita di Sisto Quinto," and which, I 
 assume, is now published separately for the first 
 time, together with Ellis Farneworth's English trans- 
 lation, to which, to ensure greater accuracy, I have 
 ventured to make a few emendations, will be found in 
 the Appendix at the end of this commentary, to which 
 will be added some other versions of the bond story. 
 
 In bringing to a termination my remarks upon Jews 
 as they are, and as they have been formerly mis- 
 represented by their adversaries, I may, perhaps, be 
 permitted to indulge in hopeful anticipations of a 
 nearer and more frequent intercourse between Chris- 
 tians and Jews, which cannot fail to bring about an 
 increase of mutual sympathy and regard. Both may 
 learn from each other many very valuable lessons 
 of life, and mutually improve each other by a free 
 interchange of ideas and opinions without trenching, 
 in the slightest degree, upon each others' religious 
 convictions. The observance of the passive principle of 
 non-intervention would appear, from long experience, 
 to be the only true basis of mutual peace and amity ; 
 while the active principle of interference, on the con- 
 trary, has been proved by ages of suffering to be 
 the sure source of dissension and enmity, and the 
 very bane of existence. Life is too precious to be 
 employed in vain contentions ! Time is too brief to
 
 "238 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 be wasted in futile disputations. All men and women 
 have much to learn, to do, and to suffer, for which 
 their unexhausted physical and moral powers should 
 be kept always in reserve. Would that Christians 
 and Jews might alike recognise the fact that they 
 have in reality much in common; and that, while 
 seeking to know each other better than they have 
 hitherto done, they might wisely arrive at the con- 
 clusion that it is the Will of God that they should 
 dwell together in peace and love as the children of the 
 one Universal Father.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE following are among the sources from which Shakes- 
 peare may have borrowed the chief incident in the " Mer- 
 diant of Venice" : 
 
 DOLOPATHOS ; or the King and the seven Sages. 
 
 A Latin collection of tales written hy Jean of Haute- 
 Seille (1179-1212). Translated into French hy Herbert 
 in 1223. 
 
 A young lord had borrowed a sum of money from a rich 
 vassal, who, from having taken some offence, had become 
 his enemy. The lord agreed that in the event of his being 
 unable to repay the loan at a fixed period, his vassal should 
 be at liberty to cut a pound of flesh from his body-. The 
 money was not forthcoming at the time appointed, and the 
 vassal claimed his pound of flesh. The lord is spared 
 through the intercession of his lady. Having refused the 
 money when afterwards offered to him, the vassal is, in 
 the end, condemned to pay his lord a sum of money. 
 
 THE Box i> STORY in a collection of stories entitled 
 41 Gesta Romanorum." 
 
 The Anglo-Latin version of this story was compiled 
 about A.D. 1390, and the English version about A.D. 1450. 
 This story, according to Madden, is not to be found in the 
 original Latin version. It is said to be discoverable in 
 some Latin MSS. of Germany of the loth century, notably 
 in the Augsburg Edition of 1489, and (Esterly's Berlin 
 Edition of 1872.
 
 240 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Mr. Wright has printed it in his " Latin Stories of the 
 Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries." It bears the following 
 title : " De milite conventionem faciente cum mercatore." 
 The bond runs thus : " Conventis talis erit, quod mihi 
 cartam unam de sanguine trio facias, quod si diem inter nos 
 non tenueris carnes tui corporis evellere cum gladis acuto." 
 
 The contracting parties are a Christian knight and a 
 Christian merchant. "A knight borrows money of a 
 merchant on condition of forfeiting all his flesh for the non- 
 repayment." The money is not repaid and the penalty is 
 claimed. The parties appear before the judge. The 
 knight's mistress comes into court disguised as a man, and 
 by permission of the judge she endeavours in vain to induce 
 the inflexible merchant to forego his claim. She offers to 
 repay him ; she even offers him double the amount, but his 
 reply is always the same, "I will have my bond." The 
 disguised lady then demands from the judge a just verdict. 
 " You know," said the lady. " that the knight pledged his 
 flesh only, but without his blood, of which there is no 
 mention in the bond. Let the merchant cut the flesh from 
 the knight's body ; but if he shed blood he will be answer- 
 able to the king." "Then," said the merchant, "give me 
 my money, and I discharge him from the action." But the 
 lady replied, " Not one penny shall you have ! cut his 
 flesh, but shed no blood ! " The merchant, finding himself 
 over-reached, departed. The knight was saved, and the 
 merchant lost his money. 
 
 THE BOND STOKY in the " Cursor Mundi," originally 
 written at the end of the thirteenth century in English 
 in a northern dialect. 
 
 The following is an outline of the story : 
 A Christian goldsmith in the service of Queen Eline, the 
 mother of Constantino, had borrowed from a Jew a sum of
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEAV. 241 
 
 money, upon an agreement that should he not return the 
 coin at a stated time he Avould render to his creditor an 
 equal weight of his own flesh. The time for repayment 
 arrived ; hut the money was not forthcoming, whereupon 
 the Jew went to the Queen's court and demanded to have 
 judgment awarded him. It happened that two messengers 
 from the court of Constantino, named respectively Benciras 
 and Ansieres, had been sent on a mission to heg Eliue, 
 the Queen, to cause a search to be made for the holy cross ; 
 and these messengers were sitting in her court as judges, 
 before whom soon appeared both the Christian and the Jew, 
 the former being naked, and the latter bearing a sharp 
 knife. The Jew, who would not agree to a ransom, was 
 promised justice, and was asked by Benciras and Ansieres 
 how he would treat his debtor if he were adjudged to him. 
 " How ? " replied the Jew, " I would treat him as ill as 
 the law would allow. First I would put out his eyes ; 
 then I would cut off his hands with which he works. I 
 would then have his tongue, and his nose, and so on until 
 the covenant be fulfilled." To which the judges responded : 
 "It seemeth to us that you will not spare him. Take 
 therefore his flesh, for that he grants you so long as you 
 take not his blood. But beware that he lose not one drop 
 of blood, for if he do, the wrong will be on you ; because 
 though his flesh were bought or sold he did not think to 
 sell his blood." 
 
 " Then," said the Jew, " By St. Drightiu 
 
 Methink the averse part is mine ; 
 
 To take the flesh if I assay 
 
 Then the Wood will run away : 
 
 For don ye have me with your dome 
 
 That you Romans hrought from Rome, 
 
 Curses therefore may they have 
 
 All that such a dome me gave." 
 
 Then said Benciras : " The whole court has heard your
 
 242 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 abuse of us in your ire ; the Queen has sent us here to do- 
 righteousness, and we have told you the truth ! " Queen 
 Eliue, being well assured of the Christian's safety, bade 
 the judges to condemn the Jew to yield to her all his 
 possessions ; and also to doom him to lose his abusive- 
 tongue. " I would rather tell you where your Lord's rood- 
 tree lies," exclaimed the Jew, " than be thus condemned." 
 And Queen Eline pardoned the Jew upon the condition 
 that he would point out the place where the Holy Cross 
 lay hidden. Having done so he was pardoned. 
 
 THE ADVENTUEES OF GIAXETTO. From 11 Pecorone* 
 or the Loggerhead ; written by Ser Giovanni Florentine, 
 in 1378. Published at Milan in 1558. (The story is told 
 on the 4th day.) From Hazlitt's Shakespeare Library. 
 
 There was once a very rich merchant of Italy named 
 Bindo, who had three sons, the youngest of whom was 
 named Gianetto. When he was about to die he called his 
 sons to his bedside and informed them that he had be- 
 queathed his fortune to his two eldest sons, and had left 
 no patrimony to his youngest son. He gave him his 
 blessing, however, and recommended him to the care of an 
 old friend named Ansaldo, a wealthy merchant of Venice, 
 whom he had not seen for many years. When Bindo died 
 the two elder brothers generously proposed to share their 
 patrimony with their younger brother ; but, although 
 grateful for their fraternal kindness, Gianetto declined the 
 offer, and immediately prepared to travel to Venice to seek 
 his father's old friend. Ansaldo received Giauetto with 
 paternal affection, and, having been informed of Bindo's 
 death, and that Gianetto had received no share of his 
 fortune, he determined to befriend him, and caused a ship 
 to be fitted out with a valuable cargo, and in it he sent his 
 friend's son to seek his fortune. On his first voyage
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 
 
 Gianetto Avas much attracted by a beautiful island, which, 
 upon enquiry, he learned belonged to a rich and beautiful 
 unmarried lady, and that the island was called Belmonte. 
 He further learnt that no commander of a ship was per- 
 mitted to land upon the island except upon certain 
 conditions, which if not performed would involye the 
 certain forfeiture, to the lady, of the vessel with all her 
 freight. It was told to Gianetto that many commanders 
 of ships had lauded there and had lost their ships with 
 their cargoes. This stimulated Gianetto's curiosity the 
 more, and he determined to land, and take the risk. The 
 Lady of Belmonte was informed of the arrival of a hand- 
 some young foreigner, and he was at once invited to her 
 palace, and was received graciously. Being unable to fulfil 
 the conditions imposed upon him, his ship and its rich 
 freight became forfeited to the lady according to the usual 
 custom of the place. He returned to Venice, and after 
 some delays he reached that city without any property. 
 The sailors who had accompanied him having dispersed 
 to different countries, were not to be found. Gianetto 
 accounted to Ansaldo for the loss of his ship by stating 
 that he had been shipwrecked. Ansaldo was desirous of 
 giving his old friend's son another chance of making a 
 fortune, and he fitted out another ship with a rich cargo, 
 in which Gianetto set sail for the same island of Belmonte, 
 hoping to be more successful than on his first venture. 
 Again, under the identical circumstances, he lost his ship 
 and her freight. On his return to Venice Gianetto con- 
 fided to Ansaldo the whole truth, and his generous friend 
 again determined to send him forth as before. But he had 
 so much impoverished himself that he had not sufficient 
 ready money for the expenses of the third outfit, and was 
 obliged to borrow ten thousand crowns from a Venetian 
 Jew, with whom he contracted a bond that if ho did not 
 
 R2
 
 M4 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 punctually return the amount by a fixed date he would for- 
 feit a pound of flesh, to be cut from his body. Gianetto on 
 his third visit to Belmonte found himself able to perform 
 the conditions under which he might remain on the island ; 
 and, having fallen desperately in love with the beautiful 
 Lady of Belmonte, the time had passed so agreeably that 
 he had entirely forgotten his friend at Venice, who, in 
 order to serve him, had entered into so terrible a bond. 
 Having at length remembered it, the time having elapsed, 
 he hastened to Venice, and offered double the amount 
 to release Ansaldo from his engagement ; but his Jewish 
 creditor refused to accept the money, and claimed the 
 poimd of flesh. The Lady of Belmonte having been in- 
 formed of the circumstances hastened also to Venice, 
 disguised as a lawyer, and having again offered to repay 
 the Jew more than the amount, which offer was again 
 refused, judged that Ansaldo must lose the pound of flesh ; 
 but the Jew was cautioned that in cutting the flesh no 
 blood must be spilled, nor must more than an exact pound 
 be taken, or he would be sentenced to lose his life. The 
 forfeiture, it is almost needless to add, was not insisted 
 upon, and the creditor lost his money. 
 
 The full details of this curious fable of the Middle Ages, 
 which faithfully disclose the loose ideas of morality which 
 then prevailed, are unfit for publication. They will be 
 found in Hazlitt's Shakespeare Library. 
 
 A. story in many respects resembling the above is 
 included in the Gesta Eomanorum, " oriental legends and 
 classical fables," compiled from old Latin chronicles. It 
 commences with : " Selistinus reigned, a wise Emperor 
 in Rome, and he had a fair daughter." "Englished" from 
 a MS. preserved in the Harleian collection of the British 
 Museum in the time of Henry VI. It is given in full, 
 with the original orthography in Douce's Illustrations of
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 245 
 
 Shakespeare. Some of the incidents are similar, their 
 action is different, but the full text is equally unfit for 
 publication. 
 
 THE PERSIAN BOXD STORY, translated by Francis 
 Glad win, Esq., from a Persian MS. of Oriental anecdotes. 
 Extracted from his grammar published at Calcutta under 
 the title of The Persian Moonshee. From the British Maga- 
 zine, vol. 1, page 158. From January to June 1800. 
 
 " A person laid a wager with another that if he did not 
 win (a wager), the other might cut off a seer of flesh from 
 his body. Having lost the wager the plaintiff wanted to 
 cut off the seer of his flesh, but he not consenting, they 
 went together before the Cazy. The Cazy recommended 
 the plaintiff to forgive him ; but he would not agree to 
 it. The Cazy, being enraged at this refusal, said, ' Cut it 
 off ; but if you exceed, or fall short of the seer, in the 
 smallest degree, I will inflict on you a punishment adequate 
 to the offence.' The plaintiff, seeing the impossibility of 
 what was required of him, had no remedy, and therefore 
 dropped the' prosecution." 
 
 THE BALLAD OF GERXTJTUS, a Jew, " who, lending 
 to a merchant an hundred crowns would have a pound 
 of his fleshe because he could not pay him at the time 
 appointed." 
 
 (To the tune of Black and Yellow.} 
 
 This Ballad is published in Bishop Percy's Eeliques of 
 Antique English Poetry, and also in Hazlitt's Shakespeare 
 Library. 
 
 It is hardly possible to conceive anything more veno- 
 mously malicious than this ancient song, written in doggerel 
 rhyme by an anonymous ribald balladmonger, who gives 
 expression to the concentrated intolerant spite and pre-
 
 246 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 judice of ages of religious hatred. Throughout many 
 verses, divided into two parts, he exhibits an exuberance 
 of animus which it is certain must have filled the Jew- 
 haters of the period with extravagant delight. Gernutus 
 is conjectured to be at least as old as Shakespeare. There 
 are strong points of resemblance between its story and The 
 Merchant of Venice, which have led critics to suppose that 
 Shakespeare borrowed from it the leading incident of his 
 play. I think it more reasonable to entertain the contrary 
 opinion, that the ballad was borrowed from the play, for I 
 cannot believe that Shakespeare would have condescended 
 to borrow ideas from an anonymous and vulgar rhymester 
 who could pen such lines as we find in this ballad. 
 
 THE BOXD AND FLESH STORY from the Orator of Alex- 
 ander Silvaiyne. "Englished" by L. P. 4to, 1596. 
 
 " Of a Jew who would for his debt have a pound of the 
 flesh of a Christan." 
 
 A Jew unto whom a Christian merchant owed nine 
 hundred crowns would have summoned him for the same 
 in Turkey. The merchant, because he would- not be dis- 
 credited, promised to pay the said sum within the term of 
 three months ; and if he paid it not, he was bound to give 
 him a pound of the flesh of his body. The term being 
 past some fifteen days, the Jew refused to take his money, 
 and demanded the pound of his flesh. The ordinary judge 
 of that place appointed him to cut a just pound of the 
 Christian's flesh, and if he cut either more or less, then his 
 own head should be smitten off. The Jew appealed from 
 this sentence unto the chief judge. 
 
 Then follow two long harangues delivered by the Jew 
 and the Christian. The former argues, with considerable 
 ingenuity, in justification of his right, and the latter 
 replies, exhibiting in his speech, in the grossest manner
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 247 
 
 the venomous spirit which then prevailed against the Jew, 
 his race, and his religion. He indulges without limit in 
 vulgar abuse, and betrays in every sentence the intolerance 
 and prejudice of the age. The first speech, replete with 
 comprehensive argument, is delivered by the Jewish 
 creditor, and is called " The Declamation ;" the reply by the 
 debtor is called "The Christian's Answer." The trans- 
 lation by Anthony Mundy, under the pseudonym of 
 Lazarus Piot, " was written," says Douce, " before 1596, 
 because it is mentioned by Francis Meeres in his Palladia 
 Tamia in 1598, consequently the English version did not 
 iippear until after the production of The Merchant of 
 Venice." 
 
 THE NORTHERN LORD. An ancient ballad in four 
 parts, " To a pleasant tune." In Percy's Reliques of Antient 
 Poetry : also in Hazlitt's Shakespeare Library. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. An Egyptian version in the auto- 
 biography of Lutfullah. Eastwich edition, pp. 122-8. 
 
 ENSIGN THOMAS MUNRO'S MANUSCRIPT, given by 
 ^laloue in his edition of Shakespeare. In Persian. Vol. 
 v., p. 168. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In Corrozet's " Divers propos 
 memorables," &c., 1557. 12mo. P. 77. Translated under 
 the title of Memorable Conceits of divers noble and famous 
 personages of Christendom, &c. 1602. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In " Apothegmes, ou la recreation 
 de la Jeunesse." P. 155. 
 
 This story agrees with that related by Gracian in his 
 Hero; vide Stevens's Shakespeare, 5th vol., p. 515. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In Tyron Eecueil de plusieres plaisantes 
 nouvelles, &c., Anvers. 1590. 
 
 Besides the foregoing versions of the " Bond Story " 
 known in Shakespeare's time, are the following published 
 in Franco after his death :
 
 24*8 JEWS AS THEY AHE. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In Roger Hontemps en belle humeur.. 
 In the Tre'sor des recreations. Douay, 1625. 18mo, p. 27. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In the Courier Facctieiix. Lyon, 
 1650. 8vo, p. 109. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In the Chasse ennuy. 1645. 18mo, 
 p. 49. 
 
 THE BOND STORY. In Docta nugce. Gaudensij Jocosi,. 
 1713. p. 23. 
 
 THE ROMAN WAGER. 
 
 The full text of the extraordinary wager contracted in 
 Rome in 1585 between Paolo Maria Secchi, a Christian' 
 merchant, and Samson Cenada, a Jewish merchant. From 
 Gregorio Leti's Vita di Sisto Quinto, published at Amster- 
 dam in 1698. 
 
 " Si era sparsa la voce in Bom a che Francesco Drago, 
 Ammiralio Inglese della Regina Elisabetta, avea preso e 
 sacchegiato la citta di San Domenico, nell' Isola Spagniola,. 
 dove avea fatto grandissima preda ; e questa nuova era 
 prevenuta con particolar lettera al Signor Paolo Maria 
 Secchi ; mercante ricco ed auttorevole in Roma, che avea 
 qualche interesse in quelle parti, e come avea in qnalche 
 maniera ancora per sno mallevadore im tal Giudeo, Sansone- 
 Cenada fattolo chiamare gli fece rapporto dell'avi.so. II 
 Giudeo, di cui vi andava 1'interesse a far conoscere falsa, 
 tal nuova, si diede a muover ragioni in contrario, e sia, che 
 fosse transportate dalla propria passione, o che veramente- 
 si lasciaste persuadere che falso fosse 1'aviso, o che pure a 
 qualsisia prezzo volesse sostenere li suoi sentimcnti, basta 
 che si lascio scappar di bocca la parola : ' Scorn etto una 
 libra di carne del mio corpo che questonone vero.' Che per 
 dire il vero sono scomesse che sogliono farse da quei che 
 son duri nel loro sentimento, cioe, ' Scometto la mia testa ;-, 
 Scometto una rnano, e cose simili.' Secchi, ch'era un poco-
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH PO1XT OF VIEW. 249 
 
 fiero o capriccioso, senteudo tal proposta rispose subito,. 
 <Ed io scomettero mille scudi contro la vostra libra di 
 carne eke questo e vero.' II Giudeo fu cosi ostinato e 
 temerario nel suo seiitimeuto, cbe nel punto istesso, stesa 
 la mano, soggiunse ; 'Xe saremo ancbe una scrittura se 
 vuole ' ; ed il Seccbi, assai umorista, senza piu ritardo, in 
 presenza di due testimonii, conchiuse un biglietto, il quale 
 portava, ' Cb'essendo falsa la uuova cbe la citta di Sau 
 Domenico nell' Isola Spagniola sia stato presa dal Drago 
 per un tal tempo, cbe il Signer Paolo Maria Seccbi sara 
 obligato di pagare il Giudeo, Sansone Cenada, mille scudi 
 in coutanti di buona moneta ; ed al contrario essendo vera, 
 sara permesso al detto Seccbi di tagliare con sua propria 
 mano, e con suo coltello ben affiliate, una libra di carne del 
 corpo d'esso Giudeo in quella parte lo stimera, a proposito, 
 e questo biglietto non solo venne sottoscritto di loro propria 
 mano con doppia copia, ma di piu da due testimonii, cioe 
 da un Cristiano, e da un Giudeo, ambidue mercanti di 
 qualcbe comodo.' La disgrazia per 1'Ebreo voile cbi prima 
 di tre mesi si verifico per indubitabile tal presa e sacco di 
 tal citta di modo cbe, tutto afflitto, avendo inteso cbe 
 ostinamente gettava il Seccbi di volergi tagliare una libra 
 di carne, in virtu del compromesso, col scioglere quella 
 parte cbe il lettore puo intendere, e che la modestia non vuol 
 cbe io nomini, gli fece offrire di pagarli mille scudi, che 
 corrispondeva al prezzo della sua scomessa, ma il Seccbi 
 protesto con gran fierezza, e giuramento di voler cbe dal 
 Giudeo si sodisfacesse all' obligo del biglietto, onde questo- 
 mescbino corse al Governatore di Roma, con il disegno di 
 fare obligare il Seccbi a contentarsi di ricevere 1'equivalente- 
 di mille scudi, il Governatore cbe sapeva molto bene quanto 
 si compiacesse il Papa di dar sentenza egli stesso in cose 
 di tal natura, ando ad informarlo del tutto, a cosi vennero 
 cbiamati ambidue in sua presenza, da cui lettosi il biglietto.
 
 "250 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 dell' obligazionc, ed informato della lor bocca piu ampia- 
 mente delle difficolta rispose ; ' Quando si fanno scomesse 
 bisogua osservale, e Noi intendiamo che da voi sia esatta- 
 mente osservata la vostra. Pigliate dunque il vostro 
 coltello tagliante, ed in nostra presenza tagliate al Giudeo 
 Tina libra di carne in qnella parte che vi piacera del suo 
 corpo : ma pigliate ben guardia al taglio, percbe se ne 
 tagliate xina semplice dragma piu o meno si dara contro di 
 voi irremisibilmente sentenza di forclie, che si prepari 
 dunque il coltello, ed un paro di bilancio per 1'esecnzione 
 del tutto.' Nel udir tale sentenza il povero mercante, 
 Secchi comincio a tremar da capo a piedi, come se gli 
 cominciasse la febbra quartana ; e baciando la terra innanzi 
 i piedi del Papa, con amare lagrime negli occhi, faceva 
 conoscere con tali gesti d'esser molto lontano dal pensiere 
 d'una tal' esecuzione ; ed, in tauto, interrogate dal Papa di 
 qiiello resolvesse di fare, cosi lagrimente rispose : ' Son 
 contento, Padre Santo ; ne altro domando che la sola bene- 
 tlizione della Santita vostra, e che si stracci il biglietto.' 
 Rivolto poi al Giudeo gli disse : ' E tu, che cosa dice ? 
 Sei tii ancora contento ? ' Rispose 1'infelice Giudeo che 
 si stimava felice d'avere ottenuto una cosi favorevole 
 sentenza, per 1' impossibility di tagliare in cose giusto peso ; 
 ' Contentissimo Padre Santo ! ' Repplico il Pontefice : 
 ' Ma Noi, non siamo contento ; ne il nostro Governatore, 
 capo della nostra Giustizia. E da qual legge avete voi 
 imparato di fare scommesse di tal natura ? Li sudditi de' 
 Prencipi siano gli uomini che del mondo tutto non hanno 
 che 1'uso solo del loro corpo, ma non possono venderlo, ne 
 in tutto, ne in parte, senza espressa licenza del sovrano.' 
 
 Vennero dunque condotti ambidue in prigione, e ncl 
 punto istesso ordino al Governatore di Roma che per dare 
 esempio ad altri di non impegnarsi a cosi scaiidalose sco- 
 messe, dovesse esercitar contro di loro 1'ultimo rigore della
 
 SHYLOCK, FIIOM A JEWISH POLNT OF VIEW. 251 
 
 giustizia. Non manco il Governatore di rappresentarli, 
 die veraraente meritavano d'esser condannate ambidue in 
 una emenda di mille sctidi ciascuno ed a, cui rispose Sisto ; 
 'E non altro ? Dunque sara permesso ad un sudito di 
 disponere della sua vita a suo piacere ? Nou e forse vero 
 <*he il Giiideo col permettere che se gli tagli una libra di 
 carne del suo corpo, con un biglietto di sua mano, ha esposto 
 la sua vita alia morte ? e questo non e un'essere omicida di 
 se stesso ? Non e forse vero che il Secchi ha commesso un 
 omicidio voluntario nel trattar prima, nel conchiudere poi, 
 c nel voler finalmente eseguire la scomessa di tagliare una 
 libra di carne d'al Giiideo ? Che si metier a, forse in dubio 
 da voi che tagliandosi la libra di carne d'al Giudeo, che non 
 fosse infallibilmente morto visto il cattivo disegno dell'- 
 altro nella natura del luogo che avea designate per il 
 taglio ? Dunque ecco due omicidi voluntari, e questi si cas- 
 tigheranno nel nostro Ponteficato con una sola emenda ?' 
 
 Rispose a que.sto il Governatore che il Secchi protestava 
 di non avere avuto pensiero alcuno d'eseguire il fatto, ma- 
 solo di far scorno, e paura al Giudeo ; e questo ancora testi- 
 moniava d'aver fatto tale scomessa perche non credeva che 
 fosse mai 1'altro per venire al fatto. Ripliglio Sisto : 
 * Ma quelle proteste si sono fatte da che sono state le parli 
 nella nostra presenza, e dalgiudice, chevuol dire per timore 
 della giustizia, e qual credito deve darsi ad una tal con- 
 fessione ? Che vadino ambidue alle forche, che li dia la 
 sentenza di morte, e nostra sara poi la cura di quello dovra 
 farsi del resto.' 
 
 In somma venuero ambidue sentenziate alia testa, e la 
 sentenza gli venne pronunziata come al solito ; la qual cosa 
 messe in iscompiglio, ed in timore la citta tutta ancor che 
 nessuuo ardisse qualifarcale ingiusta, prima perche il Secchi 
 aveva parenti molto onorevoli, e ricche, ed il Giudeo era 
 di primi della lor Synagoga, di modo che gli uni, e gli altri
 
 252 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 cominciarono a ricorrere con memorial!, e preglnere appresso 
 il Cardinale Montalto, per impenetrare almeno la grazia 
 della vita. II Pontefice non aveva veramente la volunta di 
 faiii niorire, ma solo volea accrescere a tutti del timore, 
 accio meglio imparassero gli altri a caminar drittamentc, 
 clie pero si lascio voluntieri persuadere a mutar la sentenza 
 della Testa a quella della Galera ; con la liberta ad ogni 
 modo di poterli riscattare ancbe da questa, mediante lo 
 sborro ciascuno di due mila scudi, da essere applicati al- 
 Vllospitale di Ponte Sisto clie sua Santitafacea fabbricare di 
 nuovo, ma pero non prima che avessero la catena nel picde ; 
 e cosi pagato il denaro ebbero la liberta ; e questa fii la 
 prima grazia cbe fece questo Pontefice." 
 
 THE ROMAN WAGER. 
 
 An English version of tbe pound of flesh incident in 
 Oregorio Leti's Life of Sixtus V., partly by Ellis Farne- 
 wortb, the translator of the biography (1754). 
 
 It was currently reported in Rome (1585) that Sir 
 Francis Drake, the English admiral, had taken and plun- 
 dered St. Domingo in Hispaniola, and had carried off an 
 immense booty. This account had been forwarded in a 
 private letter to Paul Maria Secchi, a rich Roman mer- 
 chant, Avho had in those parts property which he had 
 insured. Upon receiving the news he sent for the insurer, 
 Samson Cenada, a Jew, and acquainted him with it. Tho 
 Jew, whose interest it was to have such a report dis- 
 credited, gave many reasons why it could not possibly be 
 true, and at last worked himself up into such a passion 
 that he cried, ' I'll lay you a pound of my flesh it is false.' 
 Such kinds of wagers it is known are often proposed by 
 people of strong passions to convince others that are in- 
 credulous or obstinate. Nothing is more common than to 
 say, 'I'll lay my life on it,' 'I'll forfeit my right hand,'
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 253 
 
 &c., &c. Secchi, who was of a hot temper, replied, 'I'll 
 lay you a thousand crowns against your pound of flesh that 
 it's true.' The Jew accepted the wager, and a contract 
 was immediately executed between them, the substance of 
 which was, that if Secchi won the wager he should him- 
 self cut the pound of flesh Avith a sharp knife from what- 
 ever part of the Jew's body he pleased. Unfortunately for 
 the Jew the truth of the report was soon after confirmed 
 by other advices from the West Indies, which threw him 
 almost into distraction, especially when he was informed 
 that the Christian Secchi had solemnly sworn that he 
 would compel him to the exact literal performance of his 
 contract, and was determined to cut a pound of flesh from 
 that part of the body which it is unnecessary to mention. 
 Upon this Cenada hastened to the Governor of Rome, and 
 implored him to interpose in the affair, and use his 
 authority with Secchi to prevail upon him to accept one 
 thousand crowns as an equivalent for the pound of flesh. 
 But the Governor did not dare to take upon himself the 
 responsibility of determining a case of so uncommon a 
 nature, and reported it to the Pope, who summoned the Jew 
 and the Christian to his presence. Having read the articles, 
 and heard the particulars of the matter from their own 
 lips, Sixtus said, " When contracts are entered into 
 it is just that they should be fulfilled, as we intend ihat 
 this shall be. Take therefore a knife, Secchi, and cut a 
 pound of flesh from any part of Cenada's body you please. 
 We would counsel you, however, to be very careful, for if 
 you cut but a scruple, or a grain, more or less than your 
 due, you shall assuredly be hanged. Go, and bring hither 
 n knife and a pair of scales, and let it be done in our 
 presence." The Christian merchant at these words began 
 to tremble from head to foot as if he had an ague-fit, and, 
 throwing himself at the feet of his Holiness, protested, with
 
 254 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 tears in liis eyes, that " it was far from his thoughts to 
 insist upon the performance of the contract." Being asked 
 by Sixtus what he demanded, he answered, " Nothing, Holy 
 Father, but to obtain your benediction, and that the con- 
 tract may be at once cancelled." Then turning to the Jew, 
 Cenada, he enquired of him, " What he had to say, and 
 whether he was content." The Jew replied that he thought 
 himself extremely happy to come off at so easy a rate, and 
 that he was perfectly satisfied. " But," exclaimed Sixtus, 
 "we are not satisfied, nor are our laws satisfied. We desire 
 to know by what authority you lay such wagers ? We 
 would have you to know that the subjects of Sovereign 
 Princes are the property of the State, and that they have no 
 right to dispose of their bodies, nor of any part of them, 
 without the express license of their Sovereigns ! " Both 
 delinquents were at once sent to prison, and the Governor of 
 Home was commanded to proceed against them with the 
 utmost severity of the law, in order that, by their example, 
 others might be deterred from laying any more such wagers. 
 The Governor, thinking to please the Pope, and willing to 
 know what sort of punishment he had a mind should be 
 inflicted upon them, said, " Doubtless they had been guilty 
 of a great crime, and he thought that they deserved to be 
 fined, each of them, a thousand crowns." " To be fined 
 each of them a thousand crowns ? " exclaimed Sixtus. 
 " And do you think that penalty siifficient ? What ! shall 
 any one of our subjects presume to dispose of his life with- 
 out our permission ? Is it not clear that the Jew has 
 actually forfeited his life by consenting to ha've a pound of 
 his flesh cut-off ? Is not this direct suicide ? And is it not 
 likewise true that the merchant is equally guilty of pre- 
 meditated murder in making a contract with the other 
 that he knew must be the occasion of his death if he 
 insisted upon its performance, as it is said he did ?
 
 SHYLOCK, FROM A JEWISH POINT OF VIEW. 255 
 
 Shall two such villains be let off by paying a simple 
 fine ? " The governor repeating that Secchi protested that 
 he had not the least design of insisting upon the per- 
 formance of the contract, and that Ceuada did not at all 
 imagine he would claim the forfeit when he lay the wager, 
 Sixtus replied : " These protestations are only made out of 
 fear of punishment, and because they are in our presence, 
 and therefore no regard ought to be paid to them. Let 
 them both be hanged ! Do you pass that sentence upon 
 them, and we will take care of the rest." In a word, they 
 were both condemned to suffer death, to the great terror 
 and amazement of the whole city, although none durst 
 open his mouth to declare the sentence xmjust. 
 
 As Secchi was a member of a very good Roman family, 
 having many great friends and relations, and Cenada was 
 one of the most distinguished men in the Jewish Synagogue, 
 they both had recourse to petitions, and strong appeals 
 were made to Cardinal Moutalto, to intercede with the 
 Pope, at least to spare their lives. 
 
 Sixtus, who had no real design to put the prisoners to 
 death but who desired merely to deter others from such mal- 
 practices in future, at length consented to commute their 
 death-sentence to that of the galleys, with liberty to buy off 
 that punishment by the payment of 2,000 crowns each, to- 
 be applied to the Hospital of the Bridge of Sixtus, which 
 was then being rebuilt by the Pope. This penalty was re- 
 quired to be paid by Secchi and Cenada before they 
 were released from prison, and they were moreover 
 ordered to be ignomiuiously kept with chains on their feet 
 until the fine was paid. " This," says Gregorio Leti, " was 
 the Pope's first act of grace."
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN KUSSIA.
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN EUSSIA. 
 
 BY her spontaneous and unanimous outburst of 
 generous sympathy with the unutterable agony of 
 the Jews of Russia and Poland, Cnristian England 
 lias increased her honour, presented a glorious example 
 to civilised Europe, and won the great heart and ever- 
 lasting gratitude of the Jewish people throughout the 
 world. Christian Russia has outraged humanity, and 
 has earned the execration of mankind. Christian 
 England is ashamed of " Holy Russia," who has dis- 
 honoured their common Christianity by her savage 
 treatment of the Czar's unoffending Jewish subjects. 
 " In the moral and religious protests of a great and 
 free people on behalf of justice and humanity there 
 is a real and effective force," says the venerable Earl 
 of Shaftesbury, " that will reach, no doubt, the ears 
 of even the Emperor himself, and his responsible 
 ministers. At any rate, it will be a relief and a 
 comfort to show the whole world that the Christianity 
 of this kingdom is a very different kind of thing from 
 the, so-called, Christianity of Russia, and from that of 
 some parts of Germany also." We read, upon incon- 
 testable and independent testimony, among other 
 horrors almost too fearful for transcription, that at one 
 
 s 2
 
 260 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 place thirty Jewesses were outraged, and that through 
 dread of a similar fate, young girls precipitated them- 
 selves from the windows. Meanwhile the military had 
 been called out, but only to act at first as spectators, and 
 afterwards as passive participators. We also read : 
 " After a week's pause, a whole series of riots broke 
 out, commencing on May 7th, at Smielo,nearCzergassy r 
 wher6 13 men were killed and 20 wounded, and 1,600 
 were left without homes. Next day, Sunday, May 8th, 
 a most serious riot broke out at Kiew, once the capital 
 of Russia, and still an important town, containing 
 20,000 Jews in a population of 140,000. Here the 
 riot had been definitely announced for the Sunday, 
 and the Jews sent a deputation to the Governor* 
 requesting him to call out his soldiers to prevent dis- 
 turbance. He bluntly refused, saying he would not. 
 ' trouble his soldiers for the sake of a pack of Jews.' 
 During the riot which broke out on the day fixed, the 
 police and the soldiers again acted the same part that 
 that they had done at Elizabethgrad. The first pro- 
 cedure of the mob had been to storm the dram-shops, 
 and, staving in the brandy casks, to wallow in the 
 spirit. During the period of licence that followed, 
 four Jews were killed, 25 women and girls were vio- 
 lated, of whom five died in consequence, as was proved 
 at the subsequent trials. At the house of Mordecai 
 Wienarski, the mob, disappointed in the search for 
 plunder, caught up his little child three years old and 
 brutally threw it out of the window. The child fell 
 dead at the feet of a company of Cossacks who were 
 drawn up outside, yet no attempt was made to arrest 
 the murderers."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 261 
 
 We must search the darkest pages of mediaeval 
 history to find a parallel to such enormities as the 
 foregoing graphically and truly describes. And when 
 we reflect that they have been tacitly permitted to be 
 enacted by a nation in such intimate alliance with the 
 British Empire, at a distance of only three or four 
 days journey from our own shores, it is impossible to 
 find a limit to our horror, disgust, and wholesale con- 
 demnation. " The municipalities, with the connivance 
 of the local governments, have taken every means in 
 their power to add to the misery of the situation. 
 With rough logic, they argued that, as these riots were 
 directed against the Jews, if there had been no Jews, 
 there would have been no riots. They accordingly 
 petitioned the governors of their provinces to issue 
 orders for the expulsion of the Jews from towns in 
 which they had no legal right of domicile." 
 
 " It is certain/' says the Times correspondent, " that 
 the direct cause of the objection of the Russians to 
 their Jewish fellow-citizens is the natural result of the 
 Russian laws which restrict their rights and mark 
 them off from the rest of the nation. It is the lesson 
 taught by all experience, that the only solution of the 
 Jewish question is the granting of full equality. It is 
 absolutely certain that the whole body of Jews, form- 
 ing one-eighth of the population amid which they 
 dwell, cannot be accused of ' exploitation ' or ' usury,' 
 as imputed by the Rescript, the fact being that the 
 chief industries of Russia are in the hands of the 
 thrifty and hard-working Jews. Again, objection to 
 innkeeping by Jews is clearly a gross injustice, seeing 
 that statistics show drunkenness to be more prevalent
 
 262 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 in provinces where Jews do not reside. But, waiving 
 all this, surely the poor women who had been vio- 
 lated, the little children who had been murdered, the 
 farmers who had been robbed of their cattle and 
 implements, could not be accused of these charges, and 
 it was accordingly a refinement of cruelty to issue 
 this document, teeming with animus, at a time when 
 the passions of the mob had been raised against all 
 Jews, without distinction of person, occupation, age, or 
 sex. The Jewish question at the present moment is 
 not whether the Jews should be prevented from com- 
 peting with the Russians in certain trades, but whether 
 the lives of three millions and a half of Jews shall be 
 left at the mercy of the passions of the mob. A 
 document like this, far from helping to solve the 
 question, rather adds to its complexity, by showing 
 clearly to the populace that the authorities share their 
 prejudices. The appointments to commissions showed 
 the same bias : at the head of the Kiew Commission 
 was placed General Drudkoff, the Governor of Kiew> 
 who initiated the proceedings of the first meeting by 
 declaring ' either I or the Jews must go.' On another 
 Commission was placed M. Chigaryne, whose only 
 claim to be considered an expert on the Jewish ques- 
 tion was that he had written a pamphlet entitled ' The 
 annihilation of the Jews.'" 
 
 "At Odessa, the first Commission was dismissed 
 because it had recommended the only true solution of 
 the questions put by the Minister for the Interior, the 
 granting to the Jews full equality of rights and equal 
 liberty of settlement with their fellow-citizens of 
 other creeds. A second Commission was thereupon
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 263 
 
 appointed with views more in consonance with the 
 spirit of the Rescript. When the Governor of Warsaw, 
 Count Albidinski, was ordered to publish the circular, 
 he at first refused, saying that Jews and Poles had 
 always lived on such friendly terms that no Com- 
 mission was necessary. He was, however, forced to 
 publish the Rescript, and competent observers attribute 
 the rise of anti-Semitic feeling in Warsaw mainly to 
 this publication. 
 
 " These acts, and the tone of the circular itself, made 
 clear to the Commissioners what was expected of them. 
 They have accordingly made recommendations which 
 will, if adopted, bring back all the horrors of the 
 Middle Ages on the unfortunate Jews of Russia. 
 Thus, among other proposals, they have advised that 
 Jews should not be allowed to build synagogues or 
 establish schools and orphan asylums ; that they should 
 not be permitted to reside in villages, nor own houses 
 or landed property ; that Jews should not lease factories 
 or sell spirituous liquors, or be apothecaries. Beside 
 this, it is rumoured that it is intended to restrict still 
 further the right of domicile, and to allow no Jew to 
 reside within eighty miles of the borders. In short, 
 it seems to be the intention to make Russia an im- 
 possible home for the Jews, or perhaps even to doom 
 them to complete extinction. The Russo-Jewish 
 question may. therefore, be summed up in these 
 words : Are three and a half millions of human beings 
 to perish because they are Jews ? " 
 
 It is clear that that mighty question can only 
 receive a satisfactory response through the loud and 
 earnest expression of the public opinion of civilised
 
 264 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Europe. Thus far the powerful press of England, her 
 Christian clergy, and her laity have deservedly earned 
 the admiration not alone of the Jews and Christians 
 of this country, but of mankind at large. No nation, 
 however extensive and powerful it may be in territory 
 and military force, can long withstand the might of 
 an unanimous outburst of adverse public opinion. 
 Although we have before us deeds, done and sanctioned 
 by a European power, whose atrocity equals, if it does 
 not surpass, the barbarous un- Christian acts of the 
 darkest ages of ignorance and superstition ; yet we 
 must not forget that we are actually living in the 
 nineteenth century, when the loud expression of 
 public opinion is instantaneously flashed to every 
 corner of the earth ; when concealment of national 
 crime is impossible, whatever may be the extent of 
 gagging, despotic tyranny and coercion to which the 
 press may be subjected. 
 
 The moderate, but dignified Memorial of the Jews 
 of England on behalf of their suffering religious 
 brethren in Russia and Poland has been refused trans- 
 mission to the Czar ; but it can hardly be doubted 
 that that apparently adverse circumstance will impart 
 a tenfold power to the document itself, whose words 
 will find an echo in every generous heart, irrespective 
 of country and creed. 
 
 The Requisition addressed to the Lord Mayor of 
 London to call a public meeting at the Mansion House 
 for the purpose of recording " a public expression of 
 opinion respecting the persecution which the Jews of 
 Russia have recently, and for some time suffered," is 
 a document of remarkable and ever memorable signifi-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 265 
 
 cance. In no other couniny could be found so glorious 
 an exhibition of unanimity among thirty-eight re- 
 presentative men of the highest eminence in the 
 kingdom, of every phase and variety of religious and 
 political thought, combining together for the purpose 
 of asserting the divine principle of the just and equal 
 rights of humanity, through the mouth of Christianity, 
 on behalf of the cruelly persecuted Jewish subjects 
 of a foreign sovereign. Every signature upon that 
 Memorial which will be found in the Appendix re- 
 flects honour upon its writer and upon the country 
 which gave him birth. It is a sublime example of 
 concentrated moral force when men of such diverse 
 opinions as we find represented on the Mansion House 
 Requisition will consent to merge for a time all their 
 differences, in order to effect a great good to a suffering 
 unoffending people of an opposite religious creed. 
 
 When Sir Moses Montefiore returned ten years ago 
 (1872) from his noble mission to the late Emperor of 
 Russia, he addressed the following report to the 
 London Committee of Deputies of the British Jews, 
 of which he was then president : " It will doubtless 
 be a source of high gratification to your Board to 
 learn that during my short stay at St. Petersburg I 
 had the happiness of seeing a considerable number of 
 our co-religionists in that city distinguished by de- 
 corations of different grades from the Emperor. I 
 conversed with Jewish merchants, literary men, editors 
 of Russian periodicals, artisans, and persons who had 
 formerly served in the Imperial army, all of whom 
 alluded to their present position in the most satis- 
 i'actory terms. All blessed the Emperor, and words
 
 266 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 seemed wanting in which adequately to praise his- 
 beneficence. The Jews now dress like any gentlemen 
 in England, France, or Germany ; their schools are- 
 well attended, and they are foremost in every enter- 
 prise destined to promote the prosperity of their 
 community and the country at large," 
 
 "It will be observed in my " Survey of noteworthy 
 events marking Jewish progress during the past half 
 century," that in 1839 the Czar of Russia ordained 
 that " to his Jewish subjects of high personal merit, 
 who had rendered benefits to the Russian Empire in 
 science, art, trade, or manufactures, might be granted 
 the title of ' Citizen of the first class.' " It will be 
 seen in the same " Survey" that the Emperor's Jewish 
 subjects received subsequently again and again signifi- 
 cant recognition of their progress, and encouragement 
 towards still further improvement of their then con- 
 dition. I would ask how and why that promising 
 condition has so entirely changed ? To read now of 
 the Jews of Russia from inimical sources it would 
 appear that they entirely consist of " spirit sellers," 
 "usurers," "pedlars," and people of the lowest class, 
 all occupied in degrading pursuits, in which, neverthe- 
 less, they prosper to the disadvantage of their less, 
 intellectual Christian brethren. It may be taken for 
 granted that Russian and Polish Jews are not more 
 free from vices and malpractices than Russian and 
 Polish Christians ; and that in a population of three 
 millions and a half of Jewish souls spread throughout 
 Russia and her Polish provinces will be naturally 
 found as many ill-conditioned and obnoxious persons, 
 as would be found in an equally large number of
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 267 
 
 so-called Christian populations. But are they for this, 
 reason, even if it were true which is more than 
 doubtful to be massacred, and outraged, and robbed ? 
 Are they for this cause to have their women dis- 
 honoured, their children dashed to death, their 
 dwellings burnt, their synagogues desecrated, and> 
 moreover, to be despoiled of all their worldly posses- 
 sions, and to be turned adrift in their hundreds of 
 thousands upon the cold inhospitable world beggared 
 and dishonoured ? And this in the nineteenth cen- 
 tury ! " They never fail," said Macaulay, " to plead 
 in justification of persecution the vices which perse- 
 cution has engendered. We drive them to mean 
 occupations, and then we reproach them for not 
 embracing honourable professions." 
 
 A brave defender of " Holy Russia," and a traducer 
 of Jews, alike modern and ancient an implacable foe 
 of Jews and Judaism attributed, a few years ago, the 
 poverty of the Russian Empire to her large Jewish 
 population. Blinded by malevolence he had failed to 
 notice the patent fact that those countries have been 
 most prosperous in which Jews are domiciled ; and 
 that Spain no longer nourished when her industrious 
 and intellectual Jewish population was banished from 
 the kingdom by Ferdinand and Isabella in the fifteenth 
 century. 
 
 Dean Milman, the Jewish historian, writes thus of 
 the Jewish people : " Patient and indefatigable, the 
 Jews pursue under every disadvantage their steady 
 course of industry ; and wherever they have been 
 allowed to dwell unmolested, or still more in honour 
 and respect, they have added largely to the stock of 
 wealth."
 
 268 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 There is only one effectual remedy to correct all the 
 evils of which Russia complains in respect to her 
 Jewish population, and that is to grant them equal 
 rights with their Christian countrymen, and to bestow 
 upon them entire freedom to pursue in any part of the 
 Empire whatever vocation their tastes and abilities 
 may lead them to. This " consummation devoutl} r to 
 be wished " can hardly be expected in this generation 
 from a country formed of such diverse elements as 
 Christian Russia herself only recently emancipated 
 from serfdom ; but, at any rate, it should be expected 
 from a professedly Christian Empire that entire pro- 
 tection should be ensured to her Jewish subjects for 
 their lives, their liberties, their honour, and their pro- 
 perty. It must be remembered how long and arduous 
 was the struggle even in enlightened England to 
 obtain for British-born Jews their civil and political 
 rights. We must not, therefore, expect impossibilities 
 from Russia, a nation so far in the rear of England as 
 regards education and civilisation. That Russia may 
 drive her Jewish subjects from the Empire, however 
 barbarous the act, may be possible, or, still worse, that 
 she may retain them within the Empire subject to 
 severe oppressive restrictions, but that she can ever, by 
 any means within her power, exterminate, or despoil 
 the Russian Jews of their ancient religion, is wholly 
 impossible. In the Appendix to this paper will be 
 found, from a variety of writers and speakers of 
 authority, all that may be necessary to render in- 
 telligible the present most unhappy, most cruel condi- 
 tion of the Jews of Russia. It will be seen hereafter 
 what potent influence the spontaneous, fearless,
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 260 
 
 straightforward, honest expression of Public Opinion 
 at the Mansion House Meeting, held on the 1st of 
 February, and also within the walls of Parliament^ 
 may have upon the Russian Government, in whose 
 responsible hands now rests the actual and future 
 protection of the Russian and Polish Jews from further 
 aggression, outrage, rapine and slaughter. Should 
 Russia be indisposed, or unable to secure protection to 
 the Jews of that country under reasonable and humane 
 conditions, it is to be hoped that she will, at all events, 
 assist them to emigrate to more hospitable climes. It 
 is with a sad heart that I leave my Russian and Polish 
 brothers and sisters in faith in their present perilous 
 position. Let Christian England imagine what would 
 be her feelings if an immense colony of English Chris- 
 tians were placed in similar perilous circumstances in 
 a country beyond the control or power of the British 
 Empire ! 
 
 February, 1882.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 i. 
 
 RUSSIAN ATROCITIES. 
 
 From THE TIMES, January llth, 1882. 
 
 WE publish in another column an account of the persecu- 
 tion of the Jews in Russia, which will, we believe, come 
 as an unpleasant and humiliating surprise upon the people of 
 this country. We have no political interest in the domestic 
 affairs of the Empire of the Czar, but the common instincts 
 of generosity and kindness cannot remain untouched in 
 presence of such facts as those set forth in the statement 
 we print to-day. It is no business of ours to arraign the 
 Russian Government for its apparent indifference to 
 abominations as hideous as those which were used to excite 
 the public opinion of Europe against the Ottoman dominion 
 in 1876. We cannot for a moment believe that the Czar or 
 his Ministers have been concerned, actively or passively, in 
 the outbreaks of barbarism that have disgraced Russia 
 during the past twelve months. But the fact remains that 
 those outbreaks have taken place, and have inflicted upon 
 the Jews, who have either suffered from them or who have 
 by chance escaped them, an agony of moral and physical 
 terror which it would be difficult to exaggerate. The sub-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 271 
 
 ject is a painful one, but it can only be dealt with by the 
 public opinion of Europe. If the subjects of the Czar are 
 as little capable of restraining themselves within the bounds 
 of decency and humanity as the subjects of the Sultan, 
 they must expect to take their share in the contemptuous 
 condemnation of the civilised world which hastened the 
 political downfall of the Turkish power. 
 
 It would be difficult, and probably useless, to analyse the 
 causes of the hatred with which the Jews are regarded in 
 Russia, but whatever the origin of the sentiment, it is a 
 scandal to civilisation. 
 
 ****** 
 
 We do not care to contest the allegation that the Jews 
 in Russia are, on the whole, an objectionable set of people. 
 It is alleged not only by newspapers which pander to the 
 popular feeling, but by officials of high rank and responsi- 
 bility that they addict themselves by preference to dis- 
 creditable and injurious trades. They are said to mono- 
 polise the low drinking shops and disorderly houses in the 
 chief towns of Russia. The advocates of the Jews may have 
 a great deal to set off against these allegations. They may 
 be able to show that the Jews in Russia as is certainly 
 the case elsewhere are among the most energetic and 
 enterprising of the traders, the manufacturers, and the pro- 
 fessional classes. But, however this may be, the right of 
 the Jews to be protected against outrage is indefeasible. 
 
 We feel, of course, that it would be unjust to hold any 
 Government, in Russia or elsewhere, responsible for 
 occasional outbreaks of popiilar frenzy. It becomes, how- 
 ever, a more serious matter when outrages of the most 
 abominable character including murder, plunder, the 
 violation of women, and the wholesale destruction of pro- 
 perty have been perpetrated over a wide area, after full 
 notice and in the presence of military forces amply suffi-
 
 272 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 cient to put down any serious disturbance. Attacks upon 
 the Jews here and there may be explicable, but the " Jew- 
 hunting " in Russia has gone on for months, and the 
 authorities are either unable or unwilling to cope with it. 
 If they are unable, we may be sure that the popular 
 passions that have been aroused will not stop short with 
 the Jews. If they are unwilling, the Russian Govern- 
 ment must be held morally responsible for all the crimes 
 some of them as atrocious as any recorded in history 
 which have been accomplished by letting loose the hatred 
 of orthodox mobs. 
 
 We do not wish to dwell upon particular incidents in the 
 tale of horror which our correspondent sends us. In the 
 interests of truth and justice we publish it, but it is too- 
 painful and too gross to be an attractive subject for com- 
 ment. There is not, we hope, any patriotic Russian wha 
 will not feel moved by a sense of shame and indignation 
 when he learns that his country has been held up to 
 infamy in the sight of the civilised world by carnage, 
 pillage, and outrage such as Western Europe has not 
 known since the worst days of mediaeval anarchy. Unless 
 the Russian Government takes measures such, at least, as- 
 are still possible to remove this foul stain from the 
 national escutcheon, we may rest assured that disgust and 
 disloyalty will grow up together and will sap the strongest 
 
 fortifications of Absolutism. 
 
 ##*#** 
 
 In common prudence if not for the sake of order and 
 humanity it is necessary for the Russian Government to 
 put an end to these enormities. If they are permitted to go 
 on and as yet we are not aware that any effectual check 
 has been put upon them they will disastrously lower the 
 credit and standing of Russia among civilised nations, and 
 they will, at the same time, expel from the Russian social
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 273 
 
 system an element which, however it may be criticised, and 
 whatever may be its alloy of weakness and baseness, is too 
 full of energy and strength not to be sorely missed by a 
 mixed population of Slavs, Finns, and Tartars. 
 
 Ever since the German anti-Semites had raised an 
 outcry against their Jewish fellow-citizens," says the Times 
 correspondent, " it had been feared that the movement 
 would spread to Kussia, and there take a form more 
 adapted to the less civilised state of the country. Wheo, 
 therefore, the assassination of the Czar on March 3rd of 
 last year had roused all Russia to the highest pitch of 
 excitement, it was confidently predicted that the approach- 
 ing Easter would see an outbreak against the Jews. It 
 was said afterwards that the prediction was aided in its 
 fulfilment by Panslavist emissaries from Moscow, who 
 planned all the subsequent troubles. It is at least certain 
 that rumours of a rising had reached Elizabethgrad, and 
 caused the heads of the Jewish community, who form a 
 third of its 30,000 inhabitants, to apply for special pro- 
 tection from the Governor. No notice was taken of the 
 appeal, and on Wednesday, April 27th, the dreaded out- 
 break took place. A religious dispute in a cabaret led to a 
 scuffle, which grew into a general melee, till the mob 
 obtained possession of the dram-shop and rifled it of its 
 contents. Inflamed by the drink thus obtained, the rioters 
 proceeded to the Jewish quarter, and commenced a sys- 
 tematic destruction of the Jewish shops and warehouses. 
 At first some attempt was made by the Jews to protect 
 their property ; but this only served to increase the vio- 
 lence of the mob, which proceeded to attack the dwellings 
 of the Jews, and to wreck the synagogues. Amid the 
 horrors that ensued a Jew named Zololwenski lost his life, 
 and no fewer than thirty Jewesses were outraged. At one 
 place, two young girls, in dread of violation, threw them- 
 
 T
 
 274 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 selves from the windows. Meanwhile the military had 
 been called out, but only to act at first as spectators and 
 afterwards as active participators. One section of the mob, 
 formed of rioters and soldiers, broke into the dwelling of 
 an old man named Pelikoff, and on his attempting to save 
 his daughter from a fate worse than death, they threw him 
 down from the roof, while twenty soldiers proceeded to 
 work their will on his unfortunate daughter. When seen 
 by the correspondent who narrates this fact, Pelikoff was 
 in a state of hopeless madness, and his daughter completely 
 ruined in mind and body. The whole Jewish quarter was 
 at the mercy of the mob till April 29th. During the two 
 days of the riots, 500 houses and 100 shops were destroyed, 
 whole streets being razed to the ground. It may be added 
 that the property destroyed and stolen was reckoned at 
 
 2,000,000 roubles. 
 
 ****** 
 
 The outrages we have recounted above, though, no doubt, 
 the most important, are far from including all the similar 
 events that have occurred during the past year. They 
 have been selected from a list of over 160 towns and 
 villages in which cases of riot, rapine, murder, and spo- 
 liation have been known to occur during the last nine 
 months of 1881. Out of these information was collected 
 from about 45 towns and villages in Southern Russia. In 
 these alone are reported 23 murders of men, women, and 
 children, 17 deaths caused by violation, and no fewer than 
 225 cases of outrages on Jewesses. 
 
 Such have been the horrors that throughout the past 
 year have assailed the 3,000,000 Israelites who inhabit 
 Russia. Nor is there any indication that the atrocities 
 will cease during the present year, unless the Russian 
 Government will intervene in the sacred cause of civilisation 
 and humanity.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 275 
 
 II. 
 
 Letter of Mr. SERJEANT SIMOX, M.P., to the EDITOR of 
 
 THE TIMES. 
 
 SIR, Your correspondent rightly sums up the case of 
 the Russian Jews with the question, " Are three millions 
 and a half of human beings to perish because they are 
 Jews ? " This question may be supplemented by another^ 
 < Will the Christian people of England consent to be silent 
 witnesses ? " In 1876 there was one loud outcry of horror 
 and indignation at the Bulgarian atrocities. Every crime 
 which was committed upon the unfortunate Christians then 
 has been repeated now upon the Jews of Russia in forms 
 as hideous, and upon a much larger scale. For nine months, 
 In no less than 160 towns and villages, Jews have been pil- 
 laged, beaten and.murdered; their houses sacked and burnt, 
 their property destroyed, their infants dashed from the 
 windows, or left to perish in the flames of burning houses, 
 their women been dishonoured, death or madness ensuing 
 in many cases, Russian women assisting and encouraging 
 the men in their foul crime : 100,000 families left in utter 
 destitution. Such is the catalogue of dark deeds com- 
 mitted, and of miseries inflicted during the period mentioned, 
 in a country about three days journey from England that 
 claims to rank as one of the great civilised nations of 
 Europe. The accounts which have appeared, especially in 
 The Times, all go to show that what has taken place was 
 deliberately planned and systematically carried out. Yet 
 the Government was passive, and, as it would seem, took no 
 step to prevent or to check these proceedings. It is im- 
 possible otherwise to account for the inertness of the pro- 
 vincial and local authorities generally, both civil and 
 military, for the positive refusal in some cases to afford 
 protection to the Jews when it was asked for, and for the 
 
 T 2
 
 276 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 actual participation of the soldiers and police in some 
 places with the mob in their acts of brutality and plunder. 
 The Government, moreover, have since done nothing to 
 trace the source of the evils and to bring the ringleaders to 
 justice. There have been some arrests, some trials, and 
 some persons sent to prison ; but this show of justice may 
 be appreciated when it is mentioned that among the 
 offenders punished were some Jews (at Odessa) who were 
 found with pistols, which they had carried' for self-defence 
 during the attack there. They have been punished for 
 *' carrying arms without a licence ! " The Government 
 has issued Commissions of Inquiry ; but not for the pur- 
 pose of affording redress to the Jews and of improving 
 their condition. On the contrary. The Commissions are, 
 to all appearance, intended to afford their enemies the 
 opportunity of showing them up as evildoers and the 
 authors of their own wrong, and to avert public censure 
 from the Russian Government and justify them in imposing 
 further restrictions upon the miserable Jews. One of these 
 Commissions (that in Kherson) has already prepared its 
 " recommendations." They breathe the savage spirit of 
 barbarism. Among the recommendations are the follow- 
 ing : That the Jews shall not be allowed to erect new 
 synagogues or to worship in those already existing. They 
 are not to worship even in private in any way that shall 
 give the semblance of a synagogue to the places where 
 they may happen to assemble. They are not to be allowed 
 to have schools of their own; they are to send their children 
 to the public schools, but the children are not to be allowed to- 
 partake of the higher education there ; they are not to- 
 possess land either as owners or lessees, or to follow agri- 
 cultural pursuits ; they are to be excluded from every 
 respectable class of business, even the inferior ones which 
 some of them have hitherto followed. They are, in fact, to
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 277 
 
 be restricted to the meanest pursuits. It remains to be 
 seen whether these recommendations, or any of them, will 
 be adopted. If adopted, even in part, the fate of a Jew in 
 Russia, bad as it has been, will hereafter be one of misery. 
 It is but as yesterday that Russia stood forth as the dis- 
 interested champion of freedom and the deliverer of Chris- 
 tians from Turkish tyranny. She has now to justify herself 
 for her oruel treatment of her Jewish subjects treatment 
 continued through long, long years, which has rendered 
 them objects of dislike and contempt, culminating in the 
 late outbreaks, and which has generated, if they exist, the 
 vices alleged as reasons for their persecution. These 
 alleged vices form no part of the Jewish character. They 
 are not found in the Jews of England, France, or any 
 country where they enjoy equal rights with their fellow- 
 men. Let the Russian Government and the Russian people 
 lay this fact to heart. They stand at this moment arraigned 
 before the conscience of enlightened Europe. They are 
 responsible to Christendom for the stain they have inflicted 
 upon the Christian name. They have offended civilisation 
 and insulted humanity. The issue is one of civilisation 
 against barbarism. It is for Russia to make her election. 
 
 I am, Sir, yours obediently, 
 Reform Club, Jan. 13, 1882. JOHN SIMON. 
 
 III. 
 
 'The Memorial of the London Committee of Jews to His Imperial 
 Majesty the EMPEROR OF RUSSIA on behalf of their perse- 
 cuted brethren in Russia rejected by the Hussion Ambas- 
 sador. 
 
 PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN RUSSIA. 
 A memorial from the Jews of England on behalf of their 
 
 oppressed brethren in Russia was on Friday last handed to
 
 278 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Prince Lobanoff, the Russian Ambassador, for transmission 
 to the Emperor of Russia. The Prince, however, as was 
 stated in The Times of Tuesday, acting under instructions, 
 from his Government, declined to transmit the memorial. 
 
 The document was signed and presented in person by- 
 Sir Nathaniel M. de Rothschild, M.P., as chairman of a 
 committee that has been specially appointed by the repre- 
 sentatives of the Jewish community in this country to deal 
 with the Russo-Jewish question. The committee consists 
 of the following members : Sir N. M. de Rothschild, M.P.,. 
 Baron Henry de Worms, M.P., Mr. Serjeant Simon, M.P., 
 Mr. Arthur Cohen, Q.C., M.P., Sir Julian Goldsmid, Baron 
 George de Worms, Hon. Saul Samuel, Rev. Dr. Hermann 
 Adler (delegate of the Chief Rabbi), Rev. A. L. Green,. 
 Rev. A. Lb'wy, Dr. A. Asher, Messrs. Benjamin L. Cohen,, 
 Lionel L. Cohen, Lewis Emanuel, Ellis A. Franklin, Alf. 
 Goldsmid, Henry Harris, Alfred G. Henriques, Nathan S. 
 Joseph, Fred. D. Mocatta, Samuel Montagu, Morris S- 
 Oppenheim, Isaac Seligman, Leopold Schloss, and Joseph 
 Sebag. 
 
 The following is the full text of the memorial : 
 
 " To His Imperial Majesty Alexander III., Emperor of 
 All the Russias. 
 
 " The humble memorial of the Jews of England on be- 
 half of the Jews of Russia. 
 
 "May it please yonr Imperial Majesty, 
 
 " A grievous cry of suffering has reached us from our 
 brethren in faith in many parts of your Majesty's great 
 Empire. 
 
 " For the past nine months large numbers of your 
 Majesty's Jewish subjects, especially those residing in the 
 southern provinces of your Majesty's dominions, have been 
 the victims of serious civil outbreaks. The security of life 
 and property, so many years enjoyed by them, has vanished.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 279 
 
 Murder, rapine, and pillage have taken its place. The 
 most terrible deeds of violence have been perpetrated on 
 helpless women and children. Unarmed and unoffending 
 men have become a prey to the fury of a brutal mob. The 
 survivors, scarcely more fortunate than the slain, live only 
 to find their homes devastated or burnt, their fortunes 
 wrecked, and their means of subsistence gone. 
 
 " Great, indeed, is our horror at these atrocities, but 
 greater still, we feel certain, must be your gracious 
 Majesty's pain and indignation at the sufferings thus in- 
 flicted on thousands of your subjects. 
 
 " Until last year Jews and Christians throughout your 
 Majesty's empire lived on terms of amity rarely, if ever, dis- 
 turbed. No act of the Jews has been committed to warrant 
 the interruption of the friendly attitude of then- neighbours 
 or the goodwill of their rulers. Your Jewish subjects love 
 and honour your Majesty, and in their homes and syna- 
 gogues pray for your welfare. They respect the laws and 
 pay the State its just dues. They serve your Majesty iu 
 peace and war, even without hope or chance of promotion, 
 and willingly lay down their lives for the country that has 
 given them birth, and that has hitherto protected them. In 
 truth, they are commanded by our sacred books to promote 
 the welfare of the land which shelters them ; to obey its 
 laws, to honour its rulers, and to love, as themselves, their 
 neighbours, though differing in faith ; and the Israelites, 
 acting in conformity with those precepts, are innocent of 
 cause for the oppression that has befallen them. 
 
 " We have reason to believe that in most cases it has 
 not been the honest, law-abiding neighbours of the Jews 
 who have originated or perpetrated these lamentable ex- 
 cesses, but professional agitators from a distance, acting 
 upon the turbulent and revolutionary spirits, the enemies 
 of law, loyalty, and order. No better proof of this can be
 
 280 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 afforded than the fact that the ringleaders have in many 
 localities, with an audacity and shamelessness unparalleled 
 in history, traitorously used the august name of your Ma- 
 jesty as a warrant for their infamous projects, and have 
 published a forged ukase purporting to authorise the gene- 
 ral spoliation of the Jews. 
 
 " But we fear the cup of affliction of our brethren is not 
 yet full, for the future appears even blacker than the past. 
 For now the enemies of our brethren seek to palliate the 
 atrocities that have been perpetrated, falsely declaring the 
 Jews to have merited their persecution by their own mis- 
 conduct, by their odious mode of tradiug, and by their 
 having over-reached their neighbours ; and these enemies 
 endeavour to induce the Government of your Majesty to 
 impose upon all Israelites such new restrictions as to resi- 
 dence, occupation, and education, as will not only prevent 
 their fairly competing with their Christian fellow-subjects, 
 but will practically prevent their becoming useful citizens 
 and servants of the State, and will even debar them from 
 earning their subsistence. 
 
 " We have heard with alarm and grief that commissions 
 have been issued with instructions couched in terms of op- 
 probrium and hostility, teeming with charges, assumed but 
 not true, which would render impossible any result favour- 
 able to the Jews. The worst effects are, therefore, ap- 
 prehended. Even in Poland, where the Israelites have 
 ever dwelt on terms of good fellowship with their neigh- 
 bours, and where, until the lamentable events of last month, 
 they have always enjoyed immunity from outrage of any 
 kind, like commissions have been issued, with similar in- 
 structions, so that everywhere, throughout your Majesty's 
 dominions, the populace seems to imagine that it has the 
 Imperial sanction for its ill-treatment of our brethren, an 
 idea which, we are convinced, could never have been, how-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 281 
 
 ver faintly, conceived by the benignant and humane spirit 
 of your Majesty. 
 
 " Already, deplorable results have ensued from the terms 
 in which these commissions have been issued. For many 
 local authorities, in anticipation of the reports of the com- 
 mission, have put in force certain ancient laws of domicile, 
 which have fallen into desuetude, and have forcibly driven 
 the Jews, still smarting from their recent calamities, away 
 from the towns and villages which they have so long been 
 permitted to inhabit ; while others, perhaps, a little less 
 inhuman, have allowed them to remain, only on condition 
 of their being pent up within the limits of their ancient 
 ghettos. 
 
 " With regard to the imputations that have been made 
 upon your Majesty's Jewish subjects, we humbly submit to 
 your Majesty that whatever exceptional social position they 
 may occupy, or whatever failings may be charged to some 
 of them, these are due mainly to the exceptional laws to 
 which they have been so long subjected. 
 
 " If, in some places, undue activity has characterised their 
 conduct in. certain trades and occupations, we believe it to 
 be because other means of earning a subsistence have been 
 denied them, because they have been too crowded in parti- 
 cular localities, and have, therefore, experienced the greatest 
 difficulty in gaining a livelihood. 
 
 " We feel certain that if the special laws affecting the 
 Jews were abolished, their exceptional status, social and 
 civil, would come to an end. Complaint would no longer 
 be heard of their undue commercial and economic activity 
 operating to the detriment of others, if the Jews were suf- 
 fered to disperse themselves at will, so as to become merged 
 amid their fellow-subjects, instead of being concentrated, to 
 the injury of themselves and others, in over-crowded hives 
 of industry.
 
 282 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 " Here in England, where perfect civil and religious 
 equality has been granted to us, we English Jews can bear 
 grateful testimony to the happy results effected by such 
 complete emancipation. Here all those restrictions, civil, 
 commercial, and educational, which formerly oppressed us,, 
 have happily been removed, and, as a result, Jew and Chris- 
 tian here live and work side by side on terms of mutual 
 respect and good fellowship, engaged in friendly rivalry, 
 which stimulates public industry, and adds to the common 
 weal. 
 
 " And so, Sire, may it be in the mighty empire whose 
 destinies you wield with wisdom and enlightenment. For, 
 as the late Emperor, your father, of sainted memory, ren- 
 dered his name immortal as the emancipator of millions of 
 serfs, even so it may be your Majesty's high destiny to give 
 life and protection to those now trembling on the verge of 
 destruction, to give equal rights to the millions of your loyal 
 Jewish subjects, who, in their dread emergency, look up to 
 you, Sire, Emperor and father of your people, only for leave- 
 to live with home and hearth secure from violence. 
 
 " Humbly do we present this memorial to your Majesty 
 on behalf of our brethren, in the name of Humanity the 
 foundation of all religion ; in the name of Justice the 
 heritage of all ; in the name of Mercy the prerogative of 
 Imperial power. 
 
 " And we shall ever pray that the Supreme King of 'Kings- 
 may bless the efforts of your Majesty for the glory of your 
 mighty empire and the well-being of your subjects; and that 
 he may grant your Majesty a long, and prosperous, and happy 
 reign. 
 
 " Signed on behalf of the Jews of England, this 19th day 
 of January, 1882. "N. M. DE ROTHSCHILD."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 283- 
 
 IV. 
 
 The Reqidsition to the LORD MAYOR of London. 
 
 "January 21, 1882. 
 " To the Eight Hon. the Lord Mayor of the City of 
 
 London. 
 
 My Lord, We, the undersigned, consider that there 
 should be a 'public expression of opinion respecting the 
 persecution which the Jews of Russia have recently and 
 for some time past suffered. We, therefore, ask your Lord- 
 ship to be so good as to call, at your earliest convenience, a 
 public meeting for that purpose at the Mansion House, and 
 that you will be good enough to take the chair on the 
 occasion." 
 
 Signed by 
 
 His Grace the LORD ARCHBISHOP of CANTERBURY. 
 
 The Right Hon. the EARL of SHAFTESBURY, K.G. 
 
 The Right Hon. LORD SCARSDALE. 
 
 The Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP of GLOUCESTER 
 and BRISTOL. 
 
 The Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP of OXFORD. 
 
 Lord EDMOND FITZMAURICE. M.P. 
 
 The Hon. W. ST. JOHN BRODRICK, M.P. 
 
 Sir ARTHUR OTWAY, Bart., M.P. 
 
 Alderman Sir JAMES CLARKE LAWRENCE, Bart., M.P. 
 
 Sir ERASMUS W T ILSON, F.R.S. 
 
 The Rev. the MASTER of BALLIOL. 
 
 The Rev. Canon SPENCE, M.A. 
 
 The Rev. H. R. HAWEIS, M.A; 
 
 CHARLES DARWIN, Esq., F.R.S. 
 
 MATTHEW ARNOLD, Esq., F.R.S. 
 
 HENRY RICHARD, Esq., M.P. 
 
 CHARLES MAGNIAC, Esq., M.P.
 
 284 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Mr. Alderman LAWRENCE, M.P. 
 
 F. A. INDERWICK, Esq., Q.C., M.P. 
 
 His Eminence Cardinal MANNING. 
 
 The Bight Hon. and Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP of 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 The Right Hon. Lord MOUNT-TEMPLE. 
 The Right Rev. the LORD BISHOP of MANCHESTER. 
 The Right Hon. Lord ELCHO, M.P. 
 The Hon. F. LEVESON-GOWER, M.P. 
 The Right Hon. J. G. HUBBARD, M.P. 
 Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., M.P., F.R.S. 
 Sir DONALD CURRIE, K.C.M.G., M.P. 
 The Very Rev. the DEAN of PETERBOROUGH, D.D. 
 The Rev. Canon FARRAR, D.D. 
 The Rev. W. PAGE ROBERTS, M.A. 
 The Rev. JAMES MARTINEAU, D.D. 
 Professor TYNDALL, F.R.S. 
 SAMUEL MORLEY, Esq., M.P. 
 MICHAEL BIDDULPH, Esq., M.P. 
 Mr. Alderman COTTON, M.P. 
 ALEXANDER MCARTHUR, Esq., M.P. 
 C. A. MCLAREN, Esq., M.P. 
 
 V. 
 
 At the great meeting held by the Lord Mayor of London 
 at the Mansion House, on February 1st, 1882, with refer- 
 ence to the Persecution of the Jews in Russia, the follow- 
 ing speeches were delivered. 
 
 The Right Hon. the EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, K.G., 
 said : 
 
 The Lord Mayor has rightly described the purpose 
 and character of this meeting. It is, perhaps, special
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 285 
 
 and peculiar in its character. There may be or there 
 may not be a precedent for such a meeting, but I hold 
 that in these days of what are called the solidarity of 
 nations and enlarged responsibilities and the greatly in- 
 creased force' of public opinion, if there be no precedent, it 
 ought to be established on this very day. (Hear, hear.) 
 I am very giad that the people of England have come for- 
 ward to make a solemn declaration that, in their belief, 
 there are moral as well as material weapons ; that the 
 moral weapons, in the long run, are the more effectual and 
 the more permanent ; and that it is our duty to resort to- 
 those moral weapons when for the use of the material we 
 have neither the right nor the power. I dare say we shall 
 be asked, " What is the purpose of all your movement ? 
 Your document or memorial, if there be one, will be cast 
 aside and thrown into the waste-paper basket." That may 
 be the fate of any document we present ; that will not be- 
 the fate of the spirit of that document ; that spirit will sur- 
 vive and will work its effect upon the hearts of all who 
 can feel or think. I have a very strong feeling, and we all 
 have an opinion, as to the power of any constantly repeated 
 affirmation of a great principle founded upon justice and 
 humanity ; it carries with it a prodigious weight. Have 
 we not seen in times past the marvellous influence produced 
 by a manifestation of public opinion founded on such at- 
 tributes ? Even the Sultan of Turkey succumbs to it, and 
 the Shah of Persia, in the very plenitude of his power, 
 yields to it. The First Napoleon, as we read in the me- 
 moirs of Madame de Stael, would not suffer her to come to- 
 Paris, lest she should draw the world away from him. 
 Was the powerful Emperor Nicholas indifferent to public 
 opinion, and especially the opinion of England ? I know > 
 from conversations held with him by one of my most intimate 
 friends, that the Emperor Nicholas felt deeply and acutely
 
 1286 JEWS AS THEY ARK. 
 
 the opinion of England, and shall we not hope and believe 
 that he who now sits upon the throne of all the Russias will 
 feel the influence of the public voice as much as his pre- 
 decessor ? I believe it is so ; I believe it is far beyond his 
 power to resist it ; I believe, in the words of Richard 
 Hooker in relation to Divine law, that the very least feel 
 its influence, and the greatest are not exempt from its 
 power. It is not necessary to dwell in detail upon the 
 horrible circumstances of the events that have occurred in 
 Russia, marked as they have been by murder, lust, ra- 
 pine, and destruction. They have been set before the 
 world in the columns of The Times and in other papers. 
 The narratives have been supported by every testimony 
 that could possibly be adduced, and especially by that wise, 
 touching, and unanswerable memorial presented by the 
 Jews' Committee. We followed the details with horror 
 and disgust, and we come here for the purpose of express- 
 ing our opinion, and of praying that a stop may be put to 
 atrocities that have disgraced the generation in which we 
 live. To the statements made denials have been offered, 
 and denials coming from official authorities. Of course it was 
 to be expected that should be so ; but I conclude from all 
 I have read and heard that the evidence in support of the 
 charges is so overwhelming as to remove all hesitation in be- 
 lieving that they are substantially true. If it be said there 
 is exaggeration, I will give the full benefit of the doubt ; 
 biit if one-tenth of all that is stated be true it is sufficient 
 to draw down the indignation of the world. There are not 
 only denials, but there are attempts at refutation in those 
 quasi-official documents, which are as truly official as any- 
 thing that ever came out of the Russian Chancellery ; and 
 the authors proceed to cast imputations, and to say that 
 in this movement the people of England are animated by 
 an affected philanthropy, that their object is to set Eng-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 287 
 
 lish and Russian Society by the ears, and that the move- 
 ment has the party object of disturbing the peace and hap- 
 piness of the Cabinet of Mr. Gladstone. (Laughter.) Of all 
 the wild assertions ever made these are the very wildest. 
 Look at the signatures to the requisition ; the majority of 
 those whose names are there are not animated by venom and 
 anger against the Prime Minister. If this case were not 
 o serious and appalling I should say that these insinuations 
 were childish and contemptible. Those who make them 
 know the fact and feel it ; they know very well that 
 this is a free meeting of free citizens (cheers), and that 
 we come here to express our deep regard for the rights of 
 the human race. It is not simply because those who arc 
 persecuted are Jews that we are met here ; Englishmen 
 would feel the same sympathy equally for Buddhists, 
 Mahomedans, or Pagans. I know that many have a deep 
 ,nd special feeling towards the Hebrew race ; I have it 
 myself ; but we are met here upon one grand, universal 
 principle. If there be one thing on earth an Englishman 
 loves better than another it is freedom ; he desires that 
 every one should be as free and as happy as he is himself. 
 (Cheers.) We must clear the ground of another charge, 
 for it is said in one of these quasi-official documents that this 
 movement arises out of hatred of Russia. I do not believe 
 It ; I will take upon myself to say that the feeling of the 
 :great mass of the people of England is one neither of hate 
 nor of fear towards the Russian people. (Cheers.) As for 
 any hatred of Russia in my own case, let me remind you 
 that when a meeting was held to protest against the out- 
 rages committed on the wretched Bulgarians I occupied the 
 chair, and I made a statement which I have not retracted, 
 tmd which I am not going to retract. I did ndt fear at 
 that time to say that I almost wished to see the Russians 
 on the shores of the Bosphorus. So far from there being
 
 288 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 a feeling of hatred towards Russia on the part of the mass 
 of our people, I believe their feeling is precisely the reverse. 
 I am satisfied that in this kingdom at the present time there 
 is a feeling of deep sympathy with the people of Russia and 
 with their ruler in the terrible calamities that have fallen 
 upon their city and upon the Imperial family. When the 
 late Emperor fell by the hands of the demoniacal assassins 
 the whole country was filled with horror and dismay, which 
 was expressed as with the voice of one man, not only be- 
 cause the people were appalled by the frightful crime, but 
 because they remembered that the father of the present Em- 
 peror was the glorious emancipator of two millions of slaves. 
 (Cheers.) And, after all, if we approach the present Em- 
 peror, what are we asking for ? Are we asking anything 
 to abate his dignity or to lower his power ? Nay, on the 
 contrary, are we not asking him to do that which will con- 
 duce very much to his honour ? Are we not asking him to 
 do justice to a large body of his loyal and suffering people ? 
 Are we only asking him to restrain violence, murder, out- 
 rage, and spoliation ? Are we not asking him to be a Cyrus 
 to the Jews and not an Antiochus Epiphanes ? Are we 
 not asking him to enter upon the greatest and noblest ex- 
 ercise of power to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
 oppressed go free ? These are the purpose and object of 
 our meeting ; this will be the prayer of our memorial, and 
 may God in His mercy prosper it to the removal of those 
 horrors and to the comfort of the Jewish people, on whose 
 behalf we are gathered together ! (Loud cheers.) His 
 Lordship concluded by moving, " That, in the opinion of 
 this meeting, the persecution and the outrages which the 
 Jews in many parts of the Russian dominion have for several 
 months past suffered, are an offence to civilisation to be 
 deeply deplored."
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 289 
 
 Speech of the Eight Rev. the BISHOP OF LONDON* 
 My Lord Mayor, One circumstance alone justifies me in 
 rising at your request to second the resolution before such a 
 meeting as this, which I am quite unfitted to address in the 
 presence of those I see around me, and that one circumstance 
 is the unavoidable absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 I quite admit indeed, I deeply feel that the Church of 
 England ought not, and I am sure will not, be backward in 
 joining in the expression of a feeling of indignant sorrow 
 at the statements which have come before us lately with 
 regard to the treatment of the Jews in Russia. In the 
 absence of the Archbishop, it might not be presumptuous 
 in me, the Bishop of the most populous and most important 
 diocese in England (hear, hear), if I venture, in the absence 
 of anyone more fit, to second the resolution. Happily, no 
 words from me are needed. The case has been stated to 
 you by the noble earl with a vigour which shows that age 
 has not diminished his powers of speech (cheers) any more 
 than it has extinguished or ever can extinguish his sym- 
 pathy with suffering and his sense of indignation at injus- 
 tice and wrong. (Renewed cheers.) The facts can scarcely 
 be denied. If they could have been denied, what need for 
 all those reasons which have been assigned why the Eng- 
 lish people should not have been so moved at reading of 
 those atrocities ? If the Russian Government had been 
 able to say that the statements could be proved to be false, 
 it need not allege that the English are afraid of Russia, and 
 that we desire to turn out the Ministry. We have seen in 
 the papers an attempt, hardly to deny the facts, but cer- 
 tainly to palliate them by excuses not only improbable, but 
 utterly inadequate, and set before us, I may say, with a 
 cynical indifference which one would be very reluctant to 
 believe had been traced by the hand of a female. (Cheers.) 
 There is one circumstance in those atrocities which must 
 
 v
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 make every member of the Church, indeed, every Christian 
 feel, together with his indignation, a certain shame. A few 
 years back our country was horrified with accounts of atro- 
 cities committed in what were then provinces of the Turkish 
 empire. The country was moved, but it had the consola- 
 tion of knowing that though the sufferers were Christians 
 the perpetrators were almost all of another creed. Now, 
 alas ! the case is the reverse ; they who perpetrated these 
 outrages are men who bear the name of Christians, so that 
 the persecution of the Middle Ages, on which history has 
 long set the stamp of reprobation, has been reproduced in 
 this latter part of the 19th century, and the dark stain of 
 rapine, lust, and murder is let fall again upon the fair fame 
 of Christianity. (Cheers.) We do feel this ; but I will 
 venture to say that not in this crowded room alone, not in 
 this metropolis merely, not in the cities and large towns of 
 England only are the sympathy and horror felt which have 
 been expressed before you and which called you together 
 to-day, but in the quiet parsonages and in the most retired 
 villages throughout England there is the same feeling of 
 mingled horror, grief, and shame that now, in an age of 
 civilisation, in the days when we think ourselves, and cer- 
 tainly are, better than our fathers in some respects, we find a 
 Christian nation persecuting the Jews. (Cheers.) Knowing 
 this, my Lord Mayor, I venture to assume, speaking here 
 from this platform, that I may without presumption, or if it 
 be presumption it will be easily pardoned, in the name of 
 every member of the Church of England second the resolu- 
 tion which Lord Shaftesbury has proposed. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Speech of His Eminence CARDINAL MANNING 
 
 My Lord Mayor, Ladies, and Gentlemen It has often 
 fallen to my lot to move a resolution in meetings such as 
 this, but never in my memory have I moved one with more
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 291 
 
 perfect conviction of my reason, or more entire concurrence 
 of my heart. (Cheers.) Before I use any further words, 
 it will, perhaps, be better that I should read what that re- 
 solution is. It is, " That this meeting, while disclaiming 
 any right or desire to interfere in the internal affairs of an- 
 other country, and desiring that the most amicable relations 
 between England and Russia should be preserved, feels it a 
 duty to express its opinion that the laws of Russia relating 
 to Jews tend to degrade them in the eyes of the Christian 
 population, and to expose Russian Jewish subjects to the 
 outbreaks of fanatical ignorance." I need not disclaim, foi 
 I accept the eloquent disclaimer of the noble lord, that we 
 are not met here for a political purpose. (Hear, hear.) If 
 there were a suspicion of any party politics, I should not 
 be standing here. It is because I believe that we are high 
 above all the tumults of party politics, that we are in the 
 serene region of human sympathy and human justice, that 
 I am here to-day. (Cheers.) I can also declare that nothing 
 can be further from my intention, as I am confident nothing 
 can be further from yours, than to do that which would be 
 a violation of the laws of mutual peace and order, and the 
 respect which binds nations together, or to attempt to in- 
 terfere or dictate in the domestic legislation of Russia. 
 (Hear, hear.) I am also bound to say that I share heartily 
 in the words of veneration used by the noble earl towards 
 his Imperial Majesty of Russia. No man can have watched 
 the last year of the Imperial family, no man can know the 
 condition in which the Emperor stands now, without a pro- 
 found sympathy, which would at once bind every disposition 
 to use a single expression which would convey a wound to 
 the mind of the Czar. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, I disclaim 
 absolutely and altogether, that anything that passes from my 
 lips and I believe I can speak for all should assume a 
 character inconsistent with veneration for a person charged 
 
 u 2
 
 292 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 with a responsibility so great. Further, I may say that 
 while we do not pretend to touch upon any question in the 
 internal legislation of Russia, there are laws larger than 
 any Russian legislation the laws of humanity and of God, 
 which are the foundation of all other laws (cheers,) and 
 if in any legislation they be violated, all the nations of 
 Christian Europe, the whole commonwealth of civilised and 
 Christian men would instantly acquire a right to speak out 
 aloud. (Cheers.) And now I must touch upon one point, 
 which I acknowledge has been very painful to me. We 
 have all watched for the last twelve months the anti-Semitic 
 movement in Germany. I look upon it with a two-fold 
 feeling in the first place with horror, as tending to dis- 
 integrate the foundations of social life ; and, secondly, with 
 great fear lest it might light up an animosity which has 
 already taken flame in Russia and may spread elsewhere. 
 (Hear, hear.) I have read with great regret an elaborate 
 article, full, no doubt, of minute observations, written from 
 Prussia, and published in the Nineteenth Century, giving a 
 description of the class animosities, jealousies, and rivalries 
 which are at present so rife in that country. When I read 
 that article my first feeling was one of infinite sorrow that 
 the power and energy of the Old Testament should be so 
 much greater in Brandenburg than those of the New. I 
 am sorry to see that a society penetrated with Rationalism 
 has not so much Christian knowledge, Christian power, 
 Christian character, and Christian virtue as to render it 
 impossible that, cultivated, refined, industrious, and en- 
 ergetic as they are, they should endanger the Christian 
 society of that great kingdom. I have also read with pain 
 accounts of the condition of the Russian Jews, bringing 
 against them accusations which, if I touch upon them, I 
 must ask my Jewish friends near me to believe I reject 
 with incredulity and horror. (Hear, hear.) Neverthless I
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA, 293 
 
 have read that the cause of what has happened in Russia is 
 that the Jews have been pliers of infamous trades usurers, 
 immoral, demoralising, and I know not what. When I read 
 these accusations I ask, Will they be cured by crime, 
 murder, outrage, abominations of every sort ? (Cheers.) 
 Are they not learning the lesson from those who ought to 
 teach a higher ? Again, if it be true, which I do not be- 
 lieve, that they are in the condition described, are they not 
 under penal laws ? (Hear, hear.) Is there anything that 
 can degrade men more than to close against intelligence, 
 energy, and industry all the honourable careers of public 
 life ? (Cheers.) Is there anything that can debase and 
 irritate the soul of man more than to be told, " You must 
 not pass beyond that boundary ; you must not go within 
 eighteen miles of that frontier ; you must not dwell in that 
 town ; you must only live in that province ?" (Hear, hear.) 
 I do not know how any one can believe that the whole 
 population can fail to be affected in its inmost soul by such 
 laws, and if it be possible to make it worse this is the mode 
 and the discipline to make it so. They bring these accu- 
 sations against the Russian Jews ; why do they not bring 
 them against the Jews of Germany ? By the acknowledg- 
 ment of the anti-Semitic movement, the Jews in Germany 
 rise head and shoulders above their fellows. (Cheers.) 
 Why do they not bring these accusations against the Jews 
 of France ? (Renewed cheers.) Is there any career of 
 public utility, any path of honour, civil or military, in which 
 the Jews have not stood side by side with their country- 
 men ? If the charge is brought against the Jews of Russia, 
 who will bring it against the Jews of England ? (Loud 
 cheers.) For uprightness, for refinement, for generosity, 
 for charity, for all the graces and virtues that adorn humanity, 
 where will be found examples brighter or more true of human 
 excellence than in this Hebrew race ? (Renewed cheers.)
 
 294 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 And when we are told that the accounts of those atrocities- 
 are not to be trusted, I ask if there were to appear in the- 
 newspapers long and minute narratives of murder, rapine, 
 and other atrocities round about the Egyptian-hall, in Old 
 Jewry, in Houndsditch, in Shoreditch, if it were alleged that 
 the Lord Mayor was looking on, that the Metropolitan Police 
 did nothing, that the Guards at the Tower were seen mingled 
 with the mob, I believe you would thank any men who 
 gave you an opportunity of exposing and contradicting the 
 statement. (Cries of " Hear, hear.") Well, then, I say v/e 
 are rendering a public service to the public departments and 
 Ministry of Russia by what we are doing now, and I believe 
 it will carry consolation to the heart of the great Prince 
 who reigns over that vast Empire. (Cheers.) But let me 
 suppose for a moment that these things are true, and I 
 do not found my belief in their truth from what has 
 appeared either in ' The Times newspaper or in the Pall 
 Mall Gazette, which has confirmed the statements. I 
 hold the proofs in my own hand. (Cheers.) And from 
 whom do they come ? From official documents, from 
 the Minister of the Interior, General Ignatieff. (Cheers. )< 
 The resolution speaks of the laws of Russia as regards its- 
 Jewish subjects. I do not assume to be a jurist in 
 English law, much less to say what the laws of Russia are 
 in this respect. I should not know what to say on the re- 
 solution if I did not hold in my hand a rescript of much 
 importance. I hope I shall not be told that, like the Ukase, 
 it is a forgery. These horrible atrocities had continued 
 throughout May, June, and July, and in the month of 
 August this document was issued. The first point in it is 
 that it laments and deplores what ? The atrocities on the 
 Jewish subjects of the Czar ? By no means, but the sad 
 condition of the Christian inhabitants of the southern pro- 
 vinces. (Hear, hear.) The next point is that the main.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 295 
 
 cause of these " movements and riots," as they are called, 
 to which the Eussian nation had been a stranger, is but a 
 commercial one. The third point is that the conduct of the 
 Jews has called forth " protests" on the part of the people, 
 as manifested by acts of what do you think ? Of violence 
 and robbery. (Cheers.) Fourthly, we are told by the 
 Minister of the Interior that the country is subject to mal- 
 practices which were, it is known, the cause of the agitation. 
 My Lord Mayor, if the logic of this document be calm, the 
 rhetoric and insinuation of it are most inflammatory, and I 
 can hardly conceive how, with that rescript in their hands* 
 the Eussian population could not have felt that they were 
 encouraged to go on. (Cheers.) The document then goes 
 on to say, " We have appointed a Commission to inquire " 
 into what ? " First, what are the trades of the Jews which 
 are injurious to the inhabitants of the place ; and, secondly, 
 what makes it impracticable to put into force the already 
 existing laws limiting the rights of the Jews in the matter 
 of buying and farming land, and trading in intoxicants and 
 usury. Thirdly, how shall these laws be altered so that 
 the Jews can no longer evade them, and what new laws 
 may be passed to prevent their evasion." Besides answer- 
 ing the foregoing questions, the following additional infor. 
 mation Was sought first, on usury ; secondly, on the num- 
 ber of public-houses ; thirdly, on the number of persons in 
 the service of the Jews ; fourthly, on the extent and acre- 
 age of the land ; and lastly, on the number of Jewish agri- 
 culturists. We have in our hands the Eussian laws affecting 
 the Jewish subjects of the Empire. I would ask what is 
 the remedy for a population in this state ? Is it more penal 
 laws ? Is it to disqualify them from holding land ? Is it 
 to forbid them to send their children to higher places of 
 education ? No, my Lord Mayor, I believe that the remedy 
 for this state of things is two-fold first, the vital supremacy
 
 296 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 of Christian law in all its amplitude. (Cheers.) It was 
 not by laws like these that the Christians won the world 
 and won the Imperial power to execute justice among men. 
 It will not be by laws other than these that the great Im- 
 perial power of Russia will blend with the population of the 
 Empire their Jewish subjects. (Hear, hear.) The other 
 remedy I believe to be this, a stern and merciful execution 
 of justice upon evildoers, coupled with a stern and rigorous 
 concession of all that is right in the law of nature and of 
 God to every man. (Cheers.) All that is necessary for 
 the protection of life and limb, and liberty and property 
 all that constitutes human freedom this, and nothing less 
 than this, will be the remedy for the evil of which the 
 Minister of the Interior complains. (Hear, hear.) I look 
 very hopefully to what may be the effect of this meeting. 
 Do not let us over-rate it. If we believe that this meeting 
 will have done the work, and that we may cease to speak, 
 its effect will not be what we desire. Let us not under- 
 rate it either. I believe that all through the United King- 
 dom there will be a response to this meeting. (Cheers.) 
 Manchester and Birmingham have begun ; and wheresoever 
 *he English tongue is spoken throughout the world, that 
 which your lordship has said so eloquently and so power- 
 fully, will be known. I believe at the very moment we 
 are assembled here, a meeting of the same kind is assem- 
 bled in New York (cheers) ; and what passes here will be 
 translated into every language of Europe, and will pass 
 even the frontiers of Russia. (Renewed cheers.) Like the 
 light and the air, it cannot be excluded, and wheresoever 
 there is human sympathy, the declarations that are made 
 here and elsewhere will meet with a response that will tend 
 to put an end to these horrible atrocities. There is a book, 
 my lord, which is common to the race of Israel, and to us 
 Christians. That book is a bond between us, and in that
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 297 
 
 book I read that the people of Israel are the oldest people 
 upon the earth. Russia and Austria and England are of 
 yesterday compared with the imperishable people which, 
 with an inextinguishable life and immutable traditions and 
 faith in God and in the laws of God, scattered as it is all 
 over the world, passing through the fires unscathed, trampled 
 into the dust, and yet never combining with the dust into 
 which it is trampled, still lives, a witness and a warning to 
 us. (Loud cheers.) We are in the bonds of brotherhood with 
 it. The New Testament rests upon the Old. They be- 
 lieve in half that for which we would give our lives. Let 
 us then acknowledge that we unite in a common sympathy. 
 I read in that book these word, " I am angry with a great 
 anger with the wealthy nations that are at ease, because I 
 was a little angry with Israel, and they helped forward the 
 affliction." That is, My people were scattered, they suf- 
 fered unknown and unimaginable sufferings, and the nations 
 of the world that dwelt at ease and were wealthy, and had 
 power in their hands, helped forward a very weighty afflic- 
 tion which was upon them all. My lord, I only hope this 
 that not one man in England who calls himself a civilised 
 or Christian man will have it in his heart to add by a single 
 word to that which this great and ancient and noble people 
 suffer ; but that we shall do all we can by labour, by speech, 
 and by prayer to lessen, if it be possible, or at least to keep 
 ourselves from sharing in sympathy with, these atrocious- 
 deeds. (Loud cheering.) 
 
 Speech of the Rev. CANON FARRAR. 
 
 He felt considerable surprise at the amount of opposition 
 which had been offered to this expression of sympathy. It 
 was said that we were founding our indignation upon a 
 mass of falsehoods and exaggerations ; that we were 
 desirous of setting English and Russian Society by the ears;
 
 298 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 and that these events were being seized upon by the Oppo- 
 sition to weaken and embarrass the Government of Mr. 
 Gladstone. We should be only too glad to believe that 
 there had been some exaggeration and even some falsehood 
 in the details that had been received of the atrocities 
 committed upon the Jews ; nevertheless, it was quite 
 certain that the accounts which had been recorded by all 
 European newspapers were no fictions, and those accounts 
 were in accordance with Russian documents of undisputed 
 authenticity. The suggestion that this was a political 
 agitation was already scattered to the winds. The charge 
 of fostering enmity against Russia was sufficiently disposed 
 of by the names of those who had spoken at the meeting ; 
 and with them and others who, by presence or letter 
 approved of it, the first principle of their religion was the 
 universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood 
 of man. (Loud cheers.) He was afraid that the fact that 
 Prince Lobanoff would not transmit the singularly moder- 
 ate and respectful memorial of the Jews in London did 
 indicate a certain amount of irritation ; but nothing was- 
 further from the intention of the meeting than to foster 
 such irritation ; they only wanted to make a kindly and a 
 friendly remonstrance. From the time when the son of 
 one of the greatest among the early Russian Princes wooed 
 and won the daughter of the last of our Saxon Kings down 
 to the time when a daughter of the Imperial House found, 
 we trusted, a happy home among us, the chief, if not the 
 only interruption in our friendly relations had been oc- 
 casioned by the Crimean War, the memory of which was so 
 completely effaced that when the Czar perished by the- 
 hands of dastardly assassins, we expressed as with one 
 voice the deepest sympathy. Because we were now per- 
 fectly friendly, we would not give up our right to raise a 
 remonstrance when a remonstrance was needed ; and it
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 299" 
 
 was impossible to say it was not needed when there had 
 been murder, pillage, and conflagration, and men, women,, 
 and innocent children had been left perfectly unprotected, 
 and were still left in trembling apprehension lest they 
 should fall victims to brutal violence. In these circum- 
 stances we claimed a right to remonstrate against men of 
 high rank, who by words and actions had fostered this de- 
 plorable hatred between race and race ; against those 
 Russian officials who had not acted with sufficient energy 
 and promptitude ; and against the Russian newspapers who 
 by their articles had swollen these insensate cries of envy 
 and hatred. He did not dream of charging the Russian 
 Church or the Russian Government, or the Emperor, with 
 any complicity in or condonation of these abominable 
 actions. We were perfectly sure that to the Czar and to 
 high ecclesiastics and high-minded Christian Russians these 
 deeds were as abhorrent as they were to us ; but for that 
 reason we ought to point out that in the dominions of the 
 Czar there were those who did not share these sentiments 
 or think that greater protection ought to be afforded to the 
 Jews. He fully conceded that the position of the Turkish 
 Government in relation to the Bulgarian atrocities was 
 wholly different from the relation of the Russian Govern- 
 ment to the outrages on the Jews ; but the crimes were 
 analogous, and in many instances identical ; and why were 
 the Bulgarian atrocities to be denounced with burning in- 
 dignation and the Russian atrocities listened to with 
 freezing apathy ? Was it because the sufferers in one case 
 were Bulgarians and in the other were Jews ? Was it 
 because the offenders in one case were Mahomedans and in 
 the other Christians ; or because one Government was 
 weak and the other mighty ? Was it because in one case 
 the atrocities were committed amid the turbulence of war 
 and in the other in the depths of peace ; because one were
 
 300 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 a sort of spasm in a comparatively transient agony, and the 
 other the outcome of deep-seated and long-continued disease? 
 It was because we felt friendship that we claimed the 
 right to remonstrate, as we always had done in such cases. 
 It was a positive duty that the voice of England should be 
 'heard and that she should not speak with bated breath and 
 whispering humbleness. (Cheers.) It had been our tra- 
 ditional policy to show our sympathy with downtrodden 
 nationalities ; and we had fought for Greeks at Navarino, 
 for Turks at Alma and Inkerman, and for what we believed 
 to be the liberties of Europe again and again. The Jews 
 were the most trampled-upon nationality in the world. It 
 was the nation to which humanity owed the deepest debt, 
 and on which humanity had inflicted the deepest wrong. 
 (Cheers.) We were approaching Russia in the most 
 respectful and friendly spirit, and because we were friendly, 
 and because we were mighty, and because the faithful 
 wounds of a friend were better than the deceitful kisses of 
 an enemy, we asked Russia to do what England had done, 
 and to give the Jews equal rights and privileges, which 
 almost every great nation had conceded to them. With 
 us they were loyal and useful citizens, and so they would 
 be in Russia if Russia listened to our appeal. Russia had 
 always shown herself keenly sensitive to European opinion ; 
 she had an honourable desire to take what she believed to 
 be her true place among the nations of Europe. We had 
 a higher opinion of Russia than to think that she would 
 wreak indignation because our sympathy had been ex- 
 pressed. We believed that she would follow the example 
 of other nations. The public voice was never more power- 
 ful than when raised on the side of right, and, therefore, 
 that voice would now be raised on the side of justice 
 and mercy, and would give no uncertain sound. (Loud 
 Cheers.)
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 301 
 
 Letters read by the Right Hon. the LORD MAYOR at the 
 Mansion House Meeting : 
 
 From the Rev. C. H. SPURGEON : 
 
 " I am sorry that I am quite precluded by prior engage- 
 ments from being at the Mansion House to speak against 
 the outrages committed upon the Jews. I am, however, 
 relieved by the belief that the heart of England is one in a 
 strong feeling of indignation at the inhuman conduct of 
 certain savages in Russia. (Cheers.) Every man and 
 woman among us feels eloquently on behalf of our fellow 
 men, who are subjected to plunder and to death, and still 
 more for our sisters, to whom even worse treatment has. 
 been meted out. Hence you have the less need of speeches 
 and orations. As a Christian, I feel that the name of our 
 Redeemer is dishonoured by such conduct on the part of 
 His professed followers. As a Nonconformist and a Liberal, 
 believing in the equal rights of all men to live in freedom 
 and safety, I must protest against a state of things in which 
 the Jew is made an outlaw. Lastly, as a man, I would 
 mourn in my inmost soul that any beings in human form 
 should be capable of crimes such as those which have made 
 Russia red with Israelitish blood. But what need even of 
 these few sentences ? The oppressed are sure of advocates 
 wherever Englishmen assemble." 
 
 From the Right Rev. BISHOP of MANCHESTER : 
 
 " As I signed the requisition to the Lord Mayor begging 
 him to call a public meeting at the Mansion House at which 
 an opportunity might be given for the expression of the 
 feeling that, I imagine, is strong in the hearts of all Eng- 
 lishmen with regard to the outrages to which the Jews ap- 
 pear to have been subjected in Russia, I regret that it is 
 out of my power to attend that meeting in person, but the
 
 302 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 Mayor has called a similar meeting in Manchester for Feb- 
 ruary 3, at which I hope to be present, and when I shall 
 have an opportunity of saying what I feel. I will merely 
 *ay now that these outrages, as they have been reported in 
 England have aroused in my breast the liveliest feelings of 
 pity and indignation. I cannot for a moment believe that 
 -any civilised Government could either encourage or connive 
 at them, and it seems to me that the Government of Russia 
 owes it to the place it occupies in Christian Europe to 
 extend the strong arm of its protection to the weak and 
 helpless, and to repress with all the force at its command 
 acts of pillage and violence which one would have thought 
 were only possible in some bygone age of barbarism." 
 
 From the Rev. the Chief Rabbi, DR. ABLER, PH.D. : 
 
 " I need hardly assure your lordship how keen is the grief 
 which I share with every member of my community at the 
 pitiable calamities suffered by my co-religionists in Russia. 
 But in the midst of the darkness which over-shadows my 
 oppressed brethren, there is happily a gleam of light. For 
 there appears to me no small probability that deliverance 
 may arise through the influence of the public opinion of free 
 and enlightened England, and through the noble and spon- 
 taneous outburst of sympathy from our Christian fellow- 
 countrymen. Grateful, indeed, do I feel in common with 
 every Israelite in this land for the enthusiastic sympathy 
 which has thus found utterance. And the grief which op- 
 presses my heart at the dire woes of my brethren is not a 
 little assuaged by the consoling thought that I have lived 
 to witness in the people of England the noblest development 
 of religious toleration the union of all creeds on the broad 
 platform of common humanity. May God, our Common 
 Father, bless your philanthropic efforts, and crown them 
 with success !"
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 303 
 
 From Mr. TENNYSON (Poet Laureate) : 
 
 " I am unable to be present at the Mansion House on 
 February 1. Not the less ain I dismayed by the reports, 
 of this madness of hatred against the Jews (whatever the 
 possible provocation), and of the unspeakable barbarities 
 consequent. If they are not universally denounced, it can 
 only be that they are so alien to the spirit of the age as to 
 be almost unbelievable. The stronger the national protest 
 the better. Our Government, however, may have reason 
 to fear that it may do more harm than good by official in- 
 tervention." 
 
 The Master of Balliol, Oxon (Prof. JOWETT) wrote: 
 
 " The cruelties which have been inflicted on the Jews 
 in Russia, as narrated by the correspondent of The Times 
 :are detestable, and should be denounced by the unanimous 
 opinion of civilised nations." 
 
 From His Grace the DUKE OF WESTMINSTER. 
 
 " I am unable to attend the meeting to-morrow. I cannot, 
 however, repress my feeling of horror and of indignation at 
 the barbarities and ruin worked upon the defenceless Jews 
 in Russia. I am afraid there can be no doubt as to an 
 enormous amount of great and hideous wrong-doing, but 
 we want more information, to obtain which every effort 
 should be made, and for acquiring which I believe the 
 Russian Government are willing to give facilities. Mean- 
 while, I can well understand and can sympathise with the 
 feeling that prompts thousands of our fellow-countrymen to 
 .give vent to their indignation against the perpetrators of 
 these barbarities, and of sympathy with those who have 
 suffered and are suffering under these enormities." 
 
 From His GraCe the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY. 
 " My dear Lord, It is a distress to me that I am for
 
 304 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 bidden by my medical attendant to take part in the meeting 
 your lordship has undertaken to call together, to enter an 
 emphatic protest against the recent outrages to which the 
 Jewish people have been exposed. Unable to attend 
 myself, I have asked Canon Farrar to be present (cheers), 
 and express the horror with which I contemplate the dis- 
 grace brought on the Christian name by these shameful 
 persecutions." 
 
 VI. 
 
 Sermon by the Rev. W. PAGE ROBERTS. 
 
 Preaching at St. Peter's, Vere Street, the Rev. W. Page 
 Roberts said: " You know I am no friend to pulpit politics, 
 but if politics are out of place in the pulpit, thank God 
 morality is not out of place there, and when we see immo- 
 rality like that which now disgraces Russia, it is our duty 
 to call attention to it, and boldly to condemn it. It is for 
 us, with others, to do what we can to keep the national 
 conscience sensitive, to maintain a high moral public 
 opinion, and such an opinion will not be without power. 
 The public opinion of its neighbours may be a real strength 
 to a right-minded Government. We may not think that 
 the outrages from which the Jews are suffering in Russia, 
 have the countenance of the Government. But they have 
 not been instantaneously and sternly repressed, and once 
 more we see this singular people the victims of ungoverned 
 barbarism. How much the world owes them, and with 
 what strange coin it has paid them for their services ! Why 
 we owe more to them than to any nation in the world. 
 Greece and Rome are nothing to Jerusalem. I need not 
 think of eminent men and services in modern days, nor yet 
 of the time of which it has been said that together with 
 the Spanish Arabs ' they kept alive the flame of learning-
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 305 
 
 during the deep darkness of the Middle Ages.' I take the 
 Bible, Old arid New Testament, as a contribution to the 
 wealth of the world, which should make us look upon a 
 Jew with gratitude whenever we see him. What are 
 Horace and Cicero to Isaiah and Paul ? We are indebted 
 for our religion, and herein for our civilisation, to the Jews. 
 And yet this is the nation which Christians have ravaged 
 in almost every century. We may blush for the crimes of 
 rabble crusaders, for those of our own country in the time 
 of John, and for those of Spain at the close of the 14th 
 century. But is it not time that these things had come to 
 an end ? Do these burning ravaging Christians know that 
 their Saviour the God they worship was a Jew ? We 
 may plead semi-barbarism as an excuse for the past. Well 
 perhaps it may be pleaded for the Russia of the present. 
 But at least no such plea can be put up for Germany, which 
 lighted the conflagration which now devastates Russia, and 
 for her must remain the sterner condemnation. Humanity, 
 gratitude, and the Christian religion alike, call upon us to 
 denounce the crimes from which an eminent and helpless 
 people are now suffering." 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 THE PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS IN RUSSIA. 
 Sermon by the REV. H. R. HAWEIS. 
 
 THE Rev. H. R. Haweis, incumbent of St. James', Maryle- 
 bone, in the course of his admirable sermon on the Russian 
 atrocities made the following observations : " The position 
 of the Jews in history is unique, their character is excep- 
 tional. We owe them a debt which we have repaid for 
 centuries with nothing but usurious cruelty. We owe them 
 a debt which nothing but free handed liberality and out- 
 
 x
 
 S06 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 spoken sympathy can discharge. Who are the Jews ? 
 What is their history ? What is their present position, 
 and what is the right Christian policy towards them ? The 
 late atrocities in Russia and Prussia have made them 
 ' crucial ' points and ' burning questions ' in more senses 
 than one. The Jews are one branch of the great Semitic 
 race that spread itself between the Mediterranean and the 
 Indian Ocean. To the Israelite branch we owe religion in 
 its simplest form, monotheism, morality in its severest 
 form the decalogue, the inseparable union of morality and 
 religion touched with the afflatus of love in psalm and 
 prophecy. Outwardly, Israel has always been a pathetic, 
 even a romantic figure. The ' Wandering Jew ' is more 
 than a legend. The same figure, weird, but irresistibly 
 attractive, crosses the stage of history under various dis- 
 guises, always full of sublime paradox, always inspired, 
 always humiliated, always triumphant and irrepressible." 
 The preacher then enumerated the acts and characters of 
 the leaders of the Jews in biblical times, and proceeded to 
 briefly describe their history and treatment in Egypt, 
 Assyria, Babylon, Greece, Rome, France, and Spain. He 
 then continued : " The causes of persecution have been 
 uvowedly religious. In reality they were secular. The 
 Christians often attacked the Jew's ability, and oftener 
 wanted the Jew's money. Whenever the Jews became 
 rich the Christian began to feel that he had crucified Christ, 
 and deserved to be robbed. Nothing is, however, more 
 misleading than to say that the Jewish nation slew Jesus. 
 Jesus was crucified by a timid Governor, Pilate, in. 
 obedience to the clamour of a Sadducean priesthood, who 
 were as much hated by the people as Jews were hated by 
 that priesthood. The crucifixion of Christ by the Jewish 
 nation was an historical fraud, not the only one but very 
 nearly the worst. To Russian Christians we must now
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 307 
 
 say, you cannot put down the Jew ; you cannot "prevent 
 him from growing rich and prosperous. If you would 
 share in that wealth and prosperity instead of owning it as 
 receivers of stolen property or coveting it as forbidden 
 fruit, there is but one way. You must give the Jew equal 
 rights, put his life and property under the same protection 
 as your own. We might also remind the Protestant Church 
 in Germany and the Greek Church in Russia of an obscure 
 precept common to the religion of the Christian and the 
 Jew, ' Whatsoever things ye would men should do unto 
 you, do ye even so unto them.' " 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 Abstract of the Sermon delivered at the Western Synagogue on 
 the 28th January, 1882, by the REV. DR. HERMANN ABLER, 
 M.A., Ph. D., Delegate Chief Rabbi, on "The Persecution 
 of the Jews in Russia." 
 
 IN olden times when any supreme national crisis arose, it 
 was the practice of our fathers to consult the sacred volume, 
 so that they might learn from its pages what it was incum- 
 bent upon them to do. It is told in the Talmud that they took 
 a schoolboy fresh from his studies and said to him, " Repeat 
 the text thou hast learnt in school." Now do not think 
 that this was a mere superstition, a kind of divination. Our 
 sages knew full well that in a time of national trouble the 
 prudent schoolmaster would teach his young charges such 
 Bible texts as would afford them guidance and wholesome 
 practical coiinsel for the crisis. Such a passage from Sacred 
 Scriptures has been continually in my thoughts since the 
 time that the terrible news from Russia arrived. It tells 
 us the duty of the hour with a pathos and emphasis such 
 as only inspiration can supply. The words are to be found 
 
 x 2
 
 308 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 in the Book of Proverbs, chapter xxiv., verses 10-12 : "If 
 thou art faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. 
 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death 
 and those that are ready to be slain ; If thou sayest, Behold 
 we knew it not ; doth not He that pondereth the heart 
 consider it ? And He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He 
 know it ? And shall not He render to every man according 
 to his works ? " What a significant text ! The most 
 natural emotion when some great trouble overwhelms those 
 about us is to be paralysed, to despair of giving any help, 
 of doing aught to relieve the misery. Solomon denounces 
 such inaction as altogether unworthy of true manhood. " If 
 thou art faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small." 
 The trouble shall only stimulate us to put forth all our 
 strength, to help the oppressed to the uttermost of our 
 power. Oh deliver those that are drawn unto death, with- 
 draw those that totter to the slaughter. We dare not 
 acquiesce in cruel tyranny. We dare not hush up a wrong 
 with the false plea of ignorance. " If thou sayest, Behold 
 we knew it not ; doth not He that pondereth the heart 
 consider it, and shall He not render to every man according 
 to his works ? " Sooner or later, dire punishment will over- 
 take us if we neglect a duty, which every precept of reli- 
 gion, every dictate of humanity presses upon us. 
 
 Surely no one here present, no member of the house of 
 Israel, no member of the great brotherhood of nations can 
 deny that this is a day of adversity unto us. " It is a time 
 of sore trouble to Jacob." It is not the first time that 
 Israel has had to suffer from persecution in our own days. 
 Some of you here present will remember the horror that 
 thrilled all right-thinking men when the tidings reached 
 these shores that innocent men had been tortured and slain 
 on the false charge of having killed an Italian priest, Father 
 Tomaso, at Damascus. We heard with sorrow that some
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IX RUSSIA. 309 
 
 of our brethren had been killed, others ill-treated and 
 imprisoned in Morocco. We grieved when we heard that 
 the Jews of Roumania suffered from so many galling dis- 
 abilities and restrictions. "We remember with gratitude 
 how the venerable champion, Sir Moses Montefiore, went 
 in 1846 to plead at the throne of the Czar Nicholas that a 
 Ukase should be repealed which would have caused many 
 thousands of Russian Jews to be removed from the frontiers, 
 from the homesteads which they had occupied for many 
 years. But the present crisis is altogether of a different 
 complexion. Think of the outrages that during a period of 
 nine months have raged in upwards of 160 towns and 
 villages in the Ukraine and in the West of the Russian 
 empire, barbarities that recall the dark ages in their 
 darkest phases the pillages and wanton destruction of 
 property, the wounding, the burning, and the butcheries, 
 tender children flung from casements, and worst of all the 
 deeds of violence, worse than death, perpetrated upon 
 chaste matrons and innocent maidens. We had hoped 
 almost against hope that these deeds had been perpetrated 
 by the ignorant and fanatical populace, but that the Govern- 
 ment looked upon them with disfavour. This hope is, 
 alas ! now vanishing. The lamentable fact forces itself 
 upon us more and more that the Central Government itself 
 is against us. Instead of adequately punishing the male- 
 factors and repressing the outrages with a strong hand, it 
 almost encourages them by the leniency of its penalties. 
 In the Rescript recently issued, the whole question is pre- 
 judged, and the Jews themselves are stigmatised as having 
 brought on the national rising by their own misdeeds. The 
 result of this circular is making itself already too sadly 
 felt. In many localities our brethren, still smarting from 
 the calamities that had befallen them, have been driven 
 from the towns and villages they had inhabited for many
 
 310 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 years. I have heard from the lips of some of the refugees 
 that it is unsafe in some towns for a Jew to walk abroad. 
 We hear with dismay the recommendations .which some of 
 the provincial commissions sent forth, that the Jews shall 
 be restricted more and more in the pursuit of every trade 
 and profession, so that means of subsistence shall be denied 
 to them. It is intended virtually to close schools and uni- 
 versities against them, for only a certain small proportion 
 of the Jewish population will be allowed to attend these 
 educational institutions. Nay, tidings reach us that it has 
 been proposed by some of the commissions to expatriate 
 the Jews. We have addressed a petition to the Czar, but 
 our memorial has been rejected and not allowed to reach its 
 destination. Surely, on hearing all this, must we not con- 
 fess with dismay and bitter grief " It is a time of trouble 
 unto Jacob." Indeed it was no exaggeration on the part 
 of the venerable and philanthropic peer, Lord Shaf tesbury, 
 when he spoke of these calamities as equalling those which 
 accompanied the destruction of Jerusalem. A day of 
 adversity it undoubtedly is. Have they who should be the 
 leaders of action on the part of the English community, 
 been faint at this crisis ? The charge has been made 
 in certain quarters that the llusso-Jewish Committee 
 has been altogether apathetic and remiss, that we 
 have apparently not recognised the gravity and ur- 
 gency of the work before us, that we, the wealthy 
 Jews of London, are too much lapped in luxury to accu- 
 rately perceive what such emergencies require. Now, 
 brethren, I am always very reluctant to enter into polemics 
 in the pulpit, especially when they -bear on personal 
 matters. Yet I cannot forbear from alluding to this accu- 
 sation. For as minister of a Jewish congregation, acting as 
 I do on behalf of our venerated Chief Rabbi, I solemnly de- 
 clare that I am unworthy to hold my office, I am unworthy
 
 JEWS AS THEY AKE IN RUSSIA. 311 
 
 to stand in this sacred place, to teach you your duty, if I 
 had neglected my duty a duty than which none can be more 
 urgent and more sacred in this instance. Heaven knows 
 that since the first tidings of these troubles came to us, 
 nine months ago, I have been endeavouring to devise 
 means with the help of the leaders of the Community how 
 to meet this grave crisis. But I do not speak as an indi- 
 vidual, but as a member of the Committee which has been 
 elected by the representatives of the Community to deal 
 with the whole subject. Our deliberations have been 
 carried on in strict privacy for obvious reasons, and I do 
 not wish to betray aught that should be kept secret. But 
 I am guilty of no indiscretion if I assert, that when the 
 history of these events will be written, it will be found that 
 the great work which has thus far been achieved, that the 
 press of England has been roused to take cognizance of the 
 present condition of the Jews of Russia, that the great 
 heart of England has been mightily stirred and is throbbing 
 with noble sympathy, is mainly due to the Russo-Jewish 
 Committee. I do not deny that we have been engaged in 
 .a long and anxious deliberation. But then realise to your- 
 selves the difficulties by which the subject is encompassed. 
 We had to ascertain the facts and carefully sift them, so 
 that there might be no exaggeration in our statements. 
 This, I can assure you, has been no easy matter. For you 
 have read how in an official communication in one of the 
 Russian newspapers, it is stated that there is no foundation 
 whatever for the charge that deeds of violence have been 
 perpetrated upon women. Would to heaven this were so ! 
 As I call to mind the facts communicated by eye-witnesses 
 I cannot but state that with respect to these heartrending 
 incidents Russian brutality is fcnly equalled by Russian 
 mendacity. Despotic and tyrannical governments in all ages 
 pursue the same tactics. You will remember what Pharaoh
 
 312 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 said on a similar occasion, " Let more work 'be laid upon 
 the men, that they may labour therein, and let them not 
 regard false words." 
 
 This has been a task devolving upon the Russo-Jewish 
 Committee, but there is a portion of the work in which 
 you are all called upon to join. I need not ask you to meet in 
 large numbers at the Mansion House on Wednesday next,, 
 for I am sure your own hearts impel you to show your 
 gratitude for the noble and spontaneous outburst of sym- 
 pathy, which will there find expression, and which we hope 
 will touch even the hearts of the Czar and his advisers. It 
 is wise that on that occasion only our Christian friends 
 should speak, but it will rest with you to act. It is 
 earnestly to be hoped that the indignant protest that will 
 be raised by our foremost men, without reference to religion, 
 rank, politics, or party, will contribute to prevent the re- 
 currence of the outrages. But the condition of our co-re- 
 ligionists is yet pitiable in the extreme. I need not refer in 
 detail to the tale of sorrow that has been repeated so often ; 
 you know as well as I that there are thousands and thou- 
 sands of families who have been reduced to beggary. At 
 the Mansion House meeting a fund will be raised for the 
 permanent amelioration of the condition of our brethren in 
 Russia, by relieving the existing wretchedness and by pro- 
 moting emigration. Those that have given their close 
 attention to the subject have come to the conclusion that 
 the policy of the middle ages must be repeated. When 
 the Jews felt the cruel hand of the oppressor weighing 
 upon them in the land of their habitation, they forsook 
 the inhospitable shores and went to other countries in 
 which they might hope for protection. But it was with 
 sad hearts that they wandered forth from the land which 
 had given them birth, for they left behind them the re- 
 mains of those who had been near and dear to them.
 
 JEWS AS THEY ARE IN RUSSIA. 313 
 
 It is proposed to further emigration not alone to the 
 United States of America, but also to Canada and Aus- 
 tralia, and it is hoped that some might be settled in the 
 Holy Land, so that every man might once more live in 
 peace and happiness under his vine and fig tree. To carry 
 out this object effectually, a fund of not less than one 
 million sterling will be required. I have received a letter 
 from that noble and philanthropic lady, the Viscountess 
 Strangford, who informs me that she is organising a 
 Ladies' Fund, which is to be a mark of sympathy coming 
 from English women for Jewish suffering, and a token of 
 gratitude for Jewish benevolence. But the bulk of the 
 fund must come from us. We must sacrifice a part of our 
 luxuries, our pleasures, aye, our comforts. It will not 
 avail us to say that the reports which have come to us are 
 exaggerated, that the evil does not concern us, and that 
 we have our own poor to help. " If thou sayest, Behold 
 we knew it not, doth not He that pondereth the heart con- 
 sider it, and He that keepeth the soul doth not He know- 
 it, and shall He not render to every man according to 
 his works." 
 
 Let us enter some of the Jewish homes in Russia. Here 
 is a man who enjoyed prosperity, but he was robbed of his 
 all, and is now reduced to utter destitution. With his wife 
 and young children he lives on a miserable pittance, and he 
 is eagerly awaiting deliverance from his house of bondage. 
 Let us enter another home. An old man, prematurely 
 a ^ed, lies on a sick bed. His wife has died from the 
 
 O ' 
 
 effects of the horrible deeds of violence that were per- 
 petrated upon her, and his daughter has been bereft of her 
 senses by the doings of that dreadful day of rioting. Oh, 
 my brethren, will you not bring help ? " Deliver those 
 that are drawn unto death, withdraw those that are ready 
 to be slain," withdraw them from the prison-house in.
 
 31 4 JEWS AS THEY ARE. 
 
 which thev are confined. Do not remain callous to their 
 
 woe 
 
 And now,' my brethren, join with me in prayer to the 
 Almighty 011 behalf of our unfortunate brothers and sisters 
 in faith. Let us invoke His blessing on the words that 
 will be spoken at the Mansion House on Wednesday next. 
 
 Almighty God ! We heard and our hearts trembled, our 
 lips quivered, at the tidings of all the travail that has 
 come upon our brethren in the land of Russia. Our heart 
 is broken within us because they are given over to the 
 hands of the murderer and the despoiler. Oh Lord ! Thou 
 hast vouchsafed Thy promise that Thou will not cast us 
 away or destroy us utterly. We beseech Thee to hearken 
 to the cries of Thy people in the North. Bless every effort 
 made to liberate those who are given over to death. De- 
 liver those who tremble for their lives and for the honour 
 of their kindred. Grant that the words which will be 
 spoken within the coming week, in the name of Humanity 
 and Justice, will not return void, but will accomplish their 
 sacred purpose. Inspire the hearts of the rulers of that 
 land with a spirit of mercy and justice, so that Israel may 
 walk there in peace with no man to make them afraid. Oh 
 remember us with Thy favour and visit us with Thy 
 salvation ! Amen !
 
 Just Published, Price 2s. 
 
 THE NATURE OF GOD. 
 
 FOUR ESSAYS 
 
 BY 
 
 OSWALD JOHN SIMON, 
 
 Of Salliol College, Oxford. 
 
 " This is the title of a volume containing four essay?, or rather lay 
 Sermons upon the Nature of God, by Mr. Oswald J. Simon, son of Mr. 
 Serjeant Simon, M.P. The essays bear the impress of an intensely 
 spiritual nature, of a mind overflowing with religious aspirations. In 
 the fulness of his faith in the all-powerful goodness of God, the author 
 has set before his readers general observations upon the difficulties of 
 a conception of the Divine Being ; how we should worship Him ; how 
 we should endeavour to be infused with His spirit and have faith in the 
 Divine Love. It cannot be said that the Anglo-Jewish Community is 
 over supplied with such publications. Very few volumes of sermons 
 are published amongst us. We doubt whether the whole number of 
 sermons by Jews printed in England, in a separate form, have yet 
 reached the average of two a year. In the general community this is 
 not so. Sermons form an exceedingly large proportion of publications 
 in England. We, therefore, cannot but be pleased with an addition to 
 our scanty store of published sermons by English Jews. Mr. Simon is, 
 however, not yet an ordained minister. His observations are marked by 
 exceptional breadth and catholicity of thought. It is a peculiarity, per- 
 haps it should rather be said to be a virtue, of the sermons that they 
 could be as well addressed to any Theist as to the Jew. The tradi- 
 tional literature of the Jew is scarcely even relied upon for illustration 
 or authority. The earnest emotional nature of the writer finds expres- 
 sion in arguments of a general character. His nervous style of writing 
 indicates that he speaks from the fulness of his heart, and that he is 
 intensely anxious to reach the heart of his readers." Jewish Chronicle. 
 
 LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & Co. 
 ' WERTHEIMEK, LEA & Co., Ciucus PLACE, LONDON WALL.
 
 Fcap. 8vo., Cloth 5s. 
 
 IVAN'S LOVE-QUEST 
 
 AND OTHER POEMS. 
 
 BY 
 
 MALCOLM CHARLES SALAMAK 
 
 (REMINGTON & Co., 1879') 
 
 Extracts from a few of the numerous Press Notices. 
 
 " Mr. Salaman may fairly be congratulated on the possession of some 
 measure of the true poetic spirit. As these poems seem to be the first 
 
 effort of his muse, they evince great promise These poems are 
 
 permeated by a love of the beautiful, and show a richness of colour, with 
 no inconsiderable degree of literary skill. There is evidence of indi- 
 viduality in this new singer, and we expect to hear from Mr. Salaman 
 again." British Quarterly Review. 
 
 " In Mr. Salaman's ' Ivan's Love-quest ' we fancy that we discover 
 more traces of individuality than are found in most first volumes of 
 poetry. He manages a number of new metres with great skill and 
 ease." Westminster Review. 
 
 "In ' Ivan's Love-quest ' there is very considerable promise. Mr. 
 Salaman is able to show that there is a true spark of the Divine afflatus 
 in him. The leading poem in this volume is very musical. . . . "We 
 like many of those short poems in which Mr. Salaman, having one 
 central thought or idea, is able to concentrate his strength upon it, 
 and to carve, as it were, a poetical cameo. There is every reason to 
 predicate from this little volume that Mr. Salaman will yet chant 
 numbers worthy of being remembered." International Review. 
 
 "A volume of verse has lately made its appearance, to which a 
 special word of welcome is due. The author, Mr. Malcolm Charles. 
 Salaman, is new to the poetic lists ; he possesses a good ear for the 
 music of English speech, and a true instinct for natural beauty. . . The 
 flow of language is remarkable, and more than one really melodious 
 passage may be found, which shows that the writer possesses the gift 
 already The descriptions of the 'Snow -song' and the ' Wind-
 
 i VAN'S LOVE- QUEST con tin ucd. 
 
 song ' are charming, and there are tender thoughts delicately set to 
 music in many of the other poems which make up the volume. The 
 spirit of these compositions is for the most part refined and lofty, and 
 it is as a very promising first essay in verse, that we offer a warm en- 
 couragement to this young writer." Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "This little volume is one of which no young poet need be ashamed. 
 It may be said with truth of this poetical effort on the pail of Mr. 
 Salaman that there are signs in his verse of the energy that stimulates 
 imagination, and of an ear for the harmonies of rhythm ; and it may be 
 added that in 'Ivan's Love-quest ' he has proved that he can express 
 himself clearly, and go through his work with simplicity and directness. 
 The imagery of this poem is appropriate, and there is occasionally a 
 richness of colour and a happiness of expression which reminds us of 
 Keats. ' Biondina ' is also told with feeling, and a sense of poetic 
 beauty. The lyrics and sonnets are sufficiently good to entitle us to 
 look for something better from Mr. Salaman in the days to come." 
 Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 ' ' This volume of poems displays considerable talent and originality. 
 Mr. Salaman possesses a delicate and peculiar rhythm of his own, and 
 handles it with remarkable skill. As a first work it is praiseworthy and 
 full of promise. Each poem is perfect in versification and purity of 
 style ; but although the volume receives its name from the larger work, 
 ' Ivan's Love-quest," the most important poem is certainly ' Biondina,' 
 which is powerfully conceived, and carried out with exceptional spirit. 
 It has abundant colour, and much ' distinction ' to use the expression. 
 .... The author of ' Ivan's Love-quest,' has quite enough talent of 
 his own to strike out boldly in a new and untrodden path. He mani- 
 fests the possession of a spark of the true fire, is no mere versifier, and 
 has passion and tenderness." Horning Post. 
 
 "Mr. Malcolm Salaman is not a mere versifier, but a poet in the 
 strictest sense of the term. There is not only talent in his compositions 
 but genius not only melody, but mind. The first and longest piece in 
 the collection, ' Ivan's Love-quest,' is a work of the most refined and 
 delicate imagination. . . , There is great charm in the process of 
 elaboration, and the fancy, the melody, and the verbal colour of the 
 poem invest the story with a beauty such as belongs to a lovely 
 natural scene only half revealed in the soft dim shades of twilight. Mr. 
 Salaman would not spoil his pictures by making his outlines more dis- 
 tinct. He has already acquired considerable mastery over the art of 
 chiaroscuro There is much pathos and dramatic vigour in this
 
 IVAN'S LOVE-QUEST continued. 
 
 tale (' Biondina ') over and above the same poetic beauties that aboimd 
 in ' Ivan's Quest,' and it bears all the marks of being the result of 
 larger experience than the writer possessed when he composed the first 
 poem in his volume." Liverpool Mail. 
 
 "Undoubted grace of diction and musical talent There 
 
 is much that will claim the sympathies of readers who believe in 
 universal liberty, whether of love, government, or religion." Graphic. 
 
 " A first work of very great promise. . . . The poems exhibit no 
 common powers of versification, and great purity both of spirit and ex- 
 pression. ' Ivan's Love-quest ' is full of grace and rich in fancy, and 
 reads very much like the record of a dream. The ' Snow Song ' is very 
 beautiful, both in manner and matter. The lines ' To my Father ' are 
 full of pathos. "We dare hope great things from Mr. Salaman. At 
 present, like Marvell in his garden, he ' waves in his plumes the various 
 light,' but ' when prepared for longer flight,' it should be a remarkable 
 one in the annals of the rising generation of poets." Life. 
 
 " Mr. Salaman has a considerable science of metre, and some of the 
 command of music which might be expected from his father's son." 
 Academy. 
 
 " Mr. Salaman is emphatically one of the erotic school of poets. . . . 
 There are, no doubt, some who will find in his passionate strains the 
 echo of their own words ; for such, this book will have a distinct charm. 
 The least sympathetic reader will be able to appreciate the beauty and 
 delicacy of workmanship which Mr. Salaman has put into his verse. 
 Its music is rarely other than sweet." Scotsman. 
 
 " This volume contains (and this is what makes it worthy of remark 
 among the mass of minor poetry which it is impossible to notice) an 
 unusual amount of grace in expression, and of melody in versification 
 and language." Manchester Guardian. 
 
 " Mr. Salaman has evidently made a study of Shelley, and he is not 
 altogether an unworthy disciple of that poet. There is music in his 
 verses, and they have a delicacy of feeling as well as melody to recom- 
 mend them. Many of the shorter poems seem made to be sung. Public 
 Opinion. 
 
 "Mr. Salaman' a verses are shapely and symmetrical, have abund- 
 ance of colour, and distinct literary quality. ... If there be one of 
 our covey of versifiers who will ever soar into the empyrean, it will 
 be, we venture to predict, Mr. Salaman. It is early, however, as yet 
 to decide whether his verse is to be flower or fruit." Sunday Times.
 
 I8mo, Neat Cloth, levelled Boards. 
 
 BIBLE EEADINGS WITH MY CHILDREN. 
 
 BY L. C. 
 
 FIRST SERIES. THE CREATION TO THE DEATH OF 
 JOSHUA. Price 3s. 
 
 SECOND SERIES. FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO 
 THE RETURN FROM THE CAPTIVITY. Price 3s. Gd. 
 
 From Rev. Dr. HERMANN ADLER, Chief Rabbi. 
 
 " The little volumes are written in a style highly attractive to chil- 
 dren, and will, I am sure, tend to endear to them the hook so precious 
 to us all." 
 
 from Eev. Professor D. W. MARKS. 
 
 " I have read them through with great and increasing interest, and I 
 congratulate you in having succeeded so well in the accomplishment of 
 a work so long desired, that of rendering Bible history at once inte- 
 resting and instructive to children of tender age. It will please me well 
 to know that the work finds a wide circulation. For my own part, I shall 
 feel it a duty to recommend it to young mothers whenever an oppor- 
 tunity offers." 
 
 from Eev. A. L. GREEN. 
 
 " The charm of style so attractive in its simplicity to the young will 
 ensure for these volumes a large and affectionate circle of readers. I 
 appreciate the tender spirit of the work." 
 
 From Rev. GEORGE EMANUEL, B.A., Birmingham. 
 
 1 ' ' Bible readings with my Children ' continues to he regarded in our 
 private families and Sabbath classes as a most welcome friend." 
 
 " Undoubtedly, the best way in which the stories and the lessons from 
 the Bible can be learned is at the mother's knee. Such lessons, so 
 learnt, may be all that will by-and-by stand between our little ones 
 and that thick on-coming cloud of scepticism which hovers over the land.
 
 BIBLE READINGS WITH MY CHILDREN Continued. 
 
 But whilst there are mothers who are not able to add to the Bible this 
 best of expositions, such substitutes as these volumes should be widely 
 welcomed. For young children, L. C.'s ' Bible Readings with my 
 Children* should become a nursery classic. The first volume has 
 already been favourably noticed in our columns ; the second and larger 
 portion completes the Biblical records, and fully maintains the former 
 level. The style throughout is simple, bright, and natural, and many 
 chapters rise to excellence. . . . The book as a whole is altogether 
 to be recommended. It is evidently the work- of a mother, and of an in- 
 telligent and religious minded one. To write a satisfactory child's book, 
 which this series emphatically is, is by no means an easy matter. . . . 
 The secret we suspect lies in sympathy, and the authors are not legion 
 who find their way to a child's heart." Jewish Chronicle. 
 
 " This little book seeks to convey correct notions of Biblical times in 
 a manner most impressive to the juvenile mind, by taking scenes from 
 Holy Writ and presenting them in the form of chatty tales. The 
 authoress is very happy in her delineation of character, the complex 
 nature of which she dissolves in its simplest elements, so that they are 
 presented to the small readers in the most natural way for them to un- 
 derstand. This advantage is helped on by the choice of the simplest 
 style and the purest Saxon English. On'the whole we feel satisfied that 
 no harm can be done by putting this little book into the hands of any 
 child no faint praise in these days of high printing pressure." Jewish 
 World. 
 
 LONDON : 
 WEUTHEIMER, LEA & Co.,. CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL, E.C. 
 
 Printed by Wertheimer, Lea & Co., Circus Place, London Wall.
 
 A 000 048 943 5