EFES DAMMIM. 
 
 A SERIES 
 
 OF 
 
 CONVERSATIONS AT JERUSALEM 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 A PATRIARCH OF THE GREEK CHURCH 
 
 AND 
 
 A CHIEF RABBI OF THE JEWS, 
 
 CONCERNING THE 
 
 Jttalt'ctous (Sparge against tije ^^ s f ws * n 9 Wtian ISlootr. 
 BY J. B. LEVINSOHN. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW AS A TRIBUTE TO THE 
 MEMORY OF THE MARTYRS AT DAMASCUS, 
 
 BY DR. L. LOEWE, 
 
 MEMBER Of THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, OF THE ASIATIC 
 
 SOCIETY AT PARIS, ORIENTAL LINGUIST TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF 
 
 SUSSEX, AND AUTHOR OF THE "ORIGIN OF THE EGYPTIAN LANGUAGE," 
 
 AND OF "LETTERS FROM THE EAST." 
 
 LONDON : 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 
 
 M.DCCC.XLI.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 mi.NTKU BY I. WEKTHEIMER AND CO. 
 OIRCUI PI ACE, FINSBURT CIHfUS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT is presumed that all well-informed classes of society 
 in this country are, in some degree, acquainted with 
 the late cruel persecution of the Jews at Damascus. 
 That persecution involved a prejudice from which the 
 Jewish people have, at various times during the last 
 six hundred years, suffered much affliction, in all parts 
 of Europe where the progress of civilization and know- 
 ledge had been but slow ; though it has not existed in 
 any other region, except where Christians had settled 
 whose enlightenment had not kept pace, as in the 
 recent case of the Christians at Damascus, with 
 that which now happily pervades this division of the 
 world throughout. Thanks be to the Almighty ! there 
 is no reason to fear that the frightful prejudice will ever 
 again be entertained in this country, which occupies 
 so prominent a station in all that pertains to wisdom, 
 justice, and humanity ; here, at all events, the Israelites 
 are safe ; * it cannot, therefore, be otherwise than a 
 
 * The writer's assertions on this head are fully sustained by 
 the magnanimous meeting of so many influential and learned British 
 Christians at the Egyptian Hall, on Friday, July 3, 1840, for 
 the purpose of expressing their sympathy with the Israelites, and 
 their earnest wishes for the success of Sir Moses Montefiore, pre- 
 
 2G97437
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 source of delight to all truly enlightened subjects of 
 the British monarchy, to be made fully aware that the 
 kind and fraternal sentiments expressed by them con- 
 cerning the Israelites on the melancholy occasion re- 
 ferred to, are justified not only by reason, but by the 
 records of the most veracious historians, and the special 
 testimony of some of the brightest ornaments of the 
 world's literature : and it is to serve the double purpose 
 of affording some pleasure to all those who have taken 
 an interest in this cause, and to gratify the innocent 
 pride of his own nation and himself, such pride as a 
 wrongfully aspersed people cannot help but feel when, 
 after a long period of affliction, a righteous and powerful 
 judge proclaims to the world that they are free from 
 evil, and they are enabled to lay before the world a 
 load of evidence in their favour, in addition to that on 
 which his judgment has been founded that the writer 
 hereof submits the annexed work to the British public. 
 
 It is a translation of an elaborate work written in 
 the form of a series of colloquial discourses between 
 two learned men of different religious creeds, one being 
 represented as a Patriarch of the Greek Church at 
 Jerusalem, and the other a Chief Rabbi of the Jews at 
 the same place; from which discourses inferences are 
 finally drawn which furnish a complete refutation of 
 
 viously to his starting on his mission to the East. This meeting 
 may be considered the most glorious evidence of intelligence and 
 religious toleration that is to be met with in the annals of man- 
 kind.
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 the appalling charge against the Israelites of privily 
 taking the lives of Christians, in order to obtain blood 
 to use in certain of their religious ceremonies : the 
 author of the work is J. B. Levinsohn,* a Jewish sub- 
 ject of his august Majesty the Emperor of Russia, of 
 whose impartial rule, and benign protection of those 
 who submit to his dominion, whatever their faith may 
 be, this is one of the most conspicuous results. I ought 
 not to omit to state, in this place, that the Israelites 
 at large owe a heavy debt of gratitude to his Imperial 
 Majesty, for the kindness of his behaviour to their 
 brethren residing in his territory ; and, indeed, all who 
 cherish principles of toleration and justice, must ac- 
 knowledge that his actions in regard to them must 
 tend to benefit all mankind. I herein allude to the 
 schools which, under his Majesty's auspices, are to be 
 erected in various parts of his dominions, for the in- 
 struction of such Israelites as may be too poor to obtain 
 a proper education from their own resources, and in 
 which, all who may choose to enter " them are to be 
 placed on a footing equally as advantageous as that 
 of any other class of people within his Majesty's realms : 
 by this measure, the Emperor will teach his subjects in 
 general, one of the most salutary and effective lessons 
 that ever emanated from any ruler whose name is to 
 
 * J. B. Levinsohn is now living at Krzemnitz; this work was 
 written by him in the year of the Creation 5594, on the occasion of 
 a persecution being raised at Soslow in Poland.
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 be found in the annals of the world. Whatever opinions 
 may be held by different classes of society throughout 
 Europe, regarding the Emperor's political conduct in 
 connexion with the most notorious events of his reign, 
 I have nothing whatever to do; no monarch or states- 
 man has ever yet been so fortunate as to secure for 
 himself the commendations of all men; but there are 
 few persons, I presume, that will attempt to deny, that 
 in the management of the domestic affairs of his realms 
 he has been characterised by the strictest impartiality, 
 and that no one kind of people, of the great variety of 
 all religions that acknowledge his power, are placed in 
 a state of humiliation for the gratification of another. 
 Had there been a different state of things in existence 
 in the Russian empire, it is probable that the genius 
 and learning of Levinsohn would never have been 
 stimulated to produce this work, which, to all his nation, 
 is indeed an inestimable boon. 
 
 I am aware that in making such special allusions to 
 Russia, I have been digressing from the main and legi- 
 timate object of a preface. But, in consequence of 
 what lately came to pass in the East, I consider that 
 it is essential for the cause of the whole of the Jewish 
 nation, that some comments should be made on the 
 actions of those whose influence, either favourable or 
 adverse, is of a nature to affect them ; and I conceive 
 that nothing of that kind can be said anywhere so ap- 
 propriately as in juxtaposition with this work, and the
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 preface is the only place that I can make use of for such 
 a purpose. 
 
 The author of this translation is personally acquainted 
 with most of the sufferers who still survive at Damascus, 
 and was so with those whom their cruel judges tortured 
 into the grave ; and their great worth, and respectable 
 station in that city, were often spoken of and testified by 
 him, in his " Letters from the East," published in the 
 Allgemeim Zeitung des Judenthums, at a time when none of 
 them had the slightest idea of being involved in so dire a 
 calamity : the reader will, therefore, readily conceive 
 how excessively their misfortunes must have excited the 
 writer's feelings, and will be induced to make such allow- 
 ances for the warmth and discursiveness of his style and 
 sentiments as, under other circumstances, he would not 
 be justified in soliciting. In order to render the transla- 
 tor's motives for undertaking this task still more explicit, 
 and the better to give him an opportunity of making 
 some comments on certain subjects which are set forth 
 in the work, so that the reader may more easily compre- 
 hend them, it is necessary to refer to some of the most 
 conspicuous features in the late persecution. 
 
 When it became known that the priest Thomaso had 
 mysteriously disappeared, seven individuals were charged 
 with having decoyed him into their power, and with hav- 
 ing murdered him amongst them ; it was positively 
 asserted that these seven had been seen all together in 
 the afternoon of the day of his disappearance in the
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 house of David Harari. One of the seven, however, 
 offered to produce, as evidence to disprove this, two per- 
 sons, one a Mohammedan and the other a Christian, who 
 were sitting with him in his own house all that day and 
 the greater portion of the ensuing evening. A child of 
 his had just died, and, according to the precepts of the 
 Jewish law, he was compelled to remain in his house 
 during seven days from its decease, in a state of mourn- 
 ing : that day was one included in the seven, and these 
 persons came to condole with him on his loss. Had these 
 witnesses been allowed to come forward, the whole of the 
 case must have fallen to the ground at once, in spite of 
 the malicious craft and cunning which the originators of 
 the charge displayed; for as they were in nowise con- 
 nected with the Jews, their testimony must have been 
 received as valid; and the absence of one out of the 
 seven being proved, the charge, specially implicating the 
 seven, could not have survived for a moment. But this 
 man was instantly put to the torture ; and though they 
 were all subjected to the most horrible appliances that 
 the human mind can conceive, yet the mode of torture 
 used with him took effect so speedily, that he died before 
 any of his friends could have any chance of putting for- 
 ward the witnesses referred to. He was still included in 
 the accusation, for now he could only testify his inno- 
 cence to his Maker. 
 
 There was another remarkable circumstance, which 
 shews how determinedly the charge was carried over
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 every impediment that truth and justice opposed to it. 
 Three ministers of the Jewish congregation were, at the 
 outset of the calumnious report, commanded by the go- 
 vernor to discover the criminals ; these three straightway 
 repaired to the synagogue, and having summoned all 
 their brethren that could come into their presence, made 
 a proclamation that, if any Jew knew aught that might 
 lead to the detection of the criminals, he should instantly 
 communicate it to them, under pain of excommunication, 
 which is the most serious punishment that the Jewish 
 clergy can inflict, and which every Jew contemplates with 
 the utmost dread. The rabbies likewise enjoined all their 
 auditors to make diligent search for the criminals for the 
 honour of the nation at large. In consequence of this 
 proclamation, a young man, a Jew, who kept a tobacco- 
 nist's shop in the Mooslimin quarter, just without one of 
 the city gates, came forward, and stated that he had 
 seen the priest and his servant pass by his door at 
 six o'clock in the evening of the day on which he 
 was last seen, which he the more clearly remembered 
 as he then solicited them both to purchase toombak of 
 him. 
 
 In the accusation against the seven, it was stated that 
 the priest was last seen at David Harari's house at half- 
 past four. This evidence, then, tended strongly to refute 
 the accusation ; but the ill-fated youth was directly ar- 
 rested as an accomplice, and hurried into eternity simul- 
 taneously with the first of the seven.
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 Thus the testimony that could not have failed to weigh 
 on the minds of the multitude was entirely suppressed ; 
 and the multitude were now induced to raise a clamour 
 against the unfortunate prisoners ; and the individuals in 
 office, whose actions can clearly be traced to motives of 
 revengeful jealousy, excited against the most distinguished 
 Jews in Damascus by certain circumstances which had 
 long since occurred, took shelter under this clamour, and 
 gratified their atrocious malice not only with impunity, 
 as regarded the major part of the inhabitants of the 
 place, but with the approbation due only to a rigid act 
 of justice. On nearly all former occasions, when the Jews 
 have been persecuted in consequence of the superstitious 
 impression that they used Christian blood in their Passo- 
 ver ceremonies, similar means have been practised to 
 stifle the voice of truth, and similar feelings of revenge 
 have, without doubt, first kindled the flame of persecu- 
 tion. The reader is particularly requested to note the 
 coincidence between the proceedings of the semi-barba- 
 rians at Damascus in the present age, and those of the 
 judges who lived in the dark ages of superstition in other 
 parts of the world. 
 
 The translator had the honour of accompanying his 
 truly illustrious friend, Sir Moses Montefiore, in his 
 recent self-imposed, generous mission to the East,* 
 
 * It is probable that few people have heard of any other than the 
 last journey performed by Sir Moses Montefiore ; by that alone he 
 has certainly obtained the applause of civilized men of all conditions;
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 arid, consequently, was present at his interviews with 
 Mohammed Ali at Alexandria ; and, from what thus came 
 to his knowledge, he feels bound to acquit the Pacha of 
 entertaining the prejudice himself. His reception of Sir 
 Moses and the other members of the mission was cha- 
 racterised by great courtesy ; and his whole behaviour 
 was such, as plainly evinced that he would have granted 
 all the privileges which were asked for the Jews almost 
 on the very first application for them, had there not been 
 some influence secretly at work, which, for awhile, coun- 
 teracted the exertions made in their behalf. That Mo- 
 hammed Ali had not sanctioned the persecution himself 
 was made fully apparent ; indeed, the entertaining of the 
 
 even many of his own nation are, without doubt, unacquainted with 
 his benevolent exertions in that region on a previous occasion ; but 
 the writer thinks that he will be only discharging a just duty by 
 here recording the fact, that two years prior to the lamentable 
 events at Damascus, Sir Moses, and his lady also, as on the late 
 mission, with the writer in their company, explored the Holy Land, 
 and some of the adjacent countries, for the sole purpose of using 
 those things with which God has blessed them for the good of their 
 species inhabiting those regions, without respect to their descent or 
 faith. Where poverty does exist in those places, it is of a most 
 heart-sickening character, and is frequently attended by withering 
 disease; but wherever sickness and want were to be found, Sir Moses 
 and Lady Montefiore made their way ; and whoever the afflicted 
 might be, they experienced their bounty. Yet even this was not their 
 first visit to the Holy Land ; some twelve years ago they were at 
 Jerusalem, with objects in view similar to those just described. The 
 writer has some reason to fear this record of their philanthropy will 
 not be in perfect unison with the sentiments of Lady Montefiore 
 or Sir Moses ; but, by inserting it, he has, at least, satisfied his own 
 conscience.
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 prejudice would have been quite inconsistent with the 
 Pacha's sagacity and knowledge of mankind ; and the 
 only inference that can be drawn from his behaviour in 
 connexion with that affair is, that, in the peculiar position 
 in which he was then placed, he was afraid to do any- 
 thing which might seriously displease any of the agents 
 of France, lest they should interfere, to his disadvantage, 
 with the negociations he was then carrying on with the 
 hopes of securing France as his political friend. Poten- 
 tates whose names will live for ever in history, and whose 
 virtues will ever be cited as worthy of imitation, have, 
 when placed in situations of great political difficulty, 
 been compelled to sanction measures which their con- 
 sciences disapproved of; and there is ample reason for 
 thinking as favourably of Mohammed Ali. 
 
 What has just been advanced respecting the ruler of 
 Egypt, implicates, indeed, to a great extent, the French 
 consul at Damascus in the persecution ; but it would be 
 a puerile absurdity to affect not to know that that per- 
 sonage took a most active share in the transaction ; too 
 much reason have the Jews who survive it to remember 
 his persevering efforts against them. It is really a lament- 
 able thing that, in these days of civilization, a represen- 
 tative of one of the most enlightened nations of Europe 
 should enact the part of a fanatic of the middle ages. 
 But, though it is unhesitatingly asserted that the Egyp- 
 tian Pacha was for a time influenced by this agent, it 
 cannot for a moment be supposed that his conduct was
 
 PREFACE. Xlll 
 
 authorised or approved of by the French Court, or the 
 French people; for when, on his return from his mission, 
 successfully terminated, Sir Moses, in company with the 
 writer, obtained an audience of the King of the French, 
 and presented his Majesty with a copy of the Sultan's 
 firman in favour of the Jews under his government, his 
 Majesty most warmly congratulated him on his success, 
 and demonstrated the most perfect satisfaction ; and his 
 Majesty's sentiments were echoed by every Frenchman 
 whom Sir Moses encountered. 
 
 It must be a source of much satisfaction to the Israelites 
 in the Turkish realms, and to all friends of justice and 
 humanity in the world, to find that so wise and consi- 
 derate a prince as the present Sultan has ascended the 
 throne at Constantinople. The firman which, by the 
 instrumentality of Sir Moses Montefiore, has been issued 
 in favour of the Israelites, sheds mpre lustre on the 
 Turkish diadem than the brightest gem that was ever 
 placed in it by the artificer in gold and precious stones. 
 The following is a verbatim translation of that important 
 document, and there can be little doubt that the reader 
 will peruse it with much interest. 
 
 A Finnan addressed to the Chief Judge at Constantinople, at the 
 head of which His IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE SULTAN has written with 
 his own hand the following words : 
 
 " Let that be executed which is prescribed in this Firman." 
 
 An ancient prejudice prevailed against the Jews. The ignorant 
 believed that the Jews were accustomed to sacrifice a human being, 
 to make use of his blood at their feast of the Passover.
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 In consequence of this opinion, the Jews of Damascus and Rhodes 
 (who are the subjects of our empire) have been persecuted by other 
 nations. The calumnies which have been uttered against the 
 Jews, and the vexations to which they have been subjected, have at 
 last reached our Imperial Throne. 
 
 But a short time has elapsed since some Jews dwelling in the Isle 
 of Rhodes were brought from thence to Constantinople, where 
 they had been tried and judged according to the new regulations, 
 and their innocence of the accusations made against them fully 
 proved. That, therefore, which justice and equity required, has 
 been done in their behalf. 
 
 Besides which, the religious books of the Hebrews have been 
 examined by learned men, well versed in their theological litera- 
 ture, the result of which examination is, that it is found that the 
 Jews are strongly prohibited not only from using human blood, 
 but even that of animals. It therefore follows that the charges 
 made against them and their religion are nothing but pure calum- 
 nies. 
 
 For this reason, and for the love we bear to our subjects, we 
 cannot permit the Jewish nation (whose innocence of the crime 
 alleged against them is evident) to be vexed and tormented upon 
 accusations which have not the least foundation in truth, but that 
 in conformity to the Hatti Scherif which has been proclaimed at 
 Gulhane, the Jewish nation shall possess the same advantages, and 
 enjoy the same privileges, as are granted to the numerous other 
 nations who submit to our authority. 
 
 The Jewish nation shall be protected and defended. 
 
 To accomplish this object, we have given the most positive orders 
 that the Jewish nation dwelling in all parts of our empire shall be 
 perfectly protected, as well as all other subjects of the sublime 
 Porte, and that no person shall molest them in any manner what- 
 ever (except for a just cause), neither in the free exercise of their 
 religion, nor in that'which concerns their safety and tranquillity. 
 In consequence, the present Firman, which is ornamented at the 
 head with our " Hoomaioon" (sign manual), .and emanates from 
 our Imperial chancellerie, has been delivered to the Israelitish 
 nation. 
 
 Thus you, the above mentioned judge, when you know the con- 
 tents of this Firman, will endeavour to act with great care in the 
 manner therein prescribed. And in order that nothing may be
 
 PREFACE XV 
 
 done in opposition to this Firman, at any time hereafter, you will 
 register it in the archives of the tribunal ; you will afterwards deliver 
 it to the Israelitish nation, and you will take great care to execute 
 our orders and this our sovereign will. 
 
 Given at Constantinople, the 12th Ramazan, 1256 (6th 
 November, 1840). 
 
 To attempt to analyse the foregoing imperial edict, or 
 to draw any conclusions from the circumstances which it 
 refers to, could not answer any serviceable purpose here ; 
 
 for it would in some measure anticipate the arguments 
 
 ^ . 
 which are set forth against the terrible prejudice in the 
 
 work that follows, and which are given with more cogency 
 than the translator would be able to invest his own ideas 
 with. 
 
 The reader shall not be withheld from the commence- 
 ment of the work longer than it will take me to make a 
 few necessary observations respecting the manner of the 
 translation. It will be seen that much learning and re- 
 search are exhibited in the dialogues, and nearly every 
 argument that is advanced in the course of them for the 
 purpose of refuting the atrocious accusation, is extracted 
 from the works of Christian authors whose merit and 
 veracity have been universally acknowledged. Some slight 
 liberties the translator has been compelled to take with 
 the original ; but nothing has been done with it that does 
 in any way interfere with the drift of the reasoning, or 
 any one of the sentiments ; in nothing has it undergone 
 the slightest alteration that has reference to time, place, 
 or person ; but only in those modes of speech which, if
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 translated literally, would have made the language rather 
 uncouth, and the author's ideas not quite so comprehen- 
 sible ; and in one or two assertions, founded on the au- 
 thor's imperfect acquaintance with the customs of a 
 nation that he has happened to mention : in the latter 
 case, as the proposition had not any connexion with the 
 main thread of the discourse, a slight omission has been 
 made.* 
 
 Having given this explanation concerning the following 
 pages. I invoke on my undertaking the blessing of the 
 Almighty, and earnestly commend the work to the 
 reader's most serious attention. 
 
 L. LOEWE. 
 
 55, MANSEI^L STREET, GOODMAN'S FIELDS, 
 The 8th day of Elul, 5601. 
 
 (25th of August, 1841.) 
 The first anniversary of the-liberation of the Jews at Damascus. 
 
 * The translator thinks it proper also here to state, that he does 
 not always concur with the opinions of the Jewish Rabbi Maimoon ; 
 but he has not invariably recorded his dissent in the shape of notes 
 at the particular passages .to which he makes exceptions, fearing 
 that by so doing he might divert the reader's attention from the 
 drift of the discourse.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (MAIMOON ENTERS THE HOUSE OF SIMMIAS, AND ON 
 SEEING SIMMIAS BOWS TO HIM TWICE.) 
 
 MAIMOON. God be with thee, Patriarch of the Greek 
 Church. 
 
 SIMMIAS. Chief Rabbi of the Israelites, may God bless 
 thee. Friend Abraham Maimoon, may thy arrival in 
 this place prove auspicious. I have been most anxious 
 to see thee, and so have thy brethren that dwell here. 
 Is peace with thee, my friend ? And tell me, I pray, 
 how fares thy brother, the Lord Jacob Maimoon ? he 
 that is one of the seven ministers of the Sultan at Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 MAI. I am well, my lord : and so also is my brother 
 Jacob, who has been mindful to enquire after thy wel- 
 fare. My lord, pray tell me if the Governor of Jeru- 
 salem has received the Sultan's firman. 
 
 SIM. He received it eleven days ago. The Shekh el 
 Islam and myself were summoned into his presence to 
 hear the whole of it read ; and it exactly corresponds 
 with the copy which thou didst send me a few days pre- 
 vious to the arrival of the official document. The sub- 
 stance of it is as follows : The Greek Church, which is 
 
 B
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 situated opposite our mosque, is to remain undisturbed ; 
 the Greeks are to be allowed to perform their religious 
 devotions as usual, free from interruption or annoyance ; 
 and if any one shall dare to molest these Christians, or 
 their house of prayer, whether the offence so committed 
 be great or little, the same shall be punished with death. 
 Now, friend Maimoon, how can I sufficiently thank thee 
 for thy good offices with thy brother the minister ? and 
 in what terms ought I to thank thy brother for all the 
 good he has effected with the Sultan on my behalf, and 
 on behalf of the Greek Church ? The God of your fore- 
 fathers, who is also our God, alone can give you meet 
 substantial rewards ; for myself, I can only offer you my 
 grateful acknowledgments, and those in such a mode as 
 falls short of what this benefit deserves. 
 
 MAI. A righteous act is in itself the best reward. 
 
 SIM. My brethren at Constantinople have acquainted 
 me with the hatred which the Oolamas bear us, and 
 which they have signified to their Moofti. I have like- 
 wise learnt from them that the Turkish prime minister 
 participates in their hatred. But the Almighty is our 
 help; He gave strength to the heart of thy brother, 
 that, through his great wisdom, he might vindicate our 
 cause before his majesty the Sultan, against all those 
 ministers and Moslem priests to whom we are an eye- 
 sore : and, from thy brother's maxims, these bigots 
 should learn that a mortal, whose understanding is 
 limited, and must ever be so, should not wage war with 
 his fellow-creatures, merely because they profess a re- 
 ligious creed opposed to his own ; that every nation 
 should be at liberty to worship God after its own fashion ;
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 and that, if we had power to control them in the practice 
 of their faith, as they have to control us, our principles 
 would be to leave them in that respect entirely to the 
 guidance of their own consciences. By the Greek 
 Christians at Constantinople, I was informed that thy 
 brother strove for us during many days, and brought all 
 his extensive knowledge into action to gain our cause. 
 His conduct was indeed noble and generous ; and how 
 untiring must have been his perseverance in reasoning 
 so long with those fanatics so long and so well as to 
 prevail against them at last, by means of intellectual 
 arguments alone. This event does indeed reflect glory 
 on the Israelites ; though holding to their ancient faith 
 with the most unconquerable tenacity, yet they have 
 risen up to advocate liberty of conscience for strangers. 
 By that example, the world will be made fully aware of 
 your righteous sentiments and humane feelings ; and, 
 further, they will be made aware that the Almighty has 
 endowed you with surpassing wisdom. God grant that 
 the learned of all nations may walk in thy footsteps, and 
 dismiss from their hearts the cruel hatred which many 
 such have cherished towards those who think fit to wor- 
 ship the Most High differently from what they do. O 
 triple sword ! O dreadful poison ! many wise and good 
 men have, through your agency, fallen victims to that 
 hatred; but, O God, devoutly do I pray that an epoch 
 may soon approach when the great light described by 
 the prophet Isaiah may break forth over the whole world, 
 when " The wolf will dwell with the lamb," &c. Thanks 
 to the Almighty, in the Christian countries of Europe 
 religious prejudices decrease daily, as we hear, so much
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 so, that we may hope to see, ere long, but a very slight 
 difference between all religious opinions : this state of 
 things was prophesied by a learned member of our 
 church, in a work written by him :* " The time will 
 come when it will be no longer asked in Europe whether 
 a man is an Israelite or a Christian." 
 
 MAI. (sighing heavily). The inhabitants of Europe 
 are not yet altogether free from that contagious malady, 
 prejudice. A few days ago I received a letter from 
 my brother Samuel, the spiritual head of the congrega- 
 tion at Cracow, in which it was stated that the Israelites 
 there were grievously oppressed and persecuted by the 
 Christians. They were accused of murdering many 
 Christian children, for the purpose of obtaining Christian 
 blood to mix up with the bread required for the Pass- 
 over; and I regret to say, that many of the most distin- 
 guished Israelites of that town and the adjacent places 
 were arrested, and, with their wives and children, were 
 put in irons, and made to suffer tortures of a most dread- 
 ful description. Didst ever thou hear of so cruel a 
 case? 
 
 SIM. I have also received a letter from the Patriarch 
 of that town, who is my friend, in which he mentions the 
 circumstance ; and also, that it was corroborated by the 
 testimony of three Christian women, who acted as ser- 
 vants to Jewish families. 
 
 MAI. (with great emotion). Ah ! doubtless it was an 
 ordinance of the Almighty. If the Patriarch of that 
 
 * Herder's Ideen zttr Philosophic der Geschichte der Menschheit. 
 Tome 4, page 41.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 place is really thy friend, worthy Sir, I must beg of thee 
 to write me a letter to him, in order that my brethren 
 may be freed from so monstrous a suspicion. Do not, I 
 pray, refuse me this favour : I will not leave thee till my 
 petition is granted. 
 
 SIM. It is impossible for me to write this instant ; I 
 must first give the subject much consideration. I ad- 
 vise thee, therefore, friend Maimoon, to go home and 
 repose awhile ; at present thou must be greatly fatigued 
 with travelling. To-morrow let me see thee again, and 
 we will talk further on this matter. 
 
 MAI. I thank thee, and will take thy advice. Blessed 
 be the Lord, who again appears propitious to our cause. 
 
 Maimoon closed this interview by bowing to the Pa- 
 triarch with profound respect. The next morning 
 Maimoon returned to Simmias, and, after the usual 
 exchange of friendly salutations, they commenced the 
 discussion of the important subject raised at the con- 
 clusion of their prefatory discourse.
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION, 
 
 SIMMIAS. After we separated last night, I could 
 scarcely sleep for thinking of the accusation which thou 
 didst mention as having been brought against thy people 
 that they are accustomed to use Christian blood in the 
 ceremonies of the Passover festival. 
 
 MAIMOON. And what is the result of thy meditations 
 on that subject ? Tell me candidly ; do not conceal from 
 me any one thing which may have entered thy mind. 
 
 SIM. I regret to say, that my opinion is that this 
 accusation must have had a stronger foundation than 
 what we may term a trifling circumstance. I hope thou 
 wilt not feel offended with me for thus declaring myself, 
 Thou art aware that I always have been fond of search- 
 ing out the truth in all things. My opinion does not 
 arise from any blind prejudice concerning thy religion. 
 God forbid that it should. Thou canst not think that 
 my disposition is so uncharitable. I must request that 
 thou wilt give me further information concerning this 
 serious imputation; and if thou shouldst advance any- 
 thing sufficient to convince me that I am labouring 
 under an error, I shall indeed feel happy to make an 
 acknowledgment to that effect. 
 
 MAI. (Sighing heavily.} God forbid, my dear friend, 
 that I should imagine that thou wouldst willingly grieve 
 me ; yet I cannot conceal from thee that thy words
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 7 
 
 penetrate to my very soul, and cause every part of my 
 body to shudder. It makes me tremble when I reflect 
 that this frightful falsehood has acquired such influence 
 as to affect in some degree such men as thou. 
 
 SIM. Let not thy heart grieve so much ; had I known 
 that my words would have given thee so much pain as 
 is manifest by thy countenance, I would not have entered 
 on this subject under any circumstances. However, as 
 a proof of the sincerity of my respect for thee, I shall 
 give thee as serviceable a letter of recommendation for 
 thy brethren as I am able to write ; for thy happiness is 
 of more moment to me than princely treasures and mines 
 of gold ; the love I bear thee is one of the most powerful 
 feelings in my nature. 
 
 MAI. Pardon me, thou dost not justify thyself by 
 speaking thus. The philosopher, as thou knowest, said, 
 " Love Plato, and love Socrates ; but love truth more 
 than both ;" therefore, I pray, tell me all that thou dost 
 think; keep back nothing. What makes thee think that 
 such an accusation against the Jews can have been 
 founded in truth ? 
 
 SIM. The reasons which have led me to think so are 
 many. 
 
 MAI. Be kind enough to mention one. 
 
 SIM. The first is a report which has existed ever since 
 the very beginning of the Christian religion. 
 
 MAI. I am indeed surprised that one so learned as 
 thyself, so well acquainted with history, and particularly 
 with the history of the Church, should use the phrase 
 "since the very beginning of the Christian religion." 
 There is not the slightest trace in any historical works of
 
 8 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 any such accusation having been made at so early a date. 
 These accusations only began six hundred years ago, in 
 the time of Alfonso, the tenth king of Castile. At that 
 time there was a priest in Spain, who, in his sermons, 
 declared to the public, that the Israelites could not solem- 
 nize their Passover unless they had Christian blood ; so, 
 at least, says Doctor S. Virga, in his work entitled 
 " Shebet Yehuda." 
 
 SIM. I have read a Latin copy of that work, translated 
 by Gencius, and printed in Amsterdam in the year 1651. 
 Virga is well known amongst the learned Christians to 
 have been a faithful historian, and the greater part of 
 what he has published was taken from Christian historical 
 writers, who wrote in Spanish and other European lan- 
 guages. 
 
 MAI. King Alfonso would not believe that priest ; but 
 the populace threatened the king to commit some out- 
 rages on the Israelites ; and so violent had the priest made 
 them, that the king became afraid of losing his own life. 
 
 SIM. Alfonso was a wise and wonderful man. 
 
 MAI. It was he who said in his pride, " Had I been 
 the Almighty's adviser during the creation of the world, 
 surely it would have been a great deal better than it is 
 at this day." 
 
 SIM. It was not that he meant to assert that he was 
 wiser than the Almighty ; but being the greatest astro- 
 nomer of that age, his vanity led him to believe that he 
 was the only clever man in astronomy ; and he discovered 
 the most excessive of human weaknesses, in affecting to 
 undervalue the powers of the Most High. 
 
 MAI. It was indeed the height of human folly; yet
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 several philosophers have spoken with contempt of the 
 works of Nature ; for instance, the celebrated Burnet, who 
 attempted to demonstrate that there was a great deal of 
 superfluousness in the construction of the earth, especially 
 in the mountains and valleys, and that the defects obser- 
 vable in them are injurious to those parts of the earth 
 that are inhabited. Those philosophers did not possess 
 real wisdom, or they must have acknowledged that defi- 
 ciencies do not exist in Nature ; that every thing which 
 God has created has been arranged with such regard for 
 its usefulness, as to leave no room for improvement, and 
 that such deficiencies exist only in the imaginations of 
 vain persons, whose minds are too limited to comprehend 
 more of Nature's works than just what are presented to 
 their eyes. A boundary has been fixed to the progress of 
 all things terrestrial, the human mind included ; the Lord 
 has said and proclaimed, " Mortal, thus far shalt thou go, 
 and no further ! " 
 
 SIM. Thou art right; it is so. Alfonso was indeed a 
 learned man, especially an astronomer. He spent more 
 than 400,000 ducats in forming an astronomical society ; 
 he invited Christian, Arabic, and Jewish professors of 
 the science to join it, and maintained those who complied 
 with his invitations in Toledo during four years, while 
 they were making observations ; and that distinguished 
 society was under the direction of an Israelite, who was 
 really the greatest astronomer of the age.* 
 
 MAI. That was the celebrated Rabbi Izkhak-ibn-Seyd. 
 The astronomical tablets that were arranged by that 
 
 * Eichhorn's Gescfiichte d. Lit. B. 2. p. 355. 
 c
 
 10 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 society have been named after the king, and are known 
 to this day by the title of " Alfonso's Tablets." But, my 
 good friend Simmias, let us leave Alfonso and his tablets, 
 and return to the prime subject of our conversation. 
 Tell me, didst thou read attentively that part of Virga's 
 work, where he speaks about the priest that preached in 
 Spain ? 
 
 SIM. I believe it is recorded that the king said to 
 some learned Christian, that he had observed in the 
 priest many more signs of folly than of wisdom. 
 
 MAI. Thou art right; that Christian's name was 
 Thomas. But there are no historical documents in 
 existence which show that any such appalling accusation 
 was ever made against the Israelites previously to the 
 time of that priest ; since that period, however, it has 
 been extensively circulated amongst all the lower classes 
 of the Christians.* 
 
 SIM. How thinkest thou the accusation against the 
 Jews, of using human blood at the Passover, could have 
 arisen all at once ? Might there not have been some 
 slight reason for it? for we see that not only does it re- 
 ceive credit from the lower classes of Christians, but 
 occasionally from the better informed. 
 
 MAI. And is there any doubt expressed respecting 
 the law of Moses ? 
 
 SIM. No ; God forbid that there should : the law of 
 
 * King Alfonso had a sharp dispute with that Thomas respecting 
 the Jews. Vide Shebet Yehuda. Ben lekhia, in his work, S/talshelet 
 Hakabala, says that the dispute took place in the beginning of the 
 6000th era, which corresponds with the 13th Christian century, 
 and with the time of Alfonso.
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 11 
 
 Moses, from the beginning to the end, gives evidence of 
 its having been formed on the authority of the Almighty. 
 Like thee, we Christians believe that the law of Moses 
 is from heaven; that all its histories, commandments, 
 and ordinances, in fine, that the whole of it was given 
 by one shepherd, the God of heaven and earth, through 
 Moses the righteous. Upon that is based the whole of 
 the system of Christianity ; and without the law of 
 Moses and the prophets, the Christian religion could not 
 exist. Confirmatory of this are the words of our legis- 
 lator, the Messiah : " Think not that I am come to 
 destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to 
 destroy, but to fulfil : for verily 1 say unto you, till 
 heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall 
 in no wise pass away from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
 Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least 
 commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be 
 called the least in the kingdom of heaven ; but whoso- 
 ever shall do and teach them the same, shall be called 
 great in the kingdom of heaven." * 
 
 MAI. And yet there are men of considerable erudi- 
 tion who have brought accusations against the law of 
 Moses and the Prophets ; for instance, Apion of Alex- 
 andria, and Apollonius Molo. 
 
 SIM. Apollonius was very learned, and was the in- 
 structor of Cicero and Julius Caesar. 
 
 MAI. Lysimachus and others wrote violently against 
 the law of Moses, as appears in the book Contr. Apion. 
 These asserted, also, that the Israelites were accustomed 
 
 * Matthew, v. 1719.
 
 12 l-IKST CONVERSATION. 
 
 to entrap Greeks into their power, feed them well for 
 a time, and then offer them as sacrifices to the Almighty 
 on the altar in the Holy Temple; and that when a 
 certain Greek king, who had conquered Jerusalem, went 
 into the Temple, he found a Greek locked up in a secret 
 place there, who said that such things were actually 
 done. The Greek authors and men of letters at length 
 gave full credence to these assertions ; and, as a matter 
 of course, the vulgar believed them much more readily ; 
 and it was found impossible to eradicate these impres- 
 sions. In addition to all these imputations, the Is- 
 raelites were at last accused by the previously quoted 
 writers of having worshipped the shadow of a column, 
 whilst they were in the wilderness, in the time of Moses 
 and the tabernacle ; and in the second book, Contr. 
 Apion, it is stated that they worshipped the head of an 
 ass in the Temple. The celebrated historian, Plutarch, 
 has said in his writings that the Israelites honoured and 
 preserved pigs as sacred animals; and that on their 
 Sabbath, and at the feast of the tabernacle, they paid 
 adoration to the idol Bacchus. Tacitus, in the fifth 
 book of his history, says that the Hebrews were called 
 "Yehudim," from the mountain Ida, in the Island of 
 Crete ; and that at the time when Bocchoris ruled Egypt, 
 the Israelites were, by the advice of the oracle of Ham- 
 monia, exiled from the country to remove the leprous 
 disease that prevailed in it : he also mentions that they 
 worshipped the figure of an ass in the Temple: and 
 many other absurd and unfounded things are recorded 
 by him, which must be familiar to all who read the Greek 
 and Latin classics.
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 13 
 
 SIM. The Greeks were not only maliciously preju- 
 diced against the Jews, but against the Christians, during 
 the infancy of the Christian religion, as many ancient 
 writings abundantly testify; and the most wicked and 
 ignorant amongst them accused the Christians of crimes 
 which they never dreamt of. 
 
 MAI. Yes ; but they were not all ignorant and unprin- 
 cipled that thus aspersed the Christians. 
 
 SIM. Who were the good and enlightened men that 
 did so? 
 
 MAI. Marcus Aurelius was one. It is well known 
 that, for those times, he was a very good monarch ; he 
 not only forgave his enemies, but even trusted and 
 showed favour to them after they had offended him ; he 
 honoured philosophers, and was himself famed for having 
 acquired much knowledge ; yet he persecuted the Chris- 
 tians, because he believed that they dealt with evil 
 spirits.* I need not mention what the Christians were 
 accused of by Nero, the cruel ; by Domitian, and other 
 emperors ; but Plinius, who was a governor in Bithynia, 
 under the Emperor Trajan, and who was famed as a 
 philosopher and author, even he persecuted the Chris- 
 tians.f Whatever misfortune happened in the territory 
 which he governed, the Christians were said to be the 
 cause of it; and it is recorded in history that many 
 thousands of Christians, men, women, and children, 
 were killed through the influence of such prejudices, 
 independently of those who were first subjected to most 
 barbarous tortures. The Romans of that era firmly 
 
 * Euseb. lib. 4, cap. 16. 
 
 f Plin. lib. 10, Epi. 102, 103.
 
 14 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 believed that the Christians were the enemies of the 
 whole world;* and such prejudices continued till the 
 Christian religion became powerful. 
 
 SIM. Well, thou seest that falsehood cannot endure 
 long. Now the truth has been established, thou wilt not 
 hear any more said, either against the law of Moses or 
 the Christian religion ; every one now confesses that the 
 Christian religion is founded in truth. 
 
 MAI. It is not my purpose to argue about religion ; 
 but to show thee what violent hatred has been excited 
 against a body of people professing a peculiar religion ; 
 that even philosophers and virtuous men have been led 
 away by prejudice to fight against truth ; and that, when 
 Christianity was in its infancy, and supported by only a 
 few, and the Heathen creeds were powerful in the 
 number and quality of their advocates, the weaker party 
 was always kept under and persecuted. The fact is, the 
 earliest Christians were afflicted with grievous penalties 
 wherever they were found, just the same as the scattered 
 and feeble Israelites were who subsequently lived under 
 Christian governments : and who knows better than thy- 
 self, that even at this very day, the Christians, I mean 
 those classes of Christians denominated Roman Ca- 
 tholics, Armenians, Greeks, and Copts, are despised and 
 constantly insulted in India and Persia; because the 
 more numerous and powerful portions of the people 
 in those regions are disciples of Mahomet. 
 
 SIM. Thou sayest true. If the European monarchs 
 had not inspired them with fear, Christians really could 
 not have remained in those countries. 
 * Tacit. Annal. lib. 15, c. 44.
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 15 
 
 MAI. If the Christians are really feared by the In- 
 dians and Mooslimin in consequence of the power of 
 the European monarchs, they cannot attribute their 
 exemption from persecution to the respect of those 
 people for the Christian religion. The Israelites that 
 dwell amongst the Eastern nations, having no such pro- 
 tection extended to them from a favoured part of the 
 world, are frequently made to suffer in a most pitiable 
 manner ; yet, with all that the Mooslimin and Hindoos 
 allege against our creed as motives for their ill-treat- 
 ment, there has never been an instance of Mooslimin 
 or Hindoos accusing the Israelites of committing murder 
 for the purpose of obtaining human blood to use in their 
 religious ceremonies.* So far from being degraded by 
 them with that imputation, they are allowed several 
 
 * Rettung der Juden, Cap. 1. 11, in a note written by 
 Mendelssohn : " It may be that, in the present age, the Israelites 
 in Christian dominions are better off than under the Moslem sway ; 
 but they certainly were never so cruelly persecuted by the Moosil- 
 min as they were by the Christians of the Middle Ages ; who 
 butchered them in cold blood, burnt them alive, sequestered their 
 property, and drove them naked into strange lands without the 
 slightest remorse, countenanced as they were in such proceedings 
 by their spiritual directors. At the present day, the Israelites in 
 the Turkish Empire are taxed with something like moderation, and 
 are not punished solely because of their peculiar system of religion. 
 The number of Israelites in Mohamedan countries is greater than 
 in Christian countries ; and in these, if they have sufficient ability, 
 they are not prohibited from aspiring to high offices under the 
 governments : the present prime-minister of the Emperor of Mo- 
 rocco is an Israelite ; his name is Zambul." The author here 
 alludes to a French newspaper, called the " Imperial Conservator," 
 No. 17, Petersburgh, Tuesday, Feb. 26, 1824; in which it is men- 
 tioned that an Israelite, from Mogador, Myer ben Macuin, had 
 been sent on a special mission to all the Christian courts of Eu- 
 rope.
 
 16 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 privileges : sometimes they are made consuls, ministers, 
 governors of districts, and toll-inspectors. By the Turk- 
 ish Government they are allowed to purchase land and 
 slaves, and to retain both as their legitimate property. 
 Similar privileges are given to them in all countries be- 
 longing to Mohamedan and Indian rulers. 
 
 SIM. But canst thou explain why it is that the Chris- 
 tians charge the Jews with using blood at the Passover 
 festival, and not of any other crime of a similar degree 
 of iniquity ? There certainly must be some reason for 
 this. 
 
 MAI. Hast thou forgotten the multiplicity of charges 
 that have been made against the Jews in Spain, Por- 
 tugal, France, England, and Germany, besides that of 
 using blood? Read the history of the Spanish In- 
 quisition. Hast thou forgotten the accusation brought 
 against them in the year 1400, when that extraordinary 
 plague (by some called the Black Plague) was raging 
 throughout nearly two-thirds of the world ? When the 
 awful distemper invaded France, many of the Christians 
 declared, some of them even on oath, that they had seen 
 the Israelites throw poison into the wells and rivers, 
 and, at the same time, utter and perform incantations ; 
 and that this was. the cause of the plague raging. In 
 France and Germany many thousands of Jews were 
 seized in consequence of these allegations, and sacrificed 
 with the most inconceivable cruelty. Thou wilt find 
 many cases parallel with this recorded in history. If 
 thou wouldst turn this subject over in thy mind with 
 due attention, thou wouldst find that such crimes as 
 were imputed by the Heathen nations to the Christians
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 17 
 
 in former ages, the Christians have in later times at- 
 tributed to the Jews. The celebrated Rabbi Menashe 
 ben Israel very justly observes: " The same arguments 
 which were used by the Christians at the commence- 
 ment of their system of religion, to clear themselves of 
 the odious stigma under which they laboured, may now 
 serve us to prove our innocence to the Christians ; and 
 we have even a stronger argument to advance in our 
 behalf than they could have had : for, as it is well 
 known, the Israelites are prohibited by their own law 
 from using blood of any kind ; whilst the Christians, on 
 the contrary, are allowed to eat the blood of many 
 creatures." 
 
 SIM. Did the heathens ever accuse the Christians of 
 eating human blood? 
 
 MAI. Undoubtedly : they were accused as we are at 
 this very day. The heathens asserted that the Chris- 
 tians used human blood at their Passover.* 
 
 SIM. (after having remained some time silent}. 
 Brother Maimoon, thou art right. I recollect having 
 read of this circumstance myself; it is not new to me. 
 But the argument, that the Heathens accused the Chris- 
 tians of such a crime, may be turned against thee ; 
 because the Heathens may have said that they first saw 
 the Israelites using human blood, and that, knowing the 
 Christians to have sprung from them, they inferred they 
 were guilty of the same. 
 
 * Sec Tcrtullian, in his work " Apologia contra Genles ;" Justin 
 Martyr, in his work Apologia ad Anton, c. 2; Eusebius Caes. 
 I., V., cap. 1, 4; Pindea in his work, Monarchia Ecclcsiastica 
 I., 11, cap. 52, and others ; see also Rettung der Juden, in the 
 afore mentioned chapter, 18. 
 
 D
 
 18 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAI. In answer to this new objection, I may tell 
 thee, firstly, that the Israelites at that period were 
 greatly respected before the Heathen monarchs, and 
 that they were so, I will produce ample evidence pre- 
 sently : secondly, that the annals of the world will not 
 shew that the Israelites were ever accused of so abomi- 
 nable a practice by any other people than the Christians. 
 All the accusations in respect to such a practice have 
 come from Christians, who have said that we use 
 only Christian blood; besides, as I have already 
 mentioned to thee, the first time any such accusation 
 was made, was only six hundred years ago, though the 
 Christians themselves had been so stigmatised a thou- 
 sand years ago, and even at an earlier date than that. 
 
 SIM. It is very strange ; I really cannot understand 
 how the accusations of the Heathens against the Chris- 
 tians could have originated. 
 
 MAI. I think the cause must have been that men- 
 tioned by a learned writer, named J. Tugendhold, in 
 the preface to a work written by him* (pages 37, 38) ; 
 the Heathens took the idea from the hostia, which is a 
 ceremony instituted in commemoration of the body and 
 blood of Christ. In addition to that, there were two 
 well-known sects of Christians, in the early ages of Chris- 
 tianity, from whose actions the Heathens might have 
 been induced to suspect them of such a practice ; these 
 were the Gnostics and the Cataphrygians ; they were 
 known to extract blood from a child by puncturing the 
 flesh with a pin, and to mix it up with the hostia. f 
 
 * Obrona Izraelitow. Warsaw, 1831. 
 
 t Lexicon Antiq. Ecclesiast. y. A. E. Miri, 1717, p. 5.
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 19 
 
 SIM. That is mentioned in the History of the Church,* 
 and the author who has recorded the circumstance was 
 right. However, we are now speaking of the crime of 
 which the heathens accused us ; but the Israelites have 
 not yet justified themselves, because, if it is proved that 
 the Christians were wrongfully accused, it cannot be 
 inferred from that, that the accusation of the Christians 
 against the Israelites is utterly devoid of truth. 
 
 MAI. I will now refer more particularly to the argu- 
 ments of Tugendhold ; and by them I think I shall be 
 able to shew that this idea of the Jews using human 
 blood had its rise in a circumstance different from any 
 thing which the Jews did. It is said, that the Christians 
 killed children of the heathens to mix their blood with 
 the hostia, which is to commemorate the body and blood 
 of Christ, who said to his disciples, on the evening of 
 the Passover, whilst eating Passover-cakes and drinking 
 wine, as the Israelites had been ordained to do from a 
 very early period of the world, " Think that this is my 
 flesh and blood." In the early ages of Christianity, 
 the heathens did not know how to distinguish Israelites 
 from Christians; for many of the primitive Christians 
 were Israelites, and the Christians themselves were also 
 denominated Israelites ; consequently, the Heathen 
 writers, when inserting this circumstance in their books, 
 may have written " Israelites," meaning those new 
 religionists who had sprung from them. It is certain 
 that celebrated Greek and Roman authors have recorded 
 incidents of that description, authors to whose works 
 much credit is given ; and it is therefore possible that 
 
 * Justin Mart vr, in his work, Apologia ud Anton, cap. 2.
 
 20 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 the Christians, in subsequent ages, founded their ideas 
 of the practices of the Jews from the verbal mistakes 
 into which these authors naturally fell. It is not im- 
 probable, that they mistook the word Yehudim (which 
 meant Christians) for Israelites, and the word mazzah 
 (signifying the hostia), for Passover-cakes, which the 
 Israelites eat on the Passover festival : and perhaps 
 words similar to the following were found in the histo- 
 rians just alluded to: "The Israelites eat unleavened 
 bread, which they call mazzot, and mix it with the blood 
 of children, in commemoration of a certain meal which 
 was eaten on the holy evening on which they solemnise 
 their Passover." Now the author of that passage must 
 have alluded to the Christians, who, at the time referred 
 to,- were commonly denominated Israelites; and by 
 saying mazzot (Passover-cakes hostia) mixed up with 
 the blood of children, he may have alluded to the sects 
 called Gnostics and Cataphrygians ; and the words 
 "certain meal eaten on the holy evening," may have 
 been used in reference to the very last holy supper of 
 Christ, which took place at the Passover. 
 
 SIM. Thou hast put a remarkably ingenious supposi- 
 tion ; but we must not be guided by suppositions alone : 
 there should be irrefragable proofs adduced : proceed to 
 explain thyself. 
 
 MAI. At the time that the Israelites began to take 
 up their abode under the Christian governments of 
 Europe, they attracted much observation by the number 
 and precision of their preparations for celebrating the 
 Passover night. It was noticed how extremely careful 
 they were in baking the Passover cakes ; that no one was 
 allowed to touch them, except with clean hands. The
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 21 
 
 common class of Christians in whose neighbourhood, or 
 houses, the Israelites happened to dwell, thought, there- 
 fore, that they did something strange on the Passover 
 evening ; and the envious prejudice which, in those days 
 of mental darkness, a difference of religious opinions was 
 sure to engender, coupled with the jealous feelings which 
 the wealth that Israelites frequently contrived to amass, 
 was very likely to make them think, that so much 
 mysterious preparation was for no good purpose. What 
 preposterous things will not the professors of one reli- 
 gious creed sometimes attribute to those of another ? I 
 recollect having read one of Voltaire's works, in which 
 he charges a certain Christian sect with having instituted 
 a certain festival, called by them " The Festival of the 
 Ass," on which occasion they clothe an ass in beautiful 
 apparel, and bring it into an ante-room of their church, 
 where they shew the animal great honours, by singing a 
 poem in Latin, to which all present reply with another 
 lyrical composition, which begins, Eh Sire due! pa, 
 chantez. * Now, with this example of detraction before 
 us, who can tell what lengths various religious parties 
 may go in inventing calumnious charges against one 
 another ? 
 
 SIM. Thou hast now shewn me, that the jealousy 
 frequently engendered by a difference of religious opin- 
 ions, propagates more evil reports than all other kinds 
 of animosities in the world. I myself know that a great 
 many false charges were made against the Israelites in 
 Spain during the sway of the Inquisition. But all this 
 does not prove that the Israelites could not occasionally 
 
 * Voltaire's Works, xli. p. 367 ; xvii. p. 380 ; and xxxvii. p. 340.
 
 22 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 be guilty of a heinous crime. Is every one of thy 
 people equally righteous with his fellows ? Thou must 
 believe that Israelites may sometimes behave wickedly 
 towards Christians, as well as I believe that Christians 
 occasionally do that which is wrong to the Israelites. 
 
 MAI. It may be that some of the charges made by 
 Christians against Israelites are true; but then those 
 Israelites can only be certain individuals who have acted 
 dishonourably, in order to obtain some advantage in 
 money transactions ; and the actions of such cannot be 
 said to be the actions of a whole nation. Besides, the 
 Israelites have not at present any king, or general ruler 
 of their own race ; nor are they combined in a large 
 community, so that the general tenour of their actions 
 can be homogeneous ; so far from that being the case, 
 every Israelite may, in a great measure, do as he likes. 
 But why should the whole nation of Israelites be stigma- 
 tised for the faults of a few individuals? 
 
 SIM. At all events, thou dost confess that there may 
 be people amongst the Israelites in whose hearts there 
 does exist deep animosity to persons professing a reli- 
 gion averse to theirs, and that such are capable of doing 
 wrong to the Christian religion, either as regards a 
 member of that religion, or the religion itself. 
 
 MAI. The dislike of other religions which the igno- 
 rant feel, may be considered almost natural to them ; 
 every individual of that description professing a certain 
 creed, always fancies that his own is the best, and there- 
 fore dislikes and contemns all those whose opinions 
 differ from his in that matter, without exception. I 
 should think that the lower classes of the Israelites are
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 23 
 
 not, any more than others of the same grade, exempt 
 from such contagion ; and, of course, they imagine that 
 their system of divine worship is the true and proper 
 one, and feel an inclination to underrate the merits of 
 all others : but the sensible and enlightened amongst us 
 do not entertain such unfavourable notions of other 
 creeds, for we are expressly commanded to behave with 
 friendliness to those who are not under the same obliga- 
 tions to adopt our system of worship as we are, of which 
 I will shew thee proof hereafter. 
 
 SIM. The common classes of the Christians hate the 
 Jewish religion more than any other, because they were 
 of that system that crucified our Messiah; so, un- 
 doubtedly, do the common classes of the Israelites 
 revile the Christian religion and all its disciples, and 
 are worse affected towards them than to any other sys- 
 tem or people. 
 
 MAI. What thou sayest that the Christians hate the 
 Israelites more than they do any other people, may be 
 correct; but in that thou has expressed an opinion 
 utterly at variance with the principles and positive in- 
 junctions of your own lawgiver; who, in plain words, 
 said, " Love your enemies ;" and you are doubly bound 
 to love those who live peaceably with you, and those that 
 are strangers in your lands, in accordance with a com- 
 mandment of the Almighty, given through Moses: 
 " Thou shalt love the stranger." But I do not think it 
 is a correct inference, that the Israelites must entertain 
 an equal hatred to the Christians. If the Israelites do 
 bear them any ill will, it can only arise from the bad 
 treatment which they have so frequently met with from
 
 24 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 the Christians. But the disposition of our people is not 
 to cherish hatred ; on the contrary, they are by nature 
 inclined to love the country they inhabit, and the people 
 who happen to be their neighbours. 
 
 SIM. How canst thou flatter thyself and thy co-reli- 
 gionists to such a degree, as to say, " The Israelites do 
 not hate the Christians so violently as the Christians hate 
 them?" 
 
 MAI. My reason for saying so is this : the system of 
 Christianity is mainly founded on the death of Christ on 
 the cross, &c. ; the moment a Christian child is capable 
 of receiving instruction, he is made acquainted with the 
 principles of Christianity, the origin of its peculiar in- 
 stitutions, its holidays, the particular works of the 
 Messiah, and of the manner in which he was deprived 
 of life on the cross ; consequently, the cross, and all that 
 pertained thereto, must constantly be in his mental 
 vision, and he cannot help being pervaded by sensations 
 of abhorrence of those who were the instigators of such 
 a tragedy. But this is not the case with any of us ; the 
 principles of our religion have been established from 
 time immemorial, and all our ceremonies are coeval 
 with them; besides, we never have occasion to make 
 any allusion to your Messiah, not even to mention his 
 name. 
 
 SIM. Let me hear more in support of this position 
 thou hast taken. 
 
 MAI. On the appearance of Christ, who thought (ac- 
 cording to the opinions of his disciples) to improve our re- 
 ligion, the Israelites would not receive him ; at all events, 
 our laws remained as before, and the proceedings of
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 25 
 
 Christ were, in fact, only known in a few towns in the 
 Holy Land ; in all other places where Israelites were 
 dwelling at that time, the people were ignorant of the 
 existence of such a person ; and the Israelites who were 
 exiled to Spain during the existence of the second Temple, 
 were especially so. Thus Christ, after his death, was 
 soon forgotten by the majority of the Israelites ; and at 
 this very day his history is not universally known to them, 
 perhaps to only one in a thousand, such as those who are 
 familiar with foreign languages, and who are in the habit 
 of mixing and conversing with Christians. There are 
 indeed many distingished Rabbies who know but little 
 about Christ, and who do not wish to know more, because 
 they have no inclination to make an agitation concerning 
 events which passed so many ages ago. Subsequently to 
 Christ, there were several persons who rose up amongst 
 the Israelites as Messiahs ; but the Israelites gave no 
 credit to them, nor did they seek to obtain vengeance on 
 them. At this day we have not the least allusion to the 
 history of Christ in our Talmud ; the few passages which 
 it formerly contained referring to him have been expunged, 
 because our forefathers, when they came to reside under 
 the protection of European and Christian monarchs, 
 thought proper that they should, for the sake of peace ; 
 and therefore the persons who had to make additional 
 copies of the Talmud, and afterwards the printers of it, 
 purposely omitted them. But observe how differently the 
 Christian Testament has been handed down to these 
 times. In the Christian Testament is an ample narrative 
 of the death of Christ, and it is repeatedly asserted there- 
 in that he took upon himself the responsibility of all the
 
 26 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 sins committed by the whole world, and died for the pur- 
 pose of sanctifying the name of God ; and by these means 
 all his disciples are perpetually reminded of the injuries 
 perpetrated on him by the Israelites. Amongst the 
 Christians there are most powerful preachers, whose 
 eloquence affects the heart and makes the eye to weep ; 
 there is a great deal of poetry written on this subject, in 
 which the sufferings of Christ are described in a most 
 pathetic manner ; there are persons who have a powerful 
 genius for representing by action such scenes, and who can 
 penetrate the heart equally as well as the preacher ; 
 pictures of Christ under the hands of his enemies there 
 are in abundance, and those done with the most consum- 
 mate skill : the wickedness of the Israelites is, in short, 
 one of the essential parts of the groundwork of Christi- 
 anity ; and how is it possible, therefore, that Christians 
 in general should not cherish an antipathy to them ? But 
 such is not the case with us, because we are commanded 
 to love every body, and have no precept to lead us to single 
 out any particular people as our natural enemies. It has 
 frequently happened that Jews of the lower orders have 
 been converted to Christianity ; and on such an occasion 
 is it not natural that such Jews would decry the people, 
 ceremonies, and institutions that they had renounced ? the 
 effect of which would most surely be to augment the pre- 
 judice that the Christians already entertained against 
 them. There is no parallel case which I can refer to in 
 connexion with us. It is seldom that Christians in Europe 
 have been converted to our faith; consequently few 
 Christians have had any motives for exciting a bad feeling 
 in us for their co-religionists. In addition to the reasons
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 27 
 
 which dispose the Christians to look with suspicion on the 
 Israelites, already advanced by me, I will mention this ; 
 there are many books in circulation amongst them written 
 by ancient authors who were deeply prejudiced against 
 our race, and who enjoined the people of their day to 
 destroy the Israelites whenever they could, and advised 
 monarchs and judges to banish them from their territories, 
 to confiscate their property, and to burn their houses of 
 prayer. The advice of these bigoted writers, many of 
 whom were priests, was, alas ! too often adopted ; the 
 actual despoilers of the unoffending Israelites believing 
 that, for their zealous persecutions, they should be re- 
 warded in a future state. Now we have no books amongst 
 us that treat on such subjects, neither have we any 
 devotees that make it their business to raise an agitation 
 concerning such ; and it is, moreover, highly improbable 
 that we should try to give any offence to our neighbours, 
 if it were merely on account of our being always in a 
 minority, and scarcely ever powerful enough to hold up 
 our heads before the nations of the world. We are 
 strangers in most places, and are satisfied if the Christians 
 only regard us with a friendly countenance ; as the son 
 of a concubine would be if regarded with kindness by the 
 son of his father's married wife. And although civiliza- 
 tion is making its most rapid progress amongst Christian 
 nations, in consequence of which there are amongst 
 them men of the greatest acquirements in philosophy 
 and science, and their monarchs are in general men of 
 profound understanding, and friends of justice and hu- 
 manity; and although even amongst the lower classes 
 of European Christians we find'many enlightened persons,
 
 28 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 who are also endowed with good moral qualities : still the 
 long-lived antipathy to the Israelites has not yet been 
 rooted from their minds. At this very day, all Christian 
 children, with but few exceptions, are embittered against 
 the Israelites ; their innocent minds cannot but contem- 
 plate with horror the affecting tragedy of the crucifixion, 
 of which they hear so much, and, consequently, they must 
 detest all those that have any connexion with the authors 
 of it ; and though, as they grow older, they get better 
 affected towards the Israelites, a portion of the prejudice 
 imbibed in their infancy will, in most cases, remain with 
 them in spite of their most strenuous exertions to dismiss 
 them. It has frequently happened that an ignorant child, 
 under the influence of this prejudice, has not thought it 
 any harm to insult a venerable, and generous-minded 
 Israelite, and has even ventured to throw stones at him ; 
 the result of which has been, that the Israelite could 
 not forbear giving him some chastisement, and in 
 so doing may have drawn blood, as a father correcting his 
 own child may have done : might not such an occurrence 
 have furnished evil-minded Christians with a pretext for 
 saying that this had been done in order to obtain the 
 child's blood for unholy purposes ? There are very few 
 Christians that have not Jews amongst their neighbours ; 
 and the consequence must be, that both have transactions 
 together ; the boys of the Israelites and Christians that 
 dwell in the same vicinity play and roll upon the ground 
 together ; and is it not probable that differences should 
 arise between the parents, and that these boys should 
 sometimes quarrel and beat each other? Thus may 
 be excited the anger of an ignorant Christian in Poland, a
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 29 
 
 person who probably may not know one letter from an- 
 other, and not possess any natural good quality ; such a 
 one would not hesitate to swear such an oath against the 
 Israelite as would induce others to consider him guilty of 
 the appalling charge : and his conscience would be very 
 unlikely to give him any qualms in the course of such a 
 proceeding, for such notions as he might have imbibed 
 concerning religion, would make him think that to destroy 
 the Israelite was a deed righteous in the eyes of God and 
 man.* 
 
 SIM. Dost thou mean to say the Israelites of all classes, 
 high and low, are men of considerable acquirements ? 
 
 MAI. Yes, they are. 
 
 SIM. It may be true that the Israelites in Italy, 
 France, and Germany, are well versed in reading, and 
 some celebrated for their acquaintance with particular 
 sciences; but that is not the case in Poland and Russia, 
 where a great many of thy brethren reside, and where, 
 according to what I have heard, only a few are acquainted 
 even with the Talmud : there are none amongst them 
 that are distinguished for their acquaintance with gene- 
 ral literature and science ; and the lower classes of 
 Israelites in those places are as ignorant as the Christians 
 of the same grade. 
 
 MAI. God forbid ! thy informants utter gross false- 
 hood. It is indeed well known to the enlightened por- 
 tion of society, that even in Poland and Russia there are 
 many Israelites who, though they may not be generally 
 well versed in foreign languages, and a variety of sci- 
 ences, have a perfect acquaintance with the Talmud and 
 
 * This description refers to the mode in which Christians and 
 Jews are in the habit of dwelling in Poland. Translator.
 
 30 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 the Bible ; and that nearly every one reads Hebrew to- 
 lerably well, if not with grammatical precision, and can 
 say and understand his prayers in that language : nearly 
 every one reads the Bible in Hebrew, and understands 
 the meaning of its various passages. There are schools 
 in many of the small towns and villages, and school- 
 masters specially appointed for the poor, who are in- 
 structed gratuitously. It is said in the Talmud, that the 
 appointment of schoolmasters in each town was contem- 
 poraneous with the erection of the second Temple, at 
 which period a decree was issued, ordaining that such 
 teachers should be remunerated for their labours by the 
 community at large. In the countries I have referred 
 to, women and children read in Hebrew, and they, as 
 well as the men, understand the Hebrew-German, the 
 language to which they are mostly accustomed. Into 
 this language the whole of the Bible has been translated, 
 their prayers and ethics; some of the best commen- 
 taries, as the book Zeena Ooreena ; extracts from the 
 Talmud and other books of morality ; Menorat Hamaor, 
 the beautiful work, Khobot Halebabot, and histories like 
 that of Josephus, and others. They have also translated 
 into this language the Books of Proverbs, Enigmas, Pro- 
 blems, and Poetry ; so that all the Israelites there, young 
 and old, may at least know something. Daily, when they 
 have left their employment, they assemble in their 
 schoolhouses to study, and particularly in the morning 
 and evening, during the holidays; and this mode of 
 obtaining knowledge is practised by the lowest class 
 amongst them, such as water-carriers, porters, &c. The 
 women assemble occasionally, and one reads to the 
 others; even the man who begs in the streets will have
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 31 
 
 in his possession such books as are of the most import- 
 ance ; and thou mayest find in the house of a person of 
 mediocre circumstances, books, old and new, of the value 
 of thirty ducats ; and with some of the toll-keepers, books 
 of the value of one hundred ducats ; but in the house of 
 a Christian minister in the same village, although he 
 may be a much richer man than the toll- keeper, the 
 books would not be worth a couple of ducats. Thus, in 
 the smallest towns, where the number of Jewish families 
 does not exceed ten, their spiritual head, though a needy 
 man, has a larger library than the Christian priest of the 
 same place, though he has the charge of so many more 
 people. In Poland and Russia, the Israelites can boast 
 of numerous printing offices : there is hardly a single 
 province without one : and there are many of their 
 printers who are noted for the carefulness with which 
 they perform their work. A person who takes pleasure 
 in reading, sharpens his intellects, and the more extensive 
 his knowledge becomes, the more is his soul purified. 
 But this is not the case with the bulk of the Christians 
 in those countries, for though they can certainly boast of 
 some men whose learning surpasses that of the Israelites, 
 the lower orders scarcely know how to decipher a letter. 
 Occasionally we hear of Christian magistrates in those 
 countries who cannot write their own names, and are 
 incapable of reading in any language; and they, of 
 course, must be very ignorant, in comparison with the 
 meanest of the Israelites. The Emperor Alexander the 
 First endeavoured more than all his predecessors to en- 
 lighten the people under his government; his good in- 
 tentions, however, have not yet been accomplished, on
 
 32 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 account of the short time which has elapsed since he 
 commenced his system of tuition ; but it is to be hoped 
 that they will in the course of time, as he kindly said on 
 his having effected some improvements in the mode of 
 education : " Then will there be light in the most hum- 
 ble cottages."* There is reason to hope in these days, 
 through the agency of the mighty and wise Emperor 
 Nicholas the First: may the glory of his majesty be ele- 
 vated, for he exerts himself in every way for the benefit 
 of his subjects; may the Almighty be with him, and may 
 he long remain on the throne of his kingdom ! 
 
 SIM. I am aware that the lower orders of Christians 
 in Poland are rather loose in their morals and general 
 conduct ; but, according to the information which I have 
 received, they are so through having copied the Israel- 
 ites. Men frequently imitate the bad they see in 
 others; and it is a striking passage of the Psalmist's 
 which says, " They mixed with the nations, and learned 
 their actions;" (Ps. cvi. 35). 
 
 MAI. To shew what is the truth in this matter, I will 
 quote the words of a learned Christian, who wrote the 
 reverse of what thou hast now advanced. By my life, I 
 swear thou wilt hear things which thou dost not look 
 for; and these are the opinions of Professor Schulten, 
 a man well known to the world as being endowed with 
 a good understanding, and who rejoices in establishing 
 truth. 
 
 SIM. I admit that he is such as thou describest ; he is 
 particularly known by his travels, which he has written 
 
 * See the works of Karamzin, vol. viii., Tableau de I' Instruction 
 publtque en liussie.
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. S3 
 
 with great judgment ; and he has shewn how extensive 
 is his knowledge in many branches of literature. I am 
 most anxious, therefore, to hear his opinions. 
 
 MAI. I am ready to gratify thee, although what I am 
 about to extract from his works has no reference what- 
 ever to the accusation against my brethren of using 
 human blood, which was the starting subject of conver- 
 sation. The following are his words, in a separate 
 chapter.* They have also been copied in the work 
 called Ideen uber die nothige Organisation dcr Is- 
 raeliten in Christlichen Staaten, von Joh. Ludwig~^Ewald. 
 After having described the state of Galizia, which is 
 under the government of the Emperor of Austria, the 
 learned Schulten proceeds to say, " Yet there is a class 
 of people in Galizia who alone deserve to live in that 
 beautiful and fertile country, &c. I allude to the sons 
 of Israel. So much has been said about the Israelites 
 in Galizia, that one is almost afraid to speak any more 
 about them, because it may seem ridiculous : but still it 
 is necessary to resume the subject. It is the opinion of 
 those who have paid attention to statistics, and of other 
 persons worthy of credit, that the 300,000 Israelites in 
 Galizia are the cause of all the evil that has befallen 
 that country, and that it is requisite to root them out of 
 it, if they cannot be converted. It is said that the Is- 
 raelites are the proprietors of the spirit shops, and spread 
 deleterious liquors all over Galizia; that they are the 
 chief means by which the people are intoxicated and 
 
 * Annalen der Literatur und Kunst dea (Estreichiscticn Kaiser' 
 thums, 1807.
 
 34 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 kept in ignorance ; and that they stifle the spirit of in- 
 dustry in the people at large, by glutting the country 
 with goods imported from foreign parts, and by export- 
 ing all the raw materials which might be manufactured 
 at home. It is true that the Israelites do all that they 
 are here charged with ; but if they did not, would it not 
 be done by the Christians? I know of many Christian 
 landlords, as well as Israelites, who intoxicate their 
 tenants by means of spirituous liquors. There are 
 many wealthy Christians, who, instead of building places 
 for the manufacture of cloth and linen, and for dressing 
 leather, export all their fleeces and the produce of their 
 hemp fields. The difference between the Jewish and 
 Christian merchants consists only in this ; the Jews are 
 contented with a smaller profit on their speculations than 
 the Christians. Instead of laying restrictions on in- 
 dustry, they are almost the only persons who really 
 encourage it ; and the example presented to the Gali- 
 zian peasants by their exertion is calculated to incite 
 them to bestir themselves likewise : but the lord who 
 lets his vassals out to the Israelites for their use, does all 
 that is in his power to stifle the spirit of industry in 
 both. The Israelites only are permitted to travel for 
 commercial purposes ; they may go all over Galizia, if 
 they choose to establish themselves there ; they are the 
 tailors, the shoemakers, the carpenters, furriers, glass- 
 manufacturers, goldsmiths, and lapidaries; they till the 
 ground also, for which they pay a greater rent than their 
 Christian neighbours ; and the knowledge of ail the arts 
 here referred to they bring with them from other places. 
 The beer which they brew is very good, whilst that
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 35 
 
 brewed by the other inhabitants is hardly drinkable. In 
 every district they are the inn-keepers; and one can 
 always find food in the house of an Israelite, though it 
 be situated in a part of the country scarcely habitable, 
 whilst, on the contrary, there are Christians, even in the 
 towns, that will refuse to sell a morsel of bread. Com- 
 pare the physiognomy of the Israelite with that of the 
 Galizian peasant, arid it will be observed that the coun- 
 tenance of the former is perfectly human, whilst that of 
 the latter strongly resembles the face of an orang- 
 outang. In the pale, swoln, disfigured features of the 
 Galizian peasant, thou wilt hardly perceive a single mark 
 that betokens the possession of intellect; whilst, gene- 
 rally, the brightening eye of the Israelite indicates at 
 once his Oriental and distinguished origin. The Israel- 
 ite's aquiline nose, his open lips, his golden hair, and 
 even his beard, conjoin to give him an aspect of saga- 
 city which strongly contrasts with the stupid visages of 
 those that surround him." Buchholz * mentions that 
 statistics have been collected in Prussia respecting the 
 number of persons generally confined in prisons, and 
 those tried for criminal offences ; and it has been ascer- 
 tained that the number of Israelitish malefactors is 
 much less, proportion ably, than those amongst the Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 SIM. I will not attempt to refute these arguments. I 
 have now heard something from Professor Schulten's 
 
 * Ueber die Aufnahme der jvdisclien Gemeindcn zum Bvrgerrecfit. 
 Vienna, 1815.
 
 36 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 works which I did not expect. But listen ; I am going 
 to ask thee another question. 
 
 MAI. Ask me whatever thou may'st think proper; 
 and, if I am able, I will give thee an answer. 
 
 SIM. Thou hast said that it is natural to the Israelites 
 to love the country they inhabit, and the people amongst 
 whom they may be dwelling. Tell me, I pray, in what 
 does that love consist? 
 
 MAI. All historians are unanimous on this point ; and 
 even the events which have come to pass in the present 
 generation are sufficient to establish the fact; that the 
 Israelites never take part in any conspiracies or insur- 
 rections which may agitate any country in which any of 
 them may be dwelling : they always lend their support 
 to the government under whose protection they may be. 
 They never even practice any animosity against those 
 monarchs and rulers who have tyrannised over them; 
 but do all they can to promote peace, however badly 
 they may have been used. Reflect on their conduct to 
 the Spaniards, although they were grievously persecuted 
 in Spain ; though hundreds and thousands were mas- 
 sacred there, others despoiled of their property, and 
 driven in a state of destitution into Barbary; yet, when 
 some of those who took refuge in Barbary had risen to 
 stations of honour and dignity there, and when the 
 Spaniards had conquered the city of Oran, which is 
 situated in Barbary, they served them as loyal and 
 dutiful subjects. Afterwards they fought against the 
 enemies of the Spaniards with sword and spear, and 
 never sought revenge for the ill-treatment which the
 
 FIRST CONVERSATION. 37 
 
 ancestors of these Spaniards had rendered to theirs. 
 Even at the time when the inhabitants of Oran revolted 
 against the Spaniards, and both famine and disease were 
 raging in the town, the Israelites laboured with all their 
 might, unremittingly, to make peace, and to procure 
 food for those that were perishing.* The general his- 
 tory of the world will supply evidence in abundance to 
 confirm what I have now asserted. 
 
 SIM. Thou art right. I have read of these facts 
 myself in a Spanish historical workf. 
 
 MAI. But what reward did these wicked Spaniards 
 give to the peaceful Israelites ? 
 
 SIM. I feel melancholy when I reflect on their ingra- 
 titude. Those same Spaniards, when they had acquired 
 actual possession of the country, banished the Israelites 
 from the town. 
 
 MAI. That happened in the year 1669 of the Christian 
 era; and from that time no Israelites have been allowed 
 to settle in the town again. Was ever greater baseness 
 than that perpetrated ? 
 
 SIM. I must acknowledge to thee, my friend, that my 
 heart is fully alive to the injustice now referred to. How 
 could those Spaniards, being Christians, and having 
 been taught the doctrine the principles of which so 
 strongly recommend the practice of mercy, so far out- 
 rage the commonest obligations of common humanity? 
 
 MAI. If all people designating themselves Christians 
 would regulate their actions in perfect accordance with 
 
 * Allgemeine Wettgetckickte, aus dem Englischen, uberselzt von 
 J.S.Semler. B. 15. 118. 
 
 f Hinloria Univen. Jud. de Barrios.
 
 38 FIRST CONVERSATION. 
 
 the precepts of Christianity, they surely would be blessed 
 both in this world and that which is to come. 
 
 SIM. I think the Spaniards have always been more 
 rigid in their religious observances than any other 
 Christian people. 
 
 MAI. It is very foolish for a man to quit the middle 
 path of his religion to go to extremes ; and the violent 
 enthusiast is generally found to be a fool. The 
 Spaniards considered that the only way to evince the 
 firmness of their attachment to their creed, was to 
 avenge the death of the Messiah by forcing the whole 
 world to become converts to Christianity, or by killing 
 all those that refused. They also were of opinion that 
 the more they tortured those whose system of divine 
 worship differed from theirs, the more would they be 
 entitled to the favourable regard of the Almighty. And 
 they even believed, that by shewing any mercy to such, 
 they sinned against the Almighty. 
 
 SIM. Whoever carries his religious notions to such 
 extremes is greatly deficient in true knowledge : but 
 fanaticism has been very prevalent in all ages. 
 
 MAI. And in proportion to the depth to which those 
 Spaniards sank in ignorance and folly, the Israelites of 
 that period, particularly those of Spain and Portugal, 
 made themselves more renowned for their acquirements 
 in literature and science than any other nation; as 
 numerous works produced by them, and which are now 
 extant, will testify. 
 
 SIM. (appears angry, moves his lips, and shakes his 
 head). More renowned in literature and science ! 
 Understand well what thou sayest. Perhaps thou art
 
 FIUST CONVERSATION. 39 
 
 now unwittingly exaggerating; I have certainly never 
 had reason to doubt thy own veracity. 
 
 MAI. (looking steadfastly in Simmias' countenance and 
 smiling}. I did not exaggerate ; I have never done so ; 
 God forbid ! I said it, do repeat it, and will also say it 
 a third time. I will adduce the testimony of the most 
 noted Christian authors of the present time in support 
 of what I have asserted. But I must confess that I am 
 much surprised that thou hast never heard of it before. 
 Were I not fearful of losing sight of the various argu- 
 ments I have to bring forward respecting the accusation 
 of using human blood, which, as I observed a little 
 while ago, was the starting subject of this conversation, 
 I could convince thee, ere thou art much older, of the 
 correctness of all that I have now been submitting for 
 thy consideration. But I will do so ere long, never- 
 theless ; at a fit opportunity remind me of my promise ; 
 and, if it please God, it shall be fulfilled. 
 
 SIM. I will not fail to remind thee. But now let us 
 return to the discussion of the accusation against the 
 Israelites of using human blood. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST CONVERSATION.
 
 40 
 
 SECOND CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAIMOON. Good -Simmias, I shall now undertake to 
 prove to thee, from the Holy Scriptures, that this foul 
 accusation is utterly groundless. 
 
 SIMMIAS. How wilt thou prove it? 
 
 MAI. One of the most important passages in Scripture 
 is the commandment, " Thou shalt do no murder." By 
 the commission of such a crime the Israelites would 
 transgress this solemn command; and how could they do 
 that, and still feel satisfied that they were doing what 
 their law required ? 
 
 SIM. Who can tell ? Perhaps, in the opinion of thy 
 people, that commandment refers only to an Israelite, 
 and not to the rest of mankind ; perhaps it may be 
 thought by you that killing one who is not of thy per- 
 suasion is not much worse than killing a meaner animal, 
 such as an ox, a lamb, or a goat ; and that such is the 
 case with thy people is a notion which your enemies 
 do entertain. 
 
 MAI. It has already been shewn * that all the prohi- 
 bitory precepts in the Bible have reference to all the 
 
 * See Bet. Yehuda, chap. 71. This book contains the principles 
 of the Jewish religion, its history, and the history of the literature 
 of the Jews, from the earliest date to the present time. It is 
 worth the attention of every Christian who wishes to become 
 acquainted with Judaism, as he will find in it every subject fully
 
 SECOND CONVERSATION. 41 
 
 human race ; and I shall prove to thee now that the 
 commandment, " Thou shalt do no murder," alludes to 
 the children of Noah, under which denomination are 
 ranged all the nations of the world. It is said in 
 Genesis, ix. 6, " Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by 
 man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of 
 God made He man." The Almighty ordained that no 
 one should escape punishment for shedding the blood of 
 any human being whatever ; and thus He spoke to the 
 children of Noah in the same chapter, ver. 5 : " And 
 surely your blood of your lives will I require ; at the 
 hand of every man's brother will I require the life of 
 man." King Solomon said, "A man that doeth violence 
 to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no 
 man stay him;" (Prov. xxix. 17). We find of David, the 
 
 described and explained. It forms an appendix to the work called 
 Teuda Beisrael, printed at Wilna and Huradna in the year 1828, 
 with the approbation of the learned Israelites and a committee of 
 Christians at Warsovie. The introduction to this work contains 
 a letter of thanks from the committee to the author, who received 
 a magnificent present for his work from the Emperor of Russia, 
 Nicholas the First. The work also contains many useful observa- 
 tions for Christians, who wish to be informed concerning Hebrew 
 literature and Hebrew authors of the different generations. It is 
 there set forth the particular branch of literature in which each 
 author distinguished himself, what was his general knowledge, moral 
 character, and what were his opinions of the law ; and at the end 
 of the work is appended a long treatise, on the necessity of an 
 Israelite's being skilled in some trade, written chiefly with a view 
 to excite the Israelites to agricultural pursuits. Thanks to the 
 Almighty, this treatise has had a most beneficial effect, for thou- 
 sands of Israelites in Russia have devoted themselves to agriculture, 
 more especially since they received permission and encouragement 
 so to do from the Emperor : the efforts of this author have like- 
 wise induced them to establish schools in various towns in Russia.
 
 42 SECOND CONVERSATION. 
 
 anointed of the God of Jacob, the holy man chosen by 
 the Lord, that, although many of the wars he engaged 
 in against the worshippers of stars an4 planets were 
 such as the Lord had commanded, for the Lord said 
 unto David (1 Chron. xix. 8), " And I have been with 
 thee whithersoever thou hast walked, and I have cut 
 off all thine enemies from before thee;" and although 
 it has ever been admitted by legislators and men of 
 learning that he who conquers a country and sheds 
 blood in battle must not only not be called a murderer, 
 but be entitled to the name of hero : yet the Almighty 
 did not approve of David's building a temple to him, 
 on account of the quantity of blood which had been 
 shed during his wars : for the Almighty said to him, 
 (1 Chron. xxii. 8), "Thou hast shed blood abundantly, 
 and hast made great wars ; thou shalt not build an 
 house unto my name, because thou hast shed much 
 blood on the earth in my sight." We also see that a 
 murderer seldom escapes punishment for the crime he 
 has committed ; he betrays signs of guilt that excite the 
 suspicion of men ; and it often happens that a murderer's 
 conscience so afflicts him, that he cannot refrain from 
 delivering himself up to justice, in the absence of legal 
 evidence against him. With all these facts before them, 
 how could it enter into the minds of any people that 
 the Israelites are prone to commit murder, and that 
 even their law requires them to do so? The Almighty, 
 blessed be His name, has commanded (Exod. xxi. 20), 
 " And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, and he 
 die under his hand, he shall be surely punished." This 
 passage is commented on in the Talmud (Sanhedrin,
 
 SECOND CONVERSATION. 43 
 
 Sect. Arbd Mitot), " The Hebrew master shall be 
 punished with death, if he kilh his servant, or maid, who 
 is not an Israelite." 
 
 SIM. How is that proved? That passage from the 
 Bible may allude to a servant or maid who is one of the 
 Jewish persuasion. 
 
 MAI. This question has also been raised in the Tal- 
 mud (vide Mekhilta quoted in the Yalkutin that verse) ; 
 and this is the reply : " Notwithstanding, if the servant 
 survive a day or two, the master shall not be punished, 
 for he is his money." Consequently, it cannot refer to 
 a Hebrew servant, for such a one is not his master's 
 money ; he is not his property. There are also many 
 other arguments in the Talmud which shew that the 
 passage from Scripture refers to a servant who may 
 not be of the Jewish persuasion. At all events, the 
 Talmud, which is the main support of our religion, 
 gives the following explanation of the verse : " An 
 Israelite who has killed his servant, or his maid, of what- 
 soever nation he or she may be, he shall be punished 
 with death." And not only does our religion prohibit 
 us from shedding the blood of human beings of any 
 nation, or faith, but it strictly enjoins us not to do them 
 any sort of wrong; and especially are we enjoined to 
 live in amity with those of a different nation that may 
 be our neighbours. Of this there is strong confirmation 
 in Deuteronomy, xxiii. 8 : " Thou shalt not abhor an 
 Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land." 
 Now, since we are commanded not to abhor an Egyp- 
 tian, although the Egyptians made the lives of our 
 forefathers bitter with hard bondage, and drowned their
 
 44 SECOND CONVERSATION. 
 
 sons, and although we have now left their country ; how 
 much more forcibly should that commandment apply 
 to those nations amongst whom we do live, and who 
 shew us kind treatment? It is said in the Medrash 
 Rabba, section Shoftim, " For all the anguish which 
 the Egyptians inflicted on us, the Israelites, the Holy 
 Scriptures still enjoin us to shew mercy to them;" and 
 it is said (Ps. xxxiv), " Seek the peace and pursue it." If 
 our conduct is to be so peaceful towards the Egyptians, 
 who worshipped the stars and planets, and other objects 
 that excite our abhorrence, surely we must feel an 
 affection for those nations who are friendly to us, who, 
 as we know, glorify the Almighty, the Creator of heaven 
 and earth, who believe in future rewards and punish- 
 ments, and who believe that the Mosaic Law came from 
 the Almighty : and if those nations did not observe any 
 other than the seven precepts given to the children of 
 Noah, they would be considered by us, according to 
 the Talmud, as resident proselytes. The seven pre- 
 cepts given to the children of Noah are ; 1st. To beware 
 of idolatry ; 2nd. Not to blaspheme or profane the Holy 
 name of God; 3rd. Not to commit murder; 4th. Not 
 to commit adultery ; 5th. Not to steal ; 6th. To appoint 
 men well acquainted with the laws to administer them ; * 
 and 7th. Not to eat the flesh or blood taken from any 
 living beast. According to the Scriptures, a resident 
 proselyte is to be treated in every respect the same as 
 an Israelite ; thus it is in Levit. xix. 33 35, " And if 
 
 * In this commandment there are many reasonable and just 
 precepts included besides that/ "Do unto others as ye would they 
 should do unto you."
 
 SECOND CONVERSATION. 45 
 
 a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not 
 vex him ; but the stranger that dwelleth with you shall 
 be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt 
 love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land 
 of Egypt : I am the Lord your God : ye shall do no 
 unrighteousness in judgment," &c. The latter com- 
 mandment was introduced in allusion to the alien,* just 
 as a similar one was issued to the Israelites, and 
 mentioned in the preceding part of the same chapter, 
 verse 15, "Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judg- 
 ment." Nay, it is even said (Levit. xxv. 35 38), 
 " To relieve the stranger or sojourner that he may live 
 with thee, take thou no usury of him or increase ; but 
 fear thy God ; that thy brother may live with thee : thou 
 shalt not give him thy money upon money, nor lend 
 him thy victuals for increase : I am the Lord your 
 God." Thus it is one of the most important command- 
 ments in the Scriptures, to render every assistance to 
 the alien, " That he may live with thee." The follow- 
 ing are the words of Rabbi Moshe ben Nakhman 
 (known by the initials R.M.B.N.), in the 15th precept 
 of the Jewish Law: "We are commanded to render 
 assistance to the resident proselyte, to protect him from 
 misfortune. If, for instance, he were to fall into the 
 water, or a heap of stones were to fall on him, then it 
 would be our bounden duty to succour him with all 
 our might. Should he suffer from disease, it would be 
 our duty to endeavour to assuage his pain; and if he 
 were in danger of losing his life thereby, we might do 
 
 * Alien here signifies a stranger to the Hebrew religion, cere- 
 monies, &c.
 
 46 SECOND CONVERSATION. 
 
 for him on the holy Sabbath-day all that might be 
 required; for the Almighty said (Levit. xxv. 35), 'If 
 thy brother wax poor, and his hand faileth, then thou 
 shalt relieve him; yea, though he be a stranger or 
 sojourner, that he may live with thee.' " The Talmud 
 states that we are commanded to maintain an alien; 
 and these also are the words of R.M.B.N., who is con- 
 sidered by all Israelites one of their highest authorities': 
 " The Talmud instructs us to seek for peace, even from 
 idolaters, to attend to their sick, to bury their dead in 
 the cemeteries of the Israelites, and to maintain their 
 poor with our own." ( Tract. Gittin, p. 61.) Maimonides 
 in his work, Yad Hakhazaka Hilkhot Melakhim, chap. 
 6, establishes the foregoing as a law; and concludes 
 thus : " The Almighty is good to all, and His tender 
 mercies are over all his works" (Ps. cxlix. 9). Now, 
 if what I have here stated has been enjoined upon us 
 with regard to heathen nations and idolaters, what must 
 be our duties and feelings towards Christians ? and how 
 much more potently must the commandment " not to 
 kill " be applied by us to them. In addition to all this, 
 have we it not on the best authorities that the Christian 
 is considered the brother of the Israelite? (Tcuda 
 Be y israel, p. 133.) 
 
 SIM. Thou hast said that thou hast more evidence to 
 extract from the Bible : let me hear it 
 
 MAI. Now what dost thou think of the Israelites eating 
 blood? 
 
 SIM. But how is the negative proved? 
 
 MAI. The holy law prohibits the Israelite from eating 
 blood, in plain language : " Moreover ye shall eat no
 
 SECOND CONVERSATION. 47 
 
 manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any 
 of your dwellings ; whatsoever soul it be that eateth any 
 manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his 
 people." (Leviticus, vii. 26, 27 ; Deuteronomy, xii. 
 23). Thomas, the learned Christian whom I spoke of 
 in our first conversation, very properly observed, when he 
 vindicated the Israelites before King Alfonso, "That 
 even the blood of fish, which, according to the definitions 
 of the Talmud, is not called blood, the Israelite is for- 
 bidden to drink, and he regards it with disgust ; because 
 his people are not accustomed to touch it : how much 
 more, then, must he regard with disgust the blood of a 
 human creature, which, contrary to what other nations do 
 with fish, he has never seen used by any nation whatever ? 
 If the Israelite eats a morsel of bread, and blood should 
 flow from his teeth or gums, he will not finish consuming 
 it till the blood has been removed from it ; most people 
 have a dislike to looking at or meddling with blood that 
 has flowed from others ; but the Israelite cannot bear to 
 see or touch his own ; and the Israelite, moreover, is never 
 anxious to witness the execution of any one, not even of 
 one that has been his enemy." 
 
 SIM. What thou hast just advanced only shews their 
 degraded condition ; and the Christian, Thomas, perti- 
 nently observed, also, that their condition arose from the 
 Almighty's curse : " I will send faintness into their hearts 
 in the lands of their enemies, and the sound of a shaken 
 leaf shall chase them;" (Leviticus, xxvi. 36). Thus 
 we see a hundred Israelites will flee from a Christian boy ; 
 and a modern Christian author says, " It is a fact that 
 the Israelites scarcely ever commit murder ; but this for-
 
 48 SECOND CONVERSATION. 
 
 bearance some Christians term cowardice, and reckon it 
 a vice or defect in their dispositions, instead of a virtue." 
 
 MAI. That author has already had a sufficient answer, 
 and his invidious arguments have been thoroughly refuted. 
 
 SIM. What was the answer he received on this sub- 
 ject? 
 
 MAI. The same which has been given by the cele- 
 brated Mendelssohn, in a work called, " Lessings unter- 
 lassene Schriften" 
 
 SIM. Let me hear what he has said, for I like much 
 to hear of Mendelssohn. He may be considered the Ger- 
 man Plato, the Socrates of the Israelites. 
 
 MAI. The following is a remark of his: "They say 
 that the abhorrence with which the Israelites regard 
 murder exhibits their baseness ! Well, if baseness is a 
 means of preserving human life, then baseness is a virtue ! " 
 
 SIM. Milk and honey flow from his tongue. 
 
 MAI. Now, besides that commandment in the Scrip- 
 tures, "Ye shall love the stranger, because ye were 
 strangers in the land of Egypt," there is another im- 
 portant one, namely, to love every human being of what- 
 ever nation ; " Thou shalt love thy fellow-creature as 
 thyself" (Leviticus, xix. 18); and the Talmud says 
 that this law forms the foundation of all the other laws 
 contained in the Scriptures (See Teuda Bdlsrael, 2nd 
 division, 5th chapter, 7th observation). 
 
 SIM. But I must again ask, if the commandment " to 
 love thy fellow creature as thyself" alludes to every hu- 
 man being? because it appears that the Hebrew word 
 "jfea" signifies only a friend, of the same religious 
 persuasion.
 
 SECOND CONVERSATION. 49 
 
 MAI. Does not the Bible sufficiently show this? 
 " Let every man ask of his friend {R,eehoo\ ; and every 
 woman ask of her friend [Mcut-hd]" (Exod. xi. 2). 
 The meaning of this passage is, " The Israelitish man 
 should ask of his Egyptian friend [72ea], and the 
 Israelitish woman should ask of her Egyptian friend 
 [Rtut-ha]" 
 
 SIM. That is no proof at all; because, at that time, 
 the Holy Law had not been given to the Israelites ; and 
 therefore they were spoken of as other nations, as it 
 is said, " Or hath God assayed to go and take him 
 a nation [Goy], from the midst of another nation 
 [MigoyJ' (Deut. iv. 34). I have heard that the Talmud 
 commentators have spoken of this expression in these 
 words ; " These Egyptians were worshippers of stars 
 and planets ;" and so were the Israelites. But I am 
 not certain that, after the Israelites received the Law, 
 the term Rca was used as applicable to every human 
 being, the same as it was used to designate an Israelite. 
 
 MAI. Yes ; it is applicable to any human being. 
 There is a passage in the history of Sampson, " And it 
 came to pass when they saw him that they brought 
 thirty friends [_Merdim] to be with him" (Judges 
 xiv. 11); and those companions were young men of the 
 Philistines. In the Talmud there is a commentary on 
 that passage in the Bible ; " Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bour \_le-Redkha] as thyself" in these words: " That 
 which is hateful to thee thou shalt not do to thy com- 
 panion" {Je-KlialrakJi}: and the word K/iaber [com- 
 panion], is used in the Talmud when it speaks of persons 
 of a different religion (Bet Yehuda, cap. 60. observa-
 
 50 SECOND CONVERSATION. 
 
 tion 2). In the Scriptures we find many laws, having 
 reference to other nations, in which the word Rea is 
 used ; and we observe, also, the AKH [brother] in the 
 prohibitory law, " Thou shalt not hate thy brother in 
 thy heart" (Levit. xix. 19); which commandment refers 
 to all men. 
 
 SIM. How dost thou show that ? 
 
 MAI. Akhab, the king of Israel, called the king of 
 Aram "brother" (1 Kings xx. 33). 
 
 SIM. Thou hast spoken truly. Now if thou hast aught 
 more to bring forward in support of thy position, I am 
 anxious to hear it. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND CONVERSATION.
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAIMOON. I undertake to bring forward such proof 
 presently, as thou must deem incontrovertible ; but first I 
 shall show thee from the Talmud, which the Israelites 
 consider their highest authority,* that this accusation had 
 never a true foundation. 
 
 SIMMIAS. From the Talmud ? I feel some surprise at 
 this proposition ; it is perfectly unreasonable. Thou dost 
 remind me of a person who, being arraigned for a certain 
 offence, offers to bring forward his wife and children to 
 give evidence of his innocence. Of course the testimony 
 of relations, interested parties, or of a thing that is identi- 
 fied with the offence, can have but little weight. 
 
 MAI. I crave thy pardon, my friend ; but there is no 
 analogy between the case of such a one and that which 
 occupies my attention. I intend to cite the Talmud as 
 testimony, because, when the Talmud was composed, if 
 any such accusation had ever been made against the 
 Israelites previously, the circumstance would in some way 
 have been mentioned in it; whereas nothing of the kind 
 was ever known to have been inserted therein. I will 
 explain to thee the principles of the Talmud, and its 
 
 * Maimoon here alludes to that portion of the Talmud which is 
 explanatory of the precepts of the Mosaic Law, as the Israelites con- 
 sider that that portion was handed down, as a tradition, from the 
 very first synod at which Moses presided to the time when the Tal- 
 mud was composed in the form of a book ; for all the other matters 
 that are mentioned in the Talmud are left entirely to the under- 
 standing of the reader. This explanation is derived from the pre- 
 face written to the Talmud by Rabbi Samuel Hanagid. Translator.
 
 52 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 precepts, by which thou wilt perceive the correctness of 
 my present assertion. 
 
 SIM. Proceed to do so. 
 
 MAI. Now, according to thy opinion, it is supposed 
 that the Israelites use Christian blood at the Passover in 
 obedience to a law or precept equally as valid and strin- 
 gent as the other laws by which their actions are regu- 
 lated. 
 
 SIM. True ; such is our opinion, because if it were not 
 so, the Israelites would not have exposed themselves to 
 such dangers. 
 
 MAI. And from whom could we have received such a 
 precept ? from Moses ? from the prophets ? or from the 
 instructors who arose amongst us subsequently to the era 
 of your Messiah ? 
 
 SIM. Doubtless from those who .presided over your 
 councils after the time of our Messiah, as we think ; our 
 opinion is, that this ceremony was instituted by the Is- 
 raelites to revenge themselves on the Messiah, who lived 
 several hundred years after the prophets, about a century 
 before the destruction of the second Temple, and during 
 the time of the authors of the Mishna, upon which work 
 the whole Talmud was founded, together with all the 
 regulations, decrees, &c., issued by all the heads of synods 
 and distinguished Israelites. 
 
 MAI. And so thou thinkest that our learned men of 
 that generation instituted such a law, and that we are 
 bound to observe it, because the Talmud lays it down as 
 a rule, that every law emanating from the synod in Israel 
 is to be considered as good an authority as those which 
 emanated from the synod of Moses?
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 53 
 
 SIM. Yes; a law instituted by the learned and dis- 
 tinguished Hebrews is designated "a precept of the 
 learned in the law ; " and it is observed like any other 
 precept of the Bible, because it is considered to be of 
 equal authority. Thus we find in Deut. xvii. 8, 9 : 
 " If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judg- 
 ment, &c., and thou shalt come unto the priests, the 
 Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, 
 and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment." 
 Some are of opinion that the Israelites attach more 
 weight to the precepts of the learned than to those of 
 the Bible. 
 
 MAI. Well, then, why should we not value the precept 
 respecting the use of human blood equally with all the 
 other precepts handed down to us from the Talmudians 
 and other learned men ? 
 
 SIM. Explain thyself: I am all attention. 
 
 MAI. God forbid that we should value such a one. 
 Supposing such a precept had been handed down to the 
 learned, they would have forbidden the people to practise 
 it. Is it not inculcated by the Rabbies, in speaking of 
 the law of the Bible, that the Almighty does not con- 
 sider that man a transgressor who is prevented from per- 
 forming any particular religious duty by some accidental 
 impediment? If any sons of a man die from the effects 
 of circumcision, it is not obligatory on the father to have 
 the survivors circumcised, although circumcision is the 
 first and most important principle of Judaism ; and in 
 reference to clearing a house of leavened bread at the 
 approach of the Passover, it is said in Tractate Pessakhim, 
 141, " A cleft between the house of an Israelite and a
 
 54 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 stranger need not be examined, for fear the stranger should 
 say that the Israelite wished to do him harm, or to try 
 some charms against him." Notwithstanding that the 
 commandment regarding the removal of leavened bread 
 before the Passover commences is one of the most im- 
 portant, and the Israelites are forbidden to dress any 
 victuals during this festival; and notwithstanding that 
 any one would be considered as having transgressed the 
 commandment who had left the smallest possible portion 
 of bread in his house, a sick person is allowed to eat 
 on the day of atonement, and to keep no fast ; and, for 
 the sake of a sick person, others are allowed to relax from 
 the strictness of their observances that day, and also to 
 do things on the Sabbath which at ordinary times would 
 be sinful in the extreme. Yes, although the laws requi- 
 ring these days to be kept holy are the strictest of all, 
 they may be broken in every way in order to relieve one 
 that is on a sick bed, except by idolatrous worship, adul- 
 tery, and by shedding blood. We also find that Rabbi 
 Yokhanan did not place phylacteries on his head in the 
 winter season, because he suffered from cold. (See 
 Yerushalmi Berakhot, sect. Hdyd Kore.) And all these 
 omissions are sanctioned, because it is written in the Bible, 
 " These are the laws which men shall observe, and shall live 
 by them ; " which passage is thus commented on in the Tal- 
 mud ; " Men shall live by them, but not die by them :" 
 the meaning of this is, that men are bound to observe 
 all the commandments in the Holy Bible, so long as they 
 do not cause death or place them in danger. The Tal- 
 mud instructs us, that we are bound to observe that law 
 which enjoins us to avoid danger more strictly than all
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 55 
 
 the other prohibitory laws in the Bible. It is further said 
 in the Talmud, that the synod shall not issue any decree 
 but such as the majority of the people are to conform to. 
 Now, how could a synod issue a decree to the effect that 
 men should use human blood, since it would be almost 
 impossible for any one to act in obedience to it ? Out 
 of respect to public decency or custom, any of the pro- 
 hibitory laws may be transgressed, (Berakhot, p. 19. 
 2.) as is fully explained in the work Bet Yehuda ; and 
 would not that be a sufficient justification for transgressing 
 the law requiring human blood to be used, especially 
 when using it placed the life of an Israelite in danger, 
 and more especially when it placed the lives of hundreds 
 of thousands of Israelites in danger, and, as thy opinion 
 is, the law came only from the composers of the Talmud? 
 (Bet Yehuda, caps. 65 and 70). The Almighty (blessed 
 be his name !) after conferring blessings on those who ob- 
 served and kept his holy law, and pronouncing curses on 
 them who slighted it, has said, " For this commandment 
 which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from 
 thee ; neither is it far off. It is not in Heaven, thatthou 
 shouldst say * Who shall go up for us to Heaven and bring 
 it unto us, that we may hear it and do it.' Neither is it 
 beyond the sea, that thou shouldst say, 'Who shall go over 
 the sea for us, and bring it unto us that we may hear it 
 and do it.' But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy 
 mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." Thus 
 thou seest all the ordinances of the Almighty are easy for 
 men to perform, because, as our learned have said, " The 
 Almighty did not drive us into the observance of his laws 
 by tyranny; so he who has no house need not have a
 
 56 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 phylactery on his door-post, neither is he bound to pur- 
 chase a house for the purpose of having an opportunity 
 to place one in such a situation." Now, after all that has 
 been said on this subject, is it possible that we should 
 have been commanded to use human blood ? God forbid. 
 What obstacles there would be to such a practice ! If it 
 were indeed an established fact that we did so, the whole 
 world would rise up against us to our utter annihilation. 
 
 SIM. Do we not find in the New Testament, that the 
 Israelites reviled the Messiah because he cured the sick 
 on the Sabbath-day, and that he was obliged to rebuke 
 them for it ? and how canst thou say that the Talmud 
 enjoins man to cure the sick on the Sabbath-day, and on 
 the day of atonement, and to transgress any laws for the 
 sake of relieving a sick person ? 
 
 MAI. If your Messiah had given medicine to the sick, 
 the Israelites would have been silent, and would have 
 considered that he had done a good action, because they 
 cured the sick on the Sabbath. We also circumcise 
 children on that day, and administer remedies to the cir- 
 cumcised, as Jesus himself said in the Gospel of St. 
 John, vii. 2*2. But as his remedies were strange and 
 unnatural, having no resemblance to those prescribed by 
 physicians, he having cured the sick by a word, and the 
 blind by putting clay moistened with spittle on their 
 eyes, a remedy which human comprehension could not 
 reconcile with the established modes of medical treat- 
 ment, the Israelites thought proper to rebuke him for 
 such conduct. Even if they had believed that he really 
 effected such cures through the inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit, they would have considered him as acting sin-
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 57 
 
 fully; and they thought his conduct particularly sinful, 
 believing, as they did, that he was conjuring with the 
 name of God or his attributes. Thus we find in the 
 Talmud ( Yerushalmi, Tractate Shubat, chap, xiv.) : 
 " The grandchild of Rabbi Yehoshua, the son of Levi, 
 had some disease in his throat, and there came some one 
 to him and repeated charms over him which he had heard 
 from Peter, the disciple of Jesus the Nazarite, and it so 
 happened that the child recovered ; then said his father, 
 the son of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi, ' I would rather 
 he had died.' " And this he did wish, because it was the 
 opinion of the Israelites that such unnatural charms 
 ought not to be practised at any time. A similar case 
 is recorded in Talmud Yerushalmi, Efin Madmidin; and in 
 Talmud Babli, Tract. Aboda Ztra, cap. ii. p. 27. Per- 
 haps there were some amongst the Israelites who thought, 
 like some of the learned of other nations, that Jesus ef- 
 fected all his miracles by means of knowledge obtained 
 in Egypt. (Orig. Conf.r. Cclsus., i. 11.) 
 
 SIM. The Egyptians entertained a similar opinion of 
 Moses, when they beheld his miracles.* 
 
 MAI. If the learned of the Hebrews had at that time 
 believed, like thyself, that Jesus was greater than Moses, 
 who delivered the holy law to our race, still they could 
 not have approved of his curing the sick on the Sabbath- 
 day through such agency as he employed ; and they 
 would have arraigned him for so doing before the synod. 
 
 SIM. Make thy words more intelligible. 
 
 MAI. According to the Mosaic Law, the people are re- 
 ferred to the learned for a decision as to any doubt that 
 
 * Pirn. Hist. lib. 31. p. 1 ; and Apnl. Aj.ol. 
 
 I
 
 58 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 may exist respecting the fulfilment of any particular 
 commandment; as it is written in Deut. (xvii. 9,) 
 " Thou shalt come unto the priests, the Levites, arid 
 unto the judge that shall be in those days ; thou shalt 
 not decline from the sentence which they shall shew 
 thee, to the right hand nor to the left." It is likewise 
 said in Exodus, (xxiii. 2,) " To decline after the multi- 
 tude." In a case where the Sanhedrin or the judges in 
 Jerusalem could not agree on a subject, the law was con- 
 strued according to the opinion of the majority. If the 
 question was one of "clean or unclean," and the majo- 
 rity considered it clean, it was given as law by all the 
 synod ; and if the majority decided that it was " unclean," 
 all the synod agreed that this decision should be esta- 
 blished as law. But the opinion of a judge, or learned 
 man, was never received as decisive of the subject in 
 dispute, unless such judge or learned man had assigned 
 sufficient grounds for his opinion, and shown that it was 
 the result of mature reflection ; if he had not done so, 
 and could not s-upport his opinion with good argument, 
 his opinion was considered to be of no value, and he was 
 not reckoned amongst the majority. Nay, even if that 
 judge or learned man had been a true prophet, like 
 Elias and Elisha, and he had been asked to prove the 
 affirmative or negative of anything by giving reasons, 
 and he, instead of complying with such a request, had 
 merely answered, " Am I not a prophet ? and have I 
 not been authorised by heaven to declare that which I 
 have ? " the people not only would not have listened to 
 him, but would have put him on his trial for uttering 
 falsehood ; and though his words might have agreed lite-
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 59 
 
 rally with the law, yet, if he could not have sufficiently ex- 
 plained them, his opinions would have been rejected ; 
 because our Holy Bible clearly says, " If there arise a 
 matter too hard for thee in judgment between blood and 
 blood, between plea and plea, &c., and thou shalt come 
 unto the priests, the Levites, and the judge ;" but it does 
 not say that " thou shalt go to the Prophet to seek an ex- 
 planation of a plea or judgment." 
 
 SIM. Does not the Bible say (Deut. xviii. 15), "The 
 Lord thy God will raise up a prophet from the midst of 
 thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall 
 hearken." I have heard that it is said in the Talmud, 
 "If the prophet tell thee to transgress an affirmative 
 commandment in the Bible, thou art bound to listen to 
 him." 
 
 MAI. That only refers to a case of emergency, to stop 
 a certain proceeding. It is said in the Talmud that if 
 a prophet were to effect the conversion of a person from 
 idolatry, we should follow and hearken unto him for the 
 moment, even if we transgressed a certain law thereby. 
 But God forbid that the momentary influence permitted 
 to a prophet should be established as a permanent rule. 
 The fact is, the affirmative commandment, " Unto him 
 ye shall hearken," has been given in opposition to that 
 mentioned before in the same chapter (10, 11, 12, 14 
 and 15) ; " There shall not be found amongst you any one 
 that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an 
 enchanter or a witch, or a wizard, or a charmer, or a 
 consulter of familiar spirits, or a necromancer; for all 
 such are an abomination unto the Lord ; and because of 
 their abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them
 
 60 
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect with the 
 Lord thy God; for those nations hearkened unto ob- 
 servers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee, the 
 Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from 
 thee, and unto him thou shalt hearken." We are only 
 permitted to listen to the prophet when he speaks of the 
 future. The Bible clearly says that he who does not 
 submit to the decrees of the judges shall be put to death 
 by man (Deut. xix. 12) : " And the man that will do 
 presumptuousness, and will not hearken unto the priest 
 who standeth to minister there before the Lord God, or 
 unto the judge, even that man shall die, and thou shalt 
 put away the evil from Israel." But he who will not 
 hearken unto the prophet whom the Almighty has raised, 
 like unto Moses, is not to be tried for such a transgres- 
 sion of the laws before men, but shall be reserved for 
 the eternal judgment; as it is said in Deut. xviii. 19. 
 " And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not 
 hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my 
 name, I will require it of him." Thus we find in the 
 Talmud Baba Meziah, page 59, " That a certain learned 
 man essayed to establish the truth of a law by introduc- 
 ing into his arguments a miracle, and the assembly 
 would not notice it:" the foregoing is also at greater 
 length mentioned in the work Bet Yehudah. If a man 
 were to come any day in the week to a sick person, and 
 offer him prohibited food as a charm to cure him, and it 
 were known that such food could not naturally act as a 
 remedy, the patient, according to our law, would not be 
 permitted to take it ; but if an authorised physician were 
 to come and say, that a certain thing prohibited by the
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 61 
 
 law would cure him, then it would become a duty to 
 follow his advice; and if the sick person's attendants 
 were not to do so, and he should die, they would be 
 termed " murderers ;" because it is written in the Bible, 
 " And he shall cause him to be thoroughly healed." 
 This commentary in the Talmud has reference to the 
 same : " We learn that a person who is sufficiently skilful 
 to practise medicine is allowed to administer remedies." 
 There is another instance in the Talmud that illustrates 
 the law we are now discussing.* A man was bitten by 
 a mad dog, and one of the learned suggested that the 
 diaphragm of the dog should be given to him; upon 
 which the Talmud declares " That the law was not estab- 
 lished according to suggestions." Maimonides, in his 
 commentary on the Mishna, thus elucidates this passage : 
 " The law does not apply to this case, because remedies 
 administered in the way of charms have no foundation in 
 nature." How much more difficult, therefore, it must 
 be for an Israelite to perform cures by the utterance of 
 a simple word. 
 
 SIM. But it is now known to the whole world, that the 
 patients of the Messiah were cured immediately, and 
 that a great many of them were sick persons who were 
 thought to be incurable by regular physicians ; and the 
 best testimony of the reality of anything is what is pre- 
 sented to our own eyes : besides, is it not recorded in 
 the Talmud that even the Messiah's disciples cured 
 one or two Talmudians with the same means that their 
 master had used? 
 
 * Tract. Yoma, Ch. Yom Hakipurim.
 
 62 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAI. But the subject is still open for dispute to one 
 not born a Christian, and who, from his youth, has been 
 accustomed to doubt such things, and would even deny 
 the existence of that which is visible to his bodily senses. 
 Our traditions say that Jesus performed these miracles 
 by repeating the most holy name, the Tetragrammaton, 
 which it was not permitted to a prophet to pronounce, 
 and to the high priest only during the time he was in 
 the temple. 
 
 SIM. That is very probable; because, according to 
 our belief and traditions, the Messiah was greater than 
 the high priest, yea, even greater than the angels ; such 
 as you still expect your Messiah to be, as is mentioned 
 by the Midrashim. 
 
 MAI. We have again wandered far away from the 
 main subject of our argument; we have now begun a 
 discussion concerning the foundation of the Christian 
 religion, which I do not wish to continue, especially as, 
 according to our belief, no miracle whatever can be ad- 
 mitted as a reason for giving credence to a prophet. 
 Maimonides has said, that the attention paid by the 
 Israelites to Moses was not the more on account of the 
 miracles he performed; with which opinion I agree; 
 therefore, let us return to the principal topic of our 
 conversation. 
 
 SIM. Let every nation enjoy its own religious opinions 
 undisturbed ; by acting contrariwise to that principle, 
 we only consume time without coming to any satisfactory 
 conclusion. I shall now ask thee a question. In the 
 course of our conversation thou hast repeatedly said that 
 the Talmud contains no evidence to confirm the truth of
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 63 
 
 the accusation concerning the use of human blood ; but 
 how dost thou account for the following quotation from 
 the Yerushalmian Talmud (Tract. PessaUiim}^ given in a 
 Spanish book which I have read, and which was written 
 against the Israelites? " That it was proper for an Is- 
 raelite to procure red wine, Yayin adorn., for the Pass- 
 over night." By this the Christian writer meant human 
 blood, Yayin adam. I myself feel rather surprised at 
 this ; for why should the Israelites particularly wish to 
 obtain red wine for that night, and not white wine ? The 
 Spanish author now referred to expresses much wonder 
 that the Israelites should consider drinking wine on that 
 night as obligatory on them as eating the Passover cakes. 
 It is said in the Mishna of Arba Pessakhim, " That it 
 was the duty of even the poorest Israelite to drink red 
 wine, and that he should not drink less than four glass- 
 fuls, even if he were so poor as to be supported by the 
 contributions of the charitable, in which case he would 
 indeed be poor." It is mentioned in Tractate Peah, 
 " That a man who is in possession of food sufficient for 
 two meals is prohibited from receiving eleemosynary 
 support ; and if the agent of some charitable institution 
 should not give the poor man means to buy the wine, 
 he would be compelled to borrow money for that pur- 
 pose, or to dispose of a portion of his apparel."* Now 
 there surely must be some allusion in all those remarks 
 to the use of blood on that night.. It is further mentioned 
 by the Spanish author, " That ye have many strange 
 ceremonies on that night ; that, for instance, ye dip 
 
 * Vide the Commentary of the R. SH. B. M. on that Mishna 
 PesKukhim, page 99, 2.
 
 64 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 herbs in water, and eat them ; that ye throw a few drops 
 of wine out of a glass; and that ye put on a white 
 talar or habit;" and by citing these incidents, he endea- 
 vours to prove that the Israelites are indeed guilty of the 
 crime of using blood. In addition to the preceding, I 
 have gleaned the following particulars from this Span- 
 iard. In finishing your meal on that night, ye eat 
 a morsel of Passover cake, which ye call Afikoman. 
 When ye have read your prayers, and the history of the 
 Exodus from Egypt, in a book called Hagada, you con- 
 clude the service with two songs, which, to our compre- 
 hension, have no meaning. " Ekhad mi yodea The 
 number one ; who knows what that signifies ?" The 
 other, still more enigmatical, commences with, " Khad 
 Gadya dczdbin Abba A goat which my father bought 
 for two florins." Your own commentators acknowledge 
 these words as parabolical. The Spanish author thinks 
 this song an allegory alluding to Jesus Christ, he 
 being known frequently by the figure of a lamb, and 
 that for that the term " goat" has been substituted; and 
 from this circumstance proceeds to infer that the Israel- 
 ites are guilty of the crime. I must confess, it is with 
 much difficulty that we adopt this opinion of the Span- 
 iard ; for if the author of the song meant to allude to 
 Jesns Christ, how could he conclude his composition with 
 this sentence ; " that the Almighty would punish those 
 that persecuted the goat?" It is not likely that the Is- 
 raelites would believe such an assertion. I have read a 
 book written by an Israelite well acquainted with your 
 traditions, who gives various reasons for the ceremonies 
 observed on the Passover Night, and attributes them to
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 65 
 
 hidden and mystical calculations; he also strongly re- 
 commends the drinking of red wine ; and I feel assured 
 that it is the singularity of your ceremonies on the Pass- 
 over Night which has all along excited in the minds of 
 other people suspicions concerning the propriety of your 
 doings. 
 
 MAI. (sighing, with tears in his eyes). Worthy Sir, I 
 will take the liberty to quote some of the words of Job, 
 who, when his acquaintances were troubling his mind by 
 endeavouring to shew that his actions were criminal, and 
 that his misfortunes had been sent as a punishment for 
 them, exclaimed, in his innocence, " Shall vain words 
 have an end?" 
 
 SIM. Brother Maimoon, pray do not speak so ; if there 
 be cause for complaint, it must be against the Spanish 
 author. I have been repeating his sentiments ; what are 
 my own I have not said. I have already stated that it 
 was far from my wishes to hurt thy feelings. I only 
 wish to afford thee an opportunity to fully establish the 
 innocence of thyself and brethren ; and may, therefore, 
 be permitted to speak in the words of the Almighty to 
 Job : " Then will I also confess unto thee that thy own 
 right hand can save thee." (Job, xl. 14). 
 
 MAI. (wiping away his tears). Brother Simmias, may 
 all nations be blessed with many such men as thou 
 (embraces Simmias). Now hear what I have further to 
 say, and then pronounce thy judgment. 
 
 SIM. (placing his right hand on that of Maimoon). Be- 
 gin, for thy words I hope will enlighten me. 
 
 MAI. Thou hast said, that a certain Israelitish writer 
 has made it evident that we were under a necessity of 
 
 K
 
 66 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 procuring red wine for the Passover festival ; but it is 
 obvious that neither the Christian nor the Hebrew whom 
 thou hast mentioned was acquainted with the opinions of 
 those whom we consider to be our best authorities on the 
 subject ; for it is said, " If there be white wine of a better 
 quality than the red, the preference must be given to 
 the white."* It is well known that in this country the 
 red wine is better than the white, and that it is preferred 
 by all the Eastern people that drink wine; and so it is 
 stated by travellers, and in the Scriptures : " For in the 
 hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red;" 
 (Psalms, Ixxv. 8.) " Look not upon the wine when it is 
 red" (Proverbs, xxiii. 8) ; "In that day sing ye unto 
 her, a vineyard of red wine" (Isaiah, xxvii. 2) ; " Where- 
 fore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like 
 him that treadeth in the wine-vat?" (Isaiah, Ixiii. 2). 
 We find also in scripture that the word "blood" is some- 
 times used figuratively for wine ; thus in Genesis (xlix. 
 14) : " He washes his garments in wine, and his clothes 
 in the blood of grapes:" and again in Deut. (xxxii.14) ; 
 " And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape." The 
 Talmud (Ketubot, 111, 2), also states that the red wine 
 is better than the white. Where it recites all the ad- 
 vantages of the Holy Land, it says, "Perhaps thou 
 mayest say f there is no wine ; ' but it is written in the 
 Bible, 'He washes his garments in wine ;' which proves 
 its abundance. Thou wilt perhaps say it is not red 
 wine ; to which I answer by a quotation from Scripture, 
 * And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape ;' 
 
 * Toor Orakh Khayim, 472; 272; also Bet Yossef.
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 67 
 
 which implies positively that it was red." Thou mayest 
 refer to that part of the Talmud where all the qualities 
 of the wine grown in the Holy Land are enumerated, 
 and thou wilt find that one of the chief of them is 
 its red colour. I may also refer thee to the commen- 
 tary entitled M. H. R. SH. A. ; and thou art perhaps 
 aware, that in the East people are in the habit of 
 tinting their white wine red, as stated by the learned 
 Olearius ; and that the terms *-*A!! khamr (in Arabic), 
 X'fift khamro (in Aramaic), and "i$n khemer (in He- 
 brew) signify red wine; and the same terms also sig- 
 nify a red colour. Whenever the word khamar, or 
 khamro, occurs in the Talmud, it signifies red wine, 
 unless the word laban be attached to it, which sig- 
 nifies white (Tractate Keritot, 81). Khamar khivaryon- 
 atick old white wine." In Arabic the term for 
 white wine is khelbon; and it is the same in He- 
 brew: thus in Ezekiel (xxvii. 18), yayin khelbon. In 
 the Talmud it is rendered khalab ; for instance in 
 Bereshit Rabba, Parasha 18, is the following : " He 
 washes his garments in wine, \jjayin, that is khalab 
 white wine], and his clothes in the blood of grapes, 
 [adorn] red wine." It was from these circumstances 
 that the Yerushalmian Talmud, which was composed at 
 Jerusalem, made it a duty to procure red wine; and 
 there is nothing else to explain in respect to this ordi- 
 nance. The fact is, we are particularly required to 
 celebrate the Passover evening by appearing perfectly 
 free from all sorts of care ; and it is on that account 
 that we endeavour to obtain the best wine, so that 
 our minds may be made cheerful. The writers of the
 
 68 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 Yerushalmian Talmud have also given instructions how 
 we should support ourselves on sofas, and how we 
 should array ourselves in different costumes that were 
 fashionable at the time they lived, with great people, 
 and which such were accustomed to wear during their 
 meals. One of our modern preceptors, Rabenu Abi 
 Haezri, in the Orakh Khayim, has sensibly observed, that 
 in the present age we need not recline on sofas at all on 
 that evening, because such is not the custom of the 
 country, he, Abi Haezri, being resident in Europe. 
 Thou knowest that to sit on sofas during meals is an 
 Oriental habit, and that the Romans adopted it from 
 the Orientals ; and I am now about to demonstrate to 
 thee that all the ceremonies which we go through on 
 the Passover night are such as were in vogue with the 
 Roman princes, and that it was from them that the 
 Israelites resident in Rome and Jerusalem adopted the 
 same. When they sat down to their principal meal, 
 which they termed ccena, they used to put on a 
 talar, or white dress; they reclined on a sofa, ate 
 eggs before they began the substantial part of the meal, 
 poured wine from a glass, or took a few drops with their 
 fingers ; the dessert they called mensa secunda, and it 
 was similar to what on the Passover evening we term 
 Afikoman. The meal of the Romans was divided 
 into three parts: the first they called ante-ccena> the 
 beginning of the meal ; and this was formed of things 
 that excited the appetite, such as eggs, herbs, sweet 
 wine, &c. ; the second they called mensa prima, which 
 consisted of the principal dishes of meat, fish, &c. ; and 
 then followed the mensa secunda, composed of fruits,
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 69 
 
 by which the repast was ended. The Israelites were 
 not permitted to partake of the mensa secunda on the 
 Passover night ; and it is so stated \nPessakhim 119; 
 and Tosefta Rabbi Yokhanan has said, that the Israelites 
 were not permitted to eat dates, nuts, or roasted barley, 
 of which a dessert was usually composed ; which is con- 
 firmed by the Talmud in these words, " En maftirin 
 akhar hapessakh-qfikoman * We are not allowed to 
 finish our meal with a dessert on the Passover night, as 
 we may on any other occasion." 
 
 There are various other particulars in which the 
 Passover repast resembles a feast of the Romans ; for 
 instance, the most distinguished guest is called " king," 
 the table used is considered holy, and as a substitute 
 for the altar ; and when the meal is over, they ask one 
 of another some enigmatical question. A deal of in- 
 formation respecting the habits of the early Romans 
 at their meals may be gained from a work entitled, 
 " Lehrbuch der Romischen Alterthumer," Vienna, 1823, 
 Part iii., from 48 to 94 ; which confirms what has 
 just been said with regard to the feasting or banqueting 
 ceremonies having a striking resemblance to those 
 observed by us on the Passover night. Some of our 
 preceptors, famed for their learning and discernment, 
 
 * The Greek word epicowos, ernKSupos, in its radical meaning 
 signifies the departure of a party of people in high spirits from 
 a festival at which they had been well entertained ; and it is pro- 
 bable that, by the modification which all languages at times undergo, 
 the Israelites made use of the word to denote the conclusion, or 
 last portion of the meal, that of the Passover, which to them is 
 the most joyous one that they ever consume. Vide Lando's 
 Maarkhe Halashon. TRANSLATOR.
 
 70 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 have explained the meaning of these ceremonies, shew- 
 ing that they have reference to certain passages in the 
 Bible; they say, for instance, that the eating of a 
 mixture of mashed apples and splinters of cinnamon was 
 ordained, to remind the Israelites of the mortar used in 
 building the fortresses in Egypt (the cinnamon being 
 typical of the straw which the Israelites had been forced 
 to collect, and the apples of the nation), and to stimu- 
 late the heart of every one to give praise and glory to 
 the Almighty for the miracles he performed in our 
 behalf. The same persons declare that the custom of 
 eating herbs on the Passover evening was likewise or- 
 dained on Scriptural authority : " And with bitter herbs 
 they shall eat it;" (Num. ix. 11; Exod. xii.) And in 
 like manner, many other of the ceremonies observed 
 on that particular occasion, supposed by some people 
 to have some recondite meaning, are fully explained by 
 a reference to the Scriptures. As for dipping the herbs 
 in the mash of apples and cinnamon, that, as the Talmud 
 distinctly declares,* is done to mitigate the bitter taste 
 of the herbs. The Hebrew writer whom thou hast cited 
 has spoken in a mystical manner of the fact of our calling 
 the Sabbath next preceding the Passover " the great Sab- 
 bath ; " but he might have mentioned the reasons assigned 
 by our authorities, which are simple and intelligible. The 
 " great Sabbath " is not mentioned in the Talmud ; the 
 term is derived from the Christians, who denominate the 
 entire week in which the Passover happens, "the great 
 week," each day in the week being termed a "great 
 day ; " so it is most likely that the Hebrews construe the 
 * Arba Pessakhim, p. 115.
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 71 
 
 word Shabbat, as meaning Saturday, a term used by the 
 Christians to designate the whole week.* 
 
 SIM. The Christians call the Passover the Great Day, 
 and the Romans called it the Great Night. Wilt thou 
 now explain to me the meaning of the song which begins 
 " Khad Gadya A Kid, &c. ;" and of the other, 
 " Ekhad mi yodea The number One, who knows 
 what it signifies ? " 
 
 MAI. I have already stated that the Romans were in 
 the habit of proposing enigmatical questions or riddles to 
 each other, after their meals ; the Israelites adopted the 
 same means to keep their children awake ; and, accor- 
 ding to the Talmud, f they were obliged to distribute nuts 
 and roasted barley to them for the same purpose, so that 
 they might be induced to enquire why the ceremonies of 
 this evening were so remarkably different from what they 
 beheld on other occasions ; and the following passage 
 
 * See Toor Orakh Khayim, 430. It is stated in the Talmud 
 that the Exodus from Egypt began on a Thursday, which was the 15th 
 of the month; whereby it appears that the 10th of the month, the 
 day on which the Israelites were commanded to take each a lamb, 
 must have been the Sabbath. That was a day in which a great 
 miracle took place, as the Egyptians who entertained a great vene- 
 ration for the lamb, as mentioned in Genesis, xlvi. 34, beheld their 
 slaves taking lambs and eating their flesh without their having any 
 power to prevent them from so doing : and although the days in- 
 tervening between the 10th and 15th were also devoted to the eating 
 of the flesh of lambs, yet the first day, the Sabbath, as the beginning 
 of the extraordinary event, was called the " great day ; " and it is 
 probable, therefore, that the Sabbath which precedes the Passover 
 festival is still called the " great day,'' though it may fall on any 
 other day than the 10th. This reason is given by the authors of the 
 Tossefot to the Talmud, and is a more natural one than that stated 
 by Maimoon. TRANSLATOR. 
 
 t Pessakhim, 119, 1.
 
 72 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 from the Bible (Exod. xii. 26; xiii, 15) will also help to 
 elucidate this subject : " When your children shall say 
 unto you, ' What mean ye by this service? ' that ye shall 
 say, ' It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover.' " The 
 origin of the song Khad Gadya is, or should be, well 
 known. I have read the song in a German almanack, 
 in which it is printed, with other amusing songs, in the 
 old German language, under the title of Das Zieglein, 
 and arranged in verse to suit the fancy of children : it is 
 printed exactly as in our Passover service, with the ex- 
 ception of the stanza which begins with the words, 
 " And the slaughterer came ; " which was probably com- 
 posed by the person who translated the song from the 
 German into Hebrew. That this song is of German 
 origin is corroborated by the fact that it is not to be found 
 in any ancient edition of the Passover service. Doubt- 
 less the German Israelites were accustomed to sing it for 
 the recreation of their children, and to keep them from 
 going to sleep on the Passover evening, long before it 
 was printed ; and when it was printed, thought that it 
 would be judicious to make it expressly a part of the 
 Passover service. At the present day we find it in some 
 of the prayer books used at the Passover, written in the 
 old German language.* For much the same reason as 
 the proceeding, the other song was introduced into the 
 
 * Note by the Translator : I must here record a different opinion 
 to that of Maimoon concerning the origin of this song. It arose 
 from a more worthy and important source that what could be sup- 
 posed to give rise to a trifling song for the simple amusement of 
 children. This piece of composition refers, allegorically, to the sub- 
 jugation of the Israelites by Nebuchadnezzar ; then to the destruc- 
 of his empire, and to the destruction of the others that rose
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 73 
 
 Passover service; "Ekhad mi yodea ; The number one, 
 who knows what it signifies ? " This poetical composition 
 refers to the thirteen articles of the Israelites' creed : in 
 reciting this, the young men ask each other questions, 
 and then answer to each other. It is a custom in Swit- 
 zerland even now, at the table of distinguished persons 
 after dinner, for the company to ask each other enigmatical 
 questions that have an allusion to some moral subject; and 
 according to the statement of the historian Caramzin, the 
 celebrated Lavater did the same. Caramzin strongly 
 eulogized such a custom, and wished it to be adopted in 
 Russia ; and indeed some of the Russians have subse- 
 quently taken his advice. 
 
 SIM. The Spanish author quoted by me before, men- 
 tions another circumstance that is calculated to excite 
 suspicion against the Israelites ; you lock your doors on 
 the Passover evening, which is quite contrary to the 
 practice of your forefathers, for they invariably opened 
 
 consecutively on the ruins of his power ; and, inferring from that 
 which had already come to pass, that all empires which might 
 thereafter spring up, and oppress the Israelites as Nebuchadnezzar 
 had done, would inevitably be swallowed up, one by the other, till 
 Death should have levelled them all, and the Almighty have com- 
 menced the eternal state of happiness by the destruction of Death, 
 the Israelites adopted this song at the Passover as being most in 
 harmony with the origin of that festival, it having been instituted 
 to commemorate the overthrow of the first mighty power that had 
 oppressed Israel. Probably, when the song was first composed, 
 those who composed it were living under such a power, that the 
 express mention of the persons and rulers to whom it refers would 
 have drawn down upon them the most tremendous punishments 
 that despotic authority could invent, and for that reason made it a 
 complete allegory, the real meaning of which was to be explained 
 only to those who were known to be staunch adherents to their 
 faith. Hugada Arba Gessodul.
 
 74 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 their doors to shew that it was a night on which they were 
 under the especial care of the Almighty ; and with this 
 original custom the words with which ye still begin the 
 service agree ; " Whoever is hungry shall come in and 
 eat with us." It is, therefore, to be inferred that ye have 
 to go through some strange ceremonies, because whoever 
 is particularly anxious to screen his actions from the 
 public, must naturally be supposed to do that which is 
 not exactly right; thus, as it is recorded in the Bible, 
 when a married woman concealed herself, they caused her 
 to drink the bitter water which causeth the curse for her 
 concealment ; for by her concealment she drew suspicion 
 upon herself. 
 
 MAI. The practice of locking the door was first adopted 
 partly in consequence of the enmity which the Christians 
 displayed to the Israelites, they fearing, after the evil 
 reports circulated about them, that for the purpose of 
 confirming them, some persons might contrive to intro- 
 duce dead bodies into the Israelites' houses. And their 
 reason for so doing was to prevent the possibility of Chris- 
 tians intruding, and ridiculing what the Israelites had to 
 perform, which, the ceremonies being inexplicable to 
 ignorant and profligate persons, ignorant and profligate 
 persons would not hesitate to do, if they had an oppor- 
 tunity ; and as all the members of an Israelitish family, 
 men, women, children, and servants of both sexes, are 
 bound to attend to the Passover service, a part of which is 
 the reciting of the history of the Exodus from Egypt, any 
 interruption of that kind would be considered as a serious 
 misfortune to them. But it is not the practice of every 
 Israelite to lock the door. It having been done by our an-
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 75 
 
 cestors when the state of the times compelled them to take 
 such precautions, many of the ignorant do it still, under 
 the false impression that there is a religious precept for 
 it; and thou knowest the ignorant will imitate what others 
 have done, for no other reason than influences the ape. 
 
 SIM. Friend Mai moon, do not be angry. I have now 
 to ask thee a question respecting another custom of the 
 Israelites, to which my attention was drawn by the book 
 of that Spaniard : thou knowest it is natural for man to 
 seek for an exposition of that which appears strange to 
 him. What is meant by that glass of wine called the 
 "cup of Elijah?" Do you really believe that Elijah will 
 come on that night and drink out of it? Then ye open 
 for a moment the house door, saying, " Blessed may he 
 be that cometh !" Is not that a very foolish ceremony ? 
 
 MAI. We open the door to remind those present that 
 that night is called the watched night, or the night on 
 which we were under the especial protection of the Al- 
 mighty. But the most ignorant amongst our people have 
 been seized by a foolish idea, and have imagined that 
 Elijah would come indeed; and thus arose the saying, 
 " Blessed be he that cometh !" The truth is, the cere- 
 mony of filling the cup of Elijah was unknown to our 
 earliest ancestors.* 
 
 SIM. But what reason is there for calling this glass or 
 cup, " the cup of Elijah," and for filling it and putting 
 it on the table ? 
 
 MAI. No reason is assigned by any of the modern 
 Jewish authors, and of course none by the ancient au- 
 
 * Beer Heteb Hilkhot Pessakh, 410.
 
 76 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 thors, the custom being entirely unknown to them : but 
 there is a certain passage in the Talmud which may be 
 considered as an allusion to it.* This passage says it is 
 a holy precept to drink wine on that glorious night, and 
 even the poorest must endeavour to do so ; the four cups 
 that we are required to drink are in commemoration of, 
 and therefore correspond in number with, the four ex- 
 pressions or promises of redemption given in the Bible ; 
 but as some persons who place faith in charms are afraid 
 to drink an even number (although no danger of charms 
 need be feared on this night, it being under the especial 
 care of the Almighty), to satisfy the scruples of such, 
 we drink an extra cup.f In the Talmud all precepts 
 concerning which there may be any doubt, are termed 
 " Elijah ; " because the Lord said, by his prophet Mal- 
 achi (Malachi, iv. 5 6), "Behold, I will send you 
 Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and 
 dreadful day of the Lord ; and he shall turn the heart of 
 the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children 
 to their fathers:" by which we understand that the 
 hearts will comprehend each other, and that Elijah will 
 define and decide every doubtful point in the law, re- 
 ligious precepts, or customs. The cup we drink called 
 the "cup of Elijah," was originally so termed by some 
 religious Israelite, who, finding himself in some doubt in 
 
 * Pessakhim, 109, 2. 
 
 | There were few people of any nation who did not place some 
 degree of faith in charms at the period the Talmud was composed ; 
 the works of most of the ancient writers testify this ; and a con- 
 firmation is to be found even in many passages of the Christian 
 Testament.
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 77 
 
 connection therewith, used that phrase in accordance 
 with the instructions of the Talmud. May it be the will 
 of the Almighty that that precious day may quickly ar- 
 rive, when falsehood shall prevail no more, and truth, in 
 all its transparent lustre, shall be established by the seal 
 of the Creator. 
 
 SIM. I wish to know why drinking wine on the night 
 of the Passover is considered such a religious obligation, 
 that your learned men and preceptors recommend the 
 poorest among you to sell a portion of their apparel, or 
 to hire themselves to others, rather than not be able to 
 procure some. I have already spoken of the surprise 
 which the Spanish author expressed regarding this point. 
 It appears, after all, that the custom of drinking wine 
 was introduced after the destruction of the second Tem- 
 ple, which was subsequent to the death of our Messiah : 
 this, then, does afford some ground for suspicion that 
 the Israelites make use of blood. 
 
 MAI. I am astonished to hear such words from thy 
 mouth. Dost thou, the Patriarch of all the Greek Chris- 
 tians, forget that your Messiah drank wine on the night 
 of the Passover ? Is not one of the most important 
 observances of your church based upon what he said 
 when drinking wine on the Passover night ? " This 
 wine is my blood," &c. This clearly proves that the 
 drinking of wine was in existence then ; and perhaps it 
 was also in the time of the prophets. 
 
 SIM. Thou art right, brother Maimoon. The various 
 ideas with which my mind is crowded have caused me to 
 propose arguments against myself. However, I am not 
 yet satisfied : tell me why that custom has ever been held
 
 78 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 in such regard as even to claim the particular attention 
 of our Messiah? None of the Israelites of the best 
 educated are better acquainted with the origin of an- 
 cient precepts than thyself. 
 
 MAI. I have already stated, that the purport of our 
 ceremonies on the Passover night is to give us an air of 
 liberty and gladness, as it is a precept of our holy law 
 to rejoice on holidays, and especially at the Passover, 
 that having been instituted to commemorate the com- 
 mencement of the happiness of our nation and its re- 
 demption from bondage ; and as no real pleasure is to 
 be obtained except in society, and as rejoicing is best 
 promoted by drinking wine (as the royal psalmist said, 
 " The wine rejoices the heart," Ps. civ.), drinking wine 
 was introduced into the ceremonies of this festival as 
 essential for the due observance of the whole of them. 
 There might, indeed, have been another reason for its 
 introduction, in addition to that. Thou art aware that 
 Moses our lawgiver taught the Israelites that it was the 
 Divine pleasure that they should not follow the example 
 of the Egyptians in respect to their idolatrous practices, 
 which, from their long residence in Egypt, they might 
 be inclined to do ;* the prophets, scribes, and adminis- 
 trators of the law, that succeeded Moses, inculcated the 
 same doctrine ; and the consequence would be, that, on 
 so particular an occasion as the Passover, the people would 
 drink wine, as such a custom would be diametrically 
 opposed to the customs of the Egyptians; who abstained 
 from the drinking of wine of any sort, because they believed 
 
 * Maimonides, in his Doctor Perplexorum.
 
 THIRD CONVERSATION. 79 
 
 that the idol Typhon (the Balzefon of the Bible) had 
 changed the blood of their ancestors into wine : * that 
 such was their belief is stated in the history of the ancient 
 Egyptians, and in the Egyptian mythology. 
 
 SIM. Thou art right. The tale about the idol Typhon 
 was merely an invention of the Egyptian priests, to deter 
 the people from drinking such an expensive beverage, 
 for wine must have been scarce in Egypt, as it contains 
 no vineyards, except in the vicinity of Alexandria and 
 Fayoom, and as a common law prohibiting the consump- 
 tion of wine would not have been greatly respected. I 
 am, however, greatly astonished to find in the Bible that 
 the king of Egypt, during the time that Joseph was with 
 him, had a chief butler whose office consisted in present- 
 ing wine to his majesty ! 
 
 MAI. The history of the ancient Egyptians states that 
 wine was permitted to the kings and nobility ; it was not, 
 however, real wine that they used, but the juice of 
 pressed grapes, which had not undergone the process of 
 fermentation, and which is called in Hebrew Tirosh : 
 this is exemplified in the relation of his dream by the 
 chief butler : " And I took the grapes and pressed them 
 into Pharaoh's cup;" (Genesis, xl. 11). Wine was very 
 scarce in Egypt, but there was a great abundance of it 
 in the Holy Land at that period; and even at this day, 
 although the country has greatly suffered from invasions 
 and internal wars, and the cultivation of the vine has been 
 little attended to since the Mohamedans acquired pos- 
 session of it, a great quantity of wine is produced here. 
 
 * Bet Hauzar, vol. ii.
 
 80 THIRD CONVERSATION. 
 
 Our ancestors who dwelt in the Holy Land were in the 
 habit of drinking wine at every meal, on account of its 
 cheapness ; and for this reason the poorest among them 
 were commanded to drink wine on the night of the Pas- 
 sover; otherwise, I feel convinced that the learned, and 
 the commentators on the law, would not have enforced 
 the drinking of wine as a duty. In testimony of my last 
 assertion, I may state that in those countries where wine 
 is not grown, or is very expensive, our learned men have 
 recommended their brethren to drink a liquor made 
 from dates or honey, instead of juice of grapes; and that 
 in Poland, even at this day, there are many Jewish fa- 
 milies who do drink a liquor made from honey on the 
 night of the Passover. 
 
 END OF THE THIRD CONVERSATION.
 
 81 
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIMMIAS. Now let me hear what further evidence thou 
 hast to bring forward from historical and other sources; 
 for thou knowest that what I wish for is to see the inno- 
 cence of thy people established. 
 
 MAIMOON. It is well known to most people conversant 
 with history, that after the death of Christ, many Israelites 
 were forced from their native region to Rome, and were 
 obliged to reside either there or in various countries un- 
 der the Roman sway ; and that the descendants of these 
 people, for many generations, were forced to live in that 
 state of exile. At certain periods, these Israelites re- 
 ceived certain marks of distinction and respect from the 
 Roman emperors, and even had titles and situations of 
 honour conferred upon them; reference to which inci- 
 dents may be found in the book, Tt&da Beisrael, p. 118. 
 
 SIM. That is true; and the same is related in the. 
 Codex Theodosianus. 
 
 MAI. Some of these Israelites served as generals in 
 the Roman armies, so says the authority I have now 
 quoted, Ttuda Beisrael, in page 133. 
 
 SIM. Yes ; and such officers distinguished themselves 
 by their bravery; on account of which they received 
 applause from Julius Caesar, who gave the Israelites the 
 credit of causing the conquest of Mithradates. 
 
 MAI. But that occurred before thy religion was 
 
 M
 
 82 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 established ; and therefore it does not apply to what we 
 are debating. 
 
 SIM. Thou art fight; but there were Israelites serving 
 in the Roman armies in the fourth century, until the 
 time of Honorius. 
 
 MAI. That is true. The Israelites (for example, 
 Gamliel the Nassi) were generally distinguished after 
 the death of Christ.* It was the aim of some of the 
 Roman emperors to degrade the Christians, which is 
 instanced by what Nero and others like him inflicted on 
 them. During the reign of Trajan, before Ben Kooziba, 
 or Bar Cocaba, revolted against him, the Israelites were 
 regarded with so much respect by the emperor, that he 
 once formed a design of rebuilding the Temple for 
 them ; but at the same time he sanctioned a persecution 
 of the Christians. The Emperor Julian also, three hun- 
 dred and sixty years after the death of Christ, shewed 
 them much respect, which is evident in a letter which he 
 addressed to them, in which he promised to rebuild their 
 Temple at Jerusalem, and to offer sacrifices there to the 
 God of their forefathers, t And Queen Zenobia held 
 them in great respect. 
 
 SIM. That queen entertained Jewish principles. 
 
 MAI. Now, surely it would have been easy in those 
 days for an Israelite to shed Christian blood, if he had 
 wanted such for the Passover ; yet history contains no 
 trace whatever of their having been suspected of doing 
 anything of the kind at that era: there is none even in 
 the history of the Christian Church, which records all 
 the evils which the Christians suffered from other nations 
 
 * Tevda Be'israel, p. 118. f Jul. Epist. Comm. Judae.
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 83 
 
 and by other means. It is hardly worth while to men- 
 tion the great esteem testified for the Israelites by 
 Yoosef, the Arab king, who lived in the fifth century, 
 about seventy years previous to the time of Mohamed ; 
 so strongly attached was he to Jewish principles, that he 
 persecuted many within his dominions who would not be 
 converted to Judaism.* 
 
 SIM. Assad-abu-Carb,f another king of the Arabs, did 
 the same. 
 
 MAI. But he lived about seven hundred years before 
 the era of Mohamed; therefore you should not make 
 any reference to him. 
 
 SIM. It is probable that the precept requiring blood 
 to be used at the Passover service was issued in the 
 fourth century, after the crucifixion of Christ, about the 
 time when the Babylonian Talmud was composed; as I 
 before stated, I am of opinion that it came from the 
 writers of the Talmud. 
 
 MAI. But I again assert, that there is no history which 
 contains any allusion to any thing of the kind having 
 been heard of, or suspected at that date. There were 
 Jewish kings in the eighth century established near the 
 river Wolga; and the Jews were held in high esteem 
 by the caliphs, and filled high offices under them as 
 ministers and generals. J But at the same period the 
 Christians were held in abhorrence, and were degraded 
 in every possible way. This dreadful accusation was 
 
 * Mcmoires de Litterature tires des Registres de V Academic Royale 
 des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. Vol. xlviii. p. 485. 
 
 f Karamzin, Geschichle des Russischen Reiches. Vol. ii. p. 34, 35. 
 Da Guigne's Hist, des Huns. Vol. ii. p. 2, 507, 509. 
 
 J Teudu Bc'isruel, pp. 47, 48.
 
 84 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 only heard of for the first time about six hundred years 
 ago, when the Christians had become powerful in Spain 
 and Portugal, and other parts of Europe. The Chris- 
 tians in the southern parts of Europe had long contests 
 with the Arabs and Moors, and they felt embittered 
 against the Israelites because a great many of the 
 ministers and generals of the Arab monarchs were 
 selected from them, and because they spoke the Arab 
 language, and mixed with the Arabs in other matters. 
 Both Arabs and Jews were renowned for their learning 
 in those days; and the ideas of both respecting the 
 unity of the Almighty were so nearly the same, that 
 what displeased the Christians in the Arab faith, also 
 excited their displeasure against that of the Jews ; and 
 this, combined with other circumstances, provoked the 
 Christians to persecute the Jews in the southern parts 
 of Europe, when the Arabs had been expelled, and the 
 Jews had no longer any protectors. In addition to 
 the preceding, the popes of that period, for the purpose 
 of strengthening the Roman Catholic Church, strenu- 
 ously endeavoured to keep up the excitement in the 
 minds of Christians against the Arabs and Jews ; and in 
 obedience to their wishes, King Ferdinand the First, 
 who had the cognomen of "the Catholic," banished 
 800,000 Arab and Jewish families, and forced the ma- 
 jority of those who remained in his dominions to change 
 their religion ; and King Emanuel alone forced 300,000 
 Jews to become converts to Christianity.* 
 
 SIM. It is indeed surprising that no history, either 
 
 * Gedcsius, Hist.
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 85 
 
 sacred or profane, nor even any historical book pertain- 
 ing to the Christian Church, gives the slightest account 
 of that accusation having existed previously to this 
 period. From what thou sayest, I understand that thou 
 art not aware of any work treating of the persecutions 
 which the Jews suffered in the space of time intervening 
 between the destruction of the second Temple and the 
 expulsion of the Arabs or Moors from Spain, that makes 
 any allusion to such a charge. However, after the 
 Spaniards had raised the accusation, it was very ex- 
 tensively circulated ; and, as thou dost admit, the suffer- 
 ings of thy people then, have formed an important theme 
 for subsequent historians. 
 
 MAI. The accusation was first raised in Spain and 
 Portugal, from whence, especially after the introduction 
 of the Inquisition into Spain in the year 1430, it spread 
 rapidly all over Europe. The people of that period, both 
 high and low, were very fanatical and disgustingly igno- 
 rant ; and, with the examples with which history furnishes 
 us of their being led away from common sense in other 
 matters, we may readily suppose that such a diabolical 
 rumour concerning a race of men whose motives they 
 could neither appreciate nor understand, would soon ob- 
 tain credit from them. For instance, how many horrible 
 tales of ghosts and apparitions have emanated from the 
 vulgar in all ages, and especially in that age ? but does 
 any intelligent person of the present day believe that any 
 of them has the slightest foundation in truth ? and in the 
 same manner that superstitious people persuaded them- 
 selves that such things were real, the senses of some 
 might have been so confused as to make them believe
 
 86 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 that they had actually witnessed circumstances that cor- 
 roborated the foul charge against the Israelites. At one 
 time the government of France were so sensible of the 
 absurdity and pernicious tendency of the belief in ghosts, 
 that they issued a decree in Paris to the effect, that if 
 any person should say that he had seen a ghost, or that 
 his house was troubled with one, he should be punished 
 by imprisonment. This decree has been so efficacious in 
 its results, that no ghost has been seen since ; and a per- 
 son may now walk at midnight wherever he pleases with- 
 out encountering one, although, before the passing of the 
 decree, there was scarcely a place in Paris that was not 
 reputed to be the abode of ghosts. It is even thus with 
 the accusation against the Israelites; in those places 
 where the people are enlightened in a superior degree 
 and will not believe it, it is now never mentioned ; but 
 in those countries where the judges have understandings 
 of an inferior order, and are prone to listen to strange 
 tales, rumours and accusations of that description are 
 made incessantly. In such places, if a Christian should 
 feel offended with an Israelite, or with his religion, if he 
 be a fanatic in his own, he will think to acquire credit by 
 accusing the Israelite of the oft-named horrible crime. 
 If through ignorance he really believed that the Israelites 
 do such things, he might do it to preserve his own child, 
 thinking that the child might fall a sacrifice to the par- 
 ticular Israelite against whom he was proceeding ; and in 
 that case he would be acting in accordance with the prin- 
 ciple recognized by all nations, " That a man may 
 protect himself by doing to another what that other 
 meditates doing to him." And where the body of a
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 87 
 
 murdered Christian has been found on the highway with- 
 out any conclusive evidence being obtainable to indicate 
 the murderers, the suspicion against the Israelites may 
 ' sometimes be strong on account of the previous antipathy 
 entertained against them. It occasionally happens that 
 a prostitute murders her new-born offspring, and throws 
 it into a road, or other place where it is sure to be dis- 
 covered ; then, if the populace are ignorant and preju- 
 diced, the murder is attributed to the Jews. A Chris- 
 tian may accidentally fall from the roof of a Jew's house, 
 or from insanity or despair may commit suicide ; and if 
 the cause of his death be not clearly apparent, the igno- 
 rant and prejudiced populace immediately raise a cry 
 that his life has been taken by Jews for the purpose of 
 obtaining Christian blood. 
 
 SIM. And pray is it impossible that an Israelite should 
 murder a Christian ? And is it not as easy for an Israel- 
 ite to accuse a Christian of murder from malicious jea- 
 lousy, as for a Christian to accuse an Israelite ? 
 
 MAI. True. An Israelite may kill a Christian, as 
 well as a Christian may kill an Israelite; but in the 
 latter case would it be supposed that the motive of the 
 Christian was to procure human blood ? Thou art right 
 also when thou sayest that it is possible for an Israelite 
 to invent, from malicious motives, a false charge against 
 a Christian ; but no Israelite would be actuated to do 
 so from any antipathy to any particular ceremony, real 
 or supposed, belonging to the Christian religion, because 
 no Israelite believes that Christians would eat the blood 
 of one of his race. Whenever it happens, therefore, 
 that an Israelite accuses a Christian of having killed an
 
 88 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 Israelite, the accused is brought before a judge, and, if 
 the nature of the evidence against him be not positive, 
 enquiry is then made as to whether it was known that 
 the Christian could have any motive for perpetrating 
 such an act; if it then appear that the murdered indivi- 
 dual was a beggar, or very poor, it is not supposed that 
 the Christian murdered him for the sake of his property, 
 and no other reason is thought of except animosity : and 
 if he was a child, it is not supposed that the Christian 
 took away his life through envy, and in that case no 
 other reason is thought of. But when an Israelite is 
 accused of having murdered a Christian, he is not treated 
 so impartially; the judge does not enquire whether the 
 victim was poor, old, or young, or whether he was known 
 to have had cause for animosity to the victim; it is said 
 directly by many that the Israelite committed the murder 
 to obtain Christian blood; and as the judge seldom takes 
 any pains to confute such an opinion, the consequences 
 to our people in the countries where we are so dealt with, 
 are to us of the most calamitous description. 
 
 SIM. How are they calamitous? 
 
 MAI. The populace are thus encouraged to seqk the 
 destruction of us all. But we hope, with the assistance 
 of the Almighty, that those amongst thy people whose 
 understanding is enlightened, and whose judgment is 
 not corrupted, will ere long be fully awake to the injus- 
 tice that is now done us, and that the governments may 
 endeavour to apply some remedy. There is reason to 
 fear, however, that no remedy which the goverments and 
 the most intelligent portion of society can devise \vill 
 ever, at any rate, for a very long term of years heal
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 89 
 
 the dissensions between the Israelites and the Christians 
 to which this accusation has given rise. The prejudice 
 has existed in the minds of the vulgar for so many ages, 
 that it will take many more ages to thoroughly root it 
 out; and though the Israelites have hitherto shewn much 
 forbearance towards the Christians under all their ill 
 usage, it is not in human nature that they can always do 
 so. If these persecutions continue, who can tell what 
 things they may be driven to contrive against the Chris- 
 tians? for despair will make the most inoffensive and 
 tranquil-minded man fierce and revengeful. At the 
 best, the two nations are sure to live in a state of mutual 
 apprehension and dislike, and thus, living as they do, 
 intermixed with each other, the principles of friendliness 
 and humanity, which ought to predominate in the bosoms 
 of all people, will be gradually weakened, till, so far as 
 the two nations are relatively concerned, they do not 
 exist at all. So, if a Jew should, in the course of a 
 journey, meet with a Christian whose life, from some 
 casualty, might be in imminent danger, he will be afraid 
 to go near him to render him any assistance, being ap- 
 prehensive that if the man should afterwards die, his 
 motives for touching him might be wholly misconstrued. 
 These things are self-evident. 
 
 SIM. How dost thou make that out ? 
 
 MAI. I will explain myself more at large. As thou 
 art aware, the accusation respecting the use of blood has 
 not been agitated for fifty or sixty years, till within a short 
 time ago ; during that period the Hebrews applied them- 
 selves, as in ancient days, to the study of various foreign 
 languages, from which they derived much honour, as
 
 90 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 well as pecuniary profit : they became familiar with many 
 European languages, so that they could write as well as 
 speak them correctly ; and they also acquired a perfect 
 knowledge of other very useful sciences, such as medi- 
 cine and chemistry. How different was this state of 
 things from that which prevailed while the minds of men x 
 were rife with suspicion against them in respect to the 
 appalling accusation. They were afraid to study other 
 languages then ; they were afraid to have any more inter- 
 course with Christians than what it was absolutely neces- 
 sary they should have ; the minister of each congregation 
 discouraged any of his charge from learning other lan- 
 guages, for fear that any student, after having become 
 proficient in the dialect of another people, should, for 
 the sake of practising his acquirements with more worldly 
 benefit to himself, become an apostate, and calumniate 
 his former brethren, as converts from Judaism have done, 
 though not from a sincere attachment to the Christian 
 religion : besides, with the utmost perseverance in study- 
 ing any science, the Israelite, distrusted as he was on 
 all sides, could not achieve any honourable distinction 
 for himself: so the Israelite, knowing little of any lan- 
 guage but his own, and reading but few books besides 
 what his own people furnished him with, began to think 
 the literature of other nations contained but little that 
 was worth knowing ; and by this many Christians were led 
 to imagine that the Israelite was a fixed enemy to them, 
 and that his abstaining from acquiring any familiarity 
 with their ways was on account of his fearing to defile 
 himself by any closer connection with them. 
 
 It is a fact that, in most parts of the world where 
 there are any Israelites settled, they speak, even amongst
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 91 
 
 themselves, the language of the country; but it is ex- 
 traordinary that in Poland there is not more than one 
 in a thousand that speaks Polish well ; and those who 
 can write and read in that language are very few indeed.* 
 There is nothing which has greater influence in creating 
 an attachment to any country than a perfect knowledge 
 of its language ; it is by means of such a knowledge that 
 perfect friendships with any of its natives are created; as 
 it immediately throws open all the avenues to social in- 
 tercourse. Ignorance of the language is mentioned in the 
 Scriptures as being one of the curses pronounced against 
 those who shall not adhere to the law : " The Lord shall 
 bring a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand ;" 
 (Deut. xxviii. 49). We know that a person who takes 
 up his abode in a strange country will not rest satisfied 
 till he has acquired a thorough knowlege of its language ; 
 although many of those amongst whom he is living may 
 use a dialect to him which he can fully comprehend, yet 
 he will ever be anxious to speak their language correctly; 
 for by being able to do so he will find favour with the 
 inhabitants generally, and make many of them his par- 
 ticular friends. When the Israelites were exiled to Ba- 
 bylon, they quickly learnt the Aramaic language, and 
 used it so much, that in time they almost forgot the He- 
 brew; and again, when Alexander the Macedonian gained 
 possession of the Holy Land, they commenced learning 
 the Greek language, and particularly in Egypt, where 
 the Holy Law was written in Greek.f After the des- 
 truction of the second temple, when the majority of the 
 
 * See the work of Teuda Bcisrael, p. 40, for a confirmation of this. 
 f Tetida Bi- tsrael, p. 37.
 
 92 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 people had settled in Babylon, they, as well as the head 
 of the synod, spoke Aramaic ; and when the Arabs held 
 sway over that region, they adopted the Arabic mode of 
 speech, and wrote their books in Arabic. 
 
 And so, wherever the course of events compelled 
 Israelites to reside, they invariably adopted the language 
 most commonly used, until they arrived in Poland. It 
 was about the year of the creation 4856, that Poland 
 became the abode of any Israelites. At first they were 
 much respected by the Polish people, a proof of which 
 is furnished by the many privileges which were conferred 
 upon them by the kings of Poland, who shewed them 
 more favour than they did their Christian subjects. 
 The learned Czacki says that at that period they lived 
 in perfect amity with the Polish Christians, and said 
 some of their prayers in the Polish language ; which 
 account is confirmed by those of many of our ancestors. 
 But when the Christians in Poland began to look upon 
 them with jealousy, which they were induced to do 
 through the superior estimation in which the Polish 
 rulers and governors held them, and began to accuse 
 them, as other nations had done, of using Christian 
 blood, the Israelites became shy to their Christian 
 acquaintances, resumed the language they had been 
 accustomed to use in Germany, where their books were 
 usually printed and where some of them were trans- 
 lated into the German tongue* and seldom spoke the 
 common dialect of the country, except when they were 
 compelled to do so. 
 
 * Sec Tiudu Be'isrtiel, p. 35.
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 93 
 
 SIM. Gratian (in Vita Commendoni) states that the 
 Israelites enjoyed great privileges in the Ukraine during 
 the sixteenth century, and that they were remarkable 
 for their mental acquirements at that time. 
 
 MAI. The learned Schlozer confirms that in the fol- 
 following words : " In Christian countries where the 
 Israelites, during the middle ages, were allowed to en- 
 gage in commercial business, they were most cruelly 
 treated, except in the Ukraine, where, during the six- 
 teenth century, they enjoyed every privilege, and lived 
 in peace and prosperity.* 
 
 SIM. It is true that the Christians of that era behaved 
 very harshly to the Jews. 
 
 MAI. All righteous Christians of this day are unani- 
 mous in their testimony on this subject. Now, therefore, 
 was it strange that such wicked accusations should have 
 been made against my people ? 
 
 SIM. I recollect having read in some historical book, 
 that the Israelites were once charged in France with 
 having murdered a Christian, and that an order was 
 given by the official authorities that the offenders should 
 ^be put into barrels, through which nails were driven, so 
 that the points converged in the inside ; by which means, 
 when the barrels were rolled along the ground, the 
 unfortunate creatures perished in a most excruciating 
 manner. 
 
 MAI. Oh ! those judges ! their anger was like unto 
 that of a rabid serpent. 
 
 SIM. This mode of punishment was similar to that 
 
 * A. L Schlozcr's Wellgeschichte : Guttingen, 1792, vol. i. p. 203.
 
 94 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 which the Carthagenians inflicted on Regulus ; so Rollin 
 relates, in his history of the Carthagenians. 
 
 MAI. The cause from which Regulus suffered was 
 greatly similar to that which influenced the fate of those 
 unfortunate Israelites ; he was so put to death because 
 he faithfully kept the oath he had taken ; and the fore- 
 fathers of the Israelites took an oath before Mount 
 Sinai, which their descendants are bound to observe, 
 and by the observance of which, they draw upon them 
 all this ill-treatment. It is probable that those French 
 judges took example from the Carthagenians ; or from 
 the manner in which Heathen tyrants, such as Nero, had 
 put Christian saints to death. 
 
 SIM. The tyrant Nero set fire to the capital city of 
 his own dominions, and then ascended to the top of a 
 high tower to view the conflagration, which lasted six 
 days. 
 
 MAI. To avert suspicion from himself, he accused the 
 Christians in Rome of being the incendiaries ; and that 
 he might appear in earnest, he caused some Christians to 
 be stuck on the pinnacles of pointed pillars, some to be 
 flayed alive, and others to be burnt. It was by Nero's 
 command that the two first apostles of Jesus Christ were 
 murdered ; Peter was hanged, and Paul was decapitated. 
 
 SIM. Another of that monster's cold-blooded atrocities, 
 was his causing his servants, one evening, to bind 
 several Christians, in a state of nudity, to pillars in his 
 garden, and to cover their bodies with pitch ; which, on 
 being fired, made them utter screams of agony, which he 
 listened to with delight while pacing to and fro in the 
 garden.
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 95 
 
 MAI. Though such were the practices of idolatrous 
 nations, whose enjoyments and passions resembled those 
 of the brute creation, rather than those with which the 
 Almighty endowed man, yet such people as believe in the 
 Lord of Heaven and Earth, and in the doctrine of future 
 rewards and punishments, have not entirely abstained 
 from the same ; the Christians, whose lawgiver denounced 
 all revengeful actions in the most positive terms, have 
 persecuted the Israelites with as much bitterness as any 
 Heathen tyrant ever testified to his most inveterate 
 enemy. Doubtless the Christians, when they had be- 
 come powerful in the world, remembered with anger the 
 treatment which the early members of their religion had 
 received from the Romans and other Heathens, and 
 wished to avenge their fate ; but, as there was no Heathen 
 nation against whom they could proceed, the Romans 
 and others having been gradually converted to Christi- 
 anity, their wrathful feelings burst forth upon the Jews ; 
 and thus they reasoned with themselves : u Those who 
 persecuted our predecessors denied Christ ; let us, there- 
 fore, punish all who deny Christ at the present time." 
 Friend Simmias, didst thou ever hear of a more insidious 
 argument ? it reminds me of a passage in the Talmud : 
 " Tobias sinned, and Sanged was beaten." 
 
 SIM. It reminds me of an anecdote related by some 
 of our ancestors : In the small town of Kilikef, near 
 Lemberg, in the province of Wolin, in Poland, it hap- 
 pened that a Christian shoemaker was accused of murder; 
 he was arrested, tried, found guilty, and had sentence of 
 death passed on him ; but afterwards, as he was the only 
 shoemaker in the town, the judges ordered an innocent
 
 96 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 locksmith to be executed in his stead, because he could 
 be better spared than the shoemaker, there being more 
 than one locksmith in the town. 
 
 MAI. The comparison is apposite, and the anecdote 
 curious. It also reminds me of a fact mentioned by the 
 learned Salomon Maimoon.* There was in his time a 
 nobleman (P. * * *), who, one day while the congrega- 
 tion were at prayer, entered his church in a state of in- 
 toxication, and, on approaching the altar, conducted 
 himself indecently. A few days afterwards, the minister 
 told him that he had committed a grievous sin, that he 
 had profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, and that he re- 
 quired him to shew his contrition for the offence by mak- 
 ing a large donation for the purpose of buying wax 
 candles to light the church in which it had been com- 
 mitted. The nobleman, without hesitation, promised to 
 furnish the required number of candles; and immedi- 
 ately published an order that all the Israelites that dwelt 
 on his estates should bear the burthen, by supplying him 
 with the candles first; with which order the Israelites 
 were obliged to comply. 
 
 SIM. (laughing). That was, indeed, a curious occur- 
 rence ; the Israelites, who had no belief in Christ, brought 
 an offering out of their own property to obtain forgiveness 
 for one who, though a believer, was a notorious sinner. 
 
 MAI. Salomon Maimoon gives the anecdote as nearly 
 as possible in the words in which I have related it to 
 thee. 
 
 * 
 
 SIM. True. But what shall I say of all those troubles 
 * Sal. Maimoon s Lebensgeschichte : Berlin, 1793. vol. i.
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 97 
 
 and grievances which my brethren have forced upon yours 
 since they went to reside in Europe the persecutions 
 and compulsions to conversion in Spain, France, Ger- 
 many, and Poland? 
 
 MAI. We have it on the authority of the book Ttuda 
 Beisrael) that the Russian government has never op- 
 pressed them. 
 
 SIM. I have certainly heard much said relating to the 
 cruelties practised on the Jews in Christian countries, 
 but I have generally hesitated to give credit to what I 
 have heard, for vulgar rumour is a common liar. 
 
 MAI. To what dost thou now allude ? 
 
 SIM. I have heard that a famous painter in Italy, 
 wishing to paint a picture of the death of Christ, suc- 
 ceeded in causing a Jew to be crucified, who, in the 
 agonies of death, furnished the artist with such ideas, as 
 enabled him to make his picture the nearest semblance 
 of reality : the name of the painter I have now forgotten. 
 
 MAI. That was a fact, I believe ; and the picture is 
 now to be seen in the picture gallery of Dresden in 
 Saxony. In company with several others, I once went 
 to look at it ; and the incident attending its production 
 was then corroborated by all present; the painter's name 
 was Michael Angelo, and he was almost as celebrated as 
 Raphael.* 
 
 SIM. I now recollect that that was his name : he was 
 a contemporary of Raphael's ; they were both alive in. 
 the year 1520: however, I never believed the story. 
 
 * Maimoon gives this account of the incident as he heard it at 
 Dresden, but, apparently, does not vouch for its authenticity. 
 TRANSLATOR.
 
 98 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAI I have not been able to give implicit credit to it 
 myself; but, surely, we well know that the Christians 
 practised greater barbarities than this upon the Jews. 
 
 SIM. The Jews were very unjustly treated by the 
 European monarchs of the middle ages, putting mercy 
 out of the question ; for it was frequently the case that 
 they invited Jews to settle in their dominions, knowing 
 that they always proved a serviceable acquisition to a 
 country in respect to their indefatigable commercial 
 spirit ; and then they made solemn promises of protec- 
 tion to them, which, to their great dishonour, were not 
 kept after their own ends had been accomplished ; they 
 were tender of them for a while ; but at length they were 
 sure to sanction a persecution of them, that they might 
 confiscate their property. 
 
 MAI. It is usual at the present time, when a new 
 town is built near to the sea-coast, for the government of 
 the country to entice Jews to settle there by offering cer- 
 tain privileges to them ; because, as thou sayest, they are 
 known to be expert in mercantile transactions. They 
 extend their dealings to the remotest parts of the world ; 
 and it is no extravagant figure of speech to say that they 
 are capable of converting a desolate waste into a thriving 
 city. But when, alas ! their exertions have continued so 
 long as to give an air of prosperity to any place, other 
 merchants, of a different religion, feel tempted to settle in 
 it; and these are sure to be patronised in a greater de- 
 gree by the rulers of the country, they being of the same 
 religion, and having obtained all that they wanted from 
 the Jews. The Jews are then gradually forced by vexa- 
 tious enactments to remove from the principal streets
 
 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 99 
 
 previously occupied by them to the back lanes and 
 meaner thoroughfares of the town ; and from those they 
 are frequently thrust out of the town altogether. This 
 is the way in which they have been repeatedly used in 
 Poland, Lithuania, Galizia, Hungary, and Bohemia. 
 Brother Simmias, this reminds me of the practice of 
 the women in some countries, who, previously to putting 
 an infant to the breast, place a little dog to it to draw off 
 the unwholesome milk ; after which the child is put to 
 suck the good milk, and the dog is thrown into the 
 kennel. 
 
 SIM. But I am astonished at the short-sightedness of 
 kings and their ministers who sanction such an unjust 
 requital of the industrious Jews, knowing, as they do, 
 how much benefit they have derived from them, and 
 may still derive. 
 
 MAI. Kings and ministers are perfectly aware of the 
 good resulting to their realms from the abode of Jews in 
 them, and they have testified, as I have already repeat- 
 edly stated, their approbation of their conduct by be- 
 stowing on them many privileges and dignities ; but, in 
 the periods to which we most particularly refer, kings 
 and their ministers could not always withstand the cla- 
 mour of their Christian subjects, who formed the majo- 
 rity. The Christians generally were not possessed of 
 much money ; they were chiefly engaged in agriculture, 
 and pastoral pursuits, and had little knowlege of com- 
 merce, by which means fortunes are the soonest made ; 
 they were therefore jealous of the Jews ; and both the 
 vulgar and the middle classes, assisted by their priest- 
 hood, combined to undermine their credit with the go-
 
 100 FOURTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 vernments, and urged upon the governors and ministers 
 that they ought not to patronise such persons, however 
 they might feel benefited in pecuniary matters thereby, 
 for it was contrary to the Christian religion to do so; 
 and when, by their endeavours, the Jews were abased, 
 they would exclaim, in tones of piety, " See how these 
 people are punished by the Almighty ! it is a sin to 
 shew any compassion to them, for who shall dare to speak 
 against the Almighty's judgment!" utterly forgetting 
 that the Lord has said, " I dwell with the humble and 
 oppressed." The conduct of the priests and the popu- 
 lace in those ages may be compared with the following 
 case : A certain rich and powerful man quarrelled with 
 a poor man that lived in the same city ; and whilst they 
 were disputing, the rich man said to his opponent, "Hold 
 thy peace, be not impertinent; for if thou dost utter 
 aught more against me, the Almighty will shew his re- 
 gard for me by visiting thee with a sore affliction ; " but 
 the rich man did not become silent, for he continued to 
 scold and revile the other with irritating expressions, 
 which he could not hear without giving one more reply ; 
 upon which the rich man immediately struck him and 
 beat him severely. The poor man fell ill in consequence 
 of the blows; and being nigh unto death, his friends 
 went to his enemy, the rich man, and made him ac- 
 quainted with his dangerous condition, who immediately 
 replied, "I see that the Amighty has been my avenger; 
 his affliction is of the Lord ! as I said to him, so it has 
 happened; why, therefore, do ye stand before me and 
 lament?" 
 
 END OF THE FOURTH CONVERSATION.
 
 101 
 
 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIMMIAS. Brother Maimoon, I understand that thou 
 hast further evidence to bring forward to rebut this fear- 
 ful accusation. 
 
 MAIMOON. Of all the people that have shewn animo- 
 sity to the Israelites, there are none who are more bitter 
 against them than the Caraites, who, previously to the year 
 of the creation 45 1 9, were as a portion of the Israelitish 
 nation, and who, by the interference of Saul and Anan, 
 separated from the Israelites in that year; and if there 
 were anything in our religious observances improper, they 
 would be sure to denounce it to the world ; yet they have 
 never made any accusation of the kind, and I am con- 
 vinced that they could not but give evidence in our 
 favour, so far as that may be concerned. The testimony 
 of the Caraites must be important, for they are highly 
 esteemed amongst Christians, and Christian monarchs 
 have conferred many favours on them, designating them 
 " true Christians." As I have already observed, if there 
 be any among the Christians who are thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, and 
 with Hebrew literature, such, for instance, as Professor 
 Eichhorn, Dr. Lud. Wachler, and Professor Gesenius, 
 let them come forward and say whether they have ever 
 discovered sufficient reason for so accusing my people. 
 
 SIM. Might not your doctors of laws, and others who
 
 102 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 presided over your literature, have been afraid to commit 
 any thing ^connected with the accusation to parchment or 
 paper ? 
 
 MAI. Our literary men have never flinched from pub- 
 lishing controversial books inimical to the Christian 
 faith ; there may some of that description still be seen in 
 public libraries, and in which the opinions of theologians 
 are freely expressed ; and there are, likewise, many an- 
 cient manuscripts still in existence, the work of Israelitish 
 authors, in which the Christian faith is largely com- 
 mented on ; and as many of these were written by per- 
 sons who were under the safe protection of monarch s 
 who had no sympathy with the Christians, why should 
 they have been afraid of making any allusion to the 
 Israelites' using blood, any more than they were of 
 asserting other things extremely distasteful to the Chris- 
 tians? Great numbers of Israelites are now residing in 
 Mohamedan countries, and may write what they please ; 
 to these countries Christian travellers have easy access, 
 and those curious Christians who do explore them are 
 sure to obtain all the manuscripts they possibly can; 
 but none that have ever been found by such have been 
 known to contain the slightest evidence of the Israelites' 
 having such a rite in their Passover service as eating 
 Christian or human blood. And let me ask, if any of 
 the Jews that have become converts to Christianity de- 
 clare that such a one exists ; and there are many who 
 have become converts to Christianity, and who would 
 surely tell the truth, if such were the case. 
 
 SIM. There are still many authors to be cited who have 
 accused the Israelites of practising this disgusting rite,
 
 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 103 
 
 and amongst them Eisenmenger, in his work Entdecktes 
 Judenthum. 
 
 MAI. The works of Eisenmenger, and of others like 
 him, are not good evidence ; for, in what they asserted, 
 they were prompted by feelings of jealousy, Eisenmenger 
 especially.* Some of them imputed such crimes to the 
 Jews to divert the attention of the Inquisition from some 
 of the Christian priests, who, at certain times, were also 
 obnoxious to calumnies of equal enormity. Besides, 
 none of Eisenmenger's works state distinctly that the Is- 
 raelites used human blood. Will any of the numerous 
 talented Christian ministers, professors of sciences, heads 
 of universities, military commanders, and judges and pro- 
 fessors of laws, make a solemn declaration that they 
 believe the Israelites guilty of this crime ? 
 
 SIM. Eisenmenger was certainly one of your greatest 
 enemies. I do not know of any that equalled him, ex- 
 cept John Hoornbeeck, who, in the seventeenth century, 
 
 * The talented Christian professor Michaelis, although no friend 
 to the Israelites, has said in his work Michaelis' Orientalischc 
 Bibliothek, vol. i., p. 320, that no credit should be given to Ei- 
 senmenger ; his words are these : " I consider Eisenmenger's 
 Judenthum shews much learning; but it indicates a deal of spiteful 
 feeling. If any one should write in a similar spirit against either of 
 the three established religions of the Roman empire, he would be 
 termed a blasphemer. What would be thought <5f one who should 
 write a ' Discovered Popedom,' or ' Lutherdom,' and omit men- 
 tioning any of the virtues of the system, but only its reputed vices, 
 contradictions, and the statements of insignificant authors concern- 
 ing it, and empty opinions which have been expressed by some 
 parties in the course of desultory conversation ? It is well known 
 that there is much to be alleged against Catholic people ; but the 
 Catholic religion may not be the sole cause of all their bad actions ; 
 the same remark holds good with us, the Lutherans, and with the 
 Anabaptists."
 
 104 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 published a Latin work, in which all the Israelites' faults 
 were set forth in a most invidious manner. 
 
 MAI. And for all that, Hoornbeeck plainly declared 
 that the imputation of using human blood could not be 
 true ; and the words of that declaration thou mayest read 
 in the work of the celebrated Menashe ben Israel, who 
 copied them.* I will mention to thee what he has said in 
 his Prolegomena, page 26. 
 
 SIM. Do so. 
 
 MAI. The passage is in Latin ; it was translated from 
 the English by Mendelssohn : " An autem vero sit quod 
 vulgo in historiis legatur" &c. " Whether that be true, 
 which is commonly read in histories, to aggravate the 
 Jews' hatred against the Christians, or rather the Chris- 
 tians' against the Jews, that they should annually, upon 
 the preparation of the Passover, after a cruel manner, 
 sacrifice a Christian child, privily stolen, in disgrace and 
 contempt of Christ, whose passion and crucifixion the 
 Christians celebrate, I will not assert for truth : as well 
 knowing how easy it was, in those times wherein these 
 things are mentioned to have happened (especially after 
 the Inquisition was set up in the popedom), to forge 
 and feign ; and how the histories of -those ages, according 
 to the affection of the writers, were too much addicted 
 and given unto fables and figments. Indeed I have 
 never yet seen any of all those relations that hath, by 
 any certain experiment, proved this fact; for they are 
 all founded either upon the uncertain report of the 
 vulgar, or else upon the secret accusations of the monks 
 belonging to the Inquisition ; not to mention the avarice 
 * Vindicae Judaeorum, sect. i. . 12.
 
 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 105 
 
 of the informers, wickedly hankering after the Jews' 
 wealth, and so with ease forging any wickedness. For 
 in the book of the Sicilian Constitutions, tit. 7, we see 
 the Emperor Frederick saying, ' Si vero Judceus vel 
 Saracenus sit, in quibus, prout certo perpendimus, Ckris- 
 tianorum persecutio nimis abundat ad prcesens But if 
 he be a Jew or a Saracen against whom, as we have 
 weighed, the persecution of the Christians doth much 
 abound,' &c. : thus taxing the violence of certain Chris- 
 tians against the Jews. Or if, perhaps, it hath some- 
 times happened, that a Christian hath been killed by a 
 Jew, we must not, therefore, say that in all places where 
 they inhabit, they annually kill a Christian child. And 
 for that which Thomas Cantipratensis (lib. ii., cap. 23) 
 affirms, viz., that it is certainly known that the Jews 
 every year, in every province, cast lots which town or 
 city shall afford Christian blood to the other cities; I 
 can give it no more credit than to the other fictions and 
 lies wherewith he has stuffed his book." 
 
 SIM. According to thy words, it appears that amongst 
 the Jewish proselytes of the present day, there are none 
 who know any thing of their former brethren to con- 
 firm this accusation; but by speaking thus, thou dost 
 seem to cast some imputation on the proselytes of by- 
 gone times. 
 
 MAI. Thou dost rightly understand me. The Jews 
 who became proselytes to Christianity two or three 
 hundred years ago, both the voluntary and forced, were 
 generally of the lowest class ; and 1 recollect that thirty 
 years ago, when I was a boy, all the Jewish proselytes 
 to Christianity in Poland, were either butchers, shoe- 
 
 p
 
 106 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 makers, or dog-killers; and the females domestic ser- 
 vants. There is a curious anecdote extant of Joseph the 
 Second, Emperor of Austria, in connection with the 
 Jewish proselytes. A Jewish damsel, wishing to record 
 her renunciation of her previous religion, was asked by 
 the priest, in the emperor's presence, what motive she 
 had for wishing to become a Christian, and not giving 
 any answer to this question, she not knowing what she 
 should say, the emperor observed to her, " I will answer 
 for thee ; the cause of thy wishing to change thy religion 
 arises from the presence of the Hungarian Hussars that 
 are quartered in this town." 
 
 SIM. One may soon recognise words of the wise Em- 
 peror Joseph ; they correspond with his character. 
 
 MAI. The ministers of the laws in Poland, as well as 
 the priests, were accustomed to have discussions con- 
 cerning religion with these converts ; it was from such 
 that they gained their ideas of Hebrew literature and 
 religious ceremonies ; who, in order to make it appear 
 that they were superior to the common order of their 
 former brethren, affirmed that the practice of using hu- 
 man blood at the Passover was really in existence, but 
 that only the most learned and distinguished amongst 
 the Israelites were initiated into the secret. Occasionally 
 business brought the governor or chief priest of a Polish 
 town in contact with Israelites, and they would take ad- 
 vantage of the opportunity to enter into theological de- 
 bates with them; but they were mostly of the mean 
 order just alluded to; and, judging of the Israelites at 
 large from what they gleaned from them, they judged 
 wrongly, saying, " Such is written in the Israelites' books,
 
 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 107 
 
 and such are their religious ceremonies." It was very 
 seldom that they could have any conversation with the 
 learned members of the congregations, because they 
 understood only the Hebrew language. The ways in which 
 converts were obtained from the lower classes of the Jews 
 were numerous. Some abjured the faith of their fore- 
 fathers for worldly gain ; some, having transgressed certain 
 enactments of the law, were afraid of the punishment of 
 the Cuna,* which the congregation would have inflicted on 
 them, and therefore abjured their faith; and others abjured 
 it out of spite to their parents or family connexions, who 
 might have given them offence, knowing that a family 
 which had one of its members converted was considered 
 degraded by the others, and that no one would afterwards 
 marry into that family : by this means many profligate 
 sons extorted a deal of money from their parents, who, to 
 avoid the disgrace, acceded to their unreasonable desires. 
 At the present day, however, every Israelite may do as 
 he pleases ; and if a respectable family think proper to 
 abjure their faith, there is not that dread of disgrace 
 which all their connexions would formerly have felt ; and 
 if one does anything contrary to the law, he is not ex- 
 posed to any punishment or marked reproaches from his 
 brethren ; consequently, those who become converts to 
 Christianity at the present day are not exclusively of 
 the lower classes, but are oftentimes persons of great lite- 
 rary acquirements, and possessed of great wealth, who, 
 
 * On the outer wall of some of the synagogues in Poland a chain 
 is fixed, at the end of which is a ring, which opening, is put round 
 the neck of a Jew who has transgressed certain points of the law. 
 This chain and ring are called the " Cuna."
 
 108 FIFTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 finding that on account of their creed, they are under 
 restrictions that prevent them from employing their 
 talents or money to a good advantage, and being perhaps 
 of a mercenary disposition, determine to become Chris- 
 tians ; by which means all their disabilities are at once 
 removed, and they are placed upon a footing with the 
 most favoured. For these reasons,, brother Simmias, 
 thou wilt not find amongst the converts of these times 
 many stupid and ignorant persons, but such as will not 
 incline to propagate falsehoods against their brethren, 
 though they have forsaken them, and will therefore fur- 
 nish no evidence to show that there can be any truth in 
 the accusation against the Israelites of using human 
 blood. 
 
 END OF THE FIFTH CONVERSATION.
 
 109 
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIMMIAS. Thou hast told me that, by the force of 
 reasoning, independently of positive evidence, thou 
 couldest convince me that this dreadful accusation origi- 
 nated in malice. 
 
 MAIMOON. Among all the Israelites who reside amongst 
 nations other than Christian Mohamedan, Hindoo, 
 Chinese, and idolatrous African was it ever known 
 that an Israelite was accused of killing a child for the 
 Passover ? 
 
 SIM. (abruptly). No ; because ye are accused of using 
 Christian blood especially. 
 
 MAI. Pardon me, my friend; thou dost not under- 
 stand me ; if thou wilt permit me, I will briefly explain. 
 
 SIM. Excuse my interruption, I pray ; proceed, for 
 thy friend listens. 
 
 MAI. Would it not have been easy for any body of 
 Israelites in any of the above-mentioned countries to 
 have murdered some Christian, also resident there, in 
 China especially, where a man is allowed to kill another 
 who may be his property or slave, and where Israelites 
 might have purchased a Christian slave on purpose 
 and have distributed his blood to the different Hebrew 
 communities inhabiting other countries, in the same 
 way as citrons are distributed amongst us for the Feast of 
 the Tabernacle ? Thou art well aware that the Israelites
 
 1 10 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 carry on a continued correspondence with each other all 
 over the globe ; and would not such a system for supplying 
 them with Christian blood have been much more easy 
 and safe than obtaining it in the way which our enemies 
 have imputed to us ? What canst thou say to this ? 
 
 SIM. Your enemies may say that fresh blood is re- 
 quired, and not such as is stale and coagulated. 
 
 MAI. In almost every town where any Jews are to be 
 found, there is a Jewish surgeon, who, amongst other pro- 
 fessional duties, must have occasion frequently to perform 
 the operation of blood-letting; and if, as our enemies 
 say, we must have Christian blood, what would be easier 
 than for such surgeons to preserve the blood taken by 
 them from any Christian for the use of their brethren, 
 to whom it could be distributed without the slightest 
 difficulty ? 
 
 SIM. It may be that the precept which ordains that 
 you shall use Christian blood, has ordained that it 
 shall be no other than the blood of some Christian who 
 has been deprived of life expressly on your account, and 
 by your own hands. 
 
 MAI. If that were the case if we were compelled to 
 use fresh blood, and not such as had become stale and 
 coagulated by transmission from a distant region, and 
 blood for the obtaining of which some Christian must 
 be murdered ; in every part of the world, where a large 
 body of Israelites dwell, the murder or mysterious disap- 
 pearance of Christians must be notorious. But how 
 many places are there, where Israelites in abundance 
 have their abode, where a Christian has neither been 
 murdered, nor disappeared in a manner unaccountable,
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 1 1 1 
 
 for many years past ? If a cow or a sheep be lost, there 
 is always a diligent search made after it ; and if it should 
 never be regained, nor any precise information gathered 
 respecting its loss, there is sure to be plenty said on the 
 subject ; yet how much more diligent is the search after 
 the slayers of a murdered man, or after the man himself, 
 if he have disappeared from his friends in a mysterious 
 manner ! Now is not this a complete refutation of the 
 argument that Israelites require the blood of a murdered 
 Christian every year ? I have further to add, that the 
 blood of one child would not be sufficient to supply the 
 wants of the Israelites in any one Christian country. 
 In a town which contains amongst its population thirty 
 thousand Israelites, it would be necessary for them to 
 kill two Christian children annually; and when you 
 consider how many towns there are in some countries 
 containing each that number, the murders would be so 
 numerous as to excite a terrible suspicion in the minds 
 of the people of the country at large, in spite of all the 
 caution which the murderers might observe. Out of so 
 many cases, some circumstances confirmatory of the 
 guilty practices of the Jews must come to light ; in some 
 instances children would escape, and divulge sufficient 
 to blast the character of the Jews universally. It is 
 very seldom that a murderer of any other description 
 escapes punishment; and, as I have, in the course of 
 my previous arguments, already observed, it frequently 
 happens, that where a murder is involved in mystery, the 
 perpetrator of the deed himself clears it all up, if pressed 
 hard, by a confession ; but no clear case of this sort, has 
 ever been established against a Jew : and though, under
 
 112 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 the pressure of horrible tortures inflicted by fanatics in 
 a state of gross ignorance and serai-barbarism, some Jews 
 have been known to admit the truth of the accusation, 
 no confession has ever been made, which people of 
 intelligence and in a high state of civilization have 
 considered to be worthy of their serious belief. Jt is a 
 prevalent idea with all nations, that murder is a sin so 
 heinous, that exposure and retribution will, sooner or 
 later, inevitably overtake the man who thus provokes 
 the wrath of the Most High ; and in nine cases out of 
 ten, retribution does overtake the man who unlawfully 
 sheds the blood of a fellow-creature: and if the Jews 
 were universally addicted to this sin, how could they, 
 any more than other kinds of men, preserve their guilt 
 from certain detection ? As I remarked to thee in our 
 last conversation, why do not those Jews who have 
 turned Christians, divulge the secret, if it be indeed true 
 that we practise such things ? 
 
 SIM. As I answered in our last conversation, so 
 must I answer to that remark now. It is said that the 
 practice is confined to the most learned of the Hebrew 
 faith. I have read in a book written by a Christian, an 
 assertion that it is confined to perhaps only two or three 
 in a whole country or principality, who have had the 
 secret handed down to them by tradition. 
 
 MAI. Consider well what thou sayest. If it be so 
 great a secret to the Israelites at large, what reason is 
 there in the supposition that blood is supplied to all the 
 Israelites without exception ? for it is supposed, as thou 
 thyself hast repeatedly said, that every Israelite must 
 taste blood on the Passover night.
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 113 
 
 SIM. It is said that the chief rabbi of each community 
 superintends the baking of the Passover cakes ; that he 
 pours some blood into the dough ; and that the common 
 people are not aware of what has been done. 
 
 MAI. O what an astounding falsehood ! How can you 
 draw a camel's rope through the eye of a needle ? Such 
 a thing is utterly impossible. The chief rabbi does not 
 superintend the baking of the Passover cakes for general 
 use ; they are either baked by the heads of families sepa- 
 rately, or several meet and assist each other in the oper- 
 ation ; sometimes they are ordered to be done at a regu- 
 lar baker's ; and they are required to be baked a month 
 previous to the eve of the festival. Dost thou think that 
 the rabbi is engaged in all the offices of the synagogue ? 
 or that he is the only one who reads the prayers ? or that 
 an Israelite does nothing without first consulting him, as 
 is the case with many Christians ? In addition to his 
 duties in the synagogue, in the presence of his whole 
 congregation, the rabbi has nothing to do, with the ex- 
 ception of deciding a religious question occasionally, and 
 trying disputes between parties, as a judge, in those 
 countries where the rank and privileges of a judge are 
 accorded to him by the government : for every Israelite, 
 who is well versed in the law and the traditions, is allowed 
 to decide any questions in religious matters which may 
 be put to him by his household, or others who may have 
 respect for his knowledge. The chief rabbi has nothing 
 to do with the reading of prayers for the congregation, 
 for any pious Israelite, whether he be learned or not, may 
 read prayers in the synagogue on each of the common 
 days of the week ; and on the Sabbath and holidays may 
 
 Q
 
 114 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 read a portion of the Pentateuch ; such a one may also 
 circumcise children, preside over marriage ceremonies, 
 and may, indeed, perform every religious office for which 
 he has sufficient ability. The chief rabbi mostly says his 
 prayers at home, in company with the Israelites, as wher- 
 ever ten Israelites may be assembled together, the public 
 service of prayer is allowed to be performed: in fact, the 
 chief rabbi has no particular preference shewn to him, 
 except on account of his learning and sage qualities, and 
 his being the acknowledged spiritual head of the con- 
 gregation. The situation of the Christian minister is very 
 different. He reads the prayers as well as the Gospels ; 
 he baptizes, reads the burial service, and presides over 
 the ceremonies of marriage contracts ; and he alone 
 must do these things, for none but he is allowed to 
 meddle with them. There are some towns where the 
 Israelites have no acknowledged spiritual head. 
 
 SIM. Do you not confess to your rabbi ? 
 
 MAI. We confess on the day of Atonement ; but our 
 confessions are uttered in a subdued voice, and are made 
 to the Almighty alone, never to a mortal. There are 
 some who confess daily, in the morning when they arise 
 from their beds, and in the evening when they retire to 
 rest ; but their confessions are made in silence, and are 
 known only to themselves and their Maker. 
 
 SIM. Is it not requisite for your minister to bless the 
 Passover cakes, as our priest does when he raises the 
 Hostia and sprinkles it with holy water ? It is possible 
 that your rabbi may sprinkle the Passover cakes with 
 water mixed with blood. 
 
 MAI. Nothing of the kind is requisite; a blessing
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 115 
 
 from our minister is not needed, nor have we any such 
 ceremony as sprinkling the bread with any liquid, as all 
 Christians who are well acquainted with the principles of 
 the Jewish religion are perfectly aware. 
 
 SIM. Perhaps it is not necessary to use blood at the 
 Passover every year, but only once in seven years ; or at 
 a jubilee; and this would account for the accusation 
 being revived at intervals of fifty years. 
 
 MAI. Hast thou forgotten that in those places where 
 the judges gave credit to the accusation it was raised 
 almost every year ? whereas in France, Italy, and Ger- 
 many, where no attention was paid to it by the judicial 
 authorities, it was after a while dropped entirely. Wher- 
 ever the judges had encouraged the prejudice against 
 the Israelites, accusations would every year have been 
 abundant. It was thus in Poland of late, when, after an 
 interval of fifty years, the judges thought proper to 
 foment the foul suspicion; and so in future, where judges 
 shall be found prone to hearken to the clamours of the 
 populace, wicked men will not omit to fabricate plenty 
 of charges every year. There are, as thou knowest, in 
 all Christian towns and villages, lewd women who pros- 
 titute themselves to soldiers and others. These frequently 
 have children, the offspring of such illegitimate inter- 
 course; and, to free themselves from the burthen of 
 keeping them, which to the virtuous woman is a pleasure, 
 they deprive them of life. May not one of this class, at the 
 same time that she concocts a tale so artfully as to evade 
 the suspicion of her neighbours as to the infant's death, 
 as easily concoct a tale to criminate the Jews in con- 
 nexion with that death? and she would certainly have
 
 116 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 great inducement to do so, in the shape of pecuniary 
 bounties, which many of our enemies would not fail to 
 bestow on her. Probably some of the special charges 
 have originated with some such person. 
 
 SIM. It is supposed by many that speak against you 
 that they are the fanatics of your persuasion who are 
 guilty of this crime, and that the bulk of the Israelites, 
 the learned and rational, are perfectly innocent. 
 
 MAI. If this horrible charge had been first raised at a 
 period when, and in a place where, the Israelites had 
 made no great progress in philosophy, either natural or 
 moral, I should not be able readily to find an answer; 
 but it was started, as 1 have already mentioned, in Spain 
 six hundred years ago, when the Israelites, especially 
 those in Spain, were remarkable for their mental facul- 
 ties, and the beneficial purposes to which they had ap- 
 plied them. So devoted to philosophical researches were 
 the Israelites at that time, that even their youth plunged 
 into disquisitions which, in these days, none but those 
 who have seen many years pass over them would venture 
 on ; their ardour was so great in the pursuit of knowledge, 
 that the elders of the nation in France, and other parts, 
 were (to restrain them from entering on subjects which 
 they could not comprehend, and which, therefore, they 
 would probably exhibit in a false light) obliged to threaten 
 with excommunication all Israelites who attempted to 
 study metaphysics before they were five-and-twenty years 
 of age. Now, with intellects so highly cultivated, is it 
 to be supposed that they would propagate such a mon- 
 strous practice amongst their brethren as that which was 
 alleged against them ? It would have been equally as
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 117 
 
 absurd as to say that the pupils of such philosophers as 
 Bayle and Voltaire, had, on the appearance of any dis- 
 ease, sent for an old woman to perform charms by melt- 
 ing wax, or other means equally as useless, for the 
 purpose of sending it away. On the reverse, the Spanish 
 Christians of that era were steeped up to their ears in 
 ignorance and superstition ; and one consequence of their 
 condition, and a natural one too, was their attributing to 
 persons so much their mental superiors the same deplor- 
 able defects ; for, as the Talmud says, those who have 
 weak minds are accustomed to see easily in others the 
 faults which belong to themselves alone ; and those who 
 are prone to reproving others are generally most deserv- 
 ing of reproof themselves. A similar spirit to that which 
 actuated the first traducers of the Israelites in Spain, 
 pervaded the minds of those who witnessed the first 
 balloon ascent, who murdered the inventor of so strange 
 a machine, deeming that it could only be the contrivance 
 of a sorcerer. In Brody, about fifty years ago, the Is- 
 raelites did not transact business in counting-houses; 
 and one day, somewhere about that time, two Christian 
 merchants, accompanied by their clerks, arrived from 
 Germany, and hired a stately house belonging to the 
 Israelites. It was soon perceived by the latter that they 
 were continually employed, both day and night, in writ- 
 ing, and that they sent away and received a great many 
 letters ; and the old men felt considerably alarmed, and 
 said that this writing and correspondence had reference 
 to their people. A short time afterwards the Emperor 
 issued an edict commanding that recruits for the army 
 should be levied from the Jews; and they all were of
 
 118 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 opinion that the old men had guessed rightly, and that 
 this evil was caused by the two German merchants. 
 
 SIM. I was well aware of all that thou hast stated. I 
 know that the Spanish Christians of the era to which 
 thou hast made especial allusion, were extremely igno- 
 rant. At the present day they are not remarkable for 
 their wisdom ; but still, as I have already signified to 
 thee, I consider thy account of the Spanish Israelites a 
 great exaggeration : thou hast lavished praises on them 
 which, if really deserved, would shew that they were the 
 very perfection of all that is wise and good. However, I 
 have thy promise to verify all thy statements. Blessed 
 is the Almighty, who reminds us of our undertakings, for 
 I undertook to remind thee of thy promise. 
 
 MAI. What better evidence of the intellectual attain- 
 ments of the Israelites of that epoch canst thou desire, 
 than the innumerable works which they have left behind 
 them ? I may refer thee to a book written by a certain 
 learned Christian,* to another printed at Rome,f and to 
 many others written by Christian authors; from these 
 thou wilt be able to ascertain the number and nature of 
 the works they have composed : it will be, however, suf- 
 ficient for my purpose to quote a few words from some of 
 the most distinguished amongst Christian writers ; what 
 they say will fully bear me out in all that I have ad- 
 vanced; and by their words thou wilt be convinced sooner 
 than by my own, 
 
 SIM. I should like to hear the quotation ; for, as thou 
 
 * Jos. Ctiristoph. JVolfii Bibliotheca Hebrtea ; Hamburg!, 1712. 
 f Kiryat Sefer, of Bartolocius, printed at Rome, 1675.
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 119 
 
 didst undertake to satisfy me in every particular, in our 
 first conversation, I am anxious to listen to something 
 fresh. 
 
 MAI. Before I produce what I consider to be conclu- 
 sive evidence of their great attainments at that epoch, I 
 must throw a little more light on their general character ; 
 and I can do so by mentioning what was said by a Chris- 
 tian writer, who, though by no means a friend to the 
 Israelites, as may be seen by a work of his handed down 
 to the present times,* could not deny a thing the truth 
 of which was as apparent as the sun. This person, after 
 giving a description of the superstition and fanaticism of 
 the Spanish Christians, and of the tortures they inflicted 
 on the Jews, recorded his opinions and observations of 
 facts in these terms : " By the index of prohibited books, 
 we find included amongst them, under Reg. xiv., all the 
 books of the Talmud, the Hebrew lexicons, commentaries 
 on the law, and all Hebrew works treating of religion. 
 Other nations may perhaps think that such a prohibition 
 could not have deprived the world of anything particu- 
 larly valuable, but he who is conversant with Spanish 
 literature must be aware that at the time when all the 
 nations of Europe were sunk in ignorance and barbarism 
 during the eleventh century the Hebrew university at 
 Cordova, and subsequently at Toledo, was flourishing in 
 the cultivation of every department of science. Amongst 
 the Hebrew authors there is hardly one who is not a 
 native of Spain ; and the learned of other places ad- 
 mit that they are indebted to Spain for the knowledge 
 
 * Die entlarvte Inquisition dcr Spunier, von Don Antonio Puig- 
 blanch: Weimar, 1817.
 
 120 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 they possess." Of four authors of whom the Israelites 
 boast, three belong to our country, namely, Abraham ben 
 Ezra, Moses ben Maimoon, and David Kimkhi. 
 
 SIM. Those authors are well known to me ; they are 
 reckoned to be men of great attainments by Christians, 
 
 * 
 
 particularly Moses ben Maimoon ; many Christian his- 
 torians mention him with great praise ; even the writers 
 of the Church history speak highly of him. 
 
 MAI. In the historical work thou hast just mentioned, 
 many other learned Israelites are spoken of, who lived in 
 the twelfth century. But let us not confound one topic 
 with another. I will finish the quotation which I partly 
 gave thee. It runs thus: " The prohibition was undoubt- 
 edly the cause of the loss of many Hebrew and Arabic 
 manuscripts, the value of which we can never accurately 
 estimate, and the number of which must have been con- 
 siderable. For just at the period when the banishment 
 of the Israelites from Spain occurred, they had the most 
 celebrated authors amongst them, who went afterwards 
 to Africa, and to various parts in the East; these were 
 Abraham Zacuti, Joseph and Shem Tob Uziel, Joseph 
 Fes, Samuel Seralio, Jacob Berab, Isaac and Meyer 
 Arama, Joseph Gecatilia, Jacob and Levy ben Khabib, 
 Joseph Taitank, R. Yehuda Khayat, R. Abraham Saba, 
 R. Yehuda Abuhab, and Isaac Abarbanel, &c." * 
 
 * Abraham Zacuti, the son of Samuel Zacuti, was the author of 
 the Sefer Hayukhassin. 
 
 Joseph and Shem Tob Uziel were pupils of R. Izkhak Abuhab, 
 who was the author of the Menorat Humaor, and the preceptor of 
 the author of the book Yukhassin, 
 
 Rabbi Joseph Fes, the preceptor of M.H.R.A., of Trani. 
 
 Samuel Seralio, mentioned in the book Shalshelet Hukabala.
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 121 
 
 SIM. Mention in what respect their talents were of a 
 superior order ; for, although 1 have read many historical 
 works which may have explained, such matters escape 
 from my memory; which doubtless is not the case with 
 thee in this business, as it is of importance to thy own 
 congregation. 
 
 MAI. These are the words of another distinguished 
 Christian author:* "The Israelites, without country, 
 home or leader, endured a most melancholy fate ; op- 
 pressed and persecuted by the Arabs, they fled to Europe, 
 where there were more predominant prejudices against 
 them, and the rights of man were more misunderstood; 
 the cruelty inflicted on them, and the contempt with 
 which they were treated, obliged them to avail themselves 
 of the deficiencies in the knowledge which the Europeans 
 had of commerce, and they were compelled to obtain 
 
 Jacob Berab, the Resh Galuta in the Holy Land, resided at 
 Zafed, and was in the habit of arguing with K. Levi ben Khabib, 
 the author of "The Correspondence," under the initials M.H.R.L. 
 ben Khabib ; he was the son of the author of the Elm Jacob. 
 
 R. Izkhak Arama, the author of the Baal Akeda, and R. Meyer 
 Arama, the author of the Commentary Mc'i lyob. 
 
 Joseph Gecatiglia, the author of the books Shudre Oruh, Shaar 
 Hashamayim, and Merkubat Yekhezkd. 
 
 Rabbi Jacob ben Khabib, the author of the Ehn Jacob ; and his 
 son R. Levi ben Khabib, the author of " The Correspondence." 
 
 Rabbi Joseph Taitonk (mentioned in the Shulshelet Hukabala) 
 the Nassi at Saloniki. 
 
 R. Yehuda Khayit, the author of the Minkhat Yehuda. 
 
 Rabbi Abraham Saba, author of the Zeror Humor. 
 
 R. Yehuda Abuhab, perhaps the brother-in-law of R. Shemuel 
 Abuhab, mentioned before. 
 
 R. Izkhak Abarbanel, who is well known by his works. 
 
 * Verwche eincr allgemeinen Geschichte der Literatur, von Ludwig 
 Wuchler, vol. ii. p. 193.
 
 122 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 their livelihood by fraud and usury, which placed them in 
 a position by no means enviable ; or they were forced to 
 pass their lives in misery and woe. And yet in this 
 wretched situation, they conferred great benefits on lite- 
 rature ; they preserved with unparalleled patriotism and 
 national pride the Hebrew language, the knowledge of 
 which, without them would have been surely lost, and 
 could not have been revived amongst us by John Reuch- 
 lin.* Medicine and philosophy, which previously had 
 been attended to but little by any people but the Arabs, 
 were by their means made to flourish among the Euro- 
 peans. In most'countries they were the only mathema- 
 ticians, physicians, and rationalists. They translated a 
 
 * John Reuchlin, a native of Germany, lived in the fifteenth cen- 
 tury. He was the first amongst the Christian learned who was ac- 
 quainted with the Hebrew language and its literature ; for although 
 many Christians before his time had studied that language, and had 
 been taught it in their schools, the utmost their knowledge of it 
 enabled them to do was to read and translate a few words of it ; as 
 mentioned by Eichhorn in his History of Literature . After Reuch- 
 lin's success in mastering Hebrew, other Christians studied it more 
 profoundly. It is related by the Hebrews that Reuchlin learned 
 the language from two Israelites, R. Jacob Joel Luans, and the 
 celebrated R. Obadyah Seforni. Reuchlin was much attached to 
 the study of traditions (Kabala). At the time when Johan Pfefier- 
 korn, a convert from Judaism to Christianity, formed a league with 
 certain Christians for the purpose of procuring the destruction by 
 fire of all the Talmud, and other Hebrew books in Germany, he 
 having alleged that all except the Bible contained blasphemies 
 against God and Jesus Christ, and succeeded in getting his pur- 
 pose sanctioned by a decree from the Emperor ; Reuchlin most 
 zealously advocated the Israelites' cause, and so prosperously as to 
 defeat the apostate's machinations : he afterwards obtained a bull 
 from the Pope to prohibit any one from laying hands on Hebrew 
 books for the purpose of destroying them.
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 123 
 
 great many works from Arabic into Hebrew, of which 
 literary exertions there are numerous testimonials still 
 in existence, the fruits of which are of no great value at 
 the present day, though formerly they were highly valued 
 and esteemed." 
 
 SIM. In honour of the superior reputation of those 
 Israelites for learning, I deem it just to mention some- 
 thing which has this moment come into my recollection 
 concerning an Israelite who was converted to Christianity 
 in France. It was in the fourteenth century that he 
 lived, and a most distinguished man he was ; he corrected 
 the Italian translation of the Bible, for he was well versed 
 in the Hebrew language, and he added to his transla- 
 tion a concise commentary on the Bible, which caused 
 him to be much thought of by Catholics and Lutherans. 
 It was acknowledged on all hands that his commentary 
 was a very sensible production, and that it served 
 greatly to enlighten on religious subjects all the kingdoms 
 of the West. His name was Nicholas de Lyra ; and of 
 him it was the Roman Christian said : 
 
 " Si Lyra non lirasset, 
 Lutherus non saltasset." 
 
 " If Lyra had not played, 
 Luther would not have danced." 
 
 The Lutherans turned this phrase so as to confer honour 
 on the convert, and praise on themselves; thus: 
 
 " Si Lyra non lirasset, 
 Mundus delyrasset." 
 
 " If Lyra had not played, 
 The world would have been confused ."
 
 124 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAI. If thou wilt refer to the work Bet Yehuda, chap. 
 128, 5th observation, thou wilt find recorded many cases 
 similar to this: but I only allude, remember, to the 
 learning of Israelites who continued faithful to their own 
 religion. Listen, I pray thee. 
 
 SIM. Brother Maimoon, I crave thy pardon. It was 
 not my intention to disturb thee, but to corroborate thy 
 own statement in that case. Proceed. 
 
 MAI. And all those who lived after the whole of the 
 Talmud had been composed, whose exact knowledge of 
 the law enabled them to define it to all the Israelites 
 resident all over the world, and whose precepts are still 
 our guiding authorities, were, in addition to their theolo- 
 gical attainments, well acquainted with literature and 
 science in general : in the works I have so often quoted, 
 Bet Yehuda, and Teuda Beisrael, some of them are 
 spoken of as very eminent philosophers. In the latter 
 work there is a full description of each ; and their names 
 and places of abode are given, for several successive 
 generations ; and the accounts of certain well-known and 
 honourable Christians, confirmatory of their merits, are . 
 recorded therewith. In these works, there is also an 
 account of the authors of the Mishna and the Talmud ; 
 and I feel sure that any intelligent Christian who is thus 
 informed of the character they bore, will dismiss from 
 his mind all ideas of their ever having been cognizant 
 of such wicked things as have been imputed to them. 
 
 SIM. I thank thee for thy information, brother Mai- 
 moon ; I was not aware that in the ninth century the 
 Israelites held such an eminent position ; though I have 
 no doubt that they did, and for several centuries after-
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 125 
 
 wards, when nearly all the world beside were involved in a 
 state of ignorance and folly. Thou art perhaps aware that 
 the famous Charles the Great, although naturally a man 
 of powerful capacity, and some good qualities, could 
 neither read nor write. Whenever he issued any decree 
 he was compelled in lieu of a proper signature, to make 
 a mark on the paper with the blunted point of a sword 
 dipped in ink. It happened one day that his son Ludwig, 
 frequently known by the appellation of " the compasr 
 sionate," assembled the bishops and great officers of state 
 to witness the signing of an Imperial edict ; but when 
 all the preliminary forms had been gone through, there 
 was no inkstand, or writing material of any sort, to be 
 found in any part of the palace, or in any of the houses 
 of the bishops ; and it must have gone without signing, 
 had they not after long searching procured pens and ink 
 from the keeper of the royal seal. 
 
 MAI. We surely may judge from this incident, how 
 very ignorant all those great persons were. History 
 records that there have been Popes who prohibited Chris- 
 tians from studying science of any kind, under pain of 
 excommunication, and who even considered the study of 
 grammar a heinous sin, and forbade their flock from 
 reading the Greek and Roman authors. The learned 
 Czaki has observed,* that knowledge at that time was 
 detested by the nations of Europe, and that what authors 
 there were in existence only wrote to excite the ill-will 
 of the multitude towards the Jews, which they considered 
 a pious and praiseworthy action. The authors thus 
 
 * Dissertation concerning the Jews, p. 15.
 
 126 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 alluded to, showed great malevolence to the Hebrew 
 faith, and were continually provoking the Jews to con- 
 troversies. One exception to such a class of authors, 
 J. G. Eichhorn, who wrote about the termination of the 
 eighth century, says,* " The Christians zealously looked 
 upon the Israelites as objects for conversion, and, there- 
 fore, their acts were subjects for discussion. After the 
 lay powers had persecuted and annoyed them for a long 
 t^me, for the purpose of wresting from them the wealth 
 obtained by industrious commercial enterprises, monks 
 and theologians took them to task, and endeavoured to 
 draw them into religious controversies; and when they 
 were tired of incessant empty declamations against them, 
 they compiled miscellanies of passages from the Bible to 
 be disseminated as arguments against the Hebrew faith, 
 though such were, in a great measure, quite inapplicable 
 to the subject ; or they made collections of extracts from 
 books composed by fathers of the Christian church, or by 
 councils of the church dignitaries, who had given judg- 
 ment in certain matters adversely to the Jews, and were 
 known to condemn their tenets ; but nothing did these 
 busy zealots bring forward against them which was the 
 result of their own meditation and knowledge, for they 
 were unable to hold any methodical dispute with the 
 Jews, and they knew nothing of the Hebrew language. 
 
 SIM. Nevertheless, there were in those days several 
 very learned bishops; and amongst other classes of 
 society also there were men of considerable attainments ; 
 but the majority of the higher classes and princes were 
 extremely ignorant; and of course the vulgar were nearly 
 
 * J. G. Eichhorn's History of Literature, vol. i. 308.
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 127 
 
 all so. King Alfred was the first to establish an improved 
 mode of education in England ; and whilst he was a boy 
 no one could be found clever enough to superintend his 
 tuition. During the tenth and eleventh centuries edu- 
 cation was at a very low ebb in Europe ; and in France, 
 Germany, and England, a learned man was thought such 
 an extraordinary being, that it was customary, if any 
 culprit who had been sentenced to death was able to 
 write, to set him at liberty. In the history of Russia, 
 we read that during the reign of Wladmir, when he 
 commenced putting in operation his system of education 
 at Kiew, where he resided, the idea of having their chil- 
 dren taught anything raised a great commotion in the 
 minds of the vulgar. That great prince was the first to 
 attempt the work of civilization in that country : but his 
 purposes were grossly misunderstood by his subjects, who 
 regarded them as extraordinary and pernicious innova- 
 tions; and when the children were obliged to be taken 
 from their mothers to the school-houses by force, the 
 mothers wept and lamented as if they were mourning 
 over a corpse, for they contemplated literary studies 
 as equally dangerous and reprehensible with those of 
 witchcraft. 
 
 MAI. I have read in Karamzin's history of Russia that 
 the women assembled and threw stones at the windows 
 of the school-houses. 
 
 SIM. I have read the same. 
 
 MAI. In Poland and Lithuania, several centuries later, 
 the kings were not able to write.* 
 
 * " The progress of knowledge was much more slow in Poland 
 than Russia ; for while there were men of considerable attainments
 
 128 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIM. Thou art right in attributing the religious ani- 
 mosities in Europe at that period to ignorance. 
 
 MAI. The Christians disliked the Jews because their 
 religion was totally different from theirs ; but what made 
 their antipathy to them so excessive, was their being the 
 descendants of those by whom the Christian Messiah 
 had been slain ; it most probably was strengthened and 
 supported by the circumstance of their superior literary 
 and scientific qualifications, for dislike of genius is always 
 a predominant feeling in the bosoms of the ignorant ; as 
 one of the renowned of the Talmud, Rabbi Akiba, has 
 said, " Whilst I was ignorant, I was wont to say, I would 
 bite a learned man like an ass."* Their hatred was 
 more intense and violent than an idolater exhibits to a 
 man of learning, and the wives of the ignorant were 
 more violent in their hatred of persons than their hus- 
 bands. In addition to what I have now advanced, I 
 may remind thee of what I have already pressed on 
 thy attention, the gross superstitions prevalent in 
 the seventeenth century.f 
 
 SIM. Now let me hear what other arguments thou 
 art provided with ? 
 
 MAI. Why do we not kill any of the Samaritans? 
 They have behaved badly to us ; they instituted a sur- 
 reptitious collection of precepts for our holy Law ; they 
 built a temple on Mount Gerizim ; they caused the 
 
 in the latter country, for example, Nestor and Sylvester in the year 
 1100, there was not one of any account in Poland." See Geschichte 
 d. Lit. J. G. Eichfiorn, vol. i. p. 694. 
 
 * Pessakhim, 49. 
 
 t The works of Karamzin.
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 1*29 
 
 destruction of many thousands of Israelites when our 
 nation was divided into two classes ; they almost caused 
 the destruction of our Temple, and nearly effected our 
 banishment. Why do we not kill any of the Karaites? 
 who, when their sect was first established, displayed 
 great animosity towards us, and endeavoured to give 
 us a bad name to Christian monarchs; who are con- 
 sidered by the strictly pious Israelites to be worse than 
 the worshippers of stars and planets. Or why do we not 
 seek to wreak our vengeance on the sect of Shabtai 
 Zebi, which is still in existence, as well as the others? 
 all of which gave as much offence to the Jews, as 
 the Christians had done prior to the raising of the 
 wicked accusation against us. What person ever hears 
 the Israelites mention the names of the founders of 
 those sects? And if we did not live in the midst of 
 Christians, who continually keep him in our minds, by 
 my life ! we should never be heard to mention the name 
 of Jesus Christ. Now, if the sects of Hebrew origin 
 dislike us still in their hearts, yet we do not seek to 
 injure them in return; though, being so much more 
 numerous in the world than they, we could do so almost 
 with impunity, if we chose to arrange plans for such a 
 purpose : and as the majority of the Christians, who are 
 not of Hebrew origin, do not persecute us now, why 
 should we cherish revengeful feelings particularly against 
 the Christian faith? and as they are so much more 
 numerous in the world than we, how contrary to all 
 ideas of prudence it would be to practise systematically 
 against their lives. The Christian monarchs and rulers 
 are extremely powerful ; we have no ruler of our own 
 
 s
 
 130 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 nation, but are weak and dependent on their protection ; 
 the present monarchs and ministers of Christian coun- 
 tries are mostly just and humane, and many of them 
 grant us serviceable privileges in their dominions ; why, 
 therefore, should we secretly seek the destruction of the 
 Christians ? why return evil for good ? And though 
 there are some wicked persons amongst the Christians 
 at the present time (and no nation has ever been with- 
 out some), and they endeavour to disgrace our name, 
 still we shall always seek peace and humble ourselves 
 before them ; thus acting on the principle that actuates 
 a weak man, who is engaged in a dispute with a strong 
 one. What does reason prescribe in such a case ? 
 
 SIM. That the weak is not prone to quarrel with the 
 strong. 
 
 MAI. Is it not incumbent on the weaker party, as a 
 matter of prudence, to avoid giving provocation ? And 
 dost thou, friend Simmias, conceive that the Israelites 
 are destitute of common sense, that they should pursue 
 a course which must be the very perfection of folly, 
 putting its sinfulness entirely out of the question? I 
 cannot believe that any one can have such an opinion of 
 them. 
 
 SIM. All their enemies acknowledge that the Israel- 
 ites are a wise nation; whoever thinks otherwise can 
 have neither knowledge nor sense. 
 
 MAI. And if that be admitted, what motive can they 
 have for placing, as it were, a sword in the hands of 
 their opponents to be used for their own destruction ? 
 Surely they must seek to cultivate the friendship of 
 those amongst whom they dwell ; the same as a son,
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 131 
 
 whose father has taken to him another wife, seeks to 
 secure the good will of his step-mother's children, and 
 is slow to resent insult from them. The Scriptures 
 command the natives of any place to love and show 
 kindness to the stranger; why have they not an ordi- 
 nance specially enjoining the stranger to love and show 
 kindness to the native ? because the position of the 
 native empowers him to ill-use the stranger, if he be 
 minded so to do ; but the stranger is helpless, and can- 
 not do ill if he would. The Israelites now are strangers 
 every where ; and why should men fear them ? 
 
 SIM. Hast thou more arguments of this nature ? if so, 
 let me hear them ; for, by my life ! they carry convic- 
 tion to one's mind. 
 
 MAI. I have many more ; but it is not my skill in 
 using them that convinces ; it is the simple truth on 
 which they are based : our innocence of the foul practice 
 which has been charged upon us. 
 
 SIM. Go on. 
 
 MAI. I have already stated, that slaughter is abhor- 
 rent to the very nature of the Israelites, because his dis- 
 position is peaceful, and he has not had any experience 
 in extinguishing animal life ; whereas, the Christians are 
 naturally resolute, and not fastidious, and are accus- 
 tomed, men, women, and children, to slaughter cattle, 
 fowls, and animals, of various kinds, to make provision 
 for their daily sustenance. The Israelites have all their 
 animal food supplied by certain persons, who are specially 
 appointed for the purpose, who are well acquainted with 
 animal anatomy, and the rules for preparing animal 
 food prescribed by our law. Such a person is called the
 
 132 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 Shokhet [slaughterer], and although he is indispensable, 
 yet some of the early Hebrew astrologers declared that a 
 Shokhet, and he that circumcises, were born under the in- 
 fluence of Saturn, and that their dispositions were cruel. 
 Frotn their childhood upwards, Christians hunt for and 
 procure food in any way in which it may be obtained, 
 because they have no reason to be particular as to the 
 manner in which animals are deprived of life for their 
 use. As means of sport and recreation, they are accus- 
 tomed from childhood to carry guns, spears, and swords ; 
 but the Jews, ever since the destruction of the second 
 Temple, have always evinced a reluctance to handle any 
 mortal weapon. Didst thou ever hear of an Israelite in 
 a state of mental distress and despair stabbing or shoot- 
 ing himself, as Christians frequently do ? If an Israelite 
 commits suicide, it is mostly by drowning or hanging. 
 The fact which I conceive I have established by this 
 argument is, that the Israelites contemplate the act of 
 slaughtering with much greater disgust than the Chris- 
 tians ; which furnishes another powerful reason for ac- 
 quitting them of all suspicion of being addicted to commit 
 murders periodically. 
 
 SIM. Is it not thy opinion, that the lower orders 
 amongst the Israelites are more charitably disposed to- 
 wards each other than the people of a similar station 
 among the Christians are ? 
 
 MAI. Yes; it is a fact that in the small towns in 
 Poland, the Christians have no hospital or place of refuge 
 for poor travellers ; whereas the Israelites have provided 
 hospitals for the humble and needy wayfarer of their 
 persuasion in some of the smallest villages; and they
 
 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 133 
 
 form societies for their support, as well as providing for 
 the poor in the towns. The poor are often fed in the 
 houses of the wealthy, in one house one day, and in an- 
 other the next, and particularly on a Sabbath or holiday ; 
 and the benevolent societies for the purpose of clothing 
 the destitute, burying the dead, and lending money to the 
 honest poor, are too numerous and various to specify. 
 
 SIM. I have heard extremely laudatory reports of the 
 Jewish hospitals at Wilna, Odessa, Berlin, and Warsaw, 
 and of those established in Germany. The Jews in Ger- 
 many at the present day are highly spoken of for their 
 intellectual acquirements. 
 
 MAI. There is a very beautiful hospital at Brody; it 
 is now fifteen years since 1 saw it ; at that time the 
 Christians had not one of any sort, though there were 
 many wealthy individuals of the Christian faith residing 
 there : I am not aware that there is a Christian hospital 
 there even now. I have seen a poor sick Christian lying 
 in the dirt (for there was no accommodation of any de- 
 scription for the indigent sick), where he was left to die ; 
 afterwards he would be taken to the police station, and 
 from thence carried, without any mark of respect, to the 
 burial ground. But wherever any body of Israelites is 
 collected, a society is established for burying those who 
 may die in a state of poverty. 
 
 SIM. I believe that the greatest portion of the nume- 
 rous Israelites resident at Brody are well versed in 
 science and literature. I know them to be good people 
 in their moral dispositions, and that they are generally 
 well esteemed.
 
 134 SIXTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAI. I have had an opportunity of noticing the good 
 opinion held of the Jews at Odessa. There are a great 
 many settled in that town ; the Russian emperor gave 
 them permission to erect a school there, which is a 
 most excellent establishment. 
 
 END OF THE SIXTH CONVERSATION.
 
 135 
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIMMIAS. Explain to me, as thou hast promised, the 
 position in which other nations stand with respect to your 
 religion. 
 
 MAIMOON. We do not deny that people may obtain 
 rewards in a future state for good actions performed in 
 this, whatever may be their system of Divine worship ; 
 and this thou mayest ascertain by a reference to the 
 works, Teuda Beisrael and Bet Yehuda. 
 
 SIM. What is your opinion of the Christian religion ? 
 I have been told that the Talmud contains a number of 
 passages that are highly insulting to it. 
 
 MAI. Why should we despise the Christian religion 
 any more than other systems, even when, as the Tal- 
 mudists have declared, we do not consider that idolaters, 
 if they perform righteous actions, are excluded from re- 
 wards in a future state ? The truth is, as I have already 
 stated to thee in the course of these conversations, the 
 Talmud, as it is now arranged, makes no mention what- 
 ever of the Christian religion ; what few passages it did 
 formerly contain have been expunged by the direction 
 of learned men of modern times, to avoid the possibility 
 of giving offence to Christians : and who can tell what 
 those passages were ? how can I judge of a thing I never 
 saw, and of which I have no means of forming anything 
 like a correct idea? However, I will communicate to 
 thee the opinion of some who are considered our very 
 highest authorities ; one whom I shall quote, though
 
 136 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 the last amongst the Geonim, is the first in our esti- 
 mation; we prize his learning as highly as that of Moses, 
 the great Lawgiver of our people, and concerning him the 
 following proverb, often repeated by our people, applies : 
 " From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses." I 
 now allude to Moses ben Maimoon, the Spaniard, whom 
 thou didst mention some time ago. He is known by the 
 initials R.M. B.M., and he lived about the year 4900 of 
 the Creation. He composed a work called Mishne Tora, 
 which contains all the precepts of our law. In Hilkhot 
 Melakhim, we find these words written by him : " Jesus 
 the Nazarite, the founder of the Christian religion, came 
 into this world to pave the way for the Royal Messiah, 
 whom we expect to appear." The Christians expect 
 Jesus Christ to appear on earth again. Similar to the 
 opinion of Maimonides on this subject is that of the 
 author of the book Cuzari* Two generations after that 
 of Maimonides, the illustrious Rabbi Simon ben 
 Zemakh lived, known by the initials R.SH.B.Z., a man 
 who greatly distinguished himself by his extensive ac- 
 quirements in knowledge ; and he, in one of his works, f 
 has spoken particularly of Jesus the Nazarite, and of the 
 great good he effected for a!! the world. Rabbi Joseph 
 Jabez, a very pious man, who lived about the time when 
 the banishment from Spain took place, composed several 
 valuable works, and some deprecating the study of phi- 
 losophy. In one of his works, called A Treatise on the 
 Unity, he says that through the Christian religion the 
 Jewish faith has been preserved to this day4 The same 
 
 * Chap. iv. 23 ; also the Commentary Ozer Nekhmad. 
 f Milkhamat Khoba, printed at Constantinople. 
 J Tetida Be'israel. p. 50.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 137 
 
 opinion was entertained by the illustrious Rabbi Jacob 
 Sasport, * who showed, by incontestable arguments, that 
 the Nazarite, with his disciples, observed the Holy Law, 
 and professed to have been sent on earth only to strengthen 
 its influence ; and he also says that the Israelites have 
 derived great benefits from the institution of Christianity, 
 as well as other nations. The Christians are praised in 
 the Cuzari, and by the commentator on that work, for 
 the great good they have effected amongst the bulk of 
 mankind by their energetic endeavours to root out ido- 
 latry ; and the opinions of these authorities are that, 
 they have had the special assistance of the Almighty, by 
 which they have been enabled to extend their influence 
 all round the globe, and to instil into the minds of vast 
 numbers of the human race a belief in the existence of 
 a Divine being, of future rewards and punishments, and 
 in the performance of miracles by God's messengers. 
 There was another Hebrew writer of great note who 
 wrote in the same strain, Rabbi Jacob Emden, the son 
 of the author of the work Khakhan Zebi ; he also set forth, 
 in a book called Ressen Match, which he addressed to the 
 learned of the four countries,! the good intentions of 
 
 * Sisit Nobel Zebi, second edition, printed at Amsterdam. 
 
 ^>3 ia vonvrb nnvo pt ^a Kin-tpiEtf/ ")QD t 
 
 Bnom nontaV p^n K^ n //l ? ;DKJ 
 ri wrtpwh avrw o^os 1 ? nuj& no y-r 1 ? 
 
 rnniynn nVnnn ana ia-Dio!? 
 
 "131 on <( ni3yD y /'on
 
 138 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 Jesus the Nazarite and his Apostles proved by the intro- 
 duction of the Christian religion, thus propagating 
 amongst the Heathen the belief in future rewards and 
 punishments, and the resurrection from the grave. I am 
 not in possession of the R. SH. B. Z., it being very volumi- 
 nous ; I have copied the greater part of the words of 
 Rabbi Jacob Emden, for he is more concise in his style, 
 and his language agrees in its signification with that of 
 the R. SH. B. Z., and that of Rabbi Jacob Sasport ; his 
 words are also quoted by the celebrated philosopher 
 Mendelssohn, at the conclusion of his Jerusalem. , '. 
 
 SIM. Thou hast told me of things this day which to 
 me are quite new. Go on, I pray, for thy words en- 
 lighten me. I am all attention to hear thee recite his 
 words. 
 
 MAI. * " The Christian religion places greater re- 
 strictions on its professor in some respects than our law 
 does ; and, according to that, certain marriages which 
 our Holy Law allows of are considered improper: for 
 instance, it prohibits a man from having two wives at 
 one time, and from marrying the sister of a deceased 
 wife, and other near relations. Those Christians, too, 
 who live in strict conformity with this system of worship, 
 are very cautious as to swearing, and display many 
 honest and good moral qualities ; and they are inclined 
 to use forbearance towards their enemies, and to sup- 
 press all revengeful feelings. Happy would they be, 
 
 * Rabbi Jacob Emden is known by the initials J.E.B.Z. This 
 extract is from a work entitled Ressen Match, p. 15 ; it forms part 
 of his work entitled Sefer Hasfiimoosh, printed at Amsterdam, in 
 518; the full title of which is given in Hebrew characters on the 
 previous page.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 139 
 
 and happy should we be, if they adhered to the positive 
 precepts of their system in their conduct regarding 
 us, even as those precepts were recorded by their 
 Evangelists : ' And unto him that smiteth thee on one 
 cheek, offer also the other ; and to him that taketh away 
 thy cloke, give thy coat also.'* Christianity abounds 
 with such precepts and maxims as this : if Christians 
 had observed them, great praise would be their due, and 
 we, in our exile, should have lived in peace and happi- 
 ness, not losing, as we have done, thousands and thou- 
 sands of our most pious and venerable fathers, who, 
 though innocent of aggression both in deed and word, 
 have been slaughtered like sheep in the shambles, burnt, 
 and destroyed in every way that barbarous ingenuity 
 could devise." 
 
 In exciting the hatred of the Christians, we have done 
 nothing contrary to the purpose of your Messiah, dis- 
 tinctly expressed by him; for it is well known that 
 Jesus ever insisted on the necessity his disciples were 
 under of doing all that the Jewish law enjoined; and 
 his Apostles preached in the same spirit: thus in your 
 Testament it is written, "Think not I am come to 
 destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to 
 destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, till 
 heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle, shall 
 in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Who- 
 soever, therefore, shall break one of these least com- 
 mandments, and teach men so, he shall be called the 
 least in the kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall 
 
 * Matt. v. 39, 40 ; Luke vi. 29.
 
 140 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 do and teach them, shall be called great in the kingdom 
 of heaven." Another instance of what the intention of 
 Christ really was, is shewn in his conduct to the lepers 
 whom he healed. He told them that, as soon as they 
 were free from their leprosy, they should go to the 
 Temple, and offer up those sacrifices which were pre- 
 scribed by the Mosaic Law:* and further, that they 
 should never forget to obey the Ten Commandments, 
 which, as we all know, contain the principles of all the 
 Israelitish laws. We also find that Paul, in his Epistle 
 to the Corinthians, accuses them of practising adultery, 
 and makes allusion to a case where he had caused a 
 man who had married the wife of his father to be put 
 to death. f These facts furnish sufficient evidence, with- 
 out including what I have before quoted, that Christ 
 never meant to destroy the Mosaic Law. This explana- 
 tion will also serve to shew the reason why St. Paul 
 circumcised his pupil Timothy4 Timothy was the son 
 of a Jewess; and though his father was a Greek, yet 
 Paul, having himself been a pupil of Rabbi Gamliel 
 Hazakin, knew that the child of a Jewess was, never- 
 theless, according to the Talmud, considered to be a 
 Jew. From an apparent contradiction in the Gospel, 
 many Christians of great learning have formed an idea 
 that Christ gave them a new law instead of the law of 
 Moses ; but how can such an idea be reconciled with 
 the passage wherein Christ says that he is come only to 
 fulfil the latter? As I have said, the writers of the 
 Gospel never thought to intimate that Christ came to 
 destroy the Hebrew religion ; all that they have written 
 * Matt. viii. 4. f 1 Cor. v. 5. J Acts xvi. 3.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 141 
 
 merely shews that he wished to establish a religion for 
 the Heathen nations, and which he did not profess 
 to be a new one, as it comprised the seven precepts 
 given to the children of Noa, but which had been 
 nearly forgotten by them : to re-establish the seven 
 precepts given to the children of Noah was Christ's 
 main object, and his Apostles were appointed to carry it 
 into effect. No Christian can controvert this proposition ; 
 because all of them acknowledge that the law is to be 
 preserved to eternity. It may, nevertheless, be objected, 
 that the establishing of a distinct mode of worship for the 
 Heathen does not agree with the precept given by Paul 
 in his first Epistle to the Corinthians; "As the Lord has 
 called every one, so let him walk, and so ordain I in all 
 the churches.* In answer to this, I aver that Christ did 
 not promulgate a law containing more than the seven 
 precepts ; for as the Jews were the only people delivered 
 by the Lord from the Egyptian bondage, no other peo- 
 ple had any concern with their religious law, the greater 
 portion of it being connected with circumstances which 
 arose out of that memorable and glorious event. Thus 
 Christ forbade to the Heathen to perform idolatrous 
 ceremonies, the eating of blood and strangled animals; 
 but he did not prescribe circumcision to them, or the 
 observance of the Sabbath conformably to the Mosaic 
 Law, which had been explained to us by our learned 
 scribes and Pharisees, men to whom the true traditions 
 had been handed down, and regarding whom the phrase 
 " sitting on the throne of Moses," was applied by Jesus 
 the Nazarite himself: " Then spake Jesus to the multi- 
 
 * 1 Corinthians, vii. 17.
 
 142 
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 tude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and Phari- 
 sees sitt Moses' seat; all, therefore, whatsoever they 
 bid you observe, that observe and do."* Acting on the 
 same principle, the arJostles introduced baptism amongst 
 the Heathen nations, instead of circumcision, an initiatory 
 ceremony of that kind being indispensable for the prov- 
 ing of a proselyte ; and they appointed Sunday as a day 
 of rest to commemorate the first day of the Creation, to 
 
 * Matth. xxiii. 1, 2. The seeming inconsistency in the circum- 
 stance of Christ's counselling his auditors to pay attention to the 
 commands of the Pharisees, and to take example from them, after 
 having denounced the ways of the same kind of people, will be 
 cleared up by the following explanation. There were seven sorts or 
 sects of Pharisees : 1st. The Shechemites, who, after the manner 
 of Shechem the son of Hamor, observed the Mosaic law not for the 
 love of God, but for the sake of their worldly convenience ; 2nd. 
 Those who, to appear as if busied in religious musings, walked 
 with their heels and toes contracted, and frequently stumbled 
 against stones in consequence ; 3rd. Men who pretended to close 
 their eyes because they were unwilling to look on women, and 
 thereby occasionally came in collision with walls and other obstruc- 
 tions in their path, which bruised them and made their blood to 
 flow ; 4th. Men who affected to consider themselves most humble 
 and lowly, and, therefore, were constantly bowing their heads to 
 the ground; 5th. Men who fancied that, because they had already 
 gone through a complete course of those actions and observances 
 which the law required, it was unnecessary for them to exert them- 
 selves any more ; 6th Men whose actions were controlled solely 
 by the expectation of reward, either in this world or the next, for 
 any good works they might perform, and not by any abstract and 
 innate love of good works themselves; and 7th. Those men whose 
 ways were fashioned after God's own heart, and who really did that 
 which was righteous from a holy affection for righteousness itself. 
 It is unquestionable that Christ, when speaking against the Phari- 
 sees, alluded to the first six sects, and to the last sect when ex- 
 horting his followers to attend to their instructions; and that the 
 translators of the New Testament have not paid sufficient attention 
 to those nice distinctions. TRANSLATOR.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION'. 143 
 
 preserve in their minds the belief that the world is under 
 the control of One who created it according to His own 
 will, and who, whenever He pleases, can undo that 
 which He has done. They did not appoint that day to 
 commemorate the Exodus from Egypt, because none of 
 those to whom they were preaching, nor their ancestors, 
 had ever had anything to do with Egypt as the Israelites 
 had, and, therefore, could feel no particular inclination 
 to rejoice on account of such an occurrence : they wished 
 to ameliorate the condition of the Heathen, without 
 interfering with the established customs of the Israelites : 
 this was the principal object of the apostles, though to every 
 one it does not appear exactly in that light ; for, as the 
 wise man has said, " Counsel in the heart of man is like 
 water in a deep well ; the man of understanding only can 
 draw it" ( Proverbs xx. 5). It was, therefore, that to the 
 Heathen nations another day for rest was appointed; but 
 Christ and his apostles, being Israelites by birth, con- 
 formed implicitly to the Holy Law, and kept the Israelitish 
 Sabbath, and observed the ceremony of circumcision also. 
 Thus it will be seen that Christ had a double object in 
 view, and which events have proved to have been fully 
 effectuated ; to ameliorate the condition of mankind at 
 large, and to confirm and strengthen the law promul- 
 gated by Moses. None of our learned men ever spoke 
 with so much energy on the perpetual preservation of 
 the Holy Law as he did ; and the good which he effected 
 for the Gentiles would have brought forth much better 
 fruits, if they had at all times rightly comprehended his 
 purpose, and acted towards each other with the same 
 philanthropic spirit that warmed his bosom."
 
 144 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 All that I have now advanced are the opinions and 
 statements of the Rabbi Jacob Emden, greatly abridged ; 
 in their original state, they are too lengthy to be quoted 
 here. He has put forth similar sentiments in various 
 works besides that from which my present arguments are 
 abstracted; for instance, in a commentary on the ethics, 
 entitled, Lekkem Shamayim; and in another, entitled, 
 Torat Hakendot. He likewise has an allusion to this 
 subject in a book called M.eteg Lakhamor, where he 
 speaks with still more energy; and in his book Agerot 
 Temon, he quotes a passage from Maimonides, having 
 reference to the same; for Maimonides, in his work, 
 Yad Hakhazaka, at the end of Hilkhot Melakhim, comes 
 to the same opinion ; and, further, his sentiments are 
 borne out by a passage from the Talmud, which, in one of 
 his books, he has backed them with. Now, friend 
 Simmias, I have shewn thee in what light Jesus Christ 
 and his disciples have been, and are still, considered by 
 teachers of the Hebrew law in relation to the Hebrew 
 people. 
 
 SIM. Many thanks are due to those learned men : 
 they have spoken well and honestly, although their opi- 
 nions do not exactly coincide with those of the expounders 
 of the Christian religion to us. But there is another 
 question that I must put to thee. 
 
 MAI. Ask ; and, if possible, I will answer. 
 
 SIM. If our Messiah is, and has been, regarded with 
 so much respect by the Israelites, why did your ancestors 
 take his life ? 
 
 MAI. The Sanhedrin of the period in which Jesus 
 Christ lived, was partly composed of Saducees, whose
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 145 
 
 doctrine repudiated the principles of Christ, namely, 
 faith in the resurrection of the dead, immortality, and 
 the existence of angels, principles which he imbibed from 
 the learned authors of the Mishna. The high priest of 
 that period was a Sadducee : thus it was the hands of the 
 Sadducees, not those of the Pharisees, that were laid on 
 Jesus the Nazarite and his disciples. It is said, " Then 
 the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him 
 which were of the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled 
 with indignation, and laid their hands upon the apostles, 
 and put them in the common prison." The Pha- 
 risees, whom your Legislator reprehended, were those 
 alluded to in Talmud Nedarim, not the Pharisees that 
 were the authors of the Mishna. And even supposing 
 that the latter Pharisees concurred in sanctioning the 
 sentence passed on Jesus, they could not have done so 
 because they condemned his doctrine, as that was in per- 
 fect unison with that taught by themselves, and set forth 
 in the Mishna; Jesus, as I think I have previously 
 observed, having been a pupil of Rabbi Yehoshua, the son 
 of Perakhya, one of the authors even now referred to. 
 We are informed by tradition, that what excited their 
 disapprobation of Jesus the Nazarite was his uttering the 
 most sacred name of the Almighty, the Tetragrammaton, 
 it being an express point of the law that he who pro- 
 nounced that word should be punished with death. Ta- 
 citus states that Jesus was not executed by the order of 
 Pontius Pilate for any offence which came especially 
 under his cognizance as governor, but in consequence of 
 his seeking to establish a new system of Divine worship,
 
 146 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 which, according to the Gentiles of that era, was not a 
 righteous and honest one ; and besides this, that author 
 imputes no other transgression to him. J. Bossuet states, 
 that neither in the books of the ancient Hebrews, nor in 
 any of the Gospels, is there any trace of the Jews' having 
 charged Jesus with any other crime than that he called 
 himself the Messiah and the Son of God. Some Hea- 
 then authors have, with feelings of acrimony, written 
 against his actions, and published decrees, supposed to 
 have emanated from Pilate, in which several sins are 
 imputed to him ; and they say, that those formed the 
 reason of his being punished. But at no time did the 
 Israelites attempt to vindicate their conduct by fixing 
 any sin upon him, except his calling himself the Messiah 
 and the Son of God, and repeating the Almighty's most 
 sacred name ; in all other respects they saw nothing that 
 he did deserving of censure. We [therefore, at the pre- 
 sent day, contemplate Christ as we do any other righteous 
 Israelite, who may have sinned and been punished in 
 consequence thereof, and of whom we continue to say, 
 " He is our brother." His calling himself the Messiah 
 raised against him a political animosity which it is ne- 
 cessary for me more fully to elucidate. Those who be- 
 lieved him to be the Messiah were therefore accustomed 
 to style him King of the Jews; and this begat in the 
 elders and chief Israelites much apprehension on account 
 of the interpretation which the Romans might give to 
 this title ; and said they, " If we let him thus alone, all 
 men will believe in him, and the Romans shall come and 
 take away our place and nation." Such a reason as this,
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 147 
 
 has been deemed sufficient for taking the life of many 
 persons against whom there was no charge whatever of 
 moral guilt. And ought we to be surprised that he was 
 sentenced to death for no other reason than his calling 
 himself the Messiah and the Son of God, when we know 
 that the synod, under Menashe, sentenced the prophet 
 Isaiah to death, and actually executed him, because he 
 had said, " I have seen the Almighty?" which they con- 
 sidered blasphemy, the Almighty having said, " No mor- 
 tal can see me and remain alive." * But the majority 
 of Israel's learned men and doctors of law did not ap- 
 prove of this ; and the Talmud declares it to have been 
 wrong, and that the synod did that which was evil 
 thereby. 
 
 SIM. The death of Isaiah, at the instigation of the 
 Synod of Menashe, is mentioned by many fathers of the 
 Christian Church. 
 
 MAI. More extraordinary than all I have yet men- 
 tioned, is the charge against the Israelites of killing 
 Christ : that is radically false, for they did not kill him 
 
 themselves. 
 
 t 
 
 SIM. This assertion of thine savours of nonsense : that 
 is a fact which no one has ever attempted to deny. 
 
 MAI. Not to trouble you with many words of my own 
 to verify this assertion, or with opinions extracted from 
 the works of Hebrew authors, I will recite to thee the 
 opinion of a celebrated Christian philosopher of the pre- 
 sent age, who has written that which on this matter will 
 fully bear me out. 
 
 * Talmud Ycbamot, p. 49.
 
 148 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIM. A Christian philosopher of this age ? who is he ? 
 I am anxious to hear his name. 
 
 MAI. Hast thou ever heard of the celebrated Professor 
 Krug? 
 
 SIM. Of Leipsic ? 
 
 MAI. The same. 
 
 SIM. His reputation is well known to me : he is said 
 to be a great man, of profound erudition, and one that 
 tries to make his actions acceptable to God and man. 
 Pray impart to me what thou knowest concerning him ; 
 for, though he is a follower of Martin Luther, yet he is 
 a good Christian. 
 
 MAI. These are his words : * " But the worst is, that 
 it is not true that the Israelites crucified Jesus, for the 
 Romans did it; yet we have never heard that the present 
 Romans, though there are many wicked men amongst 
 them, are reproached for the crime committed by their 
 progenitors. It might be said that the early Jews were 
 the cause of the catastrophe ; but they were not ; it was 
 only the High Priest and some who adopted his opinion. 
 Those individuals acted in this respect as people would 
 do always, and every where, amongst Christians, because 
 they disliked the new doctrine, but were unable to refute 
 it. They complained to the civil magistrate, they per- 
 verted the words of Jesus, and accused him of a political 
 transgression ; and the magistrate was weak enough to 
 listen to the accusation, because the cunning priests said, 
 * If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend.' f 
 
 * S. Ueber die Verhaltnisse verschiedener Religions Partheien zum 
 Staate und vber die Emancipation der Juden, von Professor Krug. 
 Leipsic and Jena, 1828. 
 
 t St. John, xix. 12.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 149 
 
 These words staggered the governor ; so that he thought 
 it more advisable to sacrifice an innocent man, than to 
 forfeit the good opinion of the emperor. The vulgar, 
 naturally excited by the priests, cried out, < Crucify him ! 
 crucify him !' just as the vulgar amongst Christians will 
 do who take delight in witnessing executions. But 
 how long have the words vulgar and nation been 
 used to denote one and the same class of people? 
 And had not he who was crucified also many friends 
 among the Israelites, who deprecated the act? Who 
 made us avenge that act on innocent posterity? Did 
 not he while praying, say * Forgive them, for they 
 know not what they do'? Was it not his express 
 command, ' Love your enemies, and behave well to 
 them that offend you ? ' O Christians ! Christians ! how 
 little do ye reflect on the name from which you 
 designate yourselves." 
 
 SIM. Whenever I hear the moral precepts inculcated 
 by our Messiah, they appear new, such virtue is in 
 them. They excite my feelings, and cause my eyes to 
 shed tears of joy. 
 
 MAI. Grant, O God, that his words may take firm 
 root in the hearts of all Christians; then shall we both 
 be happy ! 
 
 SIM. And what more has that learned professor written 
 concerning the Jews ? 
 
 MAI. He has greatly advocated our cause; but that 
 is foreign to our subject. 
 
 SIM. But if thou knowest aught of his that thou 
 thinkest could impart pleasure to me, let me hear it, 
 howsoever brief thy speech may be.
 
 150 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 MAI. In the same Work he says,* " After making 
 strict inquiries, I found that the Israelites in Germany, 
 as in other countries, are not gluttons; that no Israelite 
 was ever found guilty of pirating a copyright, though he 
 might have done so easily, and reaped a good profit 
 thereby : the Christians, on the contrary, commit pla- 
 giaries openly and without shame : and the Christians 
 contract many loathsome diseases, which it would be 
 improper to mention. Melancholy is rarely perceived 
 amongst the Israelites ; but it is common with the Chris- 
 tians ; who are subject to evils, the result of bad morals 
 and sensual indulgences, against which Christian ministers 
 preach, in a much greater degree than is ever known 
 with the Israelites." This author has mentioned many 
 circumstances, besides these, as favourable to my people. 
 
 SIM. You Israelites have certainly a most excellent 
 advocate in Professor Krug. I really do not think that 
 there is an equal to him amongst all the Christians. 
 
 MAI. O, yes ; there are many ; I have already quoted 
 from several of our time. The fact is, the truly great 
 amongst you always search after means to discover 
 truth ; their criticism is not sparing to any person. 
 
 SIM. It seems to me that we have introduced into our 
 conversation much that is quite irrelevant to our pur- 
 pose ; let us now set ourselves right. 
 
 MAI. I wish so to do. 
 
 SIM. There can be no doubt that your ancestors to 
 whom thou hast referred, wrote, as thou sayest, in favour 
 of our Messiah; but I think the Talmudists afterwards 
 
 * From page 27 to 29, in a note.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 151 
 
 acted differently, in consequence of the persecutions 
 they underwent from the Christians : it is probable that 
 they did, for, as Plutarch says, both love and hatred are 
 causes of diversion from the straight line. 
 
 MAI. It is in the Talmud, also, that " love diverts the 
 line," &c. 
 
 SIM. I have been assured that many things were 
 added to the Talmud, particularly to that portion which 
 treats of histories and allegories. 
 
 MAI. So some authors of the Heathen, and even some 
 Christians, have accused the early fathers of the Christian 
 Church of having made alterations in the Gospels, and 
 of having added passages thereto for which they had 
 no sufficient authority, especially in those portions of 
 the Gospels that refer to the Hebrews, the authors of 
 the Mishna, and their doctrine. Our learned men at 
 this very day have doubts, as to whether they should 
 attribute the words of those passages to Jesus, Paul, or 
 Peter; and they think sometimes that these invidious 
 phrases may have been interpolated with the original 
 work from motives of revenge. The Gospels were not 
 written by Jesus himself, nor by his immediate apostles; 
 but by persons who collected and arranged all the infor- 
 mation concerning the acts of Christ which could be 
 obtained some years after his death. I will not 
 mention what Marcion, and Manes the philosopher, both 
 Christians,* have said on this subject; but there is much 
 doubt even at this day, amongst many Christians, respect- 
 ing the origin of one epistle in the New Testament. 
 
 * See Bossuet, p. 433.
 
 152 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIM. We consider Marcion and Manes as heretics; 
 and who, therefore, would place confidence in their 
 opinions ? it is useless even to mention them. In the 
 same way that ye regard with feelings of veneration the 
 books of the Talmud, do we appreciate and respect tne 
 Gospels : we consider them sacred, from beginning to 
 end ; for they are the words of the Living God, and are 
 sealed with the seal of Truth. 
 
 MAI. Happy would your brethren be, if they uni- 
 versally conformed to the main principles of their 
 doctrine ; and happy would my brethren be, if they 
 universally conformed to the precepts of their law ; for 
 although the two systems differ in their details, the origin 
 of both is the same ; our teachers and yours were all 
 pupils of Moses and the Prophets. 
 
 SIM. In reference to what thou hast just said that 
 some of the early fathers of the Christian Church made 
 unauthorised additions to the Gospels inimical to the 
 Hebrews, the authors of the Mishna, and their doctrine, 
 I must say that it is not true. God forbid ! There is 
 nothing of what thou speakest to be found in the Gospels. 
 Certain it is that the authors of the Mishna and the 
 Pharisees drew forth great rebukes from the Messiah, 
 because they were proud, and sought after empty honour. 
 He greatly esteemed, however, the precepts they pro- 
 fessed to teach, and commanded all his followers to 
 receive and observe them; as St. Matthew relates in 
 these words : * " Then spake Jesus to the multitude, 
 and to his disciples, saying, The Scribes and Pharisees 
 
 * Matt, xxiii. 18.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 153 
 
 sit in Moses' seat; all, therefore, whatsoever they lid you 
 observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their 
 works ; for they say and do not. For they bind heavy 
 burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on 
 men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move 
 them with one of their fingers. But all their works they 
 do for to be seen of men : they make broad their phy- 
 lacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments ; and 
 love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats 
 in the synagogues; and greetings in the market-places; 
 and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi." I have heard 
 from one of your Rabbies that it is stated in the Tal- 
 mud, that it was said by one (who was present at the 
 lecture) to one of the authors of the Mishna, who preached 
 in the synagogue on the sin which a person commits by 
 remaining unmarried, although he was without a wife 
 himself, "Master, thou preachest well, but thou dost 
 not perform that which thou preachest." I believe the 
 preacher's name was Ben Azai : expressions similar to 
 this man's were used by the Messiah towards the Scribes 
 and Pharisees in general. 
 
 MAI. Ben Azai gave a good reason for what he said, 
 which was satisfactory to those who heard it. I must 
 apologize for our masters, the authors of the Mishna, 
 upon almost the same principle that Ben Azai did. 
 They were obliged to observe a certain dignity, agreeably 
 to what your Messiah said ; becaust, being the leaders 
 of the people, who sat in Moses' seat, and some of them 
 being also members of the Synod, in which was centered 
 all the political power (and it is known that during their 
 reign the ecclesiastical and political functions of the
 
 154 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 nation were combined in one synod*), they found it 
 indispensable to display a kind of dignity, for by that 
 chiefly the respect of the people was to be obtained; 
 and all politicians agree that that is essential for the 
 safe continuance of any system of government. With 
 regard to their having trammelled the people with ordi- 
 nances which, according to the reproofs of your Law- 
 giver, they themselves did not care to put in practice, 
 I must make another apology for them. All the 
 affirmative laws comprised in the Bible (except those 
 which we are compelled to observe in respect to our 
 neighbour), may be dispensed with by one who devotes 
 himself wholly to the study of the law ; for such a one 
 is considered to be more beneficially exerting himself 
 than if he applied his faculties to other purposes, at the 
 same time scrupulously practising the minor precepts 
 of the law, the same as any ordinary person who for 
 voluntarily disregarding them would be punished. 
 
 SIM. Whosoever offers an apology for his master will 
 be blessed. I do not wish to argue with thee merely on 
 religious topics ; therefore, friend Maimoon, let us return 
 once again to the main subject of our conversation. I 
 should like to know what Mendelssohn says about our 
 Messiah, especially since thou hast said that his opinions 
 correspond with those of R. SH. B. Z. : undoubtedly the 
 words of Mendelssohn will greatly elucidate this matter. 
 
 MAI. The following are words of his, extracted from 
 his Jerusalem : " Jesus of Nazareth never signified f that 
 
 * Set Yehuda. 
 
 t Jerusalem, v. M. Mendelssohn. Berlin, 1783, p. 130.
 
 M:\ENTII CONVERSATION. 155 
 
 he was come to acquit the house of Jacob of 4he law ; 
 nay, he said the reverse in express terms; and what is 
 more, he acted the reverse. Jesus of Nazareth himself 
 observed not only the Mosaic Law, but the rabbinical 
 institutions ; and whatever seems to be contrary to this 
 in the sayings and doings recorded of him, only seems so 
 at first sight: carefully examined, everything will be 
 found perfectly to agree not only with Scripture, but also 
 with tradition. If he came to put a stop to the more 
 and more spreading Pharisaism and hypocrisy, surely he 
 would not himself have set the first example in their 
 favour, by sanctioning personally a law which he deemed 
 it necessary to set aside. On the contrary, the rabbinical 
 maxim, that he who is born in the law must live accord- 
 ing to the law, and die according to it, obviously cha- 
 racterises his whole conduct, and that of his disciples in 
 the beginning. If, in later times, his followers thought 
 differently, and believed that they might also absolve 
 the Jews who joined them from the observance of the 
 law, they certainly had no authority from him for so 
 doing." 
 
 SIM. I recollect that I have read the whole of that 
 work ; and I consider that it is of great service to the 
 Israelitish faith. I have, moreover, read a letter in 
 German, written by that celebrated philosopher, Emanuel 
 Kant, when first that work appeared ; and I cannot con- 
 ceal from thee, brother Maimoon, that, notwithstanding 
 Kant's great reputation for philosophy and piety, I did 
 not approve of his sentiments. Mendelssohn was born 
 a Jew, and brought up- in the Jewish faith ; and con- 
 sequently had no particular inducement to study the
 
 156 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 principles of Christianity ; therefore, when he wrote his 
 work, it was natural that he should chiefly aim at vin- 
 dicating his own religion, without reflecting whether his 
 words were in unison with the precepts of Christianity or 
 not. But the philosopher Kant was born a Christian, 
 and ought not for that reason to have made use of such 
 words in reference to Mendelssohn. I recollect that 
 when I was reading Jerusalem, I made several observa- 
 tions myself in disapprobation of it; neither I nor any 
 other Christian could approve of the passage which thou 
 hast just quoted from that work ; and I wished, therefore, 
 to ask some questions concerning particular parts in it. 
 But we Christians are satisfied to hear such sentiments 
 from an Israelite regarding us. I wish that all learned 
 Israelites would take pattern from Mendelssohn. 
 
 MAI. I should much like to know where a copy of 
 that letter of Kant is to be obtained, and what its con- 
 tents are. 
 
 SIM. It is in a German book ;* the letter runs thus : 
 " M. Friedlander will tell you with what admiration of 
 your acuteness, penetration, and wisdom, I read your 
 * Jerusalem.' I hold this work to be the announcement 
 of a great, though slowly approaching reform, which 
 will not only concern your religion, but also that of 
 others. You knew how to join conscientious freedom 
 with religion, a circumstance which no one would have 
 believed to have been possible, and which no other reli- 
 gion can boast of. You stated the necessity of unlimited 
 
 * Beilrug zur Gcschichte der Vcrfolgungcn der Juden im IQleu 
 Jdhrhundert : von David Friedlander. Berlin, 1820, p. 24, 
 ment emes Briefcs von Kant an Mendelssohn.
 
 SEVENTH CONVERSATION. 157 
 
 freedom of conscience in every religion so profoundly, 
 and so clearly, that our church must, of necessity, at 
 at last so think like yourself, as to remove from it every 
 thing which may harass or oppress the conscience. A 
 point will cause the junction of all people in the essen- 
 tial parts of religion; for all religious precepts which 
 oppress the conscience have originated in history, if a 
 belief in the latter is considered as a condition for future 
 happiness." Now, friend Simmias, I propose that we 
 return again to our main subject of discussion: we are 
 far off it again. 
 
 SIM. We ought so to do. 
 
 END OF THE SEVENTH CONVERSATION.
 
 158 
 
 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIMM i AS. After hearing the various cogent arguments 
 which thou hast brought forward to refute the accusation 
 against the Israelites, of using Christian blood, I feel 
 surprised that so many Jews have really confessed that 
 they were guilty of that crime. 
 
 MAIMOON. Art thou not aware that tortures of the 
 most agonizing description were inflicted on those poor 
 wretches previously to their confession ? My blood runs 
 cold when I think of their sufferings. Our masters have 
 justly observed respecting Khananyah, Mishael, and 
 Azaryah, who exposed their lives to the flame, and yet 
 remained faithful to their creed, that if they had been 
 put to the torture, they would probably have consented 
 to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's image ; for tortures so ex- 
 cessive have been devised that few can endure them and 
 retain their reason scarcely for a day, much less for days, 
 weeks, and years, which were the periods to which the 
 Spanish Inquisition prolonged their cruelties on those 
 few who manfully refused to criminate themselves 
 falsely.* In most cases where those horribly acute tor- 
 tures were practised, the victims, despite their spotless 
 
 * Puigblanch, the book mentioned before ; also, Histoire dc 
 V Inquisition en Espagnc, par le Secretaire dc I' Inquisition. Paris, 
 1824.
 
 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 159 
 
 innocence of the guilt attributed to them, could not for- 
 bear to utter inconsistent things, thinking thereby to 
 have their pangs terminated by death, or perhaps obtain a 
 momentary respite from them. And who can wonder at 
 them for what they said? Every mortal has not the 
 strength of mind which constitutes a hero. But there 
 have been many amongst our learned, whose firmness 
 shed a glorious yet melancholy light on our cause, who 
 underwent every species of torture that fierce persecutors 
 could invent, and yet proudly adhered to the truth. 
 There is one fact recorded concerning our martyrs, which 
 pierces the heart of almost every reader, and which oc- 
 curred in the middle of the seventeenth century : it was 
 that of the Hebrew philosopher, Orobio,* who was kept in 
 prison, and tortured in the worst manner the Inquisition 
 could think of, for three years ; and yet he never swerved 
 from his first protestation of innocence. 
 
 SIM. I believe he was physician to Philip the Sixth of 
 Spain. 
 
 MAI. Yes ; and afterwards he was physician to Louis 
 the Thirteenth of France. Orobio composed many 
 philosophical works, in both the Latin and Spanish 
 languages. 
 
 SIM. His works are highly appreciated by Christians. 
 
 MAI. The history of mankind shews that excruciating 
 pain inflicted wilfully by others, will cause men to say 
 that which their consciences disclaim. For this reason 
 it was that the synod at Jerusalem never resorted to 
 torture to obtain evidence of a prisoner's guilt from him- 
 
 * Sulamith, 4ter Julirgang, vol. i. part 2, p. 417.
 
 160 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 self, but always sought to prove a case by means of 
 witnesses. If powerfully bodied men so frequently sink 
 and become deranged under the torture, how must it 
 have been with delicately framed men, and women, and 
 children ? Who can wonder at any confessions extorted 
 from them ? 
 
 SIM. The same just system of examination into accu- 
 sations is observed by the Russian government; for 
 although their inquiries are as strict and energetic as 
 may well be, they never allow a prisoner to be beaten 
 or to be put to bodily pain till after his guilt is incon- 
 testably established. 
 
 MAI. This is an evidence that the rulers of Russia are 
 men of sound understanding and friends of truth. I 
 have seen a report in the book VindicicB Jud&orum* of 
 an extraordinary circumstance, which I think it worth 
 while to relate to thee. " A Portuguese nobleman, 
 whose physician was imprisoned for being supposed to 
 be a Jew, begged of one of the inquisitors, by letter, that 
 he would cause him to be set at liberty, because he had 
 certain knowledge that he was a good Christian ; but the 
 physician, nevertheless, was put to the torture, and, in 
 his agony, confessed that he was a Jew, and promised to 
 become a penitent. Upon this the nobleman became 
 incensed, and feigning himself sick, sent for the inquisi- 
 tor, by one of his servants, to come to visit him. When 
 the inquisitor arrived, he commanded him to confess that 
 he himself was a Jew, and further, to write his confes- 
 sion with his own hand ; and when he refused to do this, 
 
 * Samuel's English Translation, p. 18, 22.
 
 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 161 
 
 the nobleman charged some of his servants to put a 
 helmet, heated red hot on a fire, on his head ; but, 
 unable to endure this threatened torment, he confessed, 
 and wrote with his own hand, that he was a Jew. The 
 nobleman then took occasion to reprove him for his in- 
 justice and cruelty, saying, ' In the same manner that I 
 forced a confession from you, was a confession forced 
 from my physician, with this difference, fear of the tor- 
 ment made you confess, whereas he experienced it. " 
 
 I will relate another case from the same work : " The 
 auto-da-fe (which is ordinarily performed at Toledo) 
 was performed at Madrid, in the year 1632, in the pre- 
 sence of the king of Spain ; where the king and queen 
 took an oath, before the inquisitors, that they would 
 maintain and preserve the Catholic faith in their domi- 
 nions. On this occasion it is recorded, that a family of 
 our nation was burnt because they had confessed, upon 
 the rack, the truth of a certain accusation made against 
 them by a maid-servant, who, probably through some 
 pique, said that they had scourged an image of some 
 saint, from which much blood flowed in consequence of 
 the stripes, and which was heard to cry, ' Why do ye thus 
 cruelly scourge me ?' The nobility had no belief in this 
 accusation, but the proceedings of the Inquisition no one 
 durst call in question." * Another reason of there being 
 reports in existence of Israelites having confessed to this 
 crime might have arisen from the merciful consideration 
 of some of the judges, on whom the superintendence of 
 their tortures in some cases devolved ; and who, seeing 
 
 * Vind. Judaeorum, p. 17. 
 Y
 
 1G2 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 that they were immovably determined to assert their inno- 
 cence to the last, and fearing to liberate them on account 
 of the prejudices of the populace or of some other judges, 
 gave out that they had acknowledged their guilt, in order 
 that by a speedy and final punishment their sufferings 
 might be brought to a close. It has doubtless sometimes 
 happened that one or two Israelites in a congregation, of 
 enthusiastic dispositions, took upon themselves the bur- 
 den of an accusation, in order to preserve the whole con- 
 gregation from ruin, which the prejudiced vulgar would 
 certainly have effected when their suspicions were excited, 
 unless they had been appeased by obtaining some vic- 
 tims. We find many such instances of magnanimous 
 devotion spoken of in Greek and Roman history ; and 
 the Talmud distinctly mentions the cases of two righteous 
 Israelites who thus testified their affection for their 
 brethren, Popus, and Lulianus. It may, doubtless, like- 
 wise have happened that some judges were excessively 
 cruel and proud, and feeling mortified at not being able 
 to extort a confession from the sufferers, did not hesitate 
 to utter a falsehood to obtain credit with the multitude, 
 and said they had confessed ; and this was the case in 
 some of the small towns in Poland, about a century ago, 
 where the judges were often harsh-tempered and bigoted 
 priests (at that time, and in such places, excessively 
 ignorant), or such persons as blacksmiths, or peasants, 
 who were often in a state of inebriety, and who were 
 utterly unfit to doom a fellow-mortal to death. I could 
 cite very many instances of unfortunate Israelites having 
 been put to death on their own confessions, and yet were 
 absolutely innocent; the work Shebet Yehuda mentions
 
 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 163 
 
 cases in which, after the victims were executed, circum- 
 stances came to light which riot only fully acquitted them 
 of the guilt, but proved the crimes for which they had 
 died to have been perpetrated by the Christians by 
 whom they had been stigmatized. Menashe ben Israel, 
 in his Vindici(R) mentions many similar cases, as thou 
 mayest find on reference to it ; and numerous Christian 
 authors, indeed, have recorded the same facts. 
 
 SIM. It is an error which may often occur with very 
 righteous magistrates, to pass a harsh sentence on an 
 innocent man, he being guilty in their honest opinions, 
 founded upon an impartial investigation, and the ap- 
 parently credible testimony they have heard against 
 him ; or on the other hand, a guilty man may suffer 
 through circumstances, after an impartial enquiry, being 
 apparently in his favour; for the judge can decide only 
 from what he sees ; as it is said, "for man looketh on the 
 outward appearance."* 
 
 MAI. But after all possible evidence which I may 
 adduce from undoubted sources, of the innocence of my 
 people in respect to this horrible crime, and of the kind- 
 ness generally exhibited by them towards Christians, even 
 to the zealously preserving of Christians' lives, there 
 would still remain a doubt in the mind of him who has 
 ever listened seriously to the accusation. 
 
 SIM. And why so ? 
 
 MAI. Because whoever falls into the snare of the accu- 
 sation, has so many insidious suspicions to remove from 
 the hearts of his accusers, ere his innocence will be 
 admitted by them. I cannot but think that it must be 
 
 * 1 Samuel, xvi. 7.
 
 164 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 the means of the Almighty's chastisements of us, as was 
 said, " Also every sickness, and every plague, which is 
 not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord 
 bring upon thee."* 
 
 SIM. Explain thyself more clearly. 
 
 MAI. The proofs of innocence which an accused per- 
 son can put forward, either himself or by his advocate, 
 are negative ; neither can we call them absolutely con- 
 vincing proofs. The evidence of the accuser, on the 
 contrary, is positive, that is to say, affirmative, stating a 
 fact which has taken place. We will put a case thus : 
 Something was missed from the house of A, and suspi- 
 cion of theft fell upon B, because he had been in the 
 house, or for some other reason depending on circum- 
 stances. B, wishing to prove himself innocent, stated 
 that he was once in the house of C at a time that some- 
 thing was missed, and the thief was apprehended, and 
 other things occurred to shew that he did not steal that 
 article ; but his evidence was of a negative character ; 
 he stated that he never did steal anything from any other 
 person; yet B might have stolen something from A's 
 house ; for if he was not a thief when in the house of 
 C, nor in any of the other houses in which he had been 
 before, yet that did not absolutely prove him innocent of 
 the theft in the house of A. A person may be a thief, 
 and yet not steal everything that comes in his way ; and 
 the more numerous the instances which B adduces to 
 show that suspicion had been cast on him before, and 
 other persons had been found to be the offenders, the 
 more strong would be suspicion against him in his pre- 
 
 * Deuteronomy, xxviii. 61.
 
 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 165 
 
 sent position ; for his enemies -would say, " Why is sus- 
 picion always cast upon B, and not on C, D, or any body 
 else ? this furnishes strong grounds for believing him to 
 be the thief in this case." Thus when a theft is com- 
 mitted, suspicion is likely to fall upon B ; and should B 
 mention, as a proof of his being naturally honest, that 
 he once found an article of value and restored it to its 
 owner, his determined enemies would say it was an un- 
 satisfactory proof, for he knew it might have been traced 
 to him. And if he should continue to argue that he 
 once restored an article of value to its proper owners 
 who lived in a distant part of the world, after having 
 found it in his own house, where he could have kept it 
 without molestation, still they would say that such an act 
 was a further confirmation of his dishonest propensities ; 
 for he might have been desirous to go to the place 
 where the owners of the article resided, for the purpose 
 of practising that which was improper, and for which, 
 after this apparent sign of honesty, he would find great 
 facilities there. Thus, with all his arguments, his evi- 
 dence would only be of a negative character. An answer 
 similar to his was given by Joseph's brethren to him who 
 pursued them for the theft of the cup: "Behold, the 
 money which we found in our sacks' mouth, we brought 
 again unto thee, out of the land of Canaan ; how then 
 should we steal out of the lord's house silver or gold !" * 
 This they gave as an unanswerable proof of their inno- 
 cence, the more especially because they had restored the 
 money after they had been in another country with it in 
 their possession, which the words^ "out of the land of 
 
 * Genesis, xliv. 8.
 
 166 EIGHTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 Canaan" signified. And when afterwards the cup was 
 found in the sack of Benjamin, which took place after 
 the money had been restored, his brother exclaimed, 
 "What shall we speak? how shall we clear ourselves? 
 God has found out the iniquity of his servants:" by 
 which they appear to have been afraid that suspicion 
 would weigh upon them all, although the cup was not 
 found in any one of their sacks ; and therefore they said, 
 " Behold, we are my lord's servants, both we and he with 
 whom the cup is found." 
 
 SIM. This is true. He who is placed under the ne- 
 cessity of producing evidence to clear himself from 
 suspicion of guilt, can never be entirely free from sus- 
 picion afterwards ; for every one will say to him, " Why 
 should not / be required to produce evidence of my 
 character ?" 
 
 END OF THE EIGHTH CONVERSATION.
 
 167 
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 SIMMIAS. I have often wished to ask thee one ques- 
 tion, but hitherto I have omitted it. Now, praise be to 
 Him who reminds us of things forgotten ; I will put it 
 to thee, and thou must give me an answer. 
 
 MAIMOON. Put thy question, my friend; perhaps I 
 shall be able to answer it to thy satisfaction. 
 
 SIM. Undoubtedly the accusation of the use of blood 
 must have been investigated by many Christian monarchs, 
 and especially by the Popes; and it must also have hap- 
 pened that amongst them there were friends of truth, 
 who had full power to investigate the subject. Dost 
 thou happen to know the result of any inquiries made 
 by such ? if so, pray inform me. 
 
 MAI. Thy conjecture is correct. The decrees issued 
 by those monarchs and Popes in consequence of their 
 investigations, fully testify the groundlessness of the ac- 
 cusation. But before I specify them, I will quote to 
 thee something that was said by the noble and learned 
 Czacki, a Polish Christian, who died about sixteen years 
 ago. I have frequently mentioned his name to thee 
 already. 
 
 SIM. Who is there who has not heard of that distin- 
 guished person ? What thou art about to quote is doubt- 
 less from his admirable work entitled, " A Disquisition 
 concerning the Jews;" for it treats entirely of your
 
 168 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 people. I have heard a great deal of that work, though I 
 have never read it myself. I think I have heard thee 
 mention it before. 
 
 MAI. In the work thou hast just named he has in- 
 serted many arguments to refute the accusation, and 
 also many decrees which emanated from Polish kings, 
 and learned and influential men, as well as decrees is- 
 sued by the Pope, in favour of the Israelites ; but I 
 alluded to another work written by him previously to 
 that. 
 
 SIM. Perhaps it is a work which he wrote on the Po- 
 lish laws ; for I have been told that that is a very erudite 
 performance likewise. I think I have once seen it. 
 
 MAI. Thou art right; it is in his work On the Lithu- 
 anian and Polish Laws.* These are his words, in the 
 shape of a note to the second article of the general privi- 
 lege granted to the Israelites by the Polish king, VitoM, 
 in Lucku, in 1408. 
 
 [At this stage of their discourse, Maimoon despatched 
 a servant of Simmias to his house for several books, which 
 he named. The servant speedily did his bidding.] 
 
 SIM. Pray give them to me ; I will read them. \_He 
 tahes them from Maimoon and reads."] 11. " Whosoever 
 charges a Jew with having killed Christian children must 
 produce three witnesses ; and whoever fails to prove such 
 a charge, shall undergo a penalty equal to that which 
 would have been inflicted on the murderer." Czacki, in 
 
 * Czacki, vol. ii. p. 111.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 169 
 
 his note, thus concludes : " In spite of all the decrees 
 issued by the Popes in favour of the Israelites, in spite 
 of all the protections granted to them by the govern- 
 ment, the voice of the clergy continued, even to our 
 days, to resound on this subject, and to prepare materials 
 for persecution. A priest of Cracow, named Budek, in 
 1407, by charging the Israelites with having killed a 
 child, occasioned a riot to break out amongst the people, 
 in which many Jews were slain." Stanislaus Lwowizyk 
 (Leopolitanus), a priest, wrote in 1543 a work, De Sanctis 
 Interfectis a Judaos, which was printed by Imgler, and 
 which he concluded with an exhortation to the people to 
 expel the Jews. Skargo, a priest, in his Lives of the 
 Saints, mentions briefly, in that of St. Simon, of Trent, 
 a murder committed in the year 1574, in Punie, a Lithu- 
 anian town, and spares no expressions capable of making 
 the Jews hated. Przedas Moiecki, a priest, published at 
 Siebeneychen's printing office, 1598, an extensive treatise 
 on the history of similar cruelties, and by his narrative 
 excited the anger of all those who had more zeal than 
 wisdom. When a decree of the tribunal of Lublin had, 
 in 1636, condemned a Jew for having killed a child, the 
 Carmelite friars, who printed the decree, did not forget 
 to inveigh against the Israelitish nation. About the 
 middle of the same century, a device, representing the 
 martyrdom of a child, was publicly exhibited in Woysla- 
 wice, a Polish town; and as late as 1774, the criminal 
 tribunal of Warsaw was yet employed in examining a 
 similar charge. When, therefore, the Jews were gene- 
 rally accused of this crime, protection against the general 
 prejudice was needed ; and this is the reason why the 
 
 z
 
 170 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 clause above-mentioned was granted as a privilege to the 
 Jews." 
 
 MAI. Can we have any better evidence than that of 
 the popes themselves, who declared the accusation false? 
 And dost thou not know that whenever the Israelites 
 were banished from a Christian country, they were always 
 received by the popes in Rome, as well as in the states 
 under them; and under the popes sometimes enjoyed 
 great privileges ? 
 
 SIM. I should like very much to read the decrees of 
 the kings and popes which declare the accusation to be 
 false. 
 
 MAI. I give thee here a little work, entitled, Documenta 
 Judceos, printed in Poland in 1763; also an ukase, writ- 
 ten in the Polish and Russian languages, as it was issued 
 by the great Emperor Alexander the First; and I give 
 thee another work, which was printed two years ago in 
 Warsaw, in the Polish language; it is called Obroiia 
 Israel. I have here for thy perusal a translation of the 
 celebrated work of Menashe ben Israel, to which I have 
 already called thy attention ; this he composed in the 
 year 1656; it contains answers to many questions which 
 were put by distinguished English Christians, and an 
 answer to the accusation of the use of blood ; that work 
 is generally known by the name of Vindicice Judoeorum. 
 
 SIM. I know that great man; he was the spiritual 
 head of the congregation at Amsterdam ; monarchs and 
 learned Christians greatly respected him. I have read 
 several of his works, which he composed in Latin, 
 English, Spanish, Dutch, and Hebrew ; he is the author 
 of more than thirty works in different languages.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 171 
 
 MAI. The work I have so often alluded to, and which 
 I have here, has been translated into German by the 
 great Hebrew philosopher Mendelssohn, whom we have 
 several times spoken of as the German Plato, and the 
 Hebrew Socrates. 
 
 SIM. The celebrated Karamsin also designates him 
 by those appellations. 
 
 MAI. That philosopher translated it in the year 
 1 782 ; and it was printed in the same year at Berlin : 
 it has also been printed elsewhere; and he added a 
 wonder-exciting preface to his work. 
 
 SIM. All men of learning agree, that whatever has 
 been written by Mendelssohn deserves to be styled 
 precious and wonderful : there was not a philosopher like 
 him at the time he lived, nor is there his equal in our 
 days. He was also very pious in his actions, and therefore 
 obtained in his generation the title of "Precious;" and 
 he was the only one of his nation so called. I recollect 
 having read once, that when the Emperor Alexander the 
 First ordered his minister of finance to make an estimate 
 of the annual expenditure for the schools he intended 
 to establish for the Israelites in his dominions, and the 
 minister brought to the Emperor the account he desired, 
 he said, " May it please your Imperial Majesty, this 
 establishment will require an immense sum; the ex- 
 penses will be greater than any benefit that can be 
 derived from them." Upon which the Emperor mildly 
 observed, " If from these schools in my country, only 
 one Mendelssohn should come, the benefit will be 
 greater than all the expenses I shall incur." 
 
 MAI. (looking at Simmias icith a cheerful countenance,
 
 172 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 and his eyes expressing the gratification of his heart}. Two 
 years ago a learned Hebrew from Warsaw translated 
 that work into the Polish language, and added to it a 
 very long preface, which chiefly serves to refute the 
 accusation of the use of blood: in that thou wilt also 
 find several decrees, and answers to the questions of our 
 opponents. 
 
 SIM. I will read them. 
 
 [Simmias here commenced the perusal of the various 
 documents, and Maimoon waited with him till he had 
 concluded, which was about three o'clock in the after- 
 noon.] 
 
 Documenta Judceos in Polonia concernentia ad acta metrices 
 regni suscepta, et ex iisjideliter iterum descripta et extra- 
 dita Varsavice, Anno 1763. 
 
 " AUGUSTUS THE THIRD, by the Grace of God, King 
 of Poland. Grand Duke of Lithuania, Russia, 
 Prussia, Massovia, Samogitia, Kiovia, Volhynia, 
 Podolia, Podlachia, Livonia, Smolencia, Severia, 
 Czerniechovia, Hereditary Duke of Saxony, and 
 Elector. 
 
 " It is our will and pleasure to make known, by these 
 presents, to all whom it may concern, to our own subjects 
 especially; that the infidel Meyer Jewelowicz, one of 
 the elders of the Jewish community in Poland, has ap- 
 peared in person before the officers of our minor chan- 
 cery ; and has caused to be inserted amongst the records
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 173 
 
 thereof the document, a copy of which is hereunto sub- 
 joined, which was extracted, by authority, from the 
 archives of Lemberg, and signed, in testimony of its 
 authenticity, by the most noble Skorupka Padlewski, 
 and sealed with the seal of the Starosty ; whereby we 
 are assured that it is a faithful copy of the original, and 
 that its correctness in every particular is unquestionable. 
 
 " Enacted in the castle of Lemberg, on Friday, the 
 very day of the Lord our Saviour's transfiguration, one 
 thousand seven hundred and eleven. 
 
 " The infidel Aaron Israelowicz, chief Syndic of the 
 town and suburbs of Lemberg, has this day, in his own 
 person, appeared at the Record Office of the Starostine 
 Castle; and, on his requisition, has been inserted amongst 
 the public and official records of the same, a special 
 article in favour of the Jews of Lemberg; being one of 
 the provisions of a privilege, or charter, granted by His 
 Majesty, Sigismund the third, king of Poland, and in- 
 scribed on parchment by command of the same illustrious 
 monarch, and approved of, and confirmed in all its 
 paragraphs, by his late majesty Michael the First; in 
 confirmation of which, his majesty affixed to it his sign 
 manual, and it was also signed by his majesty's secretary, 
 the noble Hieronymus Pinoci, and sealed with the seal of 
 the privy council, and enrolled in the public records on 
 the Friday ensuing upon the Sunday Cantate of the year 
 1671. This has been submitted by the aforesaid Aaron 
 Israelowicz to the inspection of the authorities of this 
 office, transcribed in their presence, and the transcript 
 compared with the original. The twenty-first paragraph 
 of the precept is as follows :
 
 174 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 " * And farther be it enacted, that henceforward no Jew 
 shall be accused by any Christian, lightly saying, as re- 
 gards this matter, that Jews are under the necessity of 
 using Christian blood in the making of unleavened bread 
 for their paschal feast ; for the papal decrees, and con- 
 stitutions or enactments of Innocent, declare that of 
 such things the Jews are in no wise guilty, and, more- 
 over, that such are not sanctioned by their law. And if 
 any Christians, from stubborn prejudice, or wilful malice, 
 
 shall charge a Jew with the commission of a crime for 
 
 * 
 the purpose of obtaining Christian blood, then it shall be 
 
 right and lawful for the Jew to require the Christian to 
 produce three witnesses who are Jews in support of his 
 charge, whose reputation must be free from reproach, 
 and whose faith must be unshaken ; and if, by such evi- 
 dence, the Christian should succeed in proving the Jew 
 to be guilty, then shall the Jew be condemned to death, 
 and his life be inevitably taken from him ; but if the 
 Christian should not be able to support his accusation 
 with such evidence as is hereby specified, then shall he 
 suffer the same penalty as would otherwise have been 
 awarded to the Jew. And if, on such pretences as that 
 any Jews are supposed to have used Christian blood for 
 any mysterious purpose, nobles, citizens, or burgesses 
 of our kingdom, shall commit any acts of violence on the 
 Jews residing within our dominions, without their having 
 been lawfully convicted of the crime alleged against 
 them, the property of such shall, without reservation, be 
 forfeited to our own treasury. And it is also enacted, 
 that if any Christian shall summon any Jew to answer to 
 any charge of a like nature, the Jew shall not be com-
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 175 
 
 pelled to appear before any judge in respect to such 
 charge, except the Palatine for the time being; and 
 that if any Christian within our dominions shall, on the 
 Sabbath, or on any festival or peculiar day on which the 
 Jews are forbidden by their religion to touch money, 
 attempt to exact from them the Radia,* and, in the pro- 
 secution of their purpose, shall violently seize a Jew's 
 furniture or other effects, such Christian shall be tried 
 before a competent tribunal, and, if convicted of the 
 offence, be punished as a robber and common thief, and 
 his treatment shall be the same in every particular.' 
 
 " After the paragraph had been duly registered, as 
 the said Aaron Israelowicz required, the original docu- 
 ment was returned into his possession, for which his 
 receipt was duly given." 
 
 (Locus SIGILLI.) 
 
 " This extract has been revised by me, 
 
 SKORUPKA PADLEWSKI, MP. 
 
 " The same has been read by me, GORNICKI. 
 
 " Which document, per oblatum, faithfully copied, we 
 have permitted to be inserted in our records, the original 
 being returned to the owner, for which we hold his 
 receipt. 
 
 (The signature of the infidel Meyer Jewelowicz written 
 in Hebrew characters.) 
 
 " Done the Friday after Quadragesimal Sunday (Lae- 
 tare), March the 18th, in the year of our Lord 1768. 
 " M. WODZICKI, E. P. P. R. 
 
 "[L. S.] Report of his lordship the illustrious Count de 
 
 * A certain tax levied on the Jews in Poland.
 
 176 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 CRANOW WODZICKI, Bishop of Preraysl, Abbot of 
 Czernikow, and Vice Chancellor for the crown. 
 
 "JEAN STOMINSKI, Keeper of the records of the crown, 
 and secretary to his majesty." 
 
 AUGUSTUS THE THIRD, By the Grace of God, 
 
 &c., &c., &c. 
 
 " It is our will and pleasure to make known, by these 
 presents, to all whom it may concern, to our own sub- 
 jects especially ; that the infidel Meyer Jewelowicz, one 
 of the Elders of the Jewish Community in Poland, has 
 appeared in person before the officers of our minor 
 chancery, and has caused to be inserted in the records 
 thereof a copy of the letter hereunto subjoined, with an 
 attestation, under the hand and seal of the noble Charles 
 de Schmidt, our Chancellor, that it is a faithful transla- 
 tion from the Italian into Latin." 
 
 " ' Letter of his Eminence the Cardinal Corsini, to his 
 Excellency the Nuncio of the Holy See, Visconti. Written 
 from Rome to Warsaw, on Feb. Qth, 1769. 
 
 " ' To the most Illustrious and Reverend in God, the 
 Nuncio of the Apostolic See the Cardinal 
 Corsini. 
 
 " * The bearer of this letter, Jacob Jelek, a Jew born 
 in Poland, is the same that in the year 1758, during the 
 reign of the supreme Pontiff, Benedict the Seventeenth, 
 came to Rome to implore, in the name of his brethren 
 inhabiting Poland, the protection of the Apostolic See
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 177 
 
 for them ; to shield them from the fierce and bitter 
 persecutions which, as they say, they are subjected to by 
 the Christians, not only as regards their property, but 
 their persons and their lives. 
 
 " ' It appears there is a serious injury done them when 
 they are charged, as they frequently are, by unruly as- 
 semblages of people, with murder, under the false im- 
 pression, that in the preparation of their unleavened 
 bread, they are in the habit of using human blood, 
 especially Christian blood. The now happily reigning 
 supreme Pontiff, Clement the Thirteenth, after a careful 
 investigation of the subject, has determined to act in the 
 matter as becomes his wisdom and love of justice, and 
 as the great importance of it requires ; and, in accord- 
 ance with his intentions, you will receive certain private 
 instructions. For the present, his Holiness deems it 
 sufficient to command us to inform you, that it is his 
 pleasure that full and efficient protection be afforded by 
 your Lordship to the aforesaid Jacob Jelek, so that, 
 while on his journey home, he may not be exposed to 
 any molestation or grievous annoyance, especially from 
 those whom your Lordship might expect to be actuated 
 by any angry and revengeful feelings towards him, be- 
 cause of his having applied for the protection of the 
 Holy See. It is the wish of his Holiness that adequate 
 means be provided for effectuating this object; those on 
 whom the active measures for its accomplishment will 
 devolve must be properly apprised of their duties in 
 respect to the same ; and, indeed, such protection must 
 be secured to the bearer of this letter as will convince 
 him that the word of his Holiness has not been given in 
 
 A A
 
 178 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 vain, and that he is deeply a debtor to our Lord's 
 clemency and heavenly love. 
 
 " ' God grant your Excellency long to enjoy health.' " 
 (The following are the words of the attestation.) 
 " ' I, the undersigned, do hereby certify that this letter 
 is a verbatim translation from the Italian language into 
 Latin, and that it perfectly agrees with the original, 
 given by the Most Reverend in God, the Lord Cardinal 
 Corsini, to the Most Illustrious Nuncio of the Apostolic 
 See in Poland, A.D., 1760, who (the Nuncio) delivered 
 it to the Most Illustrious Count Briihl, in order that he 
 might, in conformity with the principle it sets forth, 
 protect the Jewish people inhabiting Poland ; and which, 
 to ensure for it due faith, I have signed with my own 
 hand. 
 
 " ' CHARLES DE SCHMIDT, Counsellor to his Majesty.' 
 
 " This letter, as it is here expressed, we have allowed 
 to be inserted in the Records of the Chancery, and the 
 original to be returned to the owner of it, who has given 
 us under his own hand a receipt for the same." 
 
 (The signature of the infidel Meyer Jewelowicz, in 
 Hebrew characters.) 
 
 " That the veracity of this document may be incon- 
 trovertibly established, the seal of the crown has been 
 affixed. 
 
 " Done at Warsaw, on the Friday after the Quadra- 
 gesimal Sunday (Lretare), in March, 1763, the 
 30th year of his present Majesty's reign, 
 
 M. WODZICKI, E.P.P.R. 
 "[L.S.] Report of the most noble Lord Michael
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 179 
 
 Count de CRANOW WODZICKI, Bishop of Premysl and 
 Vice-Chancellor for the Crown. 
 
 " JEAN SLOMINSKI, Keeper of the Records of the 
 Crown, and Secretary to His Majesty." 
 
 "AUGUSTUS THE THIRD, by the grace of God, King of 
 
 Poland, &c., &c., &c. 
 
 * * * " and has caused to be inserted in the 
 records thereof a letter from the Most Reverend Lord, 
 the Apostolic Nuncio, to the Illustrious Count Briihl, the 
 chief minister of our Saxon court, written in French, and 
 also a Latin translation of the letter, the tenor of which 
 is perfectly in accordance with the original. The docu- 
 ment hereunto subjoined is a faithful copy of the same. 
 
 " ' Letter from the Most Reverend in God, the Apostolic 
 Nuncio at the Court of Warsaw, to the Most Illustrious 
 Count Briihl. 
 
 " ' It is certain that the Jews who inhabit Poland have 
 applied to the Holy See for protection against the lawless 
 persecutions to which they are exposed; and on this 
 subject I have even received commands from his Holiness, 
 which I have been mindful to fulfil whenever an oppor- 
 tunity for my so doing has presented itself. As your 
 Excellency wishes to be informed of the intentions of his 
 Holiness, I have the honour to communicate them to 
 you. His Holiness deigns to make known that the Holy 
 See has lately examined the grounds on which rests the 
 opinion that the Jews make use of human blood in the 
 preparation of their unleavened bread, and for the pro-
 
 180 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 curing of it are guilty of the murder of Christian children ; 
 and it has been ascertained that there is no evidence 
 in existence which will satisfactorily show that the Jews 
 have ever been guilty of such a crime for such a purpose, 
 notwithstanding the prejudice which was formerly, and is 
 by many people even now, entertained against them. 
 And in the event, therefore, of any such charges being 
 hereafter brought against them, that prejudice is not to 
 be received as corroborative of the fact alleged ; but on 
 strictly legal proofs alone must their accusers endea- 
 vour to substantiate their accusations. 
 
 " * I am, with the most perfect respect, Sir, 
 " ' Your Excellency's most humble and 
 
 " ' Obedient servant.' " 
 
 " This letter, the original in French, and the Latin 
 translation thereof, as here given, we have allowed to 
 be registered as desired ; and we have also given instruc- 
 tions to the proper officers, that any party who may 
 desire to possess a copy of the same shall have a copy 
 correctly written after that deposited in the record office. 
 The original has been returned to the bearer, for which 
 his receipt has been duly given. 
 
 (The signature of the infidel, Meyer Jewelowicz, in 
 Hebrew characters.) 
 
 " Done at Warsaw, on the Wednesday after the Sun- 
 day of the Passion week, in March, 1763, the thirtieth 
 year of his present Majesty's reign. 
 
 " M. WODZICKI, E.P.P.R. 
 
 "[L.S.] Report, &c., &c., as before.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 181 
 
 " J. Tugendhold* s Preface to his Polish Translation of 
 Menashe ben IsraePs ' Vindicios Judceorum.' 
 
 " After so many vicissitudes of woe and oppression, 
 through which the Israelites had passed during the eleven 
 centuries of their dispersion over the kingdoms of the 
 earth, a storm more destructive and horrible than any 
 they had yet experienced burst pon them with the com- 
 mencement of the epoch of the Crusades. ' The first 
 Crusade,' says the virtuous and learned Czacki,* referring 
 to some ancient and celebrated Christian writers, * pro- 
 claimed towards the end of the eleventh century, inflicted 
 more evils on the defenceless Jews in Europe than all 
 that the Saracens suffered from the progress of the 
 Christian armies, and exterminated more Jews in our 
 native region, than all the Saracens whom they cut off in 
 the heart and tumult of sieges and pitched battles.' This 
 statement is confirmed by the learned Bishop Narusze- 
 wicz, in the following terms : * These knighfely heroes, 
 beginning their devout enterprise with the conversion of 
 Jews, compelled them to receive the Christian sacrament, 
 and subjected them to many indignities.' f 
 
 " The great eclipse of the sun of Christianity, the 
 foundation of which is said to be good- will to all men, 
 drew upon the heads of the Israelitish people a frightful 
 tempest. The hatred against this humbled and pros- 
 trated nation daily increasing, was in a great measure 
 excited and kept alive by the pens of Christian writers, 
 
 * See Czacki's work under the title of " Disquisition concerning 
 Jews," p. 52. 
 f Naruszewiez's History of Poland, torn. iii. p. 57.
 
 182 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 chiefly belonging to the clergy. The light of science,' 
 says Czacki, alluding to those in comparison with others 
 who lived in subsequent epochs, ' did not extend its 
 beneficial influence over any spot of Europe ; and the 
 monks, whose legendary lives assumed a miraculous 
 character, and many secular historians also, believed that 
 they were performing praiseworthy actions by adding to 
 the vocabulary of abuses profusely heaped upon Jews, or 
 by charging them with the commission of the most abo- 
 minable crimes.* How, then, can it be wondered at, 
 that minds involved in darkness, and predisposed by the 
 spirit of the age and other circumstances which might 
 then prevail, to a fanatical abhorrence of the Israelites, 
 and unceasingly excited by the sermons of an apparently 
 learned clergy, should have been brought to such a state 
 as to believe the most absurd and monstrous fabrications, 
 especially when those fabrications tended to effect an 
 object to them most desirable, namely, that of enriching 
 themselves, which they could do by persecuting and pil- 
 laging the Jews?' 
 
 " This was the epoch, while a sanguinary war was being 
 carried on, * by a sainted mob,' to use the words of the 
 venerable Naruszewicz, in which first arose the prepos- 
 terous accusation (though productive of most frightful 
 effects) of the Jews making use of Christian blood. 
 Nearly all enlightened writers, clerical as well as secular, 
 agree in assigning its origin to this epoch ; and it is when 
 referring to that, that Czacki says, (making some allusion 
 as before to more recent times), ' Till the twelfth century, 
 
 * Czacki's " Disquisition concerning Jews," p. 54.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 183 
 
 Europe had never heard of these charges, which emanated 
 from a mistaken zeal, and were received as truths by the 
 masses of society, so notorious for their credulity at that 
 period, believing almost any assertions regarding Chris- 
 tian martyrs. The number of martyrs then rapidly in- 
 creased, and the credulous people numbered them 
 amongst the saints; and they did so frequently without 
 the authority of the church.'* 
 
 " But as falsehood, however artfully contrived, will not 
 stand the test of truth, which never swerves from its first 
 position, this horrible charge assumed such a variety of 
 aspects, as to convince sensible and unprejudiced per- 
 sons that it never could have had a firm foundation ; very 
 few of the promulgators of the charge could agree with 
 each other as to the precise manner in which the Jews 
 used Christian blood, when any such had been obtained 
 by them. Some conceived that the blood was required 
 by the Jews to mix with their unleavened bread; some that 
 the Jews committed murders in order to refresh their 
 memories regarding the manner in which Jesus Christ had 
 been put to death ; and others there were who imagined 
 that the Israelites used such blood in the preparation of 
 certain medicines, and for magical purposes. 
 
 " Bishop Fleury, so celebrated as a man of extensive 
 
 * Czackis Disquisition, p. 54. The enlightened reader will easily 
 perceive that the worthy and learned Czacki, in these two last sen- 
 tences, boldly and openly attacks the Rev. Zuchowski and his fol- 
 lowers 5 that he alludes even to other, less furious, and otherwise 
 respectable writers, perhaps even to Skarga. The reader will con- 
 vince himself of this last assertion, by comparing the above-men- 
 tioned quotation with the second part of that from the work of the 
 celebrated Bishop Fleury.
 
 184 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 knowledge, and whom Czacki very often quotes in his 
 learned and voluminous work entitled Ecclesiastical His- 
 tory (xii., p. 579.) expresses himself on this subject as 
 follows : 
 
 "' Some authors assert that the Jews used to commit 
 these cruelties in order to obtain Christian blood, which 
 they used for remedies, or magical operations ; but the 
 reasons they give for it are so shameful and frivolous, that 
 I disdain to mention them. Moreover, I find none of 
 these facts based upon any incontestible proof; and it 
 would be of little importance to attempt to verify them, 
 were it not for the worship rendered to those pretended 
 martyrs; because the Church has no other end in view 
 than the conversion of the Jews, and does not wish to 
 destroy them or make them hated.' 
 
 " In Poland, where the Israelites arrived towards the 
 end of the eleventh century of the Christian era, princi- 
 pally from Germany,* and where they introduced in- 
 dustry in addition to wealth, f they were in the beginning, 
 treated in a friendly manner. They enjoyed liberty 
 under the shield of privileges, which were granted to 
 them by the kings who then reigned. Boleslas, Duke of 
 Great Poland, granted them, in 1264, similar privileges, 
 
 * This is chiefly proved by the idiom still spoken among the 
 Polish Israelites. 
 
 f "Our country" says Czacki, "fertile but not populous, felt 
 the want of industrious habits. The Jews, persecuted in Germany 
 during the plague, brought their riches to us. The commerce of 
 the country, as well as the money, was in their hands, no Christian 
 yet daring to engage in any thing so important and difficult. It is 
 even likely that the Jews paid large sums of money to the Govern- 
 ment, which enabled King Casimir the Great to build numerous 
 towns (vide Desquis. p 74, 75)."
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 185 
 
 which were afterwards confirmed by Casimir the Great, 
 who reigned from 1333 to 1370. Casimir's Government 
 extended over several countries which did not belong to 
 Boleslas.* They enjoyed the privilege of being landed 
 proprietors, and especially of carrying on all kinds of 
 commerce and mechanical trades, f 
 
 " The unwearied perseverance with which they availed 
 themselves of these important privileges, contributed 
 greatly to the prosperity of the country. ' Then,' says 
 Czacki, * the Christian merchant did not inveigh against 
 the Israelites ; and as long as commerce flourished 
 under the protecting wings of liberty, the Christian in 
 his church, as well as the Jew in his synagogue, offered 
 
 * Czacki' s Disquis., p. 62. 
 
 f In an apology for the Hebrew people, published in Cracow 
 1539, it is stated, that there are scarcely any Poles employed as 
 artizans in Poland, and that there are only about five hundred mer- 
 chants in that nation but the Jews arc numbered to three thou- 
 sand two hundred merchants in that country, and about ten thousand 
 artizans (R. p. 84). In the succeeding period of Sigismundus 
 Augustus' reign, they were in a very prosperous condition, and 
 were much praised in consequence of their conduct. Cardinal 
 Comendonius, ambassador at the Court of King Sigismundus, who 
 visited the southern provinces of Poland, speaks of them in the fol- 
 lowing terms : " There are in these provinces a great many Jews 
 who are not scorned as in several other places. They do not there 
 derive a miserable existence from insignificant profits and usury, 
 although they do not reject these means of gain ; but they possess 
 lands, carry on commerce, and even devote themselves to the study 
 of science, especially to medicine and astronomy. They hold nearly 
 every where the offices of exactors of custom duties, and those of 
 the transport of merchandize. They can boast of pretty large 
 fortunes, and not only rank among the native gentlemen, but 
 sometimes even rule over them. They wear no distinctive dress 
 from that of the Christians, are even allowed to carry a sword and 
 to be otherwise armed : in short, they enjoy the rights of all other 
 citizens." (Vie du Curd. Com. par Flechier, p. 190). 
 
 B li
 
 186 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 up his thanks to the Almighty for having given them one 
 fatherland and established between them equal justice.' 
 
 " But these blessings were soon mingled with misfor- 
 tune and suffering. The Jews were comparatively pros- 
 perous and happy under Boleslas, Casimir the Great, 
 and Sigismund; but yet the beginning of their pros- 
 perity had been embittered. The savage spirit of the 
 age, which we have already endeavoured to depict, soon 
 spread its influence over Poland; that influence grew 
 with the progress of time ; and the banners of fanaticism 
 and intolerance were gradually unfolded, until at length, 
 in the fourteenth century, they were waved with deso- 
 lating triumph over the unfortunate descendants of Judah. 
 "With the beginning of the fifteenth century they 
 began in Poland to imitate foreigners in accusing the 
 Jews of using blood ; and although some time elapsed 
 before any definite charge was made, supported by any- 
 thing having the resemblance of evidence, the precursory 
 murmurs gave rise to most cruel persecutions. The vir- 
 tuous and learned Czacki, in speaking of this epoch, says 
 ' When a false zeal had represented the Jews as being 
 murderers of Christian children, the double indignation of 
 Christians and professors of other creeds, used to declare 
 lawful every means of injuring a Jew.' The energetic 
 edicts of the Polish sovereigns of the thirteenth and four- 
 teenth centuries, secured the Jews, in a great measure, 
 from ruin ; but immediately after the death of Casimir 
 the Great, when, as Czacki says, ' The government had 
 been weakened, and the security and fate of the Jews 
 made to depend on the qualities (good or bad) of the 
 rulers, and frequently even on trifling circumstances,
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. )S7 
 
 then the spirit of savage intolerance was again kindled, 
 and acted more powerfully upon the previously happy 
 country of Poland; and, along with it, the cruel per- 
 secutions of the Israelitish race were revived in a 
 more destructive manner than any that had yet been 
 known. 
 
 "But in order to give a better aspect to the charge of 
 using Christian blood, it was deemed necessary to have 
 something like real and credible evidence forthcoming; 
 and special cases were got up, in which certain means 
 were pointed out as having been used in carrying off or 
 decoying a child into the hands of Jews ; certain Jews 
 were charged with being the actual murderers ; and a 
 disfigured piece of humanity was produced as being 
 what remained of the body after the Jews had accom- 
 plished their purposes. But the beginning of all things 
 is difficult ; and the first attempt the calumniators made, 
 even with a special case, completely failed : nevertheless, 
 actuated by the mortification of defeat, they contrived to 
 punish the Jews, under some pretence or other, in a 
 most afflicting manner. 
 
 " It is certain, and Dlugosz (lib. 10), as well as Stubicki 
 (ch. 7) confirms it, that the first publication of the charge 
 against the Jews of using blood accompanied with in- 
 dictments forged agreeably to legal forms, took place at 
 Cracow in 1407 : but the contexture of the indictments 
 was necessarily so coarse, that the thread, otherwise the 
 shallowness of the pretence, was easily discovered. The 
 magistrates of Cracow, sufficiently convinced of the 
 falsehood of the charge, strenuously defended the Jews 
 against the attacks of an infuriated populace ; but yet,
 
 188 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 through the fanatical declamations of a priest named 
 Budek, they suffered many grievous injuries. 
 
 " About half a century later,* similar barbarities are 
 said to have been practised at Cracow, in consequence 
 of the denunciations of a Christian woman, who pre- 
 tended that her neighbour, a Christian like herself, had 
 delivered up her child to the Hebrews : but this mali- 
 cious scheme was soon exploded by the exertions of the 
 magistrates.! Subsequently, during the fifteenth, six- 
 teenth, and seventeenth centuries, and at the beginning 
 of the eighteenth, similar charges were brought forward 
 with better success in Rava, Pultusk, Tarnow, Vilno, 
 Gostyn, Sochaizeu, Rozana, Ciechanow, Biala, Sando- 
 mierz, Rzeszow, Grabow, &c.| 
 
 " Here let me dwell a little on this work of Zuchowski, 
 which I have so often quoted, which recapitulates the 
 
 * The phrase Kilkadziesiat lot means several tens of years, 
 and conveys but a vague idea of a number between twenty and a 
 hundred, of which sixty may be considered as the average. 
 
 f Zuchowski, who mentions this fact also, p. 92, calls the offi- 
 cers here referred to "Jews ;" but I think that if he had lived in 
 those times, the officers would have been able to convince him that 
 they were true Christians, and worthy disciples of truth, as well 
 as of humanity. 
 
 J Zuchowski numbers, with due precision, eighty and odd simi- 
 lar murders in Poland, committed in the three above-mentioned cen- 
 turies. I am not bound to acquiesce in the opinion of the reverend 
 gentleman ; I will, nevertheless, suppose that this was the exact 
 number of charges, or as he calls them, crimes. Still what propor- 
 tion can the reverend gentleman make them bear to the number 
 of the Polish population, taking into account the three hundred 
 years during which the eighty cases are said to have happened ? 
 and yet he assures us that, in Lithuania alone, thirty gallons of 
 such blood were yearly required. (30 garcy ; one garniec is equal 
 to about 2J pints of English measure).
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 189 
 
 contents of other preceding works on the same subject, 
 and to which, as to a long-established arsenal, the ene- 
 mies of truth, tolerance, and humanity, resort for arms, 
 with which, however rusty and unserviceable such may 
 be, they think to accomplish their wicked purposes. I 
 am not deterred from so doing by the knowledge that I 
 shall thus give our inveterate enemies an access to this 
 precious arsenal, and an opportunity of selecting from 
 its rich stores such arguments and calumnies as will best 
 suit their purposes. On the contrary, I hope to gain no 
 small triumph from the exhibition of some of the prin- 
 cipal .assertions contained in the above-mentioned book, 
 as I am certain that the friends of truth, universal know- 
 ledge, and humanity, to whose judgment I submit my- 
 self, will be thereby enabled to decide whether such a 
 book deserves the appellation of a literary work, or rather 
 that of a despicable libel. 
 
 " My worthy readers must excuse me, if my feelings 
 have led me somewhat aside from the matter. In re- 
 turning to it, I begin by appealing to the words of 
 Czacki: 'The chief spiritual authority of the Popes 
 frequently defended the Jews, and but seldom justified 
 their persecution. Pope Alexander the Second, (who 
 reigned about 1060), praised the French bishops for 
 having protected the Jews. He declared the war against 
 the Saracens to be just because they obstinately corn- 
 batted; but not the persecution of the Jews who sub- 
 mitted to bondage/* Pope Urban the Fourth, who reigned 
 over the Roman Catholic Church from 1261 to 1265, set 
 himself indignantly against the prejudice that was fast 
 spreading over western Europe, that the Jews for
 
 190 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 their religious rites required human blood ; a proof of 
 which we find in the decree or privilege of Boleslas, 
 duke of Great Poland. * 
 
 " The despair which seized the Israelites during the 
 twelfth and thirteenth centuries, especially in Spain and 
 France, persecuted as they were in consequence of the 
 charges mentioned, was relieved by the gracious inter- 
 ference of Gregory IX. In speaking of that interference 
 these are the words of Czacki : ' Gregory IX., in 
 1236, appealed for pity on behalf of this race, to France 
 and Spain, at the same time, nevertheless, the zeal of 
 the crusaders was depriving them of their lives, and 
 the insatiable avarice of the holy warriors was extorting 
 from them their riches.' 
 
 " In 1338, by smearing with blood the host, a wicked 
 clerk in Passan incited the people against the innocent 
 Israelites, to whom the act was attributed; but the 
 papal authority, having discovered the truth, caused the 
 heartless calumniator to be punished, and so put a stop 
 to this persecution.f 
 
 " When, in the middle of the fourteenth century, the 
 plague was raging, more especially in Germany, the 
 spirit of persecution caused this visitation of Providence 
 to be ascribed to the guiltless Jews, whom the contagion 
 
 * The name of Pope Urban is not mentioned in the decree just 
 quoted, as we shall see hereafter ; but any one who knows anything 
 of the history of the Church, will easily find it out by comparing 
 the times in which Boleslas and Urban reigned. 
 
 f This single fact ought to have shamed the priest Zuckowski, 
 who so fastidiously speaks in his work of the charge brought 
 against the Jews, of stealing and staining with blood the consecrated 
 wafers.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 191 
 
 had comparatively spared ; and many of them were in 
 consequence murdered. The celebrated Basnage men- 
 tioned this event in the following terms: 'They were, 
 this very year, charged with having poisoned the wells, 
 springs, and rivers. The plague was then causing great 
 horror in Europe. I do not know if it was not in con- 
 sequence of the Jews dying in less numbers than others, 
 that this blessing of heaven excited envy ; certainly they 
 were deemed guilty because God preserved them from 
 the general calamity. Mere suspicion sufficed for their 
 condemnation ; and instead of thinking how to die as 
 became them, in peace with, all mankind, people exerted 
 the remainder of their strength and life in slaughtering 
 the Israelites.'* 
 
 " The fury of the populace would have made the 
 number of their victims much greater, if Pope Clement 
 VI., by an energetic pastoral letter, had not put a stop 
 to the slaughter. Czacki mentions this epoch in these 
 terms: 'During the plague of 1348, a papal bull was 
 the only defence the Jews found against popular fury, to 
 which they were greatly exposed.' 
 
 " Passing over the constitutions or bulls in prohibition 
 of the accusations so often mentioned, of using Christian 
 blood, which were issued in former times by Innocent 
 IV., Urban IV., and Paul III., popes known equally 
 as well by their pious zeal, as by their enlightened 
 minds and exemplary philanthropy, let us come to 
 similar edicts of a later date. Henceforward I shall pur- 
 posely avail myself of the very words of the before- 
 
 * History of the Jews, by Basnage.
 
 192 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 mentioned report, as given by the pen of a learned 
 Christian lawyer. 
 
 " ' Being in Rome during the reign of the Pontiff 
 Benedict XIV, A.C. 1758, I was made acquainted with 
 the case of Jacob Jelek, a Polish Jew, who brought 
 before the Apostolic See all the circumstances of a 
 horrible charge which had been made against his people 
 generally. These were examined with the utmost care, 
 in the manner in which it is there customary to examine 
 such matters. Afterwards, in the reign of Clement 
 XIII., the examination was resumed, and auspiciously 
 brought to a conclusion; and nothing was elicited that 
 could in any shape confirm the acts to which the accusa- 
 tion related. The Roman magistrates and tribunals 
 are accustomed to investigate all matters brought before 
 them with the utmost caution and deliberation, even 
 such as are of little importance. After having perused 
 the written explanation of each party in a suit, and filed 
 a decree or sentence, if either of the parties should 
 consider himself too hardly dealt with by the decision, 
 they grant a rehearing of the case ; and will even hear it 
 a third time, if particularly required. How strict then 
 must they have been in a matter of such importance as 
 this, and so intimately connected with religion. The 
 Apostolic See would have neglected nothing in the in- 
 vestigation of this affair; every point of law, and every 
 legal ceremony, would have been attended to. Never- 
 theless, after every thing had been done, there appeared 
 not the least foundation for the horrible imputation. 
 
 " ' This result of the enquiry, so favourable to the Israel- 
 ites, induced the Pope to issue commands to the Lord
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 193 
 
 Cardinal Corsini, to furnish the said Jacob Jelek with a 
 recommendatory letter addressed to Cardinal Visconti, 
 nuncio of the Apostolic See in Poland, which letter was 
 to the following effect : * 
 
 " ' The opinions of the Holy father and of the Apostolic 
 See, which were of the same importance as an ultimate 
 decree, were forthwith communicated by the Lord Cardinal 
 Visconti to the court of the then reigning monarch, 
 Augustus III., in a letter addressed to Count Bruhl, f 
 prime minister of the Saxon court.' 
 
 " These clear and convincing certificates of the Apos- 
 tolic See, contributed to strengthen the national laws of 
 Poland, and the prerogatives and enactments of the 
 sovereign.^: 
 
 " From the pious and important constitutions of the 
 supreme heads of the Church, I will now proceed to 
 touch upon some decrees enacted in reference to the 
 same subject by the kings of Poland : and firstly, as to 
 the constitutions of the crown. Herburt's statute con- 
 tains a precise legal prohibition against accusing the 
 Israelites on this ground. This is yet better proved by 
 
 * Here follows a quotation from the letter which has already 
 been inserted in the commencement of this work. 
 
 t Here follows a quotation from the second letter, inserted at 
 the commencement with the other official documents. 
 
 J If Zuchowski, who dared to attack the former constitutions 
 and bulls of the Popes respecting this matter, and endeavoured to 
 shake their credibility, had lived long enough to see the epoch of 
 Benedict XIV. and Clement XIII., and had been informed of their 
 decree transmitted to King Augustus III., he would probably have 
 been silenced, and would have no more dared to traduce all former 
 similar constitutions. 
 
 In the paragraph De Impetitione Judxi pro Puero inter empto. 
 
 c c
 
 194 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 Zalaszowski,* and equally by Januszowski ; j- they, as 
 well as preceding lawyers, mention the rights and privi- 
 leges granted in Kalish by Boleslas, great grandfather of 
 Casimir the Great, and confirmed in Cracow, A. C. 1 345, 
 by the same king, Casimir the Great, in the presence of 
 the Wojewodes (Palatines), Castelans, and the king's 
 chancellor (Zbigniewa), and then incorporated by king 
 Alexander with the statute laws. Paragraph 32 of the 
 chief of these privileges is as follows : 
 
 " ' According to the papal decrees, in the name of our 
 father, we command that, in future, no Jews in our 
 dominions may be accused of using human blood ; as, 
 according to the commandments of the Old Testament, 
 all Jews abstain from every kind of blood. But, if any 
 Jew be charged with having killed any Christian child, 
 he must be convicted on the testimony of three Chris- 
 tians and three Jews ; and if so convicted, he shall incur 
 such a penalty only as would be awarded to any other 
 person for a similar deed. And if the witnesses should 
 vary in their depositions, and the guilt of the Jew be not 
 proved, then the penalty which the Jew would have 
 incurred, shall be awarded to the accuser.' 
 
 " Czacki,who was so erudite, and possessed of a profound 
 knowledge of the Hebrew language, mentioning briefly 
 the above-quoted paragraph, adds a short but forcible 
 remark, well adapted to stop the tongues of our calum- 
 niators, and which is rendered thus : ' The religious 
 books of the Israelites, without including with them those 
 of the Holy Scriptures, those being universally known, 
 
 * Jus Regni Pulonia, vol. i. 1. i. letter b. 4. 
 i Statutes, Laws, and Constitutions.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 195 
 
 contain no such doctrine. We have seen how the Popes 
 have defended the Jews against these calumnies. The 
 example of the Swiss, who in the thirteenth century, 
 forbade that the Jews should be accused of similar crimes, 
 was followed by many other governments.' 
 
 " In the year 1453, Casimir the Fourth, king of Poland, 
 granted in Cracow a privilege to the Jews, arranged in 
 twenty-four articles, the twenty-first of which is in sub- 
 stance as follows : 
 
 " ' Be it also enacted, that no Jew shall henceforth be 
 accused by any Christian, lightly saying, that the Jews 
 are bound by their religion and customs to make use of 
 Christian blood, or the sacrament of the Christian church ; 
 for the papal decrees and enactments of Innocent declare 
 that such crimes have never been proved against them, 
 and, moreover, that such are contrary to the spirit of 
 their law.' 
 
 " This privilege or charter was fully confirmed by suc- 
 ceeding monarchs ; for example, by Sigismundus Au- 
 gustus, in Piotrkow, in the years of the Christian era 
 1548, 1551, 1564, and 1571 ; Stephen in Warsaw, 1580 ; 
 Sigismundus III., 1588; Vladislaus IV., 1633; John 
 Casimir in Cracow, 1 649 ; and, lastly, by Michael, who, 
 at the coronation diet in Cracow, was graciously pleased 
 to increase the articles to forty. The above-mentioned 
 King Stephen issued in 1576 a universal edict, that the 
 charge of killing children should not be made against the 
 Israelites, as they did not practise such abominable 
 crimes. This universal edict was incorporated with a 
 decree filed in a certain law-suit, and which can be 
 found amongst the general records of the Polish Crown.
 
 196 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 Czacki mentions it in his Disquisition, p. 94, and refers 
 to the volumes of the Crown records, under the letters 
 X.P., p. 113." 
 
 " Copy of the Proclamation of the most illustrious Prince 
 Golotzin, the Director in Chief ( Minister ) of Foreign 
 Religious Confessions. 
 
 " To his Excellency the Civil Governor of Grodno. 
 " In consequence of there being many denunciations, 
 even at the present time, levelled against the Jews in re- 
 gard to their being guilty of such abominable practices as 
 murdering Christian children, in several provinces which 
 have been severed from Poland and incorporated with 
 the Russian territory, his Imperial Majesty, considering 
 that such opinions have been so often refuted as to ren- 
 der them absurd and exceedingly unjust, and wishing to 
 throw around the Israelites in his dominions that safe 
 guard from wanton outrage which they deserve, has 
 deigned to command me to apprize all governors in this 
 realm, that it is his Imperial will and pleasure that no 
 Jews be henceforth executed for the murder of Christian 
 children, unless there be stronger evidence to support 
 such charge than the mere prejudice that the murder 
 has been committed for the sake of the blood ; and that 
 in case of a murder having been committed, of which sus- 
 picion shall have fallen on a Jew, the inquiry into the 
 matter shall be conducted in a strictly legal manner, the 
 same as is observed with men professing other creeds, 
 who may lie under the imputation of having committed 
 a murder.
 
 NINTH CONVERSATION. 197 
 
 " This Imperial Ukase your Excellency is required to 
 see duly fulfilled. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, &c. 
 (Signed) " PRINCE ALEXANDER GOLOTZIN." 
 
 St. Petersburg, 
 No. 261. 
 
 March the 6th, 1817. 
 
 SIM. (when he had done reading.) Brother Maimoon, 
 blessed is the Lord who did not turn away from the 
 prayer which I offered up to Him, that truth, which, 
 throughout the whole course of my life, I have cherished, 
 might not be withheld from me now. Grant, O God, 
 that those promises which were made to us by our holy 
 prophets may be fulfilled ; " For then will I give to the 
 people a pure language, that they may all call upon the 
 name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." * 
 " They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy moun- 
 tain ; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the 
 Lord, as the waters cover the sea."f " The wolf also 
 shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down 
 with the kid ; and the calf, and the young lion, and the 
 fatling together, and a little child shall lead them."J 
 Now, brother Maimoon, go home in peace. I shall 
 write a letter to my brother, in which I shall declare your 
 innocence, and thus remove from ye, as far as I am able, 
 the disgrace which has been cast upon ye by your ene- 
 mies. I shall also send him a report of the conversations 
 which have taken place between us on the subject. I rely 
 
 * Zephaniah iii. 9. f Isaiah xi. 9. J Isaiah xi. 6.
 
 198 NINTH CONVERSATION. 
 
 upon the reason and wisdom of my brother, as well as 
 upon those righteous and honest men who may be with 
 him ; that they may all acknowledge the truth, the seal 
 of the Almighty. Yet, before thou leavest me, pray 
 mention to me the names of some books that treat of 
 the history and literature of the Hebrews, composed by 
 distinguished and learned Christians, as well as by some 
 of the Hebrew authors who have written in other lan- 
 guages : such works, I mean, as I have not yet read ; for 
 it often happens that I have discussions with the learned 
 concerning the Hebrews or Caraites; and how could 
 one not so well acquainted with similar works compete 
 with them in argument ? and especially if he be not well 
 versed in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, or may 
 not have read the works written in Latin on that subject. 
 I have been told by a learned Hebrew, that among the 
 Christians there is scarcely one in thousands to be found 
 who has a perfect knowlege of the Hebrew religion, its 
 ceremonies, the works of the Israelites, their learned 
 men, and other matters of similar importance. 
 
 MAI. That learned Hebrew was right. I shall most 
 willingly comply with thy request, and I shall only name 
 to thee such works as thou dost wish for, the most re- 
 nowned and the most necessary which I can just recollect- 
 and here is a list of some of them. 
 
 (Maimoon gives Simmias a list of books. After this 
 they kiss each other, and Maimoon returns to his home.)
 
 199 
 
 THE LIST OF BOOKS REFERRED TO BY MAIMOON. 
 
 1. Josephus Flavius Cont. Apion. 
 
 2. Origens Cont. Celsus. 
 
 3. J. G. Eichorn's Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur. 
 
 4. Jo. Cristoph. Wolfii Bibliothecae Hebraicae Hamburg. 
 
 5. G. B. de Rossi Dictionario Stor. degli Aut. Ebr. 
 
 6. J. Bartolocii Bibl. Ejusd. lib. jud. Rabbin. 
 
 7. Dohm, Ueber die bii rgerliche Verbesserung der Juden. 
 
 8. Dissertation on the Jews, by T. Czackiego. 
 
 9. Rettung der Juden, von M. ben Israel, translated by 
 
 Mendelssohn. 
 
 10. Charakter des Judenthums, von Wolf und Solomon. 
 
 11. Jeschurun, von Wolfssohn. 
 
 12. Die Emancipation der Juden, von Professor Krug 
 
 in Leipzig. 
 
 13. Jerusalem, von Mendelssohn. 
 
 14. Sularnith, eine Zeitschrift von Dr. D. Fraenkel. 
 J 5. Actenstiicke, von Carl A. Buchholtz. 
 
 16. Ueber die Aufnahme der \Tiidischen Glaubens- 
 
 genossenzum Biirgerrecht, von Carl A. Buchholtz. 
 
 17. Dr. J. M. Jost's Geschichte der Israeliten. 
 
 18. Letters of a Jew to Voltaire. Moscow, 1808 and 181 7.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE following is a translation of a letter written by Dr. 
 Johannus Reuchlin (professor of Humaniorae at the 
 Universities of Basil, Ingoldstadt, and Tubingen), in 
 the Hebrew language, and addressed to Bonetto de 
 Lates, an Israelite, who, at the time being, was chief 
 physician to Pope Leo. Bonetto was born in Provence, 
 on account of which he is also known by the appellation 
 of Medicus Provincialis. He was highly celebrated for 
 the invention of an astronomical ring, which indicated 
 the hour during both the day and night, and determined 
 the height of the sun and planets. This invention is 
 described in a work which he dedicated to Pope Alex- 
 ander IV., entitled, De Annuli Astromici Utilitate.* 
 
 Reuchlin' s Defence of the Talmud. 
 
 " To my lord who sits in the Councils of the Wise, who 
 is the light and support of the exiled Israelites ; to him 
 who is my master and instructor, Bonetto, first physician 
 to his Holiness the Pope," &c. &c. 
 
 After prefacing his epistle with a number of profound 
 
 * See Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums. 
 D D
 
 202 APPENDIX. 
 
 compliments, the strict signification of which it is very 
 difficult to render into English, the writer proceeds 
 thus : 
 
 " It is the beginning of my task to acquaint your lord- 
 ship that, about two years ago, his gracious majesty the 
 reigning emperor, whom God preserve, made a journey 
 to Koln. which is a town containing a Christian univer- 
 sity, and many distinguished men learned in theology. 
 As his imperial majesty was passing through the town, 
 the major part of the inhabitants, as it were by previous 
 agreement, suddenly ran and assembled in a crowd 
 before him, simultaneously exclaiming, in a tone that 
 betokened distress of mind, ' Help, O King and Emperor.' 
 And thus they continued : * For this reason do we cry 
 for help. There is in thy empire a body of people who 
 belong to a nation that is dispersed and degraded over 
 the face of the whole earth ; and their laws are not like 
 the laws of thy subjects at large, nor like those of other 
 nations ; they are an offence and a great evil to those 
 who render to thee due allegiance ; and they are made 
 so by certain books which they prize, in which their religi- 
 ous tenets are set forth, and which contain passages deeply 
 insulting to our church, and conjurations against the 
 Pope, the bishops, and all the clergy of whatever degree, 
 yea, and against the nobility of the nations of Europe, 
 against kings and emperors, and, finally, against our 
 whole nation, and the nations of the world. These books 
 constitute what is called the Talmud. In addition to 
 the evils which we have thus briefly enumerated, these 
 books contain another still greater. If there were none 
 such in existence, there would be only one religion ; all
 
 APPENDIX. 20.3 
 
 men would then yield their faith to our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ ; but these books are the sole cause that so many 
 people live in error. For this reason, mighty monarch, 
 thou shouldst not allow these books to exist in thy domi- 
 nions any longer; and after having, with mature deliber- 
 ation, convinced ourselves of the justness of our prayer, 
 we earnestly petition that thou wouldst issue a command 
 that all such books be delivered into the custody of a 
 royal commissary or officer by thee appointed, by whom 
 they may be deposited in the royal archives, and after- 
 wards, in one mass, excepting the twenty-four books of 
 the Holy Scriptures, be burnt and utterly destroyed ; so 
 that the evils of which we complain may be rooted out 
 from amongst us, and that all men may worship one God 
 under one name, and not be separated in their religious 
 faith as these books have caused them to be separated 
 hitherto.' 
 
 " All these tumultuous supplications had been pro- 
 duced by the intrigues of one sprung from your own peo- 
 ple, an apostate, to whom the following passage in the 
 Scriptures will doubtless apply : * Thy destroyers, and 
 they that made thee waste, shall go forth of thee.'* That 
 apostate, as you are accustomed to designate him, was 
 in possession of several letters from princes and counts, 
 and also of one from a nun, the sister of the emperor. 
 Not only did the nun give her countenance to the apostate, 
 by communicating to him her sentiments in writing, but 
 she proceeded in person to the emperor, threw herself at 
 his feet, and vehemently besought him, saying, ' Oh, my 
 
 * Isaiah, xlix. 17.
 
 204 APPENDIX. 
 
 brother and lord, ruler of nations, and most puissant 
 monarch in the world, all the sins and crimes that are 
 committed by means of the books of the Talmud will, in 
 some sort, be charged upon you, for it is in your power 
 to destroy them, and yet you do not. Does it require 
 stronger testimony of their evil tendency, than that of a 
 man who was educated and trained in the doctrine taught 
 and disseminated by them, and who, consequently, must 
 know whether they be good or bad ? I, therefore, most 
 earnestly beseech your Majesty to cause the books of the 
 Talmud, wherever any such may be found, to be seized 
 and burnt, and utterly destroyed. By such an act your 
 Majesty's glory and devout repute will be raised to a 
 perfect equality with that of the mightiest potentates that 
 have ruled these realms before; and I doubt not that 
 your Majesty will thus secure the lasting gratitude of all 
 your loyal subjects, and the especial favour of God.' 
 
 " It must be apparent to all persons, my lord, that 
 his Majesty could not entirely resist these importunities 
 for the destruction of the Talmudical books ; therefore 
 he issued a decree that they should all be seized and 
 placed in the custody of officers properly appointed for 
 that purpose. His Imperial Majesty, however, deter- 
 mined that the charges of their having an evil tendency 
 should be strictly investigated, previously to their being 
 actually destroyed; for that reason he sent to me a 
 sealed letter, in which were conveyed his imperial com- 
 mands that I should rigidly search the Talmud through- 
 out, and afterwards report to him, whether, according to 
 my opinion, it contained such insulting and mischievous 
 passages as had been attributed to it. The duty thus
 
 APPENDIX. 205 
 
 imposed on me I performed as well as the abilities and 
 comprehension which God has endowed me with would 
 permit. I bestowed much attention indeed on the peru- 
 sal of the books, for I always had, and have still, a strong 
 predilection for the study of Hebrew literature. The 
 conclusion to which I came respecting them can be best 
 expressed in the terms in which my answer to his Majesty 
 was couched, which was as follows : ' I have not myself 
 discovered any passages in the Talmud which can be con- 
 strued as insulting to our nation or to our religion ; nor 
 am I aware that any such have been noted by any other 
 men with whom I am acquainted, whose learning and 
 wisdom are sufficient to give weight to their judgment. 
 The Talmud solely treats of the religious laws and moral 
 precepts of the Jews, and no one else is under any obli- 
 gation to believe in them. But, supposing that any one 
 of the books should contain matter so objectionable as 
 that which has been charged to them, let that only be 
 consumed. There are amongst the cabalistic* books, as 
 well as amongst others pertaining to the Hebrew nation, 
 many which are of great value, and it would be a pity 
 
 * The term " cabalistic" must not here be taken in its common 
 sense. The word cabala , from which it is derived, originally referred 
 to matters, the knowledge of which had been transmitted to pos- 
 terity by traditions, and not by written records. Its signification, 
 indeed, was almost restricted to a superior system of philosophy, 
 or, I may say, theosophy ; or, at least, to sciences of a superior order. 
 Those who may wish for an explicit account of pure cabalistic 
 literature, may be gratified by referring to the work entitled, Choker 
 U. Mekubhul sive Pliilosophm et Cabbalisla auctore Mose Chajim 
 Luzzatto, mstru.ril M. S. Freystadt, Philosophic (inguarunxjue Orien- 
 tuliutn Doctor, 8fc., Lipsia, 1840, apud Aug. Yrid. Btxhwc. TRANS- 
 LATOR.
 
 206 APPENDIX. 
 
 and a loss to destroy them all. The apostate who con- 
 demns them could have no other object in view than to 
 aggrieve the Jews, and to cause dissension between 
 them and others with whom they ought to be at peace.' 
 As soon as our most gracious emperor had read my 
 opinion, so expressed, he commanded that all the books 
 which had been seized should be restored to their 
 original owners. 
 
 " Now, my lord, the moment that the apostate and the 
 professors of the university of Kbln were Informed that 
 their design had been frustrated through my interposi- 
 tion, they furiously asserted that I was a Manichean, an 
 Epicurean, and a heretic; and not only did they thus 
 stigmatise me before the public, but the apostate wrote 
 some vituperative and reproachful pamphlets against me, 
 and distributed them very extensively, in order to repre- 
 sent that my conduct in this business had been influ- 
 enced by motives at variance with honour and religion. 
 They even preferred an accusation against me to the 
 Inquisition, and endeavoured deeply to traduce my cha- 
 racter there. I then wrote a pamphlet in defence of 
 myself, and stated therein all the reasons by which my 
 decision on the Talmud had been formed. This they 
 wished to have burnt, with marks of indignity and dis- 
 grace ; but their purpose so to do was defeated. When 
 they became aware that it was impossible to injure the 
 good repute that I bore in the estimation of the Inqui- 
 sitors, and were also acquainted that I had submitted 
 my obnoxious decision to the Pope, for the judgment of 
 his holiness, their malignant chagrin stirred them up to 
 write more abusive pamphlets against me, and to make
 
 APPENDIX. 207 
 
 attempts to degrade and prejudice me in the minds of 
 all sorts of men. 
 
 " I am now afraid that these calumniators will sum- 
 mon me to appear to answer their spiteful accusations 
 before magistrates belonging to other districts than that 
 in which my residence is fixed, and thus put me to great 
 and ruinous expences; by this fear, I am impelled to 
 solicit the good offices of your lordship in my behalf. I 
 have heard that your lordship has great influence in the 
 cabinet of his Holiness ; and that even his sacred person 
 is frequently entrusted to your wisdom and skill. I 
 therefore most earnestly, yet humbly and respectfully, 
 entreat your lordship to endeavour to obtain from his 
 Holiness a special mandate, to the effect that I shall not 
 be so molested, and that I shall not be compelled to 
 appear before any magistrates, in respect to the allegations 
 which I have spoken of, except those within whose juris- 
 diction I am, according to the statutes and institutions 
 of their peculiar courts. Should they think fit to insist 
 on my appearing with them before his Holiness himself, I 
 shall be willing to answer any questions which they may, 
 in that case, put to me ; but to be forced out of my own 
 country, to be tried by the prejudiced authorities of 
 Kb'ln, I consider to be most unjust. 
 
 "If this, my humble petition, be complied with, I 
 shall thereby know that I have found favour in the eyes 
 of your dignity, and I shall further feel assured that my 
 efforts to justify the course which, regarding the books 
 of the Talmud, my conscience required me to take, have 
 not been made in vain. 
 
 " I venture once again to repeat my entreaties that
 
 208 APPENDIX. 
 
 your lordship will deign to give your benign considera- 
 tion to this important matter. Under any circumstances, 
 I shall always be ready to serve your lordship in that 
 sphere through which my influence extends ; your lord- 
 ship has only to make known what advantage it is in my 
 power to secure for you, and your wishes shall be ful- 
 filled. The Almighty God knows that I am sincere in 
 my professions of respect for your lordship; to Him I 
 shall ever pray for your lordship's preservation, and for 
 the well-being of all those whom your lordship is pleased 
 to patronise. 
 
 " One of the most humble amongst the Christians, 
 
 "JOHANNES PFORZHEIM, Doctor." 
 
 The Translator has ventured to insert the preceding letter in 
 the form of an Appendix, deeming it to be a perfect curiosity in 
 religious controversy, and as furnishing an extraordinary instance 
 of inconsistency in the conduct of those by whom the Israelites 
 were oppressed. Must it not seem very strange, that Reuchlin, 
 who was one of the chief of the Christian learned men of his time, 
 should, on account of his liberal and just sentiments regarding the 
 Israelites, in opposition to those of a great body of Christians, have 
 been compelled to sue for protection to an Israelite, whom the very 
 head of the Christian church patronised and cherished!
 
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