2036242 
 
 
 -
 
 f 
 
 JIM
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESENT TIME. 
 
 BY HANNAH ADAMS, 
 
 OF BOSTON, AMERICA. 
 
 " And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people from the one 
 end of the earth even unto the other; and among these nations 
 shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest" 
 
 Deut. xxviii. 64, 65. 
 
 loiition : 
 
 Printed by A. MACINTOSH, Brick Lane, Spitalfields : 
 SOLD AT THE LONDON SOCIETY HOUSE, 
 
 10, WARDROBE PLACE, DOCTORS' COMMONS; 
 
 AND BY OGLES, DU>CAN, AND COCHRAN. PATERNOSTER ROW; 
 SEEJ..EY, FLEET STREET; AND HATCHAKD, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1818.
 
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 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE following " History of the Jews/' by Mrs. 
 Hannah Adams of America, is now printed in 
 England, with that Lady's kind permission, at the 
 expense and for the benefit of the " London 
 Society for promoting Christianity amongst the 
 Jews ; " and the hope is warmly cherished, that 
 when British Christians shall have been made more 
 fully acquainted, through the medium of this pub- 
 lication, with the calamities which have befallen 
 the Jews since their last dispersion, such sympathy 
 will be excited, as to stimulate them to co-operate 
 zealously with the above Society, in its benevolent 
 endeavours to impart the knowledge of the crucified 
 Jesus, the true Messiah, to that long oppressed 
 nation, whose past sufferings, present degradation, 
 and future glory, are equally foretold by the 
 prophets of the Old Testament, and the apostles 
 of the New. It is proper to remark, that a few 
 alterations were deemed expedient, in the present 
 edition. 
 
 2036242
 
 THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 THE history of the Jews since their dispersion 
 has been but little investigated even by the literary 
 part of the world, and is almost entirely unknown 
 to the general mass of mankind. The design of 
 this work, including the introduction, is to give 
 a brief sketch of their situation, after their return 
 from the Babylonian captivity, to the nineteenth 
 century. The compiler is sensible, that the subject 
 is not calculated to engage the attention of those 
 readers whose object is merely amusement. ^Instead 
 of a narration of new and entertaining events, 
 they .will find a tedious succession of oppressions 
 and persecutions, and probably turn with disgust 
 from the gloomy picture of human guilt and 
 wretchedness. 
 
 To the speculative and inquisitive part of man- 
 kind, the subject must, however, appear more 
 interesting. The history of the Jews is remark- 
 able above that of all other nations, for the number 
 and cruelty of the persecutions they have endured. 
 They are venerable for the antiquity of their origin. 
 They are discriminated from the rest of mankind 
 by their wonderful destination, peculiar habits, and
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 religious rites. Since the destruction of Jerusalem, 
 and their universal dispersion, we contemplate the 
 singular phenomenon of a nation subsisting for 
 ages without its civil and religious polity, and thus 
 surviving its political existence. 
 
 But the Jews appear in a far more interesting 
 and important light when considered as a standing 
 monument of the truth of the Christian religion ; 
 as the ancient church of God to whom were 
 committed the sacred oracles ; as a people selected 
 from all nations to make known and preserve the 
 knowledge of the true God. To them the Gospel 
 was first preached, and from them the first Chris- 
 tian church in Jerusalem was collected. To them 
 we are indebted for the scriptures of the New, 
 as well as of the Old Testament. To them were 
 given the spirit of prophecy, and power of 
 working miracles. From them were derived an 
 illustrious train of prophets and apostles. To 
 use the language of an inspired writer, " To 
 them pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, the 
 service of God, and the promises; and of them, 
 as concerning the flesh, Christ came." 
 
 The history of the Jews by Mr. Basnage, a 
 learned French refugee, who was pastor of the 
 Walloon church at the Hague, and died in 1723, 
 is the principal authority made use of in the first
 
 PREFACE. ?11 
 
 part of this history ; the references are made to 
 the translation of Mr. Taylor, published in 1708, 
 which received the approbation of the author. 
 The compiler is greatly indebted to the writings 
 of M. Gregoire, formerly bishop of Blois, senator, 
 member of the National Institute, &c. &c. His 
 excellent " Essay on the Reformation of the Jews" 
 has afforded much important information respecting 
 this extraordinary people. His late valuable work, 
 entitled " Histoire des Sectes Religieuses/' pub- 
 lished at Paris, 1810, besides interesting and en- 
 tertaining accounts of the various denominations 
 of Christians, contains several curious articles re- 
 specting the Jews. The works of David Levi 
 have furnished materials for what is said of the 
 religious tenets and ceremonies of his brethren. 
 Occasional assistance has been given by modern 
 travellers, whom curiosity has induced to investigate 
 the present condition of this singular people. The 
 learned Dr. Buchanan, in his valuable works, 
 particularly his " Researches in Asia," has fur- 
 nished authentic documents respecting the state 
 of the eastern Jews. Some recent intelligence 
 concerning those in Europe has been collected from 
 a late work of Mr. Adam, entitled, " The Reli- 
 gious World Displayed, published 1809. The 
 respectable author observes in his preface, that 
 " he was indebted for particulars respecting them 
 to Joshua Van Oven, a learned, distinguished, and
 
 Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 worthy member of the society of German Jews." 
 Various other authors will be found referred to in 
 the history ; but the above mentioned have fur- 
 nished the principal materials for the work. 
 
 To the intelligent and well informed the difficulty 
 of collecting the history of a people so little known, 
 particularly in this country, during the last and 
 present century, wholly from desultory and un- 
 connected materials, will appear obvious. The 
 compiler can only say, that however deficient and 
 ill arranged her history may be, she has spared 
 no exertions in her power to collect authentic do- 
 cuments, and has used them to the best of her 
 ability. But while she relies on the candour and 
 indulgence of the public, she cannot forbear to 
 express the warmest gratitude to those respectable 
 gentlemen whose generous patronage has enabled 
 her to devote her time to literary pursuits.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 Of the state of the Jews under the Persian monarchy; 
 and the change which took place after the Babylonish 
 captivity. 
 
 B. C. 536.] THE Jews * having remained in 
 captivity seventy years, according to the prediction 
 of the prophet Jeremiah, f were restored to their 
 native country by Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. 
 For this purpose he issued a decree, in the first 
 year of his reign, by which they were permitted to 
 return to Palestine, and rebuild their city and 
 temple. This opportunity was joyfully embraced 
 by the most zealous of the tribes of Judah, Benja- 
 
 * So denominated from the name Judah, as this tribe obtained 
 the pre-eminence, and was more numerous than that of Benjamin. 
 All the descendants of Jacob were anciently called Israel, or children 
 of Israel, till the time that ten of the tribes revolted from the house 
 of David : (See 1st. of Kings.) These ten tribes were afterwards called 
 the house of Israel, and the other two tribes, of Judah and Benja- 
 min, the house of Judah. From time to time many of the house of 
 Israel joined that of Judah for the enjoyment of religious privileges ; 
 (1 Chron. ix. 3.) became incorporated with them, and were with them 
 carried captive to Babylon. Many of these embraced the opportu- 
 nity of returning to Judea after the captivity ; for the decrees of the 
 Persian kings extended to all the house of Israel. The people of 
 Judah and Israel, after their return, were blended together under the 
 name of Jew. Prideaux's Connection, vol. i. p. 190 270. 
 
 i Chap. xxv. 11. " And these nation* shall serve the king of 
 " Babylon seventy years." 
 
 B
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in; and Lcvi. A large part of the Jewish cap- 
 tives, who chose to remain in Babylon, made liberal 
 contributions towards assisting their brethren.* 
 
 B. C. 534.] Soon after the return of ,the Jews, 
 they began* with alacrity and zeal to rebuild their 
 altar, and laid the foundation of their temple. 
 While they were engaged in this important under- 
 taking, the Samaritans f expressed an earnest 
 desire to assist in the completion of the building. 
 But as they blended the worship of their false 
 deities with that of the God of Israel, the Jews 
 rejected their request, alleging that, as the decree 
 of the Persian monarch extended only to the house 
 of Israel, they could not admit them to participate 
 in the work. This refusal gave rise to that impla- 
 cable enmity which subsisted between the Sama- 
 ritans and Jews; J and induced the former to exert 
 
 * Ezra i. 6. 
 
 t The Samaritans were originally heathen colonies from different 
 countries. After the king of Assyria had taken Samaria, the capital 
 of the ten tribes, he removed the greatest part of the Israelites into 
 Babylon and Assyria. And in order to re-people the desolate country, 
 he brought colonies from Babylon, Cutha, Ava, Hamath, and Se- 
 pharvaim, and established them in the cities of Samaria instead of 
 those .whom he had carried into captivity. These people being im- 
 mediately after their settlement much infested with lions, attributed* 
 this calamity to their neglect of the tutelary deity of this country, 
 and petitioned the king to send one of the captive Jewish priests to 
 instruct them how to worship the God of Israel. A priest was ac- 
 cordingly sent back, who took up his residence at Bethel, and esta- 
 blished the worship of the true God. Yet while Jehovah was feared 
 because of his supposed influence in that land, the gods of the Baby- 
 lonians and other countries had divine honours paid to them. This 
 mixture of idolatry with the Mosaic worship continued til) the build- 
 ing of the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizzim. Henry's Ancient 
 Israelites, p. 352. 
 
 J John iv. 9.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 themselves to obstruct the building of the temple. 
 In consequence of their malicious attempts, the 
 erection of the sacred edifice was suspended, till 
 Darius issued an edict which not only ratified the 
 grants of Cyrus, but denounced a severe penalty 
 against all who obstructed the work. When this 
 important decree was communicated to the Jews, 
 they rapidly proceeded in the building, which was 
 finished in the sixth year of Darius, and the dedica- 
 tion performed in the month Adar with all imaginable 
 splendour and solemnity.* 
 
 B. C. 349.] The history of the Old Testament 
 closes with an account of the restoration of the Jews 
 to Palestine, and the building of their city and temple 
 under Ezra the priest, and Nehemiah the governor. 
 The assiduous labours of these pious and eminent 
 men to reform the abuses of the Jewish state and 
 church, to enforce the observance of the Mosaic law, 
 and restore divine worship to its original purity, are 
 recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 
 It appears from the sacred records, that the Jews, 
 after their return from captivity, were in a feeble 
 state under the first Persian monarchs. They were 
 exposed to the envy and malice of those strangers 
 who resided in the vicinity, in particular to the 
 insults and calumnies of the Samaritans. It is also 
 evident from the cruel edict which Haman obtained 
 against them, from which they were saved by the 
 powerful intercession of queen Esther, that they 
 were in danger of being destroyed upon the least 
 intimation of the king's pleasure. By degrees, how- 
 
 * Ezra vi. 16, 17.
 
 4- INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ever, their affairs were established, and though they 
 were subjected to an easy tribute, they lived under 
 their own laws, in the form of a commonwealth, 
 governed by the high-priest, and the council of 
 seventy- two elders ; and exercised among them- 
 selves the power of life and death.* Jerusalem 
 being at length rebuilt, fortified, and repeopled., 
 began to resume some appearance of its former 
 splendour, and the temple was honoured by the 
 offerings of strangers.f 
 
 After the death of Nehemiah, the government of 
 Judea appears to have been joined to the prefecture 
 of Syria, from which the high priests received their 
 authority.]; This circumstance induced many per- 
 sons to aspire to that high office merely through 
 ambition and avarice, who were destitute of zeal 
 
 * The grand council of the nation called the Sanhedrim, which 
 assembled in an apartment of the temple at Jerusalem, possessed the 
 power of life and death. The Jews styled it a hedge to the laws, 
 because the members of the council had authority to interpret it at 
 certain times and on certain occasions, as they thought proper. Its 
 authority extended over all the synagogues in Judea and remote 
 countries, and no appeal could be made from its sentence. Whether 
 this consistory of seventy elders was a perpetual, or only a temporary 
 institution, is a subject of dispute. The Jews, and after them Gro- 
 tius, Selden, Lightfoot, and several other learned Christians, maintain 
 that it was first instituted by Moses; that the seventy-two elders 
 appointed to assist him were its first members; and that the Sanhe- 
 drim, so famous in the latter ages of Jewish polity, subsisted after 
 his time until the destruction of the temple. But Basnage and others 
 hare attempted to prove that the court of the Sanhedrim was first 
 established in the time of the Maccabees. Basnage, p. 400. Jen- 
 nings' 1 Jewish Antiquities, vol. i. p. 39. 
 
 + Fleury's Ancient Israelites. 
 
 J The candidates purchased this office from the Syrian governor, 
 and retained it by means of money ; hence they oppressed the people 
 with taxes to enable them to fulfil their pecuniary engagements.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 for religion, or love for their country. For whole 
 centuries, the office of high priest being the chief 
 object of men's ambition, the violent contests for 
 the sacerdotal dignity, and the arbitrary conduct of 
 those who obtained it, involved the Jewish nation 
 in various calamities. 
 
 B. C. 373.] A remarkable instance of the truth 
 of this assertion occurred in the 34th year of Ar- 
 taxerxes Mnemon ; at which period Joiada was 
 succeeded in the high priesthood by his son Johanan. 
 Some time after his investiture he received a visit 
 from his brother Joshua, who asserted that Bagoses, 
 the governor of Syria, had promised to transfer the 
 sacred dignity to him. A dispute immediately 
 ensued, and Joshua was slain in the interior court 
 of the temple. Bagoses receiving intelligence of 
 this event, severely upbraided the Jews with defiling 
 the habitation of their God, and imposed a heavy 
 fine upon the pontiff, which was not taken off till 
 the death of Artaxerxes changed the face of affairs. 
 The Jews were, however, by no means free from 
 trouble in the reign of his successor ; for Ochus 
 having subdued the greatest part of Phoenicia, car- 
 ried his victorious arms into Judea ; reduced Jeri- 
 cho, and sent a great number of the inhabitants 
 into captivity. Ten years after this event Johanan 
 died, and was succeeded by his son Jaddua.* 
 
 After the Babylonish captivity the Jews retained 
 a constant aversion to idolatry, which they justly 
 supposed was the principal cause of their expulsion 
 from their native land. 
 
 Prideaiu's Connection, vol. ii. p. 658. 
 
 :!
 
 6 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It has been assigned as a reason for this change, 
 that previous to the captivity they had no syna- 
 gogues* for public instruction, nor places for 
 religious worship, except the temple and the cities 
 of the Levites. In consequence of which the di- 
 vine laws were neglected and forgotten, and they 
 were easily allured into the superstitious practices of 
 their idolatrous neighbours. But after their return, 
 they had synagogues erected among them in every 
 city, which were opened, not for ceremonial wor- 
 ship, as sacrificing, for this was confined to the 
 temple; but for praying, preaching, reading the 
 law,f divine worship and social duties. The people 
 repaired to the synagogue morning and evening 
 for prayer, and on sabbaths and festivals the law 
 was read and expounded to them. The custom of 
 reading the scriptures and preaching in the syna- 
 gogues is supposed to have been introduced by 
 Ezra.J 
 
 * Dr. Prideaux and other learned writers have maintained that 
 there were not any synagogues before the captivity, as there is no 
 mention of them in the Old Testament, hut after that period their 
 number was very great. They were places of prayer and religious 
 assemblies for the worship of God. The times of the synagogue 
 service were three days every week besides fasts and festivals. The 
 Jews also attended prayers three times every day, in the morning, 
 afternoon, and at night. At the east end in every synagogue is an 
 ark or chest, in commemoration of the ark of the covenant which 
 was in the temple; and in this ark they lock up the Pentateuch, 
 written upon vellum with a particular ink. Sec Prideaux's Connection, 
 vol. ii. p. 534, 535, and Picurl's Iteligious Ceremonies of the Jftus. 
 
 + The mode of worship adopted in the Jewish synagogues subse- 
 quent to the captivity, differed but little from the present worship of 
 Christian assemblies; for it consisted of three parts, reading the scrip- 
 tures, prayer, and preaching. Graves s Lectures on the Pentateuch. 
 Published 1807. 
 
 i We have a short but beautiful description of Ezra's first preach-
 
 INTRODUCTION. < 
 
 The reformation, begun by Ezra and others, at 
 length degenerated into formality and superstition ; 
 and when the Jews first deviated from the purity of 
 their morals, and the simplicity of their religious 
 worship, their zeal for the rites and ceremonies of 
 their law increased. It is supposed the lamentable 
 change became more general after miracles and 
 prophecies ceased,* which had in some measure 
 prevented them from taking the shadow for the 
 substance of religion. + 
 
 O > 
 
 It is evident, that soon after the termination of the 
 prophetic age ? | the Jews began to corrupt the law 
 of Moses, by introducing certain precepts and insti- 
 tutions which they professed to have received by 
 oral tradition from the most ancient time. This 
 traditionary law, which chiefly respected religious 
 ceremonies, fastings, and other practices distinct 
 from the moral duties of life, at length obtained 
 with the greater part of the Jewish nation a degree 
 of aulhority equal to that of the Mosaic law; whilst 
 the minor part, rejecting these innovations, adhered 
 strictly to the institutions of their sacred oracles. 
 These two general classes, which do not appear to 
 have been distinguished by any peculiar appellation, 
 gradually adopted other tenets and customs, and at 
 length formed several distinct sects, of which the 
 principal were the Sadducees, the Caraites, the 
 
 ing in Xehemiah viii. The Jews had liturgies for their prayers, in 
 which are all the prescribed forms of their synagogue worship. 
 Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p. 537. 
 
 * From the lime of Malachi, the Jews had not been favoured with 
 any prophet. He flourished about the year 397 before Christ. 
 
 \ Picart's Ceremonies and Religious Customs of the Jews. 
 
 Enfield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 171.
 
 & INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Pharisees, and the Essenes.* These denomina- 
 tions were formed at different periods after the 
 spirit of prophecy ceased from Israel, and were in 
 a flourishing state at the time of our Saviour's 
 appearance upon earth. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 Sketch of the History of the Jews under Alexander and 
 his Successors to the Revolt of Mattathias. 
 
 B.C. 330.] A GREAT event, foretold in the pro- 
 phetic pages f at length arrived, when the mighty 
 empire of Persia was subdued by Alexander the 
 Great, 208 years after the overthrow of the Baby- 
 lonian empire by Cyrus. The Jews gave a striking 
 proof of their fidelity to Darius Codomanus, the 
 last Persian monarch, by refusing to assist Alex- 
 ander in the siege of Tyre. The Macedonian 
 hero, exasperated at this refusal, after the conquest 
 of that city led his victorious army against Jeru- 
 salem. J 
 
 At this alarming crisis, Jaddua, the high priest, 
 offered sacrifices and supplications to the God of 
 Israel, and being, as it is said, directed by a vision 
 in the night, went forth the following day to meet 
 the conqueror, dressed in his pontifical robes, at- 
 tended by the priests in sacerdotal vestments, and 
 the people in white garments. Alexander, struck 
 with profound awe at the sight of this solemn pro- 
 cession, bowed himself down before the high priest, 
 
 * See an account of these sects in Section V. 
 
 t Dan. ii. 39. + Josephus's Jewish Antiquities.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 and adored the name of Jehovah, inscribed on his 
 mitre. In reply to those who expressed their asto- 
 nishment, that the victorious monarch of so many 
 nations should pay homage to a Jewish priest, he 
 declared, that during his abode in Macedonia, he 
 had seen this pontiff in a vision, encouraging him to 
 pursue the war against the Persians, and promising 
 him complete victory. He was therefore convinced 
 that he had engaged in this expedition under the 
 conduct of God, whom he worshipped in the 
 person of his high priest. The king then entered 
 Jerusalem in the midst of the procession, and of- 
 fered sacrifices in the temple, where Jaddua shewed 
 him the prophecy of Daniel, that a Grecian king 
 should overturn the Persian empire. This predic- 
 tion heightened his confidence of success.* 
 
 Alexander, after this event, highly favoured the 
 Jewish nation by exempting 1 them from paying the 
 tribute on the seventh, or sabbatical year ; permit- 
 ting them to live under their own laws, and enjoy 
 the free exercise of their religion. He transplanted 
 many of them into a new city which he built in 
 Egypt, and called Alexandria, after his own name, 
 granting them privileges and immunities equal to 
 those enjoyed by his Macedonian subjects. f 
 
 B. C. 333.] Upon the extinction of the Persian 
 monarchy, in consequence of Alexander's J con- 
 
 * Such is the account given by Josephus and some other histo- 
 rians. JosephHt's History of the Jews, and Rollings Ancient History \ 
 
 t Prideaux's Connection, p. 696, 697. Fleury's Ancient Israel- 
 ites, p. x35. 
 
 After the conquests of Alexander a distinction is made of the 
 Hellenist Jews. This name was given them because they mingled 
 with the Greeks and spoke their language. They rend the Scriptures
 
 10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 quests, the Samaritans endeavoured to accomplish 
 a civil and ecclesiastical union with the Jews. For 
 this purpose Sanballat, governor of Samaria, gave 
 his daughter in marriage to Manasses, the brother 
 of Jaddua the high priest., fully expecting that the 
 succession in the priesthood would devolve upon 
 Manasses, and that by this means a coalition might 
 be effected. Sanballat upon finding that the Jews, 
 particularly the members of the Sanhedrim, highly 
 resented this profane alliance, took his son-in-law 
 under his protection, and having obtained permis- 
 sion from Alexander to build a temple on mount 
 Gerizzim, appointed Manasses its high priest. A 
 powerful body of priests and Israelites, who had been 
 involved in similar connections, joined the Samari- 
 tans.* The erection of the temple highly exaspe- 
 rated the Jews ; the violent animosity between the 
 parties increased, and gave rise to frequent hosti- 
 lities.f 
 
 B. C. 324.] After the death of Alexander, the 
 Macedonian empire was divided among four of his 
 generals; and Judea being situated between Egypt 
 and Syria, became subject to all the revolutions and 
 wars in which his successors were engaged against 
 each other. It was at first governed by Laoraedon, 
 the Mitylenian, one of Alexander's captains, and 
 after he was defeated by Ptolemy Soter, king of 
 
 in Greek also, after the Septuagint Version had been prepared, by 
 order of Ptolemy Philadelphia, king of Egypt. Basnage, p. 527. 
 
 * It is supposed, that when Manasses fled to the Samaritans, he 
 first brought the law of Moses among them; and after they received 
 it they renounced idolatry, and worshipped the true God. Prideaux's 
 Connection, -vol. ii. p. 598. 
 
 t Josephus, p. 284. Enfield's Philosophy.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Egypt, the Jews refused to violate their engage- 
 ments to him. Enraged at their resistance, Ptolemy 
 marched to Jerusalem, and being apprized of the 
 religious veneration of the Jens for the Sabbath, 
 fraudulently surprised and took the city on that day, 
 and carried a hundred thousand of the inhabitants 
 captive into Egypt. However, in consideration of 
 the loyalty they had on various occasions evinced to 
 former conquerors, he advanced the most distin- 
 guished persons among them to places of trust in 
 the military department ; and eventually confirmed 
 all the privileges which Alexander had formerly 
 bestowed upon their nation. Ptolemy settled some 
 of the captives in Lybia and Gyrene ; from those 
 who were established in the latter of these countries 
 descended the Cyrenian Jews, mentioned by the 
 writers of the New Testament.* 
 
 Soon after the recovery of Judea by Ptolemy, 
 Simon, the Jewish high priest, died in the ninth 
 year of his pontificate. The character given of 
 him in Ecclesiasticusf evinces his distinguished 
 merit ; and the piety and integrity which uniformly 
 marked his conduct, induced his cotemporaries to 
 honour him with the surname of Just. He exhibited 
 an ardent love of his country by repairing and 
 fortifying the city and temple ; and is said to have 
 rendered the most essential service to religion by 
 completing the canon of the Oid Testament. This 
 celebrated pontiff was the last member of the grand 
 synagogue. J 
 
 * Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p. 150. Encyclopedia, TO!, ix. 
 
 t Ecclesiasticus, chap. i. 
 
 t The grand synagogue consisted of 120 elders who, in a regular
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 On the decease of Ptolemy Soter, his successor 
 Philadelphia confirmed and enlarged the privileges 
 of the Jews. He established many of that nation 
 in his dominions, ransomed those who had been 
 carried captive into Egypt,, and caused a copy of 
 their sacred books to be translated into the Greek 
 language,* and deposited in his famous library at 
 Alexandria. By means of the translation, which 
 was styled the Septuagint version, f the Jewish reli- 
 gion was made known among the Gentiles, so that 
 the temple was enriched with magnificent presents 
 from the neighbouring monarchs. 
 
 The Jews also obtained distinguished favours 
 from Seleucus Nicator, king of Macedon and Syria, 
 who admitted them into all the cities which he had 
 built in Lesser Asia, and allowed them the same 
 privileges with his Grecian and Macedonian sub- 
 jects.* 
 
 The Jewish affairs continued to wear a favour- 
 
 succession after the expiration of the Babylonish captivity, laboured 
 assiduously in restoring the Jewish church and state; and exerted 
 themselves to diffuse an accurate knowledge of the Holy Scriptures 
 among their brethren. Sacred Mirror. 
 
 D 
 
 * This translation is frequently quoted by the sacred writers of the 
 New Testament. Butler's Boras Biblicce. 
 
 f A late author observes that, with respect to the history of the 
 Septuagint, there scarcely is a subject of literature upon which more 
 has been written, or of which less with any degree of certainty is 
 known. The popular account of its being made in the reign of 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, at the suggestion of Aristeas, and under the 
 direction of Demetrius Phalerus, by seventy or seventy-two Jews 
 shut up in cells, appears to be generally exploded. The prevailing 
 opinion is, that it was made at Alexandria at different times, and by 
 different interpreters, but that all pf them were Jews. Butler's 
 Horte Biblica, p. 18, and also Prideaux's Connettion, vol. iii. p. 29 52. 
 
 + Flenry's Ancient Israelites, p. 235.
 
 INTRODUCTION. IS 
 
 able aspect till in the reign of Ptolemy Philopator 
 they were greatly oppressed by the incursion of the 
 Samaritans. At the same time Antiochus the Great, 
 king of Syria, made a vigorous effort to conquer 
 Judea. He was however defeated by the Egyptian 
 monarch, who soon after visited Jerusalem, and 
 offered sacrifices to the God of Israel for his recent 
 victory. Stimulated by an extreme curiosity to 
 view the interior part of the temple, in spite of the 
 remonstrances of the priests and the lamentations of 
 the people, he forced his way through the two outer 
 courts ; but it is related, that on his attempting to 
 penetrate into the most holy place he was struck 
 with inexpressible terror, and was obliged to be 
 carried out by his attendants. Instead however of 
 being humbled by this judgment, he was exaspe- 
 rated against the Jews ; and on his return to Egypt 
 raised a persecution against those in that kingdom, 
 deprived them of their privileges, ordered them to 
 be enrolled among the lowest order of Egyptians, 
 and sentenced many to slavery and death. He was 
 afterwards however induced to revoke his sangui- 
 nary decrees.* 
 
 B. C. 212.] After the death of Ptolemy Philo- 
 pator, Antiochus the Great invaded Caelosyria and 
 
 * It is said, that the king had resolved to destroy the whole 
 nation, beginning with those who resided in Egypt, whom he ordered 
 to be brought in chains to Alexandria to be killed by bis elephants. 
 As this wa* to be done publicly, a vast concourse of people were col- 
 lected together to behold the horrid exhibition, when to their great 
 surprise, the elephants having been made drunk with wine and frank- 
 incense, turned all their rage upon the spectators, and destroyed 
 great numbers of them, while the Jews remained in perfect safety. 
 The king relented, and restored this persecuted people to their former 
 privileges. Prideaux's Connection, vol. iii. p. 118.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Palestine, and soon made an. entire conquest of 
 these provinces. The Jews renounced their alle- 
 giance to Egypt, placed themselves under his pro- 
 tection, and offered him their assistance. The 
 Syrian monarch, highly gratified by the fidelity 
 and zeal they exhibited in his service, restored to 
 Jerusalem its ancient privileges ; gave a large sum 
 out of his own treasury for repairing the temple, 
 and maintaining public worship; granted an exemp- 
 tion from all taxes for three years to all the dispersed 
 Jews who should return to their capital, and libe- 
 rated all who had been sold for slaves in any part 
 of his dominions.* 
 
 B. C. 176.] Upon the decease of Antiochus, 
 his son and successor Seleucus continued to the 
 Jews the enjoyment of their civil and religious pri- 
 vileges, and the expenses of their sacrifices were 
 defrayed out of the royal treasury. Their prospe- 
 rity was, however, disturbed by an unhappy alter- 
 cation between Onias the high priest, and Simon 
 the governor of the temple. The latter, actuated 
 by a principle of revenge, gave such an exagge- 
 rated account of the treasures in the temple, that 
 Seleucus determined to appropriate part of them to 
 his own use, and commanded Heliodorus, his trea- 
 surer, to convey them to Antioch. Upon his arrival 
 at Jerusalem, Onias endeavoured to dissuade him 
 from his purpose, assuring him that these treasures 
 were appropriated to the use of the widows and 
 orphans in the Jewish community. Heliodorus, 
 however, still persisted to execute his commission. 
 
 t Pridcaux's Connection, TO!, ii. p 128.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 15 
 
 But while the priests and people united in ardent 
 supplication to the God of Israel to preserve the 
 sanctuary, he was suddenly struck, according to the 
 book of Maccabees, with inexpressible terror by an 
 awful vision, and soon after quitted the city, which 
 he acknowledged was under the protection of a 
 divine and irresistible power, Simon, enraged at 
 the defeat of his malicious designs, accused Onias of 
 having invited the king's treasurer to Jerusalem. 
 But the high priest justified his conduct to his royal 
 master, and at length procured the banishment of 
 the treacherous governor.* 
 
 B. C. 173.] Soon after Antiochus Epiphanes 
 assumed the Syrian diadem, Jason, brother to 
 Onias, went to Antioch and purchased the high 
 priesthood for three hundred and sixty talents f He 
 also obtained an order that the present pontiff, who 
 was a man of exemplary piety and justice, should be 
 sent to that metropolis, and there confined for life. 
 This impious priest subverted the religion of his 
 ancestors, by procuring a grant for erecting a Gym- 
 nasium, or place of exercise, at Jerusalem, similar 
 to those which were built in the Grecian cities ; and 
 encouraged the people by rewards, precepts, and 
 example, to adopt the superstition of their idolatrous 
 conquerors. From this time, therefore, a general 
 apostacy took place, and the service of the temple 
 was neglected.! 
 
 After Jason had enjoyed his ill-acquired dignity 
 for a few years, he was supplanted by his brother 
 
 * Josephus, p. 303. 2 Maccabees iii. Prideaux's Connection, 
 t About ninety thousand pounds sterling. 
 Josephus, p. 304. 2 Maccabees.
 
 16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Menelaus, whose impiety, if possible, exceeded 
 that of his predecessor. After he had obtained the 
 high priesthood by offering the additional price of 
 three hundred talents, he ordered the sacred vessels 
 to be sold to pay the stipulated sum, and bribe the 
 courtiers in his favour. He also caused Onias, \vho 
 had reproved him for his impious sacrilege, to be 
 put to death. He was indefatigable in his exer- 
 tions to destroy the Jewish religion ; engaged that 
 himself and his party should wholly conform to the 
 Greeks; drove Jason from Jerusalem, and by his 
 tyranny and extortion caused an insurrection in that 
 city.* 
 
 B. C. 166.] In the mean time Antiochus was 
 prosecuting the war in Egypt, and on a false report 
 of his death, Jason marched to Jerusalem at the 
 head of a thousand men, and severely chastised the 
 adherents of Menelaus. But the approach of the 
 Syrian monarch compelled him to elude his ven- 
 geance by flight; and at length he died in exile 
 universally hated and despised. Antiochus, exaspe- 
 rated at the supposed revolt, and the rejoicings 
 upon the report of his death, abandoned Jerusalem 
 for three days to the fury of the Syrian army. 
 Forty thousand persons were slain, and nearly an 
 equal number sold for slaves. The impious mo- 
 narch, conducted by the traitor Menelaus, forced 
 his way into the temple, and even penetrated into 
 the most holy place ; tore off the golden ornaments, 
 carried away the sacred treasures and utensils ; and 
 in order to offer the greatest insult to the Jewish 
 
 *^ Josephus, p. 303. Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p. 175, 176.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 17 
 
 religion, sacrificed a large hog on the altar of burnt 
 offering.* 
 
 After the capital was drained of treasure, and 
 filled with blood, the tyrant appointed a barbarous 
 Phrygian, named Philip, governor of Jerusalem, 
 established the apostate Menelausf in the high 
 priesthood, and returned in triumph to Antioch. 
 
 B. C. 168.] About two years after this terrible 
 event, Antiochus despatched Appollonius, governor 
 of Syria, at the head of twenty-two thousand men, 
 commanding him to destroy Jerusalem, massacre 
 the men, and sell the women and children for slaves. 
 The king's officer concealed his intentions till the 
 first sabbath after his arrival ; and while the people 
 were assembled for the solemn worship of God, he 
 executed his horrid commands with unrelenting bar- 
 barity. Every part of the city was then plundered, 
 set on fire, and the walls demolished. The temple 
 was indeed permitted to stand, but its service was 
 totally abandoned ; for the Syrian troops built a 
 fortress opposite to the sacred edifice, in order to 
 overlook and assault all who came to worship the 
 God of Israel. J 
 
 The impious monarch, not yet satiated with the 
 blood of the Jews, resolved totally to abolish their 
 religion, or extirpate their whole people. He 
 therefore issued a decree, that all the nations within 
 his dominions should forsake their old religion and 
 
 * Josephus. 
 
 t The temporal authority, which was united with the pontifical, 
 made the office of high priest appear of such value to Menelaus 
 and Jason. Prideaux, vol. ii. p. 168. 
 
 t Rollin's Ancient History, vol. viii. p. 390. 
 
 C
 
 18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 gods, and worship those of the king, under the 
 severest penalties. To enforce obedience to his 
 orders, he placed overseers in every province, and 
 being apprized that the Jews were the only persons 
 who would presume to disobey his commands, strict 
 injunctions were given to have them treated with 
 the utmost severity. Atheneas, an aged and cruel 
 man, well versed in all the rites of Grecian idolatry,, 
 being sent into Judea, dedicated the temple of 
 Jehovah to Jupiter Olympus,* and set up his 
 statue on the altar of burnt-offering. All who 
 refused to offer their adorations before the idol, 
 were either massacred, or compelled to endure the 
 most exquisite tortures. At the same time, altars, 
 groves, and statues were established not only in 
 Judea, but in all the parts of the Syrian empire ; 
 and all who professed the religion of Moses, were 
 obliged to worship them under the same penalties. 
 The king also promulgated an edict, making it 
 instant death to offer sacrifices to the God of 
 Israel, to observe the sabbath, practise circumcision, 
 or any of the Mosaic institutions. In short, an 
 energetic attempt was made to destroy every copy of 
 the law, which the king commanded to be delivered 
 up under penalty of death, while he strenuously en- 
 deavoured to exterminate every faithful worshipper 
 of God. f 
 
 At this distressing period, multitudes quitted their 
 
 * At this time the Samaritans presented a petition to the king, in 
 which they declared themselves not to be Jews, and requested that 
 their temple on Mount Gerizzim might be dedicated to the Grecian 
 Jupiter, and called after his name. Ilollins Ancient History. 
 
 t Frideaux, vol. ii. p. 184, 1ST.
 
 INTRODUCTION. i9 
 
 habitations, and retreated to caves among the rocks, 
 where they subsisted on herbs and roots. A large 
 number apostatized ; yet the ministers of cruelty 
 were frequently baffled by the intrepid firmness of 
 their victims. The king, exasperated at their 
 boldness in defying his edicts and punishments, re- 
 solved to visit Jerusalem in order to enforce the 
 execution of his sanguinary decrees. When the 
 tyrant arrived, he had recourse to the stake and the 
 rack ; and commanded and superintended the most 
 horrid executions.* The unshaken constancy of 
 the sufferers filled him with rage and astonishment ; 
 while their triumphant deaths strengthened the faith 
 and courage of their brethren. 
 
 Though the persecution under Antiochus was the 
 greatest the Jews had ever suffered, they had 
 hitherto endured the horrid cruelties of the tyrant 
 without resistance. But at length men eminently 
 distinguished for valour armed themselves in defence 
 of their religion and laws ; and while they fought 
 under the banner of the God of Israel, they were 
 enabled to effect the destruction of their idolatrous 
 enemies, the deliverance of their nation, and the 
 restoration of the true worship. 
 
 * The venerable Eleazar and the seven brethren, with their pious 
 mother, were at this time put to a most cruel death. 2 Macca- 
 beet vi. vii. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 Sketch of the history of the Jews under the Asmonean 
 
 family. 
 
 MATTATHIAS, an eminent priest of the Asmonean 
 family,* lamented with deep anguish and regret the 
 wretched situation of his country, and had for some 
 time retired to Modin, his native place, in order to 
 avoid the persecution which raged in Jerusalem. 
 Apelles, one of the officers of Antiochus, was sent 
 to that city to establish the heathen worship. After 
 assembling the people, he endeavoured to persuade 
 that venerable priest to set an example of com- 
 pliance with the king's edict, by insinuating compli- 
 ments, magnificent promises, and by stating the 
 number who had apostatized. Mattathias boldly 
 replied in the hearing of the multitude, " that 
 though all the Jews, and all the nations on earth, 
 should conform to the king's decree, he and his sons 
 would continue faithful to the law of their God, and 
 that no consideration should ever induce them to 
 abandon the religion of their ancestors." Immedi- 
 ately after, he killed one of his countrymen who 
 offered sacrifices on the altar of Modin. Upon 
 being joined by his sons, and some others, he exe- 
 cuted the same summary vengeance on the king's 
 officer and his attendants ;f and hastily passing 
 
 * He was the great grandson of Asmoncus, from whom the family 
 derived their name. Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p. 187. 
 
 + Mattathias's conduct was conformable to the law of Moes in 
 such cases. See Deuteronomy xiii.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 about the city, exhorted all who were zealous for 
 the law of God to follow him. 
 
 Animated by the example of Mattathias and his 
 pious family, large numbers of Jews being deter- 
 mined to make vigorous exertions for the recovery 
 of their civil and religious privileges, followed their 
 venerable leader into the desarts of Judea.* They 
 were soon pursued by the royal army ; and being 
 attacked on the sabbath., many perished without 
 offering to make the least resistance. Their leaders 
 were hence induced to pass a decree for defending 
 themselves for the future on that holy day, which 
 being ratified by the priests and elders, was privately 
 communicated to Palestine and the adjacent vil- 
 lages, f 
 
 B. C. 1 67. ] The party of Mattathias being strongly 
 reinforced, furiously attacked the Syrians and apostate 
 Jews, destroying many, and compelling others to 
 seek refuge in foreign countries. After having struck 
 their enemies with terror, the conquerors marched 
 from city to city, overturning the heathen altars, 
 demolishing the graven images, opening the Jewish 
 synagogues, and enforcing the practice of circum- 
 cision. They also assiduously employed themselves 
 in searching for and transcribing the sacred books, 
 and causing the reading of the scriptures to be 
 resumed. Their heroic exertions were crowned 
 with such remarkable success, that in the short 
 space of one year, a happy reformation had begun 
 to extend over a large part of Judea, when death ar- 
 rested Mattathias in his glorious progress. In his 
 
 * Whiston's Josephuv vol. iii. p. 46. t Ibid.
 
 22 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 last moments he exhorted his sons, in the most 
 fervent and affectionate manner, to emulate, their 
 pious ancestors, and hazard their lives in defence of 
 the religion and laws of their country.* 
 
 B. C. 160.] Judas, surnamed Maccabeus,f his 
 eldest son and successor, is said to have been the 
 greatest uninspired hero of whom the Jews can 
 boast. J With his small army, which at first only 
 consisted of six thousand men, he soon made him- 
 self master of some of the strongest fortresses in 
 Judea ; became terrible to the Syrians and Sa- 
 maritans ; compelled the apostate Jews to retire in 
 confusion, while the pious emigrants returned and 
 enlisted under his banners. The Syrian monarch, 
 and the governors of the provinces, exerted them- 
 selves to the utmost to crush this dangerous revolt in 
 its infancy. For this purpose they repeatedly sent 
 formidable armies against Judas, commanded by 
 officers of consummate valour. The Maccabean 
 hero, animated by religious confidence in God, was 
 not alarmed by the vast superiority of numbers on 
 
 'tfA, r.^J ;y.'fi V_' - . ' ; '.-.!. ; ;. ; . , . 
 
 * 1 Maccabees ii. Josephus, p. 309. 
 
 + The motto on the standard of Judas was taken from Exodus xrv 
 " Who is like unto thee among the Gods, O Jehovah !" which being 
 written by an abbreviation formed the initial letters of the words put 
 together, which made the artificial word Maccabees. Such at least is 
 the national tradition concerning the origin of a name applied in its 
 strict sense to persons enlisted under Judas and his brethren ; but also 
 more extensively to those who, before Judas raised his standard, had 
 magnanimously braved death in the same religious canse. Parti- 
 cularly to those Jews recently tortured at Jerusalem by the merciless 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, as well as those martyred 50 years before at 
 Alexandria by the cruel Ptolemy Philopater. Prideaux'a Connection, 
 vol. ii. p. 193. Gillie's History, vol. iii. p. 183. 
 
 + Encyclopedia.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 23 
 
 the side of his enemies : but continued successfully 
 to defend the laws and religion of his countrymen : 
 and in one year defeated the Syrians in five battles. 
 In the last of these engagements, the army which 
 was raised by Lysias the Syrian governor, amounted 
 to sixty-five thousand men. Judas gained a com- 
 plete victory, obliged the troops who had escaped 
 the sword to elude his vengeance by an ignominious 
 flight, and their commander to abandon the en- 
 terprize, and return to Syria.* 
 
 B.C. 165.] Encouraged by this brilliant success, 
 the victorious Maccabees marched to Jerusalem, 
 destroyed the Syrian idols, repaired and purified the 
 temple, replaced the sacred vessels, and divine wor- 
 ship, which had been interrupted for three years 
 and an half, was resumed with the greatest splendour 
 and solemnity. The temple, which was decked with 
 a profusion of ornaments, was consecrated anew to 
 the service of God, and an annual feast appointed 
 to perpetuate the remembrance of this joyful event. 
 But notwithstanding the triumphant success of 
 Judas and his army, they were not able to expel the 
 Syrians from their fortress on mount Acra, which 
 was opposite to the temple ; in order therefore to 
 prevent the interruption of divine worship, they 
 protected the sacred edifice by building high walls 
 and lofty towers, which were supported by a 
 powerful and vigilant garrison. f 
 
 The surrounding nations, exasperated at the re- 
 establishment of the Jews, united against them, and 
 
 * For a particular account of the battles between the Syrians and 
 Jews, see 1 Maccabees iii. iv. 
 t 1 Maccabees iv.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 attacked them on all sides, being resolved to destroy 
 every worshipper of Jehovah. But Judas and his 
 valiant brothers repeatedly attacked and vanquished 
 their forces with prodigious slaughter ; reduced 
 several of their principal places ; and obtained the 
 most complete success.* 
 
 In the mean time Antiochus, being on his return 
 from an unsuccessful expedition against Persia, re- 
 ceived the alarming news, that all the Jews had 
 revolted, defeated his generals, expelled their armies 
 from Judea, and restored the primitive worship. 
 This intelligence filled him with such frantic rage, 
 that he declared he would utterly extirpate every in- 
 dividual of the Jewish nation. These words were 
 scarcely uttered, says the author of the book of 
 Maccabees, when he was struck with a torturing and 
 incurable disease, and was compelled to acknow- 
 ledge, that his sufferings were justly inflicted by the 
 God of Israel, whose people he had persecuted with 
 unrelenting cruelty. 
 
 After having languished for some time in a mise- 
 rable condition he expired, and his death freed the 
 Jews from the most inveterate enemy they had ever 
 known. Antiochus Eupater, his son and successor, 
 continued to prosecute the war against the Jewish 
 nation, f 
 
 Some time after the death of the tyrant, Judas 
 laid close siege to the tower of Acra, which Appol- 
 lonius had built to overlook the temple. The young 
 king advanced to the relief of the garrison at the 
 head of an hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand 
 
 * Rollin's Ancient History, vol. viii. 
 
 t 2 Maccabees ix. Josephus, vol. iii p. 69.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 horse, thirty-two elephants, and three hundred 
 chariots of war. Upon the approach of this formi- 
 dable army, the Maccabean chief having exhorted 
 his troops to fight valiantly for their liberties, and 
 given for the watchword, " Victory is of God,' 1 
 attacked the enemy in the night, slew four thousand 
 six hundred men, threw the whole army into confu- 
 sion, and made a regular retreat into Jerusalem.* 
 
 Antiochus Eupater, having reduced the fortress 
 of Bethsura, conducted his army to the Jewish 
 metropolis. The garrison defended the city with 
 undaunted courage, till they were reduced to the 
 utmost extremities from want of provisions ; but 
 Providence interposed in their behalf, and the report 
 of a rebellion in Syria induced the besiegers to 
 grant them an advantageous peace. The king en- 
 gaged to leave the fortifications of the temple entire ; 
 but upon the cessation of hostilities he caused them 
 to be demolished, in open violation of the treaty 
 which he had just confirmed with the most solemn 
 oath.f 
 
 Menelaus the apostate high priest, who had at- 
 tended the Syrian army in this expedition, was 
 accused by Lysias, the commander, of being the 
 instigator of the war, and condemned to suffer a 
 cruel death. The Syrian government then con- 
 ferred the pontifical dignity upon Alcimus, a man 
 equally unprincipled and vicious as his predecessor. 
 But the Jews refused to admit him to officiate at 
 their altar, on account of his known impiety, and 
 attachment to the superstitions of the Grecians.]; 
 
 * 2 Maccabees ix. Josephus, vol. iii. p. 69. 
 
 t 1 Maccabees vi. 68. + 2 Maccabees xiii.
 
 26 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 B. C. 162.] Onias, the son of Onias HI. who 
 was murdered in Antioch, being disappointed in not 
 obtaining the high priesthood after the death of his 
 uncle Menelaus, withdrew into Egypt. Indignant at 
 the promotion of the unworthy Alcimus, he peti- 
 tioned Ptolemy Philometer and Cleopatra his queen 
 to permit him to build a temple for the Jews in that 
 country, alleging that the prophet Isaiah had fore- 
 told that " there should be an altar to the Lord in 
 Egypt."* The king and queen granted his request, 
 assigned a portion of land, and an adequate revenue 
 for the purpose. The place chosen for erecting the 
 temple was Heliopolis, or the city of the sun. It 
 was built after the model of the temple at Jerusalem ; 
 but not on so large and magnificent a scale. Onias 
 was made high priest ; inferior priests and Levites 
 were also appointed ; and divine worship conducted 
 as in the capital of Judea.f 
 
 Demetrius, son of Seleucus Philopater, and 
 lawful heir to the crown, having put Antiochus 
 Eupator to death, Alcimus, the apostate high priest, 
 who upon being rejected by the Jews had become 
 their implacable enemy, petitioned the new king to 
 support his title. Demetrius at his instigation sent 
 large armies under the command of Bacchides the 
 governor of Mesopotamia, and Nicanor, governor 
 of Judea. But the designs of both were frustrated 
 by the valour and prudence of the Maccabees ; and 
 Nicanor, who had blasphemed the God of Israel, 
 and threatened to destroy the temple, was slain in 
 the engagement, and his army defeated with prodi- 
 gious slaughter.^ 
 
 * Isaiah xix. 18, 19. t Josephus, vol. iii- p. 59. + Ibid.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 Soon after this victory, Judas sent an embassy to 
 Rome, and obtained an alliance with that powerful 
 state. But previously to the return of the ambas- 
 sador, Demetrius despatched Bacchides into Judea 
 with the flower of his troops, consisting of twenty- 
 two thousand men, to revenge the death of Nicanor, 
 and establish Alcimus in the priesthood. At the 
 approach of this formidable army, the soldiers of 
 Judas, which amounted to only three thousand men, 
 were intimidated to such a degree, that all left him 
 except eight hundred. With this small force, which 
 he exhorted in the most pathetic manner to die vali- 
 antly rather than desert, he broke the strongest 
 wing of the idolatrous army, and chased the fleeing 
 troops to Mount Azotus. But at length being sur- 
 rounded on all sides, and overpowered by numbers, 
 this heroic defender of his country fell, covered 
 with honourable wounds, on heaps of his expiring 
 enemies. His death was deeply lamented, and his 
 heroic exploits deservedly celebrated.* 
 
 B. C. 100.] The death of Judas filled his coun- 
 trymen with the utmost consternation, while their 
 enemies, inspired with fresh courage, reduced Jeru- 
 salem, put many of the adherents of the Maccabees 
 to death, and reinstated Alcimus in the priesthood, 
 which sacred office he perverted to the vilest pur- 
 poses. Josephus observes, " that the calamities the 
 Jews suffered at this time were equal to any they 
 had experienced since their return from Babylon." 
 But at length the impious high priest having pre- 
 sumed to break down one of the walls of the sanc- 
 tuary, was suddenly cut off in the full career of his 
 
 * 1 Maccabees ix.
 
 28 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wickedness, and expired in agonies.* The party of 
 Judas made the most strenuous exertions against 
 their enemies, and unanimously chose Jonathan to 
 succeed his brother as their prince and general. 
 Under his direction the war was conducted with 
 such energy and success, that the Syrians, disturbed 
 by their own intestine divisions,, solemnly engaged 
 to refrain from further hostilities, and a treaty of 
 peace was concluded, f 
 
 Immediately after the Syrian forces left Judea, 
 Jonathan commenced a regular government, similar 
 to that of the ancient Israelitish judges ; be repaired 
 the walls of Jerusalem, fortified the city, and made 
 several important reformations in the civil and eccle- 
 siastical affairs of his country. The increase of his 
 reputation and success, induced the competitors for 
 the Syrian monarchy to court his friendship ; and as 
 Demetrius had formerly persecuted the Jews, he 
 joined the party of his rival Alexander Bela. With 
 the unanimous consent of the people, he accepted the 
 high priesthood from him ; [B. C. 144.] that place 
 having been vacant seven years from the death of 
 Alcimus. Jonathan also formed an alliance with the 
 Romans and Lacedemonians, and rendered himself 
 formidable by his military achievements. But after 
 he had governed the Jewish nation with equal pru- 
 
 * By the order of prophets Haggai and Zechariah, a low wall or 
 inclosure was built round the sanctuary to separate the holy from the 
 unholy ; and the rule was, that within this no tincircumcised person 
 was to enter. Alcimus, in order to give the Gentiles equal liberty 
 with the Jews, to pass into the inner courts of the temple, ordered 
 this wall of partition to be pulled down. Prideaux'x Connection, 
 vol. ii. p. 264. 
 
 + Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p 264.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 dence and skill for about seventeen years, he and his 
 children were treacherously put to death by Tryphon, 
 a Syrian usurper, in the city of Ptolemais. One 
 thousand persons who attended him as guards were 
 likewise assassinated.* 
 
 B. C. 143.] After the death of Jonathan, the 
 leaders of the Jewish nation assembled at Jerusalem, 
 and chose Simon, the only surviving son of Matta- 
 thias, for their general and high priest ; and settled 
 both the civil and sacerdotal power on his posterity. 
 He imitated the valour and prudence which marked 
 the conduct of his brother ; repaired the fortresses of 
 Judea ; reduced and demolished the tower of Acra ; 
 renewed the treaty with the Romans ; and sent an 
 embassy to Demetrius, lawful heir of Syria, offering; 
 to acknowledge his sovereignty, and assist him in 
 depriving the usurper Tryphon of the regal dignity. 
 These proposals were cheerfully accepted by Deme- 
 trius ; and a letter was returned, which constituted 
 Simon sovereign prince and high priest of the 
 Jewish nation ; ordered all public acts to be made in 
 his name, and released his territories from all foreign 
 
 o 
 
 dominion. After the independent reign of Simon 
 had commenced, he bravely defended his country ; 
 took Gaza and Joppa ; restored peace, to Jerusalem ; 
 beautified the sanctuary, and enforced obedience to 
 the divine law. At length, however, [B. C. 135.] 
 a period was put to his life and usefulness at the 
 castle of his son-in-law, by whom he and two of 
 his sons were treacherously murdered after he had 
 governed the Jews eight years. f 
 
 * Whiston's Josephus, vol. v. p. 13. 1 Maccab. x xhrin 'n * 
 t I Maccabees xvi.
 
 <HJ INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Immediately after Simon's death, Antiochus Si- 
 detes, the then reigning king of Syria, marched to 
 Palestine with a powerful army, and compelled the 
 Jews to deliver their arms, demolish the fortifications 
 of Jerusalem, and pay him an annual tribute. Not 
 long after, this monarch was slain in an expedition 
 against the Parthians ; and the intestine commotions 
 which distracted the kingdom after his death afforded 
 Hyrcanus, the son and successor of Simon, an 
 opportunity to enlarge his dominion?, and deliver 
 his country from the yoke of foreign power. His 
 exertions were crowned with such complete success, 
 that neither he nor his descendants were ever after 
 subjected to the kings of Syria.* 
 
 He was also successful in his wars with the Idu- 
 means, whom he compelled to renounce their idol- 
 atrous rites, or abandon their country ; in con- 
 sequence of which they lost their political existence, 
 and became incorporated with the Jewish nation. 
 The conqueror next turned his arms against the 
 Samaritans ; demolished their capital city, and the 
 temple which was erected on Mount Gerizzim.f 
 
 Hyrcanus renewed the alliance which his prede- 
 cessors made with the Romans, who were now 
 rapidly advancing to the meridian of their power. 
 And having subdued his enemies, and amassed pro- 
 digious treasure by his conquests, enjoyed his autho- 
 rity without disturbance, made Judea flourish under . 
 his wise administration, and raised his nation to a 
 greater degree of splendour than it had ever en- 
 joyed since the Babylonish captivity. His last days 
 
 * Whiston's Josephus, vol. v. p. 14. Prid. Conn. vol. ii. p. 325. 
 t Hollin's Ancient History.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 31 
 
 were however embittered by a contest with the 
 Pharisees,* who, at this time had acquired great 
 power and popularity ; and had incensed the king 
 by calling in question his title to the high priesthood. 
 Hyrcanus, however, after having enjoyed the royal 
 authority twenty-nine years, died in peace, greatly 
 beloved and lamented by the generality of the Jewish 
 nation. f 
 
 Aristobulus, his eldest son, succeeded him both in 
 the regal and sacerdotal dignities. He was the first 
 after the Babylonian captivity who assumed a 
 diadem, and the title of king. The commencement 
 of his reign was marked with several acts of de- 
 spotic cruelty. He even put his own mother to 
 death, because she aspired to the government ; and 
 imprisoned his brothers, one of whom he also caused 
 to be slain upon an unjust suspicion. During his 
 government the Itureans, who inhabited the north 
 easterly parts of Galilee, were attacked and van- 
 
 * Learned men differ respecting the origin of the Pharisees. Some 
 suppose that they arose about an hundred and fifty years before the 
 appearance of our Saviour. Josephus, who was himself of this sect, 
 speaks of it as flourishing in the time of Jonathan the high priest. 
 The dissensions between the schools of Hillel and Shammai, a little 
 before the Christian era, increased the number and power of the 
 Pharisees. Hillel, having acquired a profound knowledge of the 
 most difficult points of the Jewish law, became master of the chief 
 school in Jerusalem, and laid the foundation of the Talmud. Shana- 
 inai, one of his disciples, deserted his school, and formed a college, 
 in which he taught doctrines contrary to his master. He rejected the 
 oral law, and followed the moral only in its literal sense. These dif- 
 ferent schools long disturbed the Jewish church by yiolent com- 
 motions. However, the party of Hillel was at last victorious. 
 Enfield's Philosophy. See also Section V. for a further account of this 
 denomination. 
 
 t Josephus, vol. Y. p. 19.
 
 32 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 quished. After a short reign the tyrant expired, 
 filled with the utmost horror and remorse of con- 
 science.* 
 
 B. C. 105.] Alexander Janneus, brother of 
 Aristobulus, being liberated from prison, ascended 
 the throne. This martial prince defeated the Phi- 
 listines, and compelled them to receive circumcision. f 
 He also achieved other brilliant conquests in Arabia, 
 Gilead, and Moabitis. During his reign, however, 
 the Jews were in a very miserable condition, being 
 not only involved in foreign wars, but distracted by 
 intestine commotions. The powerful party of the 
 Pharisees, who detested him for enforcing his father's 
 decrees against their constitutions, exerted them- 
 selves to the utmost to vilify his government, and 
 exasperate the people against him. Their malicious 
 attempts gave rise to a civil war which lasted six 
 years, involved both parties in innumerable cala- 
 mities, and occasioned the death of more than fifty 
 thousand persons. At length Alexander having in 
 vain endeavoured to effect a reconciliation, gained 
 the victory in a decisive battle, and punished his 
 enemies with the utmost severity. The king died 
 in the 27th year of his reign, after he had be- 
 queathed the government to his wife Alexandria, 
 whom he appointed guardian to the young princes. 
 
 When the queen ascended the throne, in compli- 
 ance with the advice which she received from her 
 
 * Josephus, -vol. v. p. 19. 
 
 t The practice of obliging the nations, who were conquered by the 
 Jews, to quit their country, or embrace the Mosaic religion, was inva- 
 riably followed by the Asmonean princes. Roltin's Ancient History, 
 vol. iz. p. 221.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5O 
 
 husband just before his death, she sent for the prin- 
 cipal leaders among the Pharisees, to whom she 
 entirely committed the management of her affairs. 
 By this measure she acquired popularity, and esta- 
 blished herself on the throne. But this turbulent 
 sect having compelled the queen to grant their 
 exorbitant demands, commenced a violent perse- 
 cution against the Sadducees,* and exercised their 
 authority in the most arbitrary and oppressive 
 manner. Alexandria died in the ninth year of her 
 reign, having appointed her eldest son Hyrcanus, 
 who had been made high priest, to succeed her in 
 the regal dignity. f 
 
 Immediately after Hyrcanus II. ascended the 
 throne, his brother Aristobulus raised a powerful 
 army against him, which soon compelled him to sue 
 for peace, on condition of resigning all title to the 
 regal and pontifical dignity. But the ambition of 
 Antipater, governor of Idumea and father of Herod, 
 involved the Jews in a new war. He used all his 
 address to replace the late king on the throne, in 
 order that he might govern under him . By his assist- 
 ance, and that of Aretas, king of Arabia, Hyrcanus 
 assembled a body of troops, which defeated Aris- 
 
 * The Sadducees derived their origin and name from one Sadoc, 
 who flourished about two hundred and sixty years before Christ. 
 Sadoc was a pupil of Antigonus Socliseus, president of the sanhedrim, 
 who having inculcated in his lectures, that men ought to serve God 
 out of pure love to him, and not in a servile manner, either for fear 
 of punishment or hope of reward, Sadoc, not understanding this 
 spiritual doctrine, concluded that there was no future state of 
 rewards and punishments. His adherents were denominated Sad- 
 dncees. Jennings' Lectures, vol. i. p. 456. gee part v. for a farther 
 account of this sect. 
 
 t Josephus, rol. v. p. 26. 
 
 P
 
 34 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 tobulus, and kept him closely besieged in Jeru- 
 salem.* 
 
 B. C. 65.] In this situation of affairs, Aristo- 
 bulus implored the protection of the Romans, and 
 his petition being accompanied with large presents, 
 effectually answered his purpose, and induced the 
 republic to write to Aretas, commanding him to 
 raise the siege, and leave the country. The Arabian 
 prince obeyed the injunction, and Aristobulus 
 escaped from his confinement, and gratified his 
 vindictive rage by the destruction of his enemies. f 
 
 Some time after this event, the two brothers sent 
 ambassadors to Pompey, at that time commander in 
 .chief of all the Roman forces in the east, and chose 
 him the arbitrator of their mutual differences. 
 
 The Roman general heard each party Tvith ap- 
 parent impartiality, and dismissed them with a 
 promise, that he would embrace an early opportunity 
 of deciding the controversy. Aristobulus, offended 
 at the delay, and suspecting Pompey favoured his 
 brother, made formidable preparations for war. 
 Exasperated at this, and other parts of his conduct, 
 the Roman commander caused him to be imprisoned, 
 and marched with his whole army against Jeru- 
 salem.;]; 
 
 Though the gates of the city were readily opened 
 by Hyrcanus's party, yet the faction of Aristobulus 
 took shelter in the temple, and resolved to defend 
 themselves to the last extremity. Pompey therefore 
 closely besieged them ; and the superstitious rigour, 
 with which the Jews observed the sabbath, facilitated 
 
 * Josephm, vol. i. p. 28. t Ibid. i Ibid. vol. v. p. 30.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 35 
 
 the conquest of their metropolis. For though, since 
 the commencement of the Maccabean war, they 
 had agreed to defend themselves on that holy day, 
 when actually attacked, they still thought it unlawful 
 to prevent the works of the enemy. The Romans 
 therefore were unmolested, while they employed 
 themselves in preparations for an attack on the 
 sabbath, and made themselves masters of the city 
 after a siege of three months. A terrible slaughter 
 ensued, in which more than twelve thousand persons 
 were killed, and many perished by suicide. During 
 these horrid transactions, the priests, who were 
 offering sacrifices, continued their devotions with 
 great composure, and suffered themselves to be 
 murdered before the altar without any resistance. 
 Their constancy excited the astonishment and admi- 
 ration of the conqueror.* 
 
 Jerusalem was reduced on that very day, which 
 the Jews observe as a solemn fast for the taking of 
 the city and temple by Nebuchadnezzar. After 
 Pompey had completed the conquest of Jerusalem, 
 his curiosity induced him to examine every part of 
 the temple. Accompanied with some of his supe- 
 rior officers, he even penetrated into the holy of 
 holies. But he left the treasures of the sacred edi- 
 fice untouched, and ordered the priests to make a 
 solemn purification, and offer sacrifices according 
 to the Mosaic institutions. f 
 
 * Rollin's Ancient History, TO!, ir. p. 293. 
 t Josephus, vol. v. p. 31 33. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 Sketch of the history of the Jews, from the conquest of 
 Pompey to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 B. C. 63.] JOSEPH us and Tacitus date the loss 
 of the liberty of the Jews, and the translation of 
 the sovereign authority to the Romans, from the 
 reduction of Jerusalem by Pompey. For though 
 Hyrcanus was restored to the pontifical dignity with 
 the title of prince, he was deprived of the ensigns 
 of royalty, and condemned to pay a disgraceful 
 tribute. His dominions were also reduced to nar- 
 rower limits ; for Pompey restored to Ccelo Syria 
 all the towns taken by the Jews, gave liberty to 
 Samaria and other maritime towns, and strictly pro- 
 hibited him from attempting any new conquests. 
 To prevent future revolts, the Roman general com- 
 manded the walls of Jerusalem to be demolished ; 
 and, after regulating the government of Judea 
 according to his pleasure, returned to Rome, Aris- 
 tobulus and his sons Alexander and Antigonus being 
 sent prisoners to that city to adorn his future 
 triumph.* 
 
 B. C. 57.] Prom this period, for many years, civil 
 dissensions and desolating wars raged in Judea. 
 Alexander, the son of Aristobulus, found means to 
 escape from Rome, and appeared in that country at 
 the head of a formidable army. Hyrcanus had left 
 the management of affairs to Antipater, who, having 
 used every artifice to ingratiate himself with the 
 Romans, was enabled, by their assistance, to suppress 
 
 * Josephus, vol. T. p. 34.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 37 
 
 the rebellion. Some time after, Aristobulus obtained 
 his liberty, and joined the discontented party in Pa- 
 lestine. But his attempts were frustrated; and he 
 was again committed to prison. A few years after, 
 Julius Caesar set him at liberty, in order to gain his 
 assistance against Pompey ; and both he and his son 
 Alexander were put to death by the partizans of that 
 famous general.* 
 
 B. C. 52.] About this time Crassus, the Roman 
 governor of Syria, invaded the Parthians ; and 
 on his march against that nation stopped at Jeru- 
 salem, and stimulated by his insatiable avarice., 
 seized the sacred treasures in the temple. The 
 wealth he acquired by this sacrilegious pillage is said 
 to have been upwards of two millions sterling. But 
 the vengeance of heaven overtook him ; for he was 
 soon after defeated and slain by the Parthians. f 
 
 B. C. 48.] Meantime the power and influence 
 of Antipater rapidly increased. Julius Caesar, who 
 after the death of Pompey usurped the supreme 
 authority at Jlome, rewarded the services he had 
 rendered him in the Egyptian war, by making him 
 lieutenant of Judea, and honouring him with the 
 title of a Roman citizen. He also confirmed Hyr- 
 canus in the priesthood, gave liberty to fortify the 
 city and repair the walls of Jerusalem, which 
 Pompey had demolished, and bestowed such signal 
 favours upon the Jews, that during his life, they 
 could scarcely be said to feel the Roman yoke. 
 
 At this time Antipater procured the government 
 of Jerusalem for his eldest son Phasael, and that of 
 Galilee for his second son Herod. f 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 37 40. t Jbid. t ^id- p 43.
 
 38 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 During the domestic calamities, which engaged 
 the attention of the Romans upon the assassination 
 of Julius Caesar, Hyrcanus was deprived of his 
 authority by his nephew Antigonus, who, after 
 making vigorous efforts, in which he was assisted 
 by the Parthians, recovered the kingdom, Hyrca- 
 nus and Phasael were thrown into a dungeon ; but 
 Herod escaped destruction by a precipitate flight. 
 He first took refuge in Egypt, from whence he 
 repaired to Rome for assistance, and by the power- 
 ful patronage of Mark Anthony, who was then in 
 the zenith of his power, was inaugurated king of 
 Judea. Soon after he entered Palestine with a 
 numerous army, and subdued Galilee. He was 
 however repulsed at Jerusalem with great slaughter ; 
 but being reinforced by Sosias, governor of Syria, 
 he*made himself master of the city, after an obstinate 
 siege of six months. The immediate consequence 
 was a cruel pillage and massacre, which was followed 
 by the death of Antigonus the son of Aristobulus. 
 Thus ended the reign of the Asmonean family, after 
 a duration of an hundred and twenty nine years 
 from the beginning of the government of Judas 
 Maccabeus.* 
 
 Upon the entire reduction of the holy city, Herod, 
 a stranger and Idumean, ascended the throne of 
 Judea. 
 
 Herod, who proved one of the greatest tyrants 
 ever recorded in history, commenced his reign with 
 a cruel persecution of the adherents of Antigonus : 
 the most affluent among them he caused to be put to 
 death, and confiscated their estates in order to re- 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 43.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 39 
 
 plenish his empty coffers. The tyrant decoyed 
 Hyrcanus from Parthia, where he had fled for 
 shelter ; and, contrary to the most solemn engage- 
 ments, caused him to be assassinated. Aristobulus, 
 the grandson of Hyrcanus, who was appointed high 
 priest, was drowned in a bath by his contrivance. 
 Mariamne, his queen, who descended from the illus- 
 trious Asmonean family, and was distinguished for 
 her beauty, virtue, and accomplishments, fell the 
 next victim to his resentment and jealousy. Three 
 of his sons, in the course of his tyrannical reign, 
 were condemned to suffer death. He sacrificed his 
 friends as well as foes to his ungovernable fury, 
 oppressed the people in the most cruel and arbitrary 
 manner, and exhausted the treasures of the nation 
 by his boundless extravagance.* 
 
 After Herod had destroyed the greatest part of his 
 supposed enemies, he began to exhibit a marked 
 contempt for the Jewish religion and laws. From 
 the beginning of his reign to the final destruction of 
 the temple, the high priests had no hereditary right ; 
 but were set up and removed at his pleasure, and 
 that of his successors. He also destroyed the autho- 
 rity of the grand sanhedrim,f and burnt the Jewish 
 records, that he might be thought originally an Isra- 
 elite. He built temples in the Grecian taste, erected 
 statues for idolatrous worship, consecrated a superb 
 theatre and amphitheatre, to celebrate games in 
 honour of Augustus, adopted in his ordinary habits 
 
 'Jr 
 
 * Josepbus. 
 
 t Herod had been obliged to appear before the grand sanhedrim, 
 in order to answer for his conduct, previously to his obtaining the 
 regal dignity ; and from a principle of revenge he attacked the 
 assembly, which by degrees lost its power.
 
 40 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Roman manners and usages, and in his public capa- 
 city was absolutely devoted and subservient to the 
 Romans. 
 
 Under the administration, and through the in- 
 fluence of this tyrant, the Roman luxury was 
 introduced into Palestine, accompanied with all the 
 vices of that licentious people. In a word, Judea. 
 governed by Herod, groaned under all the cor- 
 ruption, which might be expected from the authority 
 and example of a prince, who though a Jew in 
 outward profession, was, in point of morals and 
 practice, a contemner of all laws human and 
 divine.* 
 
 B. C. 23.] After Herod had amassed a prodi- 
 gious treasure by his cruel extortions and confis- 
 cations, he proposed to regain the favour of the 
 Jewish nation by repairing the temple ; and for 
 eight or nine years employed upon it eighteen 
 thousand workmen, who at last completed the stu- 
 pendous design. The magnificent structure, which 
 he erected, is said, in some respects, to have even 
 exceeded the first temple, which was built by 
 Solomon. f Rising in all its grandeur from the 
 summit of a mountain, it commanded an extensive 
 prospect ; its appearance, says Josephus, exhibited 
 every thing, that could strike the mind and astonish 
 the sight. It was on every side covered with solid 
 plates of gold, and, when the sun arose upon it, 
 
 * Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. vol. i. p. SI. Horse Biblicas. 
 
 t It was built of hard white stones of prodigious magnitude. 
 Hence, the disciples expressed tlieir admiration of its grandeur, and 
 of the large and magnificent stones, of which it was erected, Mark 
 xiii. 1. See Harwooifs Introduction to Die jVtf?t> Testament, vol. ii. 
 p. 158.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 41 
 
 reflected such a dazzling effulgence, that the eye 
 was unable to sustain its radiance. The temple was 
 encompassed with august porticoes, on which im- 
 mense riches were profusely expended; and every 
 ornament bestowed, that human art and genius 
 could devise. This superb structure was continually 
 receiving additions to the time of the ministry of 
 our Saviour.* Herod set up a golden eagle of ex- 
 quisite workmanship, the arms of the Roman empire, 
 over the gates of the temple. 
 
 About this period there was a general expectation 
 through the eastern world of the advent of some 
 illustrious prophet and deliverer, who should change 
 the aspect of human affairs. f The Jews in parti- 
 cular eagerly anticipated the coming of the promised 
 Messiah, as the time predicted by Daniel for his 
 manifestation was arrived. Devout persons waited 
 day and night for the consolation of Israel ; and the 
 whole nation, groaning under the Roman yoke, 
 and stimulated by the desire of liberty or of venge- 
 ance, expected their deliverer with the roost anxious 
 impatience. 
 
 At length, that most interesting and important 
 epoch arrived, when the Saviour Jesus Christ made 
 his appearance on earth. When the sun of righteous- 
 ness arose on a benighted world, Polytheism was in 
 
 * Hence the Jews might with literal propriety assert, as they 
 ostentatiously did, " Forty and six years was this temple in building," 
 John ii. 20. As the whole was executed under the idea of repairs, it 
 continued to he called the second temple. 
 
 t Josephus, Suetonius, and Tacitus, mention this general expec- 
 tation ; and hence Virgil, the Roman poet, in his fourth eclogue, 
 describes the blessings of the government of some great personage 
 who was, or should be born about this time.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 every country, except Judea, the predominant, and 
 almost universal religion. The Roman empire under 
 Augustus had attained the zenith of its power : while 
 the pagan nations, who composed this vast monarchy, 
 exhibited the most glaring picture of human depra- 
 vity ; and the Jewish state, and true religion, were 
 almost at the lowest ebb. Just before our Saviour 
 was born, the temple of Janus was shut, to intimate 
 that the nations of the earth were at peace. This 
 remarkable peace, after so many ages of tumult and 
 war, was a fit prelude to the introduction of the 
 glorious prince of peace into the world.* 
 
 The malicious attempt of Herod to involve the 
 Saviour of the world in the slaughter of the babes of 
 Bethlehem is recorded by the sacred history. f The 
 tyrant died the following year in exquisite tortures. 
 During his illness he sent for the heads of the 
 most eminent families in Judea, confined them, and 
 left orders, that, as soon as he had breathed his last 
 they should all be put to the sword, to oblige the 
 nation to go in mourning at his death. He expired 
 soon after, in the thirty-seventh year of his reign ; 
 the sentence was not executed ; and the nation re- 
 joiced at their deliverance. J 
 
 After the death of Herod, the Roman emperor 
 divided the kingdom of Judea between his sons. 
 The brothers, for some years, governed Palestine 
 without any open rebellion or disturbance. But 
 Archelaus, who obtained half the kingdom, under 
 the title of exarch, proved so corrupt and wicked 
 a prince, that both Jews and Samaritans sent ambas- 
 
 * Mosheim's Ecclesiastical History, vol. i. p. 16. t Matthew xi. 
 J Josephus, vol. v. p. 154.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 43 
 
 sadors to accuse him to Augustus. The emperor 
 deposed and banished him for his tyrannical conduct; 
 and reduced Judea to the form of a Roman province, 
 to be ruled by procurators, who were to be appointed 
 and recalled at the pleasure of the reigning monarch. 
 The power of life and death was taken from the Jews ; 
 their taxes were regularly gathered by the publicans ; 
 and justice was from that time administered in the 
 name, and by the laws of Rome.* 
 
 SECTION V. 
 
 Of the different denominations among the Jews at the time 
 of Chris? s appearance upon earth. 
 
 THOUGH the Jewish nation, at the time of our 
 Saviour's appearance, retained the worship of the 
 true God, they had grossly perverted their religion, 
 by exalting the traditions of their ancestors above 
 the clear and positive injunctions of their law ; and 
 while they presumed to infringe the strongest moral 
 obligations, they were scrupulously exact in per- 
 forming the most minute and trifling ceremonies, 
 which were enjoined by their rabbies. The ultimate 
 object of many, was to obtain popular applause; 
 hence they publicly displayed all the parade of os- 
 tentatious charity, and were privately guilty of the 
 
 * The precise year, when this event took place, it may be difficult 
 to ascertain : but the judicial forms which were observed on the trial 
 and condemnation of oiir Saviour, and the acclamation of the Jews, 
 " We have no king but Csesar," irrefragably shew that it had arrived. 
 Horse Biblicae, p. 42. This event illustrates the celebrated prophecy 
 of Jacob, Genesis xlix. 10. The generality of interpreters, Jewish 
 as well as Christian, have by Shiloh understood the Messiah.
 
 44 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 greatest extortion and cruelty. Yet, elated with 
 spiritual pride, they considered themselves as the 
 only favourites of heaven, and excluded all other 
 nations from the hopes of eternal life.* 
 
 During Christ's ministry on earth the temple 
 was used as a place of merchandize, and the most 
 sacred offices, even the high priesthood, were sold. 
 The chief priests, who purchased their places by 
 bribes, maintained their ill acquired authority by the 
 most abominable crimes. The inferior priests, and 
 those who possessed any degree of authority, had 
 become dissolute and abandoned in the highest 
 degree : while the multitude, excited by their corrupt 
 example, ran headlong into every kind of iniquity, 
 and, by their seditions, robberies, and extortions, 
 armed against themselves both the justice of God 
 and vengeance of man. 
 
 The Jewish nation, at the time of our Saviour's 
 appearance, were divided into a great variety of 
 sects. The principal points in dispute among 
 them respected the law of Moses, the immortality 
 of the soul, the resurrection of the body, future 
 rewards and punishments, and the nature of virtue. 
 AH admitted the divine authority of the Mosaic law. 
 All agreed in thinking, that their religious tenets and 
 observances were the only objects worthy of their 
 attention. f 
 
 The rabbies, or the teachers of each sect, defended 
 their tenets with the greatest zeal and pertinacity. 
 The Jews and Samaritans were, in particular, 
 violently opposed to each other. The latter, at first, 
 
 Harwood's Introduction, vol. i. p. 108, 109. Moshsim. 
 t Prideaux'a Connection, vol. i. p. 353. Horse Biblicse.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 45 
 
 were heathens, who worshipped the God of Israel, 
 in conjunction with other deities, till Menasses, who 
 was made their high priest, with other fugitive Jews, 
 coming to them from Jerusalem, brought with them 
 the book of the law, and taught them to worship the 
 true God only, according to the Mosaic institution. 
 From this period they are considered a sect of the 
 Jewish religion. They looked upon the temple of 
 Gerizzim, as the only place where God was pleased 
 to be worshipped, and the centre of true religion. 
 They received no scriptures except the books of 
 Moses, Joshua, and Judges, which two latter, 
 however, they did not allow to be of divine authority 
 like the Pentateuch.* 
 
 The Pharisees were the most distinguished, flou- 
 rishing, and popular sect among the Jews. They 
 assumed this name on account of their separating 
 themselves for superior strictness in ritual observ- 
 ances. Their separation consisted chiefly in certain 
 distinctions respecting religious ceremonies, and does 
 not appear to have interrupted the uniformity of 
 religious worship, in which the Jews of every sect 
 always seem to have been united. f 
 
 It appears, from the frequent mention which is 
 made by the evangelists of the scribes and phari- 
 sees in conjunction, that the greatest number of 
 Jewish teachers, or doctors of the law, were at that 
 time of the pharisaical sect. The ecclesiastical 
 scribes were the learned of the Jewish nation, who 
 expounded the law, and taught it to the people. J" 
 
 The Pharisees were principally distinguished by 
 
 * Basnage, p. 115. + Jennings' Jewish Autiquitie*, vol. L p. 437. 
 t Jennings' Jewish Antiquities, p. 392.
 
 46 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 their zeal for the traditions of the elders, which 
 they not only maintained to be of equal authority 
 with the written law, but in many cases explained 
 the latter by the former, entirely contrary to its true 
 intent and meaning ; and thus made the command- 
 ments of God of no effect by their traditions. They 
 pretended that those traditions, which they called 
 the oral 'aw, were delivered by God to Moses, on 
 Mount Sinai, and preserved through successive ge- 
 nerations. They were charged with maintaining, 
 that by observing both the written and oral law, 
 man may not only obtain justification before God, 
 but perform meritorious works of supererogation ; 
 that fasting, alms, ablutions, and confessions, are 
 sufficient atonement for sin; that thoughts and 
 desires are not sinful, unless they produce evil actions. 
 They acknowledged the immortality of the soul, 
 future rewards and punishments, and the resurrection 
 of the body.* According to Josephus, they main- 
 tained the doctrine of predestination ; but supposed, 
 that the divine decrees did not interfere with the 
 freedom of the human will.f 
 
 * Dr. Prideaux supposes that the Pharisees maintained only a Py- 
 thagorean resurrection, that is, the transmigration of the soul into 
 another body. David Levi, on the other hand, asserts, that the 
 Pharisees knew and taught the true resurrection of the body and soul 
 together. For proof of this, he quotes Ezekiel xxxvii, and other 
 passages in the Old Testament. Whence he asserts, that " the doctrine 
 of the resurrection, and consequently that of a future state of rewards 
 and punishments, was well known and established in the Jewish nation, 
 (and that in the most clear, explicit, and unequivocal manner) for 
 almost a thousand years before Christ." David Levft Ceremonies of 
 the Jews, pp. 255 2(51. 
 
 i They maintained* that " before a man is born, it is predes- 
 tinated, whether he shall be wise or foolish, weak or strong, rich or
 
 INTRODUCTION. *7 
 
 This denomination, by their apparent sanctity of 
 manners, had rendered themselves extremely popular. 
 It appears both from the scripture, and the testimony 
 of Josephus, that the common people were entirely 
 at their disposal, and gave their suffrage to every 
 religious prescription and judicial sentence, that had 
 obtained their sanction. - The great, who feared 
 their artifice, were frequently obliged to court their 
 favour. Hence they obtained the highest offices 
 both in the state and priesthood; and assumed 
 the chief direction both of public and private 
 affairs.* 
 
 The peculiar manners of this sect are strongly 
 marked in the writings of the evangelists ; particu- 
 larly their exactness in performing the rites and 
 ceremonies of the law, both written and traditionary ; 
 the rigour of their discipline in washings, fastings, 
 and ablutions ; their scrupulous care to avoid every 
 kind of ritual impurity : their long and frequent 
 prayers, made not only in the synagogues and 
 temples, but in the public streets ; their phylacteries 
 on the borders of their garments, on which were 
 written sentences of the law ; their assiduity in 
 making proselytes ; their ostentatious charities ; and, 
 under all this specious mark of Zealand purity, their 
 abominable and atrocious vices. According to our 
 Saviour's representation of them, they were a race 
 of the most demure hypocrites that ever disgraced 
 human nature, resembling whited sepulchres, which 
 
 poor. But whether he is to be wicked or righteous, vicious or 
 virtuous, it entirely in his own free will." David Levfs Ceremoniet of 
 the Jews, p. 267. 
 * Josephus.
 
 48 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of 
 putrefaction.* 
 
 The above account is confirmed by the testimony 
 of the Jewish writers themselves. The Talmudk 
 books mention several distinct classes of Pharisees, 
 under characters, which show them to have been 
 deeply immersed in superstition. Among these were 
 the truncated Pharisee, who, that he might appear 
 in profound meditation, as if destitute of feet, 
 scarcely lifted them from the ground ; the mortar 
 Pharisee, who, that his contemplations might not be 
 disturbed, wore a deep cap in shape of a mortar, 
 which would only permit him to look upon the 
 ground at his feet ; and the striking Pharisee, who, 
 shutting his eyes, as he walked, to avoid the sight of 
 women, often struck his head against the wall. 
 They practised many painful austerities and mortifi- 
 cations, frequently observed severe fasts, covered 
 their features with gloom and solemnity, and used 
 every artifice to captivate the admiration of the 
 populace, f 
 
 The sect of the Sadducees was inconsiderable in 
 number ; but some of those who professed its tenets, 
 were of illustrious families, and others distinguished 
 for their opulence. We find that Caiaphas, an 
 high priest, was of this denomination, and Josephus 
 mentions several other Sadducees, who were exalted 
 to the supreme power in church and state. The 
 chief heads of the doctrine of this sect are as follow. 
 
 All laws and traditions not comprehended in the 
 written law, are to be rejected as merely human 
 
 * Har wood's Introduction' 
 
 t Godwin's Jewish Autiq. p. 45. Enfield's Plulos. vol. ii. p. 18.
 
 INTRODUCTION". 49 
 
 inventions. Neither angels nor spirits have a 
 distinct existence, separate from this corporeal 
 vestment. The soul of man therefore does not 
 remain after this life, but expires with the body. 
 There will be no resurrection of the dead, nor any 
 rewards and punishments after this life. Mau is not 
 subject to irresistible fate, but has the framing of 
 his condition chiefly in his own power. Polygamy 
 ought not to be practised.* 
 
 The sect of the Caraites, though its history be 
 exceedingly obscure, is not to be confounded with 
 that of the Sadducees. The name denotes a scrip- 
 turist, and seems intended to distinguish those, who 
 adhere to the scriptures as the whole and only rule of 
 their faith and practice. This denomination was 
 given them about thirty years before Christ, when,, 
 upon the dissension betwixt Hillel the president of 
 the Sanhedrim, and Shammai the vice-president, by 
 which their respective pupils were divided into two 
 parties, betwixt whom there were perpetual contests, 
 those, that were of the opinion of the Caraites, sided 
 with the school of Shammai, and those, who were 
 zealous for traditions, with that of Hilld. According 
 to Dr. Prideaux they did not absolutely reject all 
 traditions, but only refused them the same autho- 
 rity with the written oracles of God. They were 
 distinguished from the Sadducees, by maintaining 
 the doctrines of the immortality of the soul, and 
 future rewards and punishments, f 
 
 The Essenes differed from all the above men- 
 tioned sects, as they secluded themselves not only 
 
 * Josephus. Enfield's Philosophy. 
 
 + Prid. Con. vol. ii. p. 388. Jennings' Lectures, vol. i. p. 433. 
 
 E
 
 50 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 from politics and public affairs, but, as much as 
 the nature of man and constitution of society will 
 admit, from the common concerns and intercourse of 
 private life. Some suppose they took their rise, 
 from the dispersion of their nation, after the Baby- 
 lonish captivity ; others, that they began when 
 the persecution of Antiochus compelled the Jews to 
 retire to the woods and mountains. They main- 
 tained, that rewards and punishments extended to 
 the soul alone, and regarded the body as a mass 
 of malignant matter, and the prison of the immortal 
 spirit. The greatest part of this sect considered the 
 laws of Moses as an allegorical system of spiritual 
 and mysterious truth, and renounced all regard 
 to the outward letter in its explanation. The 
 leading traits in the character of this sect were, that 
 they were sober., abstemious, peaceable, lovers of 
 retirement, and had a perfect community of goods. 
 They paid the highest regard to the moral precepts 
 of the law ; but neglected the ceremonial, excepting 
 what regarded personal cleanliness, the observation 
 of the sabbath, and making an annual present to the 
 temple at Jerusalem. They commonly lived in 
 a state of celibacy, and adopted the children of 
 others, to educate them in their own principles and 
 customs. Though they were, in general, averse to 
 swearing, or to requiring an oath, they bound all, 
 whom they initiated, by the most sacred vows, to 
 observe the duties of piety, justice, fidelity, and 
 modesty : to conceal the secrets of the fraternity ; 
 to preserve the books of their institutions; and with 
 great care to commemorate the names of the angels.* 
 
 * Enfield, vol. ii. p. 180. Jennings' Lectures, vol. 5. p. 170.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 51 
 
 Philo mentions two classes of Essenes ; one of 
 which followed a practical institution, the other pro- 
 fessed a theoretical system. The latter, who were 
 called Therapeutae, placed their whole felicity in the 
 contemplation of the divine nature. Detaching 
 themselves entirely from secular affairs,, they trans- 
 ferred their property to their relations and friends, 
 and retired to solitary places, where they devoted 
 themselves to an holy life. The principal society of 
 this kind was formed near Alexandria, where they 
 lived not far from each other, in separate cottages, 
 each of which had its own sacred apartments, to 
 which the inhabitants retired for the purposes of 
 devotion.* 
 
 Besides these eminent Jewish sects, there were 
 several of inferior note, at the time of Christ's 
 appearance ; the Herodians, mentioned by the 
 sacred writers, and the Gaulonites, by Josephus. 
 
 The Herodians derived their name from Herod 
 the Great, and were distinguished by their coinciding 
 with the plan of that monarch to subject himself and 
 his dominions to the Romans ; and also by com- 
 plying with many of the heathen usages. Their 
 distinguished tenet appeared to be, that it is lawful, 
 when constrained by superiors, to comply with idol- 
 atry, and with false religion. Herod seems to have 
 formed this sect, in order to justify himself in his 
 practice of studying every artifice to ingratiate 
 himself with the emperor, and to secure the favour 
 of the principal personages in the court of Rome. 
 We find the Sadducees readily embraced the tenets 
 of this party ; for the same persons, who, in one of 
 
 * Enfield, vol. ii. p. 186.
 
 52 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the gospels, are called Herodians, are in another 
 styled Sadducees. The Herodians were not so 
 much a religious, as a political sect, attached to 
 Herod during his life, and to his sons after his 
 decease.* 
 
 The Gaulonites were Galileans, who derived this 
 name from one Judas Theudas, a native of Gaulpn, 
 in Upper Galilee, who, in the tenth year of Jesus 
 Christ, excited his countrymen, the Galileans, and 
 many other Jews, to take arms, and venture upon 
 all extremities, rather than pay tribute to the 
 Romans. The principles he instilled into his party 
 were, not only that they were a free nation, and 
 ought not to be in subjection to any other ; but, that 
 they were the elect of God, that he alone was their 
 governor, and that therefore they ought not to 
 submit to any ordinance of man. Though Theudas 
 was unsuccessful, and his party, in their very first 
 attempt, entirely routed and dispersed ; yet so 
 deeply had he infused his own enthusiasm into their 
 hearts, that they never rested, till they involved the 
 city and temple in their own destruction. f 
 
 Many of the Jews were attached to the oriental 
 philosophy concerning the origin of the world. 
 Prom this source the doctrine of the Cabala is sup- 
 posed to be derived. That considerable numbers of 
 the Jews had 'imbibed this system, appears evident, 
 both from the books of the New Testament, and 
 from the ancient history of the Christian church. It 
 is also certain, that many of the Gnostic sects were 
 founded by Jews.J 
 
 * Josephus. Prideaux's Connection. t Josephus. 
 J Mosheim's Eccles. Hist. vol. i. p. 38.
 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 53 
 
 At the time when our Lord Jesus Christ appeared 
 upon earth, the great body of the Jewish nation 
 were waiting with great anxiety for their promised 
 Messiah. Yet they formed erroneous ideas of his 
 character. They expected not a spiritual, but a 
 temporal sovereign. They supposed he would 
 manifest himself as a mighty conqueror, free them 
 from subjection to the Romans, aggrandize their 
 nation, render Jerusalem the metropolis of the 
 world ; and, after subduing all their enemies, com- 
 mence a glorious reign of prosperity and peace. 
 Hence they were disgusted with the humble ap- 
 pearance of the divine Redeemer ; while the Phari- 
 sees and great men were exasperated at the boldness 
 and severity of his rebukes. For though he united 
 in himself the accomplishment of every ancient 
 prophecy, he was ignominiously rejected and put to 
 death by the Jewish nation. The tremendous cala- 
 mities which befell them after perpetrating this 
 horrid crime; the fulfilment of our Saviour's pre- 
 dictions, respecting the destruction of their city 
 and temple, and their consequent dispersion and 
 sufferings, will be related in the following pages.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Tyranny of the Roman government in Judea. Herod Agrippa made 
 king. The emperor Caligula attempts to have his statue placed in 
 the temple of Jerusalem. Resistance of the Jews. Death of 
 Herod Agrippa Arbitrary conduct of the Roman governors. 
 Many Jews depart for foreign* countries. Number of Jews in Je- 
 rusalem at the Passover. The prodigies which preceded the 
 war. Of the contest respecting the city of Cesarea Jews and 
 Syrians take up arms. Vast numbers destroyed on J)oth sides. 
 The Jews take several important fortresses. Cestius Gallus marches 
 against them and besieges Jerusalem. The Christians retire to 
 Pella. Jews make great preparations for war. Vespasian is sent 
 against them with a powerful army. He reduces the cities of 
 Galilee. Of the parties among the Jews. Of the civil war in 
 Jerusalem ; and the cruelty of the Zealots. Vespasian is pro- 
 claimed emperor, and scads his son Titus to terminate the war by 
 the reduction of Jerusalem. 
 
 THE ministry of our blessed Saviour, while he 
 remained on earth, was principally confined to the 
 Jews ; and notwithstanding the obstinate incredu- 
 lity of the majority of the nation, who, impatient 
 under the tyrannical government of the Romans, 
 eagerly expected a temporal deliverer, a large 
 number acknowledged him as the true Messiah. 
 The apostles also, in obedience to the command 
 of their divine Master, began to preach the Gospel 
 to this distinguished people. Under their ministry
 
 56 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 many were converted, and the first Christian church 
 was founded at Jerusalem. But the unbelieving 
 Jews, who had rejected and crucified the Prince of 
 Life, exhibited the same enmity against his apostles 
 and followers, and, in the infancy of the Christian 
 Church, they were its most cruel persecutors.* The 
 most signal marks of divine vengeance, however, 
 soon pursued this infatuated people ; and the pre- 
 dictions of the Divine Redeemer, respecting the 
 tremendous destruction of Jerusalem, began to be 
 accomplished. 
 
 The governors of Judea, appointed by the Ro- 
 mans, constantly insulted the feelings of the Jews, 
 by exhibiting a marked contempt for their religion 
 and law. Pontius Pilate, during his administration, 
 took every occasion of introducing his standards, 
 with images, pictures, consecrated shields, &c. into 
 their city ; and at length attempted to drain the 
 treasury of the temple, under pretence of bringing 
 an aqueduct to Jerusalem. Seven years after the 
 crucifixion of Jesus Christ, complaint being made 
 of the tyranny and rapine of Pilate, he was super- 
 seded, and, in extreme poverty and misery, pe- 
 rished by suicide at Vienne in France.f 
 
 Soon after, Herod Agrippa, grandson to Herod 
 the Great, was promoted to the regal dignity ; and, 
 during his reign, the Jews were involved in new 
 difficulties. The Roman emperor, Caligula, intoxi- 
 
 * The early ecclesiastical historians, as well as the New Testa- 
 meat writers, attest the emniU of the Jews against the Christians, 
 and, that they were more particular y exasperated against those be 
 lievers, who were of their own nation. 
 
 t Josephus, vol. r.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 57 
 
 cated with mad ambition, claimed divine honours ' f 
 and, being determined to have his statue placed in 
 the sanctuary of the temple, ordered Petronius, the 
 governor, to raise an army to enforce obedience to 
 his impious injunction. At this alarming period, 
 the Jews went in a large body to the governor, 
 beseeching him in the most pathetic terms not to 
 defile their temple with images ; and, falling pros- 
 trate on the ground, offered to die rather than 
 disobey their law.* Their moving entreaties ex- 
 cited the compassion of Petroni us, and he engaged 
 to interest himself in their behalf. At length 
 Agrippa, who was in high favour at court, under- 
 took their cause ; and, upon the emperor's solemnly 
 engaging to grant whatever he should ask, he, 
 generously preferring the welfare of his people to 
 his own emolument, requested the monarch to 
 relinquish the design of having his statue erected in 
 the temple. Caligula reluctantly granted his suit ; 
 and the death of the tyrant, which took place soon 
 after, prevented his renewing the impious at- 
 tempt, f 
 
 According to the sacred historian,* Agrippa, who, 
 from an ambitious desire of popularity among his 
 countrymen, raised a persecution against the Chris- 
 tians, and blasphemously suffered himself to be 
 styled a God by some deputies from Tyre and Sidon, 
 was miraculously struck with a terrible disease, which 
 soon put an end to his life. After his death Judea 
 was again reduced to a Roman province, and the 
 new governors appointed over it were continually 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 172, 173. t Ibid. 
 
 t Acts v.
 
 58 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 irritating the minds of the people by the most 
 glaring infringements upon their privileges.* 
 
 Felix, who had advanced from obscurity and 
 servitude to rank and power, with the true spirit of 
 a slave, exercised the tyranny of an eastern prince.f 
 His oppression, rapine, and cruelty, excited a spirit 
 of revolt ; while the false prophets (who were so 
 numerous under his government, that some of them 
 were apprehended and killed every day) were con- 
 tinually blowing the flames of sedition. The people 
 were massacred by the troops of Felix for following 
 these deceivers, who, according to our Saviour's 
 prediction, drew multitudes into the desart to shew 
 them signs and wonders. In particular, a certain 
 Egyptian Jew, entered Judea with a numerous 
 banditti, and, having collected about thirty thousand 
 men, led them to Mount Olivet, and promised to 
 deliver them from the Romans. Felix, with his 
 legions, met him at the foot of the mountain, slew 
 many of his followers, and took others prisoners. 
 The impostor, with a remnant of his adherents, 
 made their escape. J 
 
 Judea, during the government of Felix, was in- 
 fested with robbers, and clandestine assassins, named 
 Sicarii, who, with poiniards concealed under their 
 garments, used to mingle in the crowd, and stab 
 their supposed enemies. By the just judgment of 
 heaven, the Jews, who had crucified their Messiah, 
 and desired a robber and murderer to be granted 
 to there, had their country overrun with robbers and 
 
 * Josephus's Wars of the Jews, vol. v. p. 184. + Tacitus. 
 
 J This is supposed to have happened in the year of Christ 55. 
 ^ Joseph us, vol. v. p. 184, 185.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 59 
 
 murderers ; and the frequency of the horrid assassi- 
 nations among them, excited universal consternation. 
 
 Porcius Festus, who succeeded Felix upon his 
 removal from the government, supported a better cha- 
 racter than his predecessor. At the commencement 
 of his administration, the assassins were spreading 
 terror throughout Jerusalem. He punished these 
 wretches with exemplary severity, and exerted him- 
 self to the utmost to suppress the civil discords, 
 which, in consequence of the extravagant claims, 
 and frequent depositions of the Jewish pontiffs, 
 raged among the priests, and filled the country, the 
 city, and sometimes the temple, with blood.* 
 
 Festus died in his government, and the Roman 
 emperor Nero sent Albinus in his room. Insatiable 
 avarice being his ruling passion, he burdened the 
 nation with extraordinary tributes ; and became the 
 encourager of all kinds of villany, by yielding to 
 bribery and corruption. f 
 
 Gessius Florius, who succeeded Albinus, far sur- 
 passed him in wickedness ; and gloried in his greater 
 violence. He even robbed the sacred treasury, 
 pillaged whole provinces, oppressed the Jews by all 
 kinds of rapine and extortion, encouraged the rob- 
 bery and plunder of the banditti, for a share of their 
 booty ; fomented the public divisions ; and even 
 used his utmost exertions to excite an open rebellion, 
 in hopes, that the public confusion might prevent 
 complaint against his iniquitous conduct. In a word, 
 he was one of the vilest wretches, that ever disgraced 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 186. Mavor'f Univ. Hist. vol. ii. p. 347. 
 t Josephus, vol. v. p. 186.
 
 60 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 human nature ; and a distinguished instrument of 
 divine vengeance upon the subjects of his capricious 
 tyranny.* 
 
 In consequence of the distracted state of Judea, 
 many of its inhabitants sought an asylum in foreign 
 countries; while those who remained, applied to 
 Cestius Gallus, governor of Syria, who was at Je- 
 rusalem, at the passover, earnestly beseeching him 
 to deliver them from the tyranny of their cruel go- 
 vernor. Cestius, instead of making a strict inquiry 
 into the conduct of Florus, dismissed the Jews, with 
 a general promise, that he should behave better for 
 the future. In the meantime directions were given 
 to compute the number of Jews then at Jerusalem, 
 by that of the lambs offered at the festival, which 
 were found to amount to 2,556,000. f 
 
 A. D, 65.] While the arbitrary conduct of the 
 governor, and the irritated state of the Jewish people, 
 threatened them with the horrors of war ; famines, 
 earthquakes, and terrific sights in the heavens, ap- 
 peared to fulfil the awful predictions of our Saviour. 
 Josephus, among many other fearful prodigies, 
 relates, that before the rebellion, when a great 
 multitude were assembled in Jerusalem, at the 
 Passover, at the ninth hour of the night, so great 
 a light shone round the altar, and the temple, that 
 it seemed to be bright day; that a few days after 
 the festival, before sun-set, chariots and troops of 
 soldiers in armour were seen passing through the 
 clouds, and surrounding cities ; and that the priests, 
 going into the inner temple, felt the place move 
 
 * Josephus, vol.v. p. 187. t Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. ()1 
 
 and tremble, and heard a voice, more than human 
 crying, " Let us depart hence."* 
 
 This account is confirmed by Tacitus, the Roman 
 historian, who says, " Portents and prodigies an- 
 nounced the ruin of Jerusalem ; swords were seen 
 glittering in the air; embattled armies appeared; 
 and the temple was illuminated by a stream of light, 
 that issued from the heavens, the portal flew open, 
 and a voice more than human announced the imme- 
 diate departure of the gods; there was heard at 
 the same time a terrific sound, as if superior beings 
 were actually rushing forth. "f 
 
 A contest had long subsisted between the Jews 
 and Syrians concerning Cesarea, which was situated 
 in the confines of Syria and Judea. The Jews 
 maintained,, that the city belonged to them, because 
 it was built by Herod their king; while the Syrians 
 pretended, that it had always been considered^ as 
 a Grecian city, since even that monarch had erected 
 in it temples and statues. During the administration 
 of Felix, the contest rose to such a height, that both 
 parties armed against each other. That governor 
 allayed the ferment for a time, by sending some of 
 the chiefs of both nations to Rome to plead their 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. See Archbishop Newcome's Observations on 
 the character of our Lord, for an admirable detail of these events. 
 
 t Murphy's Tacitus. Dr. Jortia remarks, that " if Christ had not 
 expressly foretold, that there should be fearful sights, and great signs 
 from heaven, many, who give little heed to portents, and know that 
 historians have been too credulous in this point, would have suspected 
 that Josephus had exaggerated, and that Tacitus was misinformed : 
 but, as the testimonies of Josephus and Tacitus confirm the pre- 
 dictions of Christ, so the predictions of Christ confirm the wonders 
 related by these historians." JortMs Remarks on Ecclesiastical 
 History.
 
 O4 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 cause before the emperor. The aftair hung in sus- 
 pense till this period, when Nero decided it against 
 the Jews. This event was the immediate cause of 
 the fatal war with the Romans, which proved the 
 most desperate of any recorded in history ; and ter- 
 minated in the destruction of Jerusalem.* 
 
 A. D. 66.] The decree of the emperor was no 
 sooner published, than the Jews, in all parts of the 
 country, took up arms; Agrippa,f who happened 
 to be at Jerusalem at the commencement of the war, 
 attempted to appease the fury of the multitude by an 
 elaborate speech, in which he painted, in glowing 
 colours, the vast extent and grandeur of the Roman 
 empire ; the mighty nations who had been subdued 
 by its all-conquering arms ; the folly and infatuation 
 of the Jews in opposing the masters of the world ; 
 and concluded by a pathetic exhortation to his 
 country-men, to lay down the weapons of their 
 rebellion. But his entreaties and remonstrances 
 were alike disregarded; and he was compelled to 
 provide for his personal safety by quitting the city. 
 
 The flames of intestine war now raged with irre- 
 sistible fury in every part of the unhappy province, 
 and its progress was marked by acts of cruelty and 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 188. 
 
 t He was the son of Agrippa, great grand son to Herod, and king 
 of C hale is. He resided chiefly at Jerusalem, and obtained the adrai- 
 uistration of the temple, and a right to appoint or depose the high 
 priests. When the high priest Ananus, had condemned St. James to 
 death, some Jews who disapproved of this cruelty, complained to 
 Agrippa, and this prince deprived him of the high priesthood. He, 
 with his sister Bernice, heard St. Paul's defence before Festus, the 
 Roman governor, and he owned himself almost convinced by it. 
 See Acts xxv. 26. Basnage's History of the Jetes, p. 23. 
 
 t Josephus. vol. v. p. 215
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 63 
 
 desperation. Twenty thousand Jews were massacred 
 at Cesarea, fifty-two thousand at Alexandria, two 
 thousand at Ptolemais, and three thousand five hun- 
 dred were cut off at Jerusalem by the troops of Florus 
 in one day. The Jews, to the utmost of their power, 
 exercised similar cruelties on the Syrians and Romans, 
 and slaughtered immense numbers of people.* 
 
 The rebellious Jews being joined in Jerusalem 
 by numerous assassins, with their assistance beat the 
 Romans out of the fortresses of Antonia and M assada, 
 possessed themselves of the towers of Phasael and 
 Mariamne, and reduced the palaces of Agrippa, 
 Bernice, and the high priest to ashes. They even 
 carried their fury to such a height, as to massacre 
 those Romans, who had capitulated on condition of 
 having their lives preserved. Their treachery was. 
 however, soon revenged on the Jews in Sythopolis, 
 who had offered to assist in reducing their factious 
 brethren. For their sincerity being suspected, 
 above thirteen thousand of their number were inhu- 
 manly massacred. The rebels, in the mean time, 
 crossed the Jordan, and took the fortresses of Ma- 
 chaerus and Cyprus ; the latter of which, after 
 putting all the Romans to the sword, was razed to 
 the ground, f 
 
 Upon the general revolt of the Jews, Cestius 
 Gallus, president of Syria, marched at the head of 
 a powerful army into Judea and Galilee, burning all 
 the towns and villages in his way, and slaughtering 
 the inhabitants. He was met at Gibeon, a city about 
 six miles from Jerusalem, by large numbers of Jews, 
 who attacked him with such fury, that his whole 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 215. t Ibid.
 
 O-t HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 army was in danger. Agrippa, who joined him 
 with a body of troops, endeavoured once more to 
 appease his rebellious countrymen by sending two of 
 his officers to them with proposals of peace. But 
 after they had killed one of his officers and wounded 
 the other, Cestius advanced with his whole army, 
 repulsed the rebels, and made himself master of the 
 lower parts of Jerusalem.* Josephus says, " If 
 Cestius had continued the siege a little longer, he 
 would have taken the city ; but God being angry 
 with the wicked, would not suffer the war to be 
 terminated at that time." But Cestius suddenly and 
 unexpectedly raised the siege at the instigation of 
 some of his officers, who, it is said, were bribed by 
 Florus. Emboldened by this impolitic step, the 
 insurgents pursued Cestius to his camp at Gibeon, 
 from whence he escaped by night, with the loss of 
 upwards of five thousand of his army.f 
 
 It is recorded by an ancient historian,^ that the 
 Christians abandoned Jerusalem at this awful period. 
 Having called to mind the warning of their divine 
 Master, that, when they should see Jerusalem en- 
 compassed about with armies, and the abomination 
 of desolation (the Roman army with their idolatrous 
 images ) standing in the holy place, they should 
 
 * About A. D. 67. f Josephus. 
 
 + Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, Book iii. chap. 5. 
 ^ " The Roman armies are styled, the abomination of desolation, 
 because they not only spread desolation before them, but were held 
 in the utmost abhorence by the Jews, on account of the images of 
 their gods and emperors, which they carried in their standards, by 
 which they swore, and to which they sacrificed. The usual orna- 
 ments of these standards gave such offence to the Jews, that, in 
 peaceable times, the Romans entered Jerusalem without them : and 
 Vitellius, at the request of some eminent Jews, humanely avoided
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 63 
 
 flee unto the mountains. In obedience to this 
 sacred injunction, they removed to Pella, a city 
 beyond the river Jordan, about an hundred miles 
 from Jerusalem, belonging to Agrippa, and inhabited 
 by Gentiles. Here they obtained a safe asylum ; 
 and \ve do not find, that even a single individual of 
 them perished in the ruin of the Jewish metropolis.* 
 The defeat of Cestius heightened the obstinacy 
 of the Jews, who, elated with their success, made 
 formidable preparations for the prosecution of the 
 war. Ananus, the high priest, and Joseph, the son 
 of Gorion, were appointed to govern Jerusalem, and 
 repair the walls ; while persons of approved valour 
 and resolution were sent to command the troops in 
 the provinces. Josephu^f a priest of considerable 
 
 marching his forces through Judea on account of these ensigns. 
 When therefore they were planted within sight of the city and temple, 
 when they stood within the holy precincts of Jerusalem, rivalling, as 
 it were, the God of Israel, this was a hostile contempt of the Jews, 
 and is justly placed among the presages of their utter destruction." 
 Newcome's Observations on our Lord, p. 240. 
 
 * Newton on the Prophecies, part ii. p. 19. 
 
 f Josephus was born at Jerusalem, 37, and descended from the 
 illustrious Asmonean family. He soon discovered great acuteness 
 and penetration; and made so rapid a progress in the learning of 
 the Jews, that he was occasionally consulted by the chief priests 
 and rulers of the city at the age of sixteen. He adopted the opinions 
 of the Pharisees, and engaged in civit affairs. In the early part of 
 the Jewish war, he was a famous general ; and after he was taken 
 prisoner admitted to share the confidence of Vespasian, and his son 
 Titus, the latter of whom he accompanied to the siege of Jerusalem. 
 After the city was taken, he attended Titus to Rome, where Vespasian 
 gave him the freedom of the city, and settled a pension upon him. 
 At Rome he applied himself to study the Greek language, and com- 
 posed his history of the wars of the Jews. He Kved till the thirteenth 
 year of Domitian; and died in 93,. aged fifty-six years. General Bia^ 
 graphical Dictionary, vol. ix. p. 28. 
 
 F
 
 66 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 rank, and the celebrated writer of the antiquities and 
 wars of the Jews, was appointed governor of the 
 two Galilees. 
 
 Nero, the Roman emperor, who had received 
 intelligence of the defeat of Cestius, and was alarmed 
 at the energetic measures which were taken by the 
 Jews, commanded Vespasian, an officer of distin- 
 guished prudence and bravery, to march with all 
 possible expedition into Judea. Accordingly, that 
 commander employed himself in raising forces ; and 
 his son Titus was despatched to fetch two of the 
 Roman legions from Alexandria. But the Jews, 
 previous to the arrival of the army in their country, 
 had twice attempted to take the city of Ascalon, and 
 were each time repulsed, with the loss of ten thou- 
 sand of their number in the first, and eight thousand 
 in the second engagement. 
 
 Early in the following spring, the imperial army, 
 which amounted to sixty thousand men, completely 
 armed, and fully disciplined, entered Galilee. Soon 
 after their arrival, Gadara was taken on the first 
 assault ; all the adults were put to the sword, and 
 fire set to the adjacent towns and villages. The 
 conquerors next closely besieged Jotaphala. Jo- 
 sephus, being apprized of their design, supplied the 
 city with ample stores, and defended it with heroic 
 valour for forty-seven days. The Romans, however, 
 finally surprised and took the place, and all the 
 inhabitants were either slain, or made prisoners. 
 The captives amounted to one thousand two hun- 
 dred ; and forty thousand lost their lives on this 
 occasion.* 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 285.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 67 
 
 Josephus was among the prisoners. He had 
 escaped the general massacre, by flying from the 
 midst of his enemies, and with forty of his bravest 
 men, concealed himself in a deep cavern. His retreat 
 was discovered to Vespasian, and that famous ge- 
 neral sent to offer him life, upon honourable con- 
 ditions. Upon his preparing- to accept the terms, 
 his companions upbraided him in the severest 
 manner, and even offered to murder him. At this 
 critical moment, he appeased their fury, by advising 
 them, if they were determined upon death, to draw 
 lots, who should kill his companion, in order to 
 avoid the crime of suicide. This dreadful proposal 
 was accepted ; and Providence so ordered it, that the 
 two last survivors were Josephus, and a person 
 whom he easily persuaded to live. The Jewish 
 commander, upon his arrival in the Roman camp, 
 assured Vespasian, that he should soon be chosen 
 emperor ; and, in consequence of this prediction, 
 the conqueror treated him with great respect and 
 generosity.* 
 
 While the Roman forces were besieging Jota- 
 phata, the inhabitants of Japha, a neighbouring 
 city, rebelled. The general sent a powerful army 
 against them, and they were reduced, after an 
 obstinate siege. All the men, amounting to 15,000, 
 were massacred; and the women and children made 
 prisoners. About a week after, the Samaritans, 
 who had assembled in a riotous manner on Mount 
 Gerizzim, were almost all put to the sword, or 
 perished. Joppa, which had been formerly laid 
 waste by Cestius, being now re-peopled and fortified 
 
 * Josephus, vol. T. p. 293. 
 F 2
 
 68 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 by some seditious Jews, who infested the country, 
 fell the next victim to the Roman vengeance. When 
 the imperial army invaded that city, large numbers 
 of the wretched inhabitants betook themselves to their 
 ships. But they were driven back by a violent 
 tempest, which dashed the vessels against the rocks. 
 In this extreme distress many perished by suicide; 
 others were swallowed up by the waves, or crushed 
 by the broken ships ; and such as were enabled to 
 reach the shore were killed by the merciless Romans. 
 The sea was for a long space discoloured with blood; 
 four thousand two hundred dead bodies strewed the 
 coast, and not a messenger remained to report this 
 great calamity at Jerusalem.* 
 
 After Vespasian had refreshed his troops, he 
 marched to Tiberias; the city yielded; and the 
 inhabitants were spared at the moving intercession 
 of king Agrippa. Tarichse, on the sea of Galilee, 
 was next attacked ; and, after an obstinate resistance, 
 reduced by the victorious Romans. Multitudes of 
 Jews were destroyed, and upwards of thirty thousand 
 sold for slaves. Vespasian proceeded to invest 
 Gamala, a city placed on a rocky isthmus. The 
 assailants were driven back with prodigious slaughter. 
 Their last attack, however, was successful, the flight 
 of their darts being favoured by a violent storm, 
 which obstructed those of the enemy. After the 
 city was taken, the exasperated victors slew four 
 thousand of the inhabitants ; and a large number 
 fell victims to their own impatience and ungovern- 
 able fury. The Romans also obtained a decisive 
 
 * Josephus, vol. r. p. 291. Newcome's Observations on our Lord, 
 p. 228.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 69 
 
 victory over the Jews, who had retired to a strong 
 hold on Mount Itabys.* 
 
 Titus, who was sent to besiege Gischala, earnestly 
 exhorted the inhabitants to save themselves from 
 destruction, by a timely surrender. The citizens 
 were inclined to accede to his advice ; but a seditious 
 Jew, named John, the son of Levi, head of his 
 faction., vehemently opposed it ; and, having the 
 mob at his command, overawed the whole city. On 
 the sabbath he entreated Titus to forbear hostilities 
 till the following day, engaging, on that condition, 
 to accede to his proposal. But, after his request 
 was granted, he with a number of his followers, 
 withdrew to Jerusalem. The citizens then sur- 
 rendered, and, having apprized Titus of John's 
 flight, earnestly besought him not to punish the 
 innocent with the guilty. The conqueror, after 
 yielding to their entreaties, pursued and killed six 
 thousand of the followers of John, and brought back 
 three thousand women and children prisoners. The 
 traitor himself eluded their pursuit, and exasperated 
 the inhabitants of Jerusalem against the Romans. f 
 
 After the conquest of Galilee was completed, by 
 the reduction of Gischala, Titus joined his father, at 
 Cesarea, where his troops were permitted to enjoy 
 an interval of repose ; during the remainder of this, 
 and in the following year, the revolutions in the 
 Roman empire prevented Vespasian from pursuing 
 the war with vigour. He the more readily deferred 
 commencing the siege of Jerusalem, from being 
 
 * Josephus. 
 
 + Hence Josephus says, * God saved John for the destruction of 
 Jerusalem," p. 294.
 
 70 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 apprized, that the Jews were wasting their strength 
 by internal divisions, and facilitating the conquest of 
 their devoted city.* 
 
 The Jewish nation at this time were divided 
 into two very opposite parties. The more rational 
 part, who clearly saw that the war, if continued, 
 would end in the total ruin of their country, strongly 
 urged the necessity of immediate submission to the 
 Romans. Another party, called Zealots, from their 
 boasted zeal for the law of God, arid the religious 
 customs of their ancestors, vehemently opposed all 
 pacific measures. This faction, which was far the 
 most numerous and powerful, consisted of men of 
 the vilest and most abandoned characters ever re- 
 corded in history. They were the remains of the 
 sect of the Gaulonites, which was headed by Judas 
 Theudas, and like him affirmed, that it would be 
 offering the greatest dishonour to God to submit 
 to any earthly potentate, much less to Romans and 
 heathens. Under the mask of religion, these 
 wretches committed the most horrid and unnatural 
 crimes, f 
 
 John, who had fled from Gischala, put himself 
 at the head of these incendiaries ; and, being joined 
 in that city by a band of robbers and assassins, 
 seized upon the temple for a fortress, and that holy 
 place was made a theatre of civil war. The opposite 
 party, under the conduct of Ananus, a wise and 
 venerable man, among the chief priests, armed in 
 their own defence ; and, after an obstinate contest, 
 forced the Zealots into the inner cincture of the 
 temple, where they were closely invested. John, 
 
 * Josephus, vol. T. p. 355. t Ibid, p. 334.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 71 
 
 who had pretended to agree with those, who desired 
 peace, was sent to the Zealots with terms of accom- 
 modation ; but he betrayed his trust, and earnestly 
 exhorted them to persevere with unshaken firmness. 
 He intimated to them the necessity of foreign 
 assistance ; and persuaded them to enter into a 
 treaty with the Idumeans. But Ananus shut the 
 gates of Jerusalem, and precluded the new allies 
 from entering the city.* 
 
 On the night the Idumeans were excluded, there 
 was a tremendous storm, accompanied with thunder, 
 lightning, and a violent earthquake. The* Zealots 
 took advantage of the prevailing terror and con- 
 fusion, sawed the bolts and hinges of the temple 
 gates without being heard, forced the guards, sallied 
 into the city, and introduced twenty thousand of their 
 allies. After being thus strengthened and assisted, 
 they perpetrated the most horrid cruelties. Twelve 
 thousand persons of noble birth, and in the prime 
 of life, upon their refusal to join them, were inhu- 
 manly murdered. Ananus and Joshua, the chief 
 priests, were next put to death, and their dead 
 bodies left without burial. After massacreing many 
 persons of distinction, they turned their sanguinary 
 cruelty upon the citizens and lower classes, and the 
 capital was filled with blood and carnage. At this 
 dreadful period, none dared publicly to lament the 
 loss of his nearest friends or relations ; or even afford 
 them the last melancholy rites of interment. This 
 cruel despotism compelled many to forsake Jeru- 
 salem, and take refuge with the Romans, though the 
 attempt was extremely hazardous, as the avenues of 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 37i.
 
 72 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the city were strictly guarded ; and all, who were 
 detected in attempting to escape, were immediately 
 put to death. The Idumeans, who were of John's 
 party, at length complained of the vast numbers, 
 who were massacred ; repented of having joined 
 the tyrant, and returned to their native country.* 
 
 The Zealots, after they had massacred or driven 
 away all, who were capable of opposing them, 
 turned their murderous weapons against each other. 
 A new faction was formed against John by Simon, 
 a man of an abandoned character, and daring spirit, 
 who had his head quarters in the fortress of Masada. 
 To increase his party, he published a proclamation, 
 in which he promised liberty to the slaves, and 
 suitable encouragement to all freemen, who would 
 enlist under his banners. After he had, by this 
 stratagem, collected many followers, he invaded 
 Idumea, perpetrated all kinds of cruelty, corrupted 
 the general of that country, and having gained 
 possession of their military forces, advanced towards 
 Jerusalem, and encamped before the city. This 
 army destroyed the Jews without the walls, and 
 were more dreaded than the Romans ; while the 
 Zealots within excited still greater terror than 
 either.* 
 
 The inhabitants of Jerusalem, in order to oppose 
 the tyranny of John, who, they apprehended, 
 would burn the city, formed the fatal resolution of 
 admitting Simon and his troops. Accordingly, they 
 entered the metropolis, and increased the calamities 
 of the miserable people, who were exposed alter- 
 nately to the rage of both factions. Another party 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p, 347. t Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEW:*. 73 
 
 also arose in the city, under Eleazar, formerly a 
 commander of the Zealots, seized upon the court 
 of the priests, and kept John confined within that of 
 the Israelites. He, being enclosed by Simon, who 
 had possession of the city, and by Eleazar, who 
 occupied the inner temple, defended himself with 
 great resolution against both his powerful enemies; 
 killed and wounded many of each party ; and the 
 temple and altar were frequently polluted with 
 blood.* 
 
 A. D. 69.] During the internal contest in the 
 city, Vespasian had marched from Cesarea, and 
 conquered the yet unsubdued part of the country ; 
 he stormed Hebron near Jerusalem, slew all the 
 adults, and burned the city. He had also gained 
 possession of Gadara, the metropolis of Perea, and 
 reduced all the Idumean towns to ashes, except such 
 as were deemed serviceable to the troops, whom he 
 appointed to overawe the country. As every place 
 was now reduced, but Herodium, Masada, and 
 Machaerus, which the robbers had occupied, Jeru- 
 salem became the grand object of the Romans. 
 Vespasian, therefore, being elected emperor, pre- 
 viously to his taking possession of his dominions, 
 sent his son Titus to reduce this metropolis. An 
 account of the tremendous calamities of the Jews, 
 during the destruction of their city and temple, will 
 be related in the following chapter. 
 
 In the meantime, while, with the most painful 
 sensations,, we read an account of calamities, which 
 no other description of men ever experienced in any 
 age or country, let us recollect, that the Jews had 
 
 * Josephus, vol. v. p. 369.
 
 74 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 called down the divine wrath, by crucifying the 
 Lord of glory, and blasphemously exclaiming, "His 
 blood be upon us and our children." This dreadful 
 imprecation was fulfilled ; and the vengeance of 
 heaven, of which they had been mercifully fore- 
 warned by the prophets, and by Christ himself, 
 was discharged upon them by that very nation, 
 whom they had instigated to condemn the Messiah.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Strength of Jerusalem. The Jews are assembled from all parts to keep 
 the passover. The city is invested by Titus. They make great 
 preparations for an attack. They gain the first and second wall. 
 A famine raged in Jerusalem. Inhuman practices of the Zealots. 
 Jerusalem is surrounded by a wall. Terrible situation of the city. 
 The temple is plundered, and daily sacrifice ceaseth. The temple 
 set on fire. Horrid massacre of the Jews. All Jerusalem con- 
 quered by the Romans. The temple and city demolished. The 
 remaining castles in Judea are taken. 
 
 JERUSALEM was built on two mountains, and 
 surrounded by three walls on every side, except 
 where it was enclosed with deep vallies, which were 
 deemed inaccessible. Each wall was fortified by 
 high towers. The celebrated temple, and the 
 strong castle of Antonia, were on the east side of 
 the city, and directly opposite to the Mount of 
 Olives. But notwithstanding the prodigious strength 
 of this famed metropolis, the infatuated Jews brought 
 on their own destruction by their intestine contests. 
 At a time, when a formidable army was rapidly 
 advancing, and the Jews were assembling from all 
 parts, to keep the passover,* the contending factions 
 were continually inventing new methods of mutual 
 destruction, and in their ungoverned fury they wasted 
 
 * " The day ou which Titus encompassed Jerusalem was," says 
 a late author, " the feast .of the passover ; and it is deserving of 
 particular attention, that this was the anniversary of that memorable 
 period, in which the Jews crucified their Messiah." See a pamphlet 
 entitled, "The destruction of Jerusalem an absolute and irresistible 
 proof of the divine authority of Christianity." London, pub- 
 lished 1805.
 
 70 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and destroyed such vast quantities of provisions as 
 might have preserved the city many years.* 
 
 A. D. 70.] Such was the miserable situation of 
 Jerusalem, when Titus began his march towards it 
 with a formidable army ; and, having laid waste the 
 country in his progress, and slaughtered the in- 
 habitants, arrived before its walls. The sight of the 
 Romans produced a temporary reconciliation among 
 the contending factions, and they unanimously re- 
 solved to oppose the common enemy. Their first 
 sally was accordingly made with such fury and 
 resolution, that, though Titus displayed uncommon 
 valour on this occasion, the besiegers were obliged 
 to abandon their camps, and flee to the mountains. 
 No sooner had the Jews a short interval of quietf 
 from their foreign enemies, than their civil disorders 
 were renewed. John, by an impious stratagem, 
 found means to cut off or force Eleazar's men to 
 submit to him ; and the factions were again reduced 
 to two, who opposed each other with implacable 
 animosity. J 
 
 The Romans, in the mean time, exerted all their 
 energy in making preparations for a powerful attack 
 upon Jerusalem. Trees were cut down, houses 
 levelled, rocks cleft asunder, and vallies filled up ; 
 towers were raised, and battering rams erected, with 
 other engines of destruction, against the devoted city. 
 
 * Josephus. 
 
 t Bishop Newcome remarks, that at this period the Christians had 
 au opportunity of escaping from Jerusalem, according to our Lord's 
 solemn exhortation. For some time before this flight was precluded, 
 as it bore the appearance of a revolt to the Romans. Newcome's 
 Observations, p. 242. 
 
 ^ Josephus, vol. vi. p. 127.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 77 
 
 After the offers of peace, which Titus had repeatedly 
 sent by Josephus, were rejected with indignation, 
 the Romans began to play their engines with all their 
 might. The strenuous attacks of the enemy again 
 united the contending parties within the walls,, who 
 had also engines, which they plied with uncommon 
 fury. They had taken them lately from Cestius, 
 but were so ignorant of their use they did little 
 execution, while the Roman legions made terrible 
 havock. The rebels were soon compelled to retire 
 from the ponderous stones, which they threw inces- 
 santly from the towers they had erected, and the 
 battering rams were at full liberty to play against 
 the walls. A breach was soon made in it, at which 
 the Romans entered, and encamped in the city, 
 while the Jews retreated behind the second en- 
 closure.* 
 
 The victors immediately advanced to the second 
 wall, and plied their engines and battering rams 
 so furiously, that one of the towers they had erected 
 began to shake, and the Jews, who occupied it, 
 perceiving their impending ruin, set it on fire, and 
 precipitated themselves into the flames. The fall of 
 this structure gave the Romans an entrance into 
 the second enclosure. They were, however, re- 
 pulsed by the besieged ; but at length regained the 
 place entirely, and prepared for attacking the third 
 and inner wall.f 
 
 The vast number of people, which were enclosed 
 in Jerusalem, occasioned a famine, which raged in 
 a terrible manner ; and, as their calamities increased, 
 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 38. 
 
 t Ibid, p. 49 50. Mayor's Universal History.
 
 8 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the fury of the Zealots, if possible, rose to a greater 
 height. They forced open the houses of their fellow 
 citizens in search of provisions ; if they found any, 
 they inflicted the most exquisite tortures upon them, 
 under pretence that they had food concealed. The 
 nearest relations, in the extremity of hunger, snatched 
 the food from each other. 
 
 Josephus, who was an eye witness of the un- 
 paralleled sufferings the Jews experienced during 
 the siege of their metropolis, remarks, that "all the 
 calamities that ever befel any nation since the 
 beginning of the world, were inferior to the miseries 
 of his countrymen at this awful period."* Thus 
 we see the exact fulfilment of the emphatic words 
 of our Saviour respecting the great tribulation in 
 Jerusalem, f 
 
 Titus, who was apprized of their wretched con- 
 dition, relaxed the siege four days ; and, being still 
 desirous of saving the city, caused provisions to be 
 distributed to his army in sight of the Jews, who 
 nocked upon the walls to behold it. Josephus was 
 next sent to his countrymen to attempt to persuade 
 them not to plunge themselves in inevitable ruin by 
 persisting in defence of a place, which could hold 
 out but little longer, and which the Romans looked 
 upon as already their own. He exhorted them in 
 the most pathetic terms, to save themselves, their 
 temple, and their country ; and painted in strong 
 colours the fatal effects, which would result from 
 their obstinacy. But the people, after many bitter 
 invectives, began to dart their arrows at him ; yet 
 he continued to address them with greater vehe- 
 
 * Josephus, TO!, vi. p. 63. + Matthew xxiv. 21.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 7 if 
 
 mence, and many were induced by his eloquence, to 
 run the utmost risk in order to escape to the Ro- 
 mans ; while others became more desperate, and 
 resolved to hold out to the last extremity. * 
 
 The Jews, who were forcibly seized by the 
 Romans without the walls,, and who made the utmost 
 resistance for fear of punishment, were scourged and 
 crucified near the city. Famine made them so 
 daring in these excursions, that five hundred, and 
 sometimes more, suffered this dreadful death every 
 day ; and, on account of the number, Josephus 
 observes, that " space was wanted for the crosses, 
 and crosses for the captives." And yet, contrary to 
 Titus's intention, the seditious Jews were not dis- 
 posed to a surrender by these horrid spectacles. 
 In order to check desertion, they represented the 
 sufferers as suppliants, and not as men taken by 
 resistance. Yet even some, who deemed capital 
 punishment inevitable, escaped to the Romans, con- 
 sidering death, by the hands of their enemies, a 
 desirable refuge, when compared with the com- 
 plicated distress which they endured. And though 
 Titus mutilated many, and sent them to assure the 
 people, that voluntary deserters were well treated by 
 him, and earnestly to recommend a surrender of the 
 city, the Jews reviled Titus from the walls, defied 
 his menaces, and continued to defend the city by 
 every method, which stratagem, courage, and despair 
 could suggest. -j- 
 
 In order to accelerate the destined ruin of Jerusa- 
 lem, Titus, discouraged and exasperated by the re- 
 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 50. 
 
 t Ibid, p. 5165. Newcorne's Observations, &c. p. 245.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 peated destruction of his engines and towers, under- 
 took the arduous task of enclosing the city with a strong 
 wall, in order to prevent the inhabitants from receiving 
 any succour from the adjacent country, or eluding 
 his vengeance by flight. Such was the persevering 
 spirit of the stfldiers, that in three days they enclosed 
 the city by a wall nearly five miles in circuit. Thus 
 was the prophecy of our Saviour accomplished:* 
 " The days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies 
 shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee 
 round, and keep thee in on every side." Upon this, 
 the famine raged with augmented violence, and 
 destroyed whole families; while Jerusalem exhibited 
 a horrid spectacle of emaciated invalids and putre- 
 scent bodies, f The dead were too numerous to be 
 interred ; and many expired in the performance of 
 this office. The public calamity was too great for 
 lamentation, and the silence of unutterable woe over- 
 spread the city. The Zealots, at this awful period, 
 endeavoured to encourage the obstinacy of the people, 
 
 * Luke xix. 43. 
 
 i The vast number of people shut up by the war, occasioned pesti- 
 lential diseases, and afterwards famine of course advanced more 
 rapidly. Dr. Lardner observes, that " it might have been expected, 
 that the bad food, which the Jews were forced to make use of, the 
 strictness of the siege, and the noisome smell of so many dead bodies 
 lying in heaps in the city itself, and in the Tallies and ditches without 
 the walls, should have produced a plague. But nothing of this kind 
 appears in the history; which must have been owing to the special 
 interposition of divine providence. Josephus, in some of the places, 
 where he speaks of the putrefaction of the dead bodies, may use 
 expressions equivalent to pestilential ; but he never shews, that there 
 was an infection; if there had been, it would have equally affected 
 the Romans and the Jews, and the siege of the city must have beea 
 broken up, and the Romans would have gone off as fast as they 
 could.'' fVatson's Tracts, vol. v. p. 170.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 81 
 
 by hiring- a set of wretches, pretenders to prophecy, 
 to go about the city, and declare the near approach 
 of a speedy and miraculous deliverance. This im- 
 pious stratagem for a while afforded delusive hopes 
 to the miserable remains of the Jewish nation. But 
 at length an affair took place in Jerusalem, which 
 filled the inhabitants with consternation and despair; 
 and the Romans with horror and indignation. A 
 Jewess, eminent for birth and opulence, rendered 
 frantic with her sufferings, was reduced to the dread- 
 ful extremity of killing and feeding upon her infant. 
 Titus, being apprized of this inhuman deed, swore 
 the total extirpation of the accursed city and people ; 
 and called heaven to witness, that he was not the 
 author of their calamity.* 
 
 The Romans, having pursued the attack with the 
 utmost rigour, advanced their last engines against 
 the walls ; after having converted into a desert, for 
 wood to construct them, a country well planted, and 
 interspersed with gardens, for more than eleven 
 miles round the city. They scaled the inner wall, 
 and after a sanguinary encounter, made themselves 
 masters of the fortress of Antonia. Still, however, 
 not only the Zealots, but many of the people, were 
 yet so blinded, that, though nothing was now left 
 but the temple, and the Romans were making for- 
 midable preparation to batter it down, they could 
 not persuade themselves, that God would suffer that 
 holy place to be taken by heathens ; but still ex- 
 pected a miraculous deliverance. And though the 
 war was advancing towards the temple, they them- 
 selves burnt the portico, which joined it to Antonia; 
 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 7382. 108. 
 6
 
 82 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 which occasioned Titus to remark, that they began 
 to destroy with their own hands, that magnificent 
 edifice, which he had preserved. When Josephus 
 was sent for the last time to John, who commanded 
 in the temple, to upbraid him for obstinately ex- 
 posing that sacred building-, and the miserable 
 remains of God's people to inevitable destruction, 
 he answered with the bitterest invectives, adding, 
 that " he was defending the Lord's vineyard, which 
 he was sure could not be taken by any human 
 force;" yet this monster had not scrupled to plunder 
 the temple of a large quantity of its golden utensils, 
 and the magnificent gifts of kings, which he con- 
 verted to his own use. He also seized the sacred 
 oil, which was to maintain the lamps; and even 
 used to intoxicate himself and his party with the 
 wine, which was intended for sacrifice.* 
 
 On the 17th of July, the daily sacrifice ceased 
 for the first time since its restoration by the brave 
 Judas Maccabeus, there being no proper person 
 left to make the offering. Titus upbraided the 
 Zealots for neglecting their worship ; and challenged 
 them to leave the temple, and fight on more proper 
 ground, in order to preserve that sacred edifice 
 from the fury of his troops. But, as they persisted 
 in their inflexible obstinacy, Titus, after several 
 bloody engagements, took possession of the outward 
 court of the Gentiles, and forced the besieged into 
 that of the priests. The Roman commander had 
 determined in council not to burn the temple, con- 
 sidering the existence of so proud a structure an 
 honour to himself. He, therefore, attempted to 
 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 79. Mayor's Universal Hist. vol. ii. p. SIS.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 83 
 
 batter down one of the galleries of the precinct ; but 
 as the strength of the wall eluded the force of all his 
 engines, his troops next endeavoured to scale it, but 
 were repulsed with considerable loss. When Titus 
 found, that his desire of saving the sacred building, 
 was likely to cost many lives, he set fire to the gates 
 of the outer temple, which, being plaited with 
 silver, burnt all night, and the flame rapidly com- 
 municated to the adjacent galleries and porticoes. 
 Titus, who was still desirous of preserving the 
 temple, caused the flames to be extinguished; and 
 appeased the clamours of his troops, who vehemently 
 insisted on the necessity of razing it to the ground. 
 The following day was, therefore, fixed upon for 
 a general assault upon that magnificent structure.* 
 
 The utmost exertions of Titus to save the temple 
 were, however, ineffectual. Our Saviour had fore- 
 told its total destruction, and his awful prediction 
 was about to be accomplished. f And now, says 
 Josephus, " the fatal day approached in the revo- 
 lution of ages, the 10th of August, emphatically 
 called, the day of vengeance, in which the first 
 temple had been destroyed by the king of Babylon." 
 While Titus was reposing himself in his pavilion, 
 a Roman soldier, without receiving any command, 
 seized some of the blazing materials, and, with 
 the assistance of another soldier, who raised him 
 from the ground, threw them through a window 
 into one of the apartments, that surrounded the 
 sanctuary. The whole north side, up to the third 
 story, was immediately enveloped in flames. The 
 Jews, who now began to suppose Heaven had for- 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 03, 94. t Matthew MW 9,
 
 84 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 saken them, rushed in with violent lamentations, and 
 spared no effort, not even life itself, to preserve the 
 sacred edifice on which they had rested their security. 
 
 Titus, being awakened by the outcry, hastened 
 to the spot, and commanded his soldiers to exert 
 themselves to the utmost to extinguish the fire. He 
 called, urged, and threatened his men. But so 
 great was the clamour and tumult, that his entreaties 
 and menaces were alike disregarded. The exas- 
 perated Romans, who resorted thither from the 
 camp, were engaged either in increasing tbe confla- 
 gration, or killing the Jews; the dead were heaped 
 about the altar, and a stream of blood flowed at its 
 steps.* 
 
 Still, as the flames had not reached the inner part 
 of the temple, Titus, with some of his chief officers, 
 entered the sanctuary and most holy place, which 
 excited his astonishment and admiration. After 
 having in vain repeated his attempts to prevent its 
 destruction, he saved the golden candlestick, the 
 table of shew bread, the altar of perfumes, which 
 were all of pure gold; and the volume of the law, 
 wrapped up in a rich golden tissue. Upon his 
 leaving the sacred place, some other soldiers set 
 fire to it, after tearing off the golden plaiting from 
 the gates and timber work.f 
 
 A horrid massacre soon followed, in which pro- 
 digious multitudes perished ; while others rushed in 
 a kind of phrensy into the midst of the flames, and 
 precipitated themselves from the battlements of their 
 falling temple. Six thousand persons, who, de- 
 luded by a false prophet, with hopes of a mira- 
 * Josephu, wl. Vi. p. 117. + Ibid. p. 115.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 85 
 
 culous deliverance., had fled to a gallery yet standing 
 without the temple, perished at once by the relentless 
 barbarity of the soldiers, who set it on fire, and 
 suffered none to escape. The conquerors carried 
 their fury to such an height, as to massacre all they 
 met, without distinction of age, sex, or quality. 
 They also burnt all the treasure houses, containing 
 vast quantities of money, plate, and the richest 
 furniture. In a word, they continued to mark their 
 progress with fire and sword, till they had destroyed 
 all, except two of the temple gates, and that part 
 of the court which was destined for the women.* 
 
 In the meantime, many of the Zealots, by making 
 the most vigorous exertions, effected their escape 
 from the temple, and retired into the city. But the 
 avenues were so strictly guarded, that it was impos- 
 sible for them to escape. They therefore fortified 
 4Jhemselves, as well as they were able, on the south 
 side of it ; from whence John and Simon sent 
 to desire a conference with Titus. They were 
 answered, that though they had caused all this ruin 
 and effusion of blood, yet their lives should be 
 spared if they would surrender themselves. They 
 replied, that " they had engaged by the most solemn 
 oaths, not to deliver up their persons to him on any 
 conditions ; and requested permission to retire to 
 the mountains with their wives and children/' The 
 Roman general, enraged at this insolence, ordered 
 proclamation to be made, that not one of them 
 should be spared, since they persisted in rejecting 
 his last offers of pardon. f 
 
 The daughter of Zion, or the lower city, was 
 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 116, 117. t Josephni, vol. vi. p. 127.
 
 86 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 next abandoned to the fury of the Roman soldiers, 
 who plundered, burnt, and massacred with insa- 
 tiable rage. The Zealots next betook themselves to 
 the royal palace in the upper and stronger part 
 of Jerusalem, styled also the city of David, on 
 Mount Zion. As many of the Jews had deposited 
 their possessions in the palace for security, they 
 attacked it, killed eight thousand four hundred of 
 their countrymen, and plundered their property.* 
 
 The Roman army spent nearly twenty days in 
 making great preparations for attacking the upper 
 city, especially the royal palace ; during which 
 time, many came and made their submission to 
 Titus. The warlike engines then played so furi- 
 ously upon the Zealots, that they were seized with 
 a sudden panic, quitted the towers, which were 
 deemed impregnable, and ran like mad men towards 
 Shiloah, intending to have attacked the wall of 
 circumvallation, and escaped out of the city. But 
 being vigorously repulsed, they endeavoured to 
 conceal themselves in subterraneous passages ; and, 
 as many as were discovered, were put to death. 
 
 The conquest of Jerusalem being now completed, 
 the Romans placed their ensigns upon the walls 
 with triumphant joy. They next walked the streets, 
 with swords in their hands, and killed all they met. 
 Amidst the darkness of that awful night, fire was set 
 to the remaining divisions of the city, and Jeru- 
 salem, wrapt in flames, and bleeding on every side, 
 sunk in utter ruin and destruction. During the 
 siege, which lasted nearly five months, upwards of 
 eleven hundred thousand Jews perished. John and 
 
 * Josephus, vol. vi. p. 127.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 87 
 
 Simon, the two grand rebels, with seven hundred of 
 the most beautiful and vigorous of the Jewish youth, 
 were reserved to attend the victor's triumphal 
 chariot. After which, Simon was put to death ; 
 and John, who had stooped to beg his life, con- 
 demned to perpetual imprisonment.* 
 
 The number, who were taken captive during the 
 fatal contest with the Romans, amounted to ninety 
 seven thousand ; many of whom were sent into 
 Syria, and other provinces, to be exposed on the 
 public theatres, to fight like gladiators, or to be 
 devoured by wild beasts. The number of those 
 destroyed during the war, which lasted seven years, 
 is computed to have been one million four hundred 
 and sixty two thousand, f 
 
 When the sword had returned to its scabbard for 
 want of objects whereon to exercise its fury, and 
 the troops were satisfied with plunder, Titus com- 
 manded the whole city and temple to be demolished. 
 Upon viewing the strength of the works, he ex- 
 claimed, " We have fought with the assistance of 
 God ; it was God who drove the Jews out of these 
 fortifications ; for what can the hands of men, or the 
 force of machines effect against these towers." In 
 order to give posterity an idea of the strength of the 
 city, and the astonishing valour of its conquerors, 
 he preserved the highest towers, Phasaelus, Hip- 
 picus, and Mariamne, and a part of the wall which 
 surrounded Jerusalem to the west. All the other 
 circuit of the city was so levelled, as not to leave 
 those, who approached it, any proof that it ever had 
 been inhabited.]; It is recorded in the Talmud, 
 
 * Josephus, Tol. vi. p. 139. + Ibid. J Ibid. p. 142, I4S.
 
 88 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and by Maimonides, that Terentius Rufus ploughed 
 up the foundations of the temple ; thus were our 
 Saviour's prophecies fulfilled : " Thine enemies 
 shall lay thee even with the ground; and there 
 shall not be left one stone upon another."* 
 
 On the reduction of Jerusalem, Titus returned in 
 triumph to Rome, where the senate decreed him a 
 triumph with Vespasian, his father ; and all things, 
 that were esteemed the most valuable and beautiful, 
 were exhibited to grace this great occasion. Among 
 the rich spoils, those, which were saved from the 
 temple of Jerusalem, were the most remarkable ; 
 and the volume of the law was the most venerable of 
 all the trophies of the conqueror. 
 
 Three strong castles still remained untaken in the 
 almost desolated land of Judea. Lucillius Bassus 
 was sent by Vespasian, as lieutenant general ; and 
 soon reduced Herodium and Machserus. But the 
 castle of Masada, being very strong both by nature 
 and art ; and defended by Eleazar, a man of un- 
 daunted courage, baffled the attacks of the Romans. 
 At length, however, they caused it to be surrounded 
 by an high wall, set fire to the gates, and prepared 
 to storm it the following day. When the Jews 
 found no way of saving themselves, or their fortress, 
 from the hands of the enemy, Eleazar instigated 
 the garrison to burn the valuable stores of the castle, 
 destroy first their women and children, and then 
 themselves. Ten men who were chosen by lot exe- 
 cuted this horrid purpose. The last survivor among 
 these executioners, set fire to the place, and de- 
 stroyed himself. [A. D. 73.] When the Romans 
 
 * Luke xix. 44. Newcome's Observations, p. 25S.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 89 
 
 on the morrow were preparing to scale the walls, 
 two women, who had escaped by concealing them- 
 selves, while the rest were intent on slaughter, 
 related to them the whole transaction.* 
 
 After this terrible event, the opposition on the 
 part of the Jews ceased. It was, however, the sub- 
 mission of despair. Every where ruin and deso- 
 lation presented itself to the solitary passenger, 
 and a melancholy and deathlike silence pervaded 
 the whole region. 
 
 " The ruin of the Jews/' says a late historian, 
 " is, in itself, a very interesting event; but infinitely 
 more so, when considered as connected with religion. 
 A bloody war, in which party rage conspires with 
 foreign arms to destroy the nation ; an ancient and 
 famous people, who from their country, as from a 
 centre, had spread themselves into every part of the 
 known world, smitten with the most dreadful ca- 
 lamities ever recorded in history ; a great and lofty 
 city devoured by flames, and eleven hundred thou- 
 sand inhabitants buried under its ruins ; a temple, 
 the wonder of the world, and the object of the ve- 
 neration of those, who followed a different worship, 
 so entirely demolished, that not one stone was left 
 upon another^ are surely such events, as, if they 
 were merely human, could not but highly interest 
 every one. How much more regard ought we to 
 pay to them, when we reflect, that they were foretold 
 by Jesus Christ forty years before they happened, 
 at a time when nothing seemed to portend such an 
 event ;f that the dispersion of the Jewish people, 
 
 * Josephus, vol. \i. p. 188, 189. 
 
 t It ought to be remembered, that the prediction of our Saviour
 
 90 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and the ruin of their temple, form a part of the gos- 
 pel system, by means of which, a knowledge of the 
 true God was no longer to be confined to one nation 
 only, or his worship attached to one particular place. 
 In short, that these disasters, the greatest that can 
 be conceived, are the vengeance, which God took 
 for the greatest crime which ever was perpetrated 
 upon the face of the earth, the cruel and ignominious 
 death of his Son/'* 
 
 It has pleased Providence, that this important part 
 of history should be transmitted to us by Josephus, 
 one of the Jewish nation, who was an eyewitness, 
 and had himself a great share in the principal events. 
 He has, unintentionally, given us a striking demon- 
 stration of the truth of the Christian religion, by 
 exhibiting, in the most lively manner, how the 
 prophecies of our blessed Lord, concerning the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, were literally fulfilled in 
 their fullest extent. 
 
 was given at a time, when Judea was at peace, under the sway of a 
 nation, which never, till the destruction of Jerusalem, treated their 
 enemies with utter excision, and unsparing desolation. Watton't 
 Tracts. 
 * Crevior's Roman History.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 91 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Wretched state of the Jews after the destruction of Jerusalem. Titu 
 commands their lands to be sold, and confiscates the tribute which 
 was paid annually to the temple. His successor, Domitian, treats 
 them with still greater severity. Sedition at Alexandria. The 
 temple built by Ouias is shut up. The Jews seek an asylum in 
 various countries. Institution of the patriarchs in the west. State 
 of literature among the Jews. Of the Cabbalistic philosophy. 
 Account of the celebrated cabbalistic book. Of the rabbi Akibha. 
 
 THE condition of the Jews was extremely miser- 
 able after the destruction of their capital. The mul- 
 titude of the dead, the prisoners who were sold, and 
 the fugitives who had fled into various parts of the 
 world, had left the country almost depopulated. 
 The once flourishing plains of Palestine were covered 
 with dead bodies ; and of the celebrated cities, which 
 existed formerly on their coasts, such as Capernaum, 
 Bethsaida, and Chorazin, nothing was left but 
 shapeless ruins. Some women and old men were 
 permitted to remain in Jerusalem ; but all, who were 
 able to bear arms, were removed. A strong attach- 
 ment to their native residence probably induced a 
 number to return, and dwell among the ruins of 
 their devoted city.* 
 
 After the war was terminated, the emperor ordered 
 all the lands in Judea to be sold, strictly prohibited 
 building any cities therein, and commanded the 
 Jews, on condition of preserving their religion, to 
 pay to Jupiter Capitolinus the capitation tax, which 
 devotion had destined annually for the service of the 
 temple. Although the sum assessed on the head of 
 
 * Basnage, p. 508.
 
 $&, HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 each individual was inconsiderable., the use for which 
 it was assigned, and the severity with which it was 
 exacted, was considered as an intolerable grievance.* 
 
 Domitian, brother to Titus, who succeeded in the 
 Roman empire, increased the calamities of this 
 wretched people. They were involved in the 
 persecution, which the Christians endured during 
 his tyrannical reign ; and many of them were con- 
 demned to suffer death.* This emperor intended 
 to extirpate all the lineage of David, but when the 
 grandsons of St. Jude the apostle, kinsmen of our 
 Lord, were brought before him, their poverty induced 
 him to retract his sanguinary purpose. 
 
 A. D. 72.] Notwithstanding their late calamities, 
 some of the seditious Jews, who had retired to Alex- 
 andria in Egypt, began to excite fresh insurrections. 
 Bat their countrymen who resided in the city, appre- 
 hending the consequences that might ensue, pru- 
 dently interfered, and delivered them up to the 
 Romans, who put six hundred of them to death. 
 They maintained their inflexible obstinacy to the 
 last ; and even their children would suffer the most 
 exquisite tortures, rather than acknowledge Caesar 
 for their lord. The emperor, being apprized of 
 their rebellious disposition, ordered the temple, 
 
 * Though, after the conquest of Pompey, Judea was made tributary 
 to the Romans, they were permitted to collect the taxes by their 
 own receivers, and were exempted from tribute during the sabbaticai 
 year. The annual tribute to the temple, they supposed to be an 
 offering to God, as his subjects. But after the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, the emperor usurped the place of God, and appropriated the 
 tribute to himself. ThU was the more afflicting and disgraceful, 
 because it obliged them to purchase the liberty of exercising their 
 religion. Basnage, p. 509. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 509.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 93 
 
 which Onias had built in Egypt, to be shut up, lest 
 it should afford them a pretence for assembling them- 
 selves, and thus give them an opportunity of exciting 
 some new sedition.* 
 
 Multitudes of Jews, who had survived the sad 
 catastrophe of the destruction of their city and tem- 
 ple, sought an asylum in various parts of the world. 
 Many retired to Egypt, where a Jewish colony had 
 resided from the time of Alexander ; others fled to 
 Cyrene j a large number removed to Babylon, and 
 joined their brethren, who had remained in that 
 country ever since the captivity ; some took refuge 
 in Persia, and other eastern countries. By degrees, 
 they formed themselves into a regular system of 
 government, or rather subordination, connected with 
 the various bodies of their brethren dispersed 
 throughout the world. They were divided into the 
 eastern and western Jews ; the western included 
 Egypt, f Judea, Italy, and other parts of the Roman 
 empire. The eastern were settled in Babylon., 
 Chaldea, Assyria, and Persia. In process of time 
 both these parties chose a distinguished personage 
 to preside over each of their respective divisions. 
 The heads of the eastern Jews were styled princes 
 of the captivity ; and those of the western Jews 
 were known by the title of patriarch. Mr. Basnage 
 and other learned men have supposed, that the 
 patriarchal J dignity was first instituted in the reign 
 
 * Basnage, p. 492. 
 
 t Some refugees passed from Egypt to Ethiopia. Basnage, p. 494. 
 
 $ According to the Jewish writers, this office originated at a 
 much earlier era. The first patriarch was Hillel, surnamed the 
 Babylonian. He came to Jerusalem about thirty years before the 
 birth of Christ, and lived to an advanced age. The Jews regarded
 
 94 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 of Nerva, who succeeded Domitian. This emperor 
 favoured the Jews ; recalled those who had been 
 banished on account of their religion ; relieved them 
 from the heavy taxes which had been imposed upon 
 them by his predecessor ; and forbade their being 
 molested in future on account of their religion. 
 They are supposed to be of the Levitical race, since 
 the least attempt in the tribe of Judah to recover any 
 of their former power, would have excited the 
 jealousy of the Romans.* But the priests and Levites 
 were permitted to assume the power of teaching 
 the people, to set up schools, to appoint preceptors 
 over them, and at length install one above the rest, 
 with the title of patriarch; because neither their 
 tribe, which was excluded the regal authority, nor 
 their office, which was confined to religious concerns, 
 could give umbrage to the Romans. The celebrated 
 city of Tiberias, situated on the banks of a lake 
 which bears its name, and was rebuilt by Herod, 
 tetrarch of Galilee, was chosen for the patriarchal 
 seat. The dignity of their chiefs was hereditary, f 
 The authority which the patriarchs acquired over 
 the people committed to their charge, owed its rise 
 and gradual* increase to their great reputation for 
 
 him as a second Moses, who was little inferior to their lawgiver: 
 and asserted, that the patriarchal dignity continued in his family till 
 the fifth century. Modern Universal History, Tol. xiii. p. 141. 
 
 * The house of David was now almost extinct ; and the few who 
 remained reduced to poverty, and obliged to labour for their daily 
 subsistence. If there was any shadow of authority among this people, 
 after the destruction of their city and temple, it fell into the hands of 
 the priests of the race of Levi and Aaron. Their understanding and 
 science raised them above the vulgar; and as the people became 
 more numerous, their authority increased. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 146.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 95 
 
 learning and piety. They decided cases of con- 
 science, and religious controversies ; presided over 
 synagogues ; were empowered to appoint subor- 
 dinate ministers and missionaries to execute their 
 orders ; and to receive an annual contribution from 
 their dispersed brethren, in order to support their 
 dignity. They obtained, by degrees, a great au- 
 thority over the western Jews, who were pleased to 
 depend upon them in order to maintain some shadow 
 of union. The power, which these chiefs obtained, 
 has, however, been much exaggerated by the Jews., 
 to enable them to repel a powerful argument urged 
 by the Christians, viz. that the sceptre, or regal 
 authority, was departed from them.* 
 
 The learned Dr. Lightfoot has imagined, that 
 the Jewish sanhedrim was not immediately destroyed, 
 but only removed to Jafna, and thence to Tiberias, 
 where it subsisted till the death of Judah, the saint. 
 Other learned men, particularly Mr. Basnage, sup- 
 pose this tribunal did not exist after the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, for the following reasons. f If Titus 
 had made any such concession, Josephus would have 
 mentioned it for the honour of his nation. Domitian, 
 who hated and oppressed the Jews, would never 
 have allowed them such a signal privilege ; besides, 
 it has been the prevailing idea of the Jews, as well 
 as of the Christians, that this tribunal had not power 
 to sit in any other place but in Jerusalem. Our 
 
 * Basnage, p. 146. 
 
 t After the Sanhedrim was abolished, the Jews substituted in it* 
 room some particular tribunals for the decision of religious disputes. 
 These tribunals, which were afterwards called houses of judgment, 
 were a very imperfect image of the sanhedrim. Picarft 
 Ceremonie, p. 195.
 
 96 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Saviour, it appears, alluded to this, when he said, 
 (Luke xviii. 33) that it could not be, that a prophet 
 should perish or be condemned to death out of Je- 
 rusalem, since the sanhedrim alone had the power 
 of passing that sentence on him.* 
 
 The Jews, though a considerable part of their 
 religion was involved in the destruction of their 
 country, still adhered with inflexible ^obstinacy to 
 those customs and religious rites, which remained in 
 their power to practise. After their national polity 
 was dissolved, they appear to have been confirmed 
 in their attachment to the oral traditions and unau- 
 thorized decisions of the rabbies. As they agreed 
 in thinking, that their religious rites and observances 
 were the only objects worthy their attention, it fol- 
 lowed, that their literary controversies, instead of 
 embracing, like those of the philosophical sects of 
 the Pagans, the wide field of general literature, were 
 directed and confined to their religious and ritual 
 institutions, and were exhausted in questions or dis- 
 cussions immediately referrible to these subjects.f 
 
 After the devastation and ruin of their country, a 
 small number of learned men only were left among 
 them to transmit their ancient doctrines and insti- 
 tutions to posterity. Of these, part escaped into 
 Egypt, and part withdrew into Babylon ; in both 
 which countries the refugees were humanely re- 
 ceived. Those, who remained in Palestine, collected 
 the scattered fragments of Jewish learning from the 
 general wreck into the academy of Jafna (frequently 
 called by the Greek writers, Jamnia) where they 
 
 * Basnage. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 136. 
 t Butler's Hone Biblicre, p. 40.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 97 
 
 also revived their forms of worship. The rabbi 
 Jochanan,* was the founder of this school, and the 
 design which he begun was completed, as far as the 
 state of the times would permit, by the rabbi Gamaliel, 
 who is from this circumstance called Gamaliel 
 Jafniensis. The success, which attended this school, 
 induced many of the dispersed Jews to return to 
 Palestine ; and another academy was formed at 
 Tiberias, which soon became the chief seat of Jewish 
 learning in its native country. This school obtained 
 immunities and privileges from the emperor Antoni- 
 nus Pius; and it produced that curious record of 
 Jewish wisdom, the Jerusalem Talmud. Other 
 schools, after the examples of Jafna and Tiberias, 
 were erected at Bitterah near Jerusalem, at Lydda 
 or Diospolis, at Cesarea, and (which became more 
 celebrated than the rest) at Zippora, or Sephora, in 
 Galilee, f 
 
 Prom this time, there was not wanting a succession 
 of Jewish doctors to transmit their religion and phi- 
 losophy to posterity. These doctors flourished, not 
 only in Palestine, but in the Babylonish schools, 
 which, in process of time, were established at Sora, 
 Pundebita, and other places on the Euphrates.^ 
 Two methods of instruction were in use among the 
 
 * The Jewish writers assert, that the academy which Jochanan 
 erected at Jafna, consisted of three hundred schools, or classes of 
 pupils. They extol the extraordinary merit of this rahbi in the 
 most extravagant terms. According to them, " If the whole heaven* 
 were paper, all the trees in the world pens, and all the men writers, 
 they would not he able to record all his merits." Modern Universal 
 History, vol. xiii. p. 141. 
 
 i Enfield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 198. 
 
 t According to Basnage, these schools were not founded till the 
 beginning of the third century. 
 
 H
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Jews ; the one public, the other secret. The public 
 doctrine was that, which was openly taught the 
 people from the law of Moses, and the traditions of 
 the fathers. It comprehended (he popular articles 
 of faith, and rules of manners.* 
 
 The secret doctrine of the Jews was that, which 
 treated of the mysteries of the divine nature and 
 other sublime subjects, and was called cabbala, from 
 a Hebrew word, which signifies to receive, because 
 it was received by tradition. After the manner of 
 the Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, it was 
 taught only to certain persons, who were bound, 
 under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it. 
 
 The cabbala is divided into three sorts. By the 
 first, the Jews extract from the words of scripture 
 recondite meanings, which are sometimes ingenious, 
 but always fanciful. The second is a kind of magic, 
 in employing the words and letters of the scriptures 
 in certain combinations, which they suppose have 
 power to make the good and evil spirits of the 
 invisible world familiar with them. The third, 
 which is properly the cabbala, is an art, by which 
 they profess to raise mysterious expositions of scrip- 
 ture, upon the letters of the sentences to which they 
 apply them.f 
 
 The Jews assert, that the mysteries of the cabbala 
 contain the profoundest truths of religion, which, to 
 be fully comprehended by finite beings, are revealed 
 through the medium of allegory and similitude, in 
 the same manner as angels can only render them- 
 selves visible upon earth | by assuming a subtle body 
 
 * Enfield. t Butler's Horae Biblicze. Basnage, p. -202, 
 
 J Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 588.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 99 
 
 of refined matter. According to their account, 
 while Adam was in paradise, the angel Rasael 
 brought him a book from heaven, which contained 
 the doctrines of heavenly wisdom. And when Adam 
 received this book, angels came down to him to 
 learn its contents ; but he refused to admit them to 
 the knowledge of sacred things, entrusted to him 
 alone. They assert, that, after the fall, this book 
 was taken back into heaven ; after many prayers and 
 tears, God restored it to Adam, and it passed from 
 Adam to Seth. The Jewish fables proceed to relate, 
 that the book being lost, and the mysteries it 
 contained almost forgotten in the degenerate age 
 before the flood, they were restored by special reve- 
 lation to Abraham, who committed them to writing 
 in the book Jezirah ; that the revelation was re- 
 newed to Moses,* who received a traditional and 
 mystical, as well as a written and preceptive law, 
 from God ; that, being again lost amidst the cala- 
 mities of the Babylonish captivity, it was once more 
 revealed to Esdras ; that it was preserved in Egypt, 
 and has been transmitted to posterity, through the 
 hands of Simeon-ben-Setach, Elkanah, Akibha, Si- 
 meon-ben-Jochai, and others. 
 
 Dr. Ennekl,f from whom the above account is 
 
 * According to .the Jewish accounts, all the patriarchs of the 
 ancient world had their separate angels to instruct them in these mys- 
 terious arcana; and Moses himself was initiated in them by the 
 illustrious spirit Metatron. Basnage, p. 1S5. 
 
 t The chief heads of the cabbalistic doctrine, are thus delineated 
 by the abovementioned author. 
 
 " From nothing, nothing can be produced ; since the distance 
 between existence and non-entity is infinite. Matter is too imperfect 
 in its nature, and approaches too near to non-entity to be self- 
 existent. The Being from whom all things proceed is a spirit, uu-
 
 100 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 chiefly selected, supposes, that the mystical or cab- 
 balistic philosophy of the Jews, arose in the time 
 
 created, eternal, intelligent, percipient, having within itself the 
 principles of life and motion, existing by the necessity of its nature, 
 and filling the immensity of space. This spirit is En soph, the infinite 
 Deity. This Eternal Fountain of existence sends forth from himself 
 natures of various orders, which, nevertheless, are still united to 
 their source. The world is a permanent emanation from the Deity, in 
 which his attributes and properties are unfolded, and variously modi- 
 fied. The nearer any emanation is to the First Fountain, the more 
 perfect and divine is its nature ; and the reverse. 
 
 " Before the creation of the world, all space was filled with the Or 
 Hnen Soph, or infinite intellectual light. But, when the volition for 
 the production of nature was formed in the divine mind, the eternal 
 light, hitherto equally diffused through the infinite expanse, withdrew 
 itself to an equal distance in every direction, from a certain point, 
 and thus left about this centre, a spherical portion of empty space, as 
 a field for the operation of emanation, by which all things were to be 
 produced. -In the space from which the divine light was thus with- 
 drawn, there was still, however, some portions or traces left of the 
 divine essence, which were to become the receptacle of rays, sent 
 forth from the Eternal Fountain, or the basis of future worlds. 
 From a certain part of the concavity of infinite light, which sur- 
 rounded the opaque sphere, the energy of emanation was first exerted, 
 and rays were sent forth in right lines, into the dark abyss. The 
 beam of light, thus produced, formed a channel, through which 
 streams were to flow for the production of worlds. This beam was 
 united to the concave of light, and was directed towards the centre 
 of the opaque sphere. From this luminous channel, streams of light 
 flowed, at different distances from the centre, in a circular path, and 
 formed distinct circles of light, separated from the concave of light, 
 or from each other, by portions of dark or empty space. Of these 
 circles of light, ten were produced, which may be called Sephirae, or 
 Splendours. 
 
 The rectilineal beam of light, which is the first emanation from 
 the eternal fountain, and is itself the source of all other emanations, 
 may be distinguished by the name of Adam Kadman, the first man, 
 the first production of divineenergy, or, the Son of God. The Sephirze 
 are fountains of emanations, subordinate to Adam Kadman, which 
 send forth rays of divine light or communicate essence and life to in- 
 ferior beings. The ten Sephira are known, according to the order of 
 emanation, by the names, Intelligence, or the Crown, Knowledge,
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 1 01 
 
 of the first Ptolemies, and originated in Egypt, 
 where they learned, by the help of allegory, to mix 
 
 Wisdom, Strength, Beauty, Greatness, Glory, Stability, Victory, 
 Dominion. 
 
 " These are not the instruments of the divine operations, but 
 media, through which the Deity diffuses himself through the sphere 
 of the universe, and produces whatever exists. They are not beings 
 detached from the Deity, but substantial virtues or powers, distinctly, 
 but dependently, sent forth from the eternal source of existence 
 through the mediation of Adam Kadman. the first emanating power, 
 and becoming the immediate source of existence to subordinate ema- 
 nations. They are dependent upon the First Fountain, as rays upon 
 a luminary, which is conceived to have sent them forth with a power 
 of drawing them back, at pleasure, into itself. 
 
 " The first infinite source of being is the Ensophic world, or world 
 of infinity, within which, after the manner above described, four 
 worlds are produced by the law of emanation, according to which the 
 superior is the immediate source of the inferior; these are Aziluth, 
 or the world of emanation, including the Sephirae; Brisk, or the 
 world of creation, containing certain spiritual natures, which derive 
 their essence from the Sephira; ; Jezirah, or the world of forms, 
 composed of substantial natures, derived from the superior spiritual 
 substances, and placed within etherial vehicles, which they inform ; 
 and Asiah, or the material and visible world, cora^-ehending all 
 those substances which are capable of motion, composition, division, 
 and dissolution. 
 
 " These derived worlds are different evolutions, or expansions of 
 the divine essence, or distinct classes of beings, in which the infinite 
 light of the divine nature is exhibited with continually decreasing 
 splendour, as they recede from the First Fountain. The last and 
 most distant production of the divine energy of emanation is matter; 
 which is produced wLen the divine light, by its recession from the 
 Fountain, becomes so attenuated as to be lost in darkness, leavin^ 
 nothing but an opaque substance, which is only one degree above non- 
 entity. Matter has no separate and independent existence, but is 
 merely a modification and permanent effect of the emanative energy 
 of the divine nature. 
 
 " The Sephirae, or first order of emanative being, existiag in Azi- 
 luth, are superior to spirits, and are called Parzuphim, Persons, to 
 denote that they have a substantial existence. The inhabitants of the 
 second world are called Thrones, on account of the dominion, which 
 they possess over the various orders of Angels, which inhabit the
 
 102 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Oriental, Pythagorean, and Platonic dogmas with 
 Hebrew wisdom. The cabbala having, according 
 to this author, obtained early credit among the 
 Jews, as part of their sacred tradition, was trans- 
 third world. The fourth, or material world, is the region of evil 
 spirits, called K/ippolh, the dregs of emanation. These are the 
 authors of the evil, which is found in the material world; but they 
 are continually aspiring towards the sephirs, and will, in the great 
 revolution of nature, return into the inexhaustible fountain of deity. 
 Spirits of all orders have a material vehicle, less pure and subtile in 
 proportion to their distance from En Soph ; and this vehicle is of the 
 nature of the world next below that to which they belong. Jlfetalron 
 is the prince of Jezirah, or the angelic world, in which there are ten 
 distinct orders ; Sandalphon of Asiah, or the material world : these, 
 together with the hosts over which they preside, animate aerial 
 vehicles, capable of impression from corporeal objects, and in dif- 
 ferent ways requiring renovation. 
 
 " The human soul, proceeding by emanation from the Deity, is an 
 incorporeal substance of the same nature with the divine intellect. 
 Being united to the body, one complex nature is produced, endued 
 with reason, and capable of action. The human soul consists of four 
 parts: Nephesh, or the principle of vitality ; Ruach, or the principle 
 of motion; Pfschumah. or the power of intelligence; and Jechidah, 
 a divine principle, by means of which it contemplates superior natures, 
 aud even ascends to the Ensophic world. All souls were produced at 
 once, aud pre-existed in Adam. Every human soul has two guardian 
 augels, produced by emanation at the time of the production of souls. 
 
 " The mind of man is united to the divine mind, as the radius of 
 a circle to its centre. The souls of good men ascend above the 
 mansion of the angels, and are delighted with the vision of the first 
 light, which illuminates all the worlds. 
 
 " The universe continues to exist by the divine energy of emana- 
 tion. Whilst this energy is exerted, different forms and orders of 
 beings remain; when it is withheld, all the streams of existence 
 return into their fountain. The Ensoph, or Deity, contains all things 
 within himself; and there is always the same quantity of existence, 
 either in a created or uncreated state. When it is in an uncreated 
 state, God is all ; when worlds are created, the Deity is unfolded, or 
 evolved, by various degrees of emanation, which constitute the 
 several forms and orders of created nature." Enfteltfs Philosophy^ 
 vol. ii. p. 2172-21.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 103 
 
 mitted under this notion by the Jews in Egypt to 
 their brethren in Palestine. 
 
 Simeon ben-Jochai, a celebrated rabbi, was the 
 first who committed these mysteries to paper ; and, 
 as the Jews affirm, by divine assistance, he rom- 
 ped the Zohar, or brightness.* He is said to 
 have lived some years before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem. Titus condemned him to death ; but 
 he and his son escaped the persecution, by secreting 
 themselves in a cave, where he had leisure to com- 
 pose the abovementioned book. He perfected the 
 work with the assistance of the prophet Elias, whom 
 God sent from heaven, from time to time, to explain 
 to Simeon such mysteries as were above his compre- 
 hension f 
 
 The Sepher Jetzirah, or book of the creation, is 
 the next in cabbalistic fame to the Zohar : and is 
 quoted by the Jews, as of divine authority. Some 
 ascribe this work to the patriarch Abraham ; others 
 suppose it was written by the rabbi Akibha, who 
 lived in the second century. 
 
 He was president of the academies of Lydda and 
 Jafna ; and a disciple and successor of the rabbi 
 Gamaliel. Until he was forty years of age, he was 
 a shepherd in the service of a rich citizen of Jeru- 
 salem ; but his master's daughter having promised 
 to marry him, if he became a learned man, he assi- 
 duously applied himself to study. So successful was 
 his application, that he became one of the most 
 famous teachers in the schools of Jewish learning. 
 
 * David Levi calls the Zohar a cabbalistical commentary on the 
 Pentateuch. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 1 85.
 
 104 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 He was considered by his nation, as the oracle 
 of the times; and one of the greatest preservers of 
 the traditional law.* The Jews in Palestine did 
 not scruple to say, that God revealed to him, what 
 he concealed from Moses ; and, if their accounts 
 are to be credited, he had twenty four thousand dis- 
 ciples. This rabbi is mentioned with veneration 
 through the whole Talmud ; not only on account of 
 his great attainments in the cabbalistical learning, 
 but for his extraordinary abilities and wisdom in 
 solving important questions in the law.f Towards 
 the close of his life, he followed the standard of the 
 impostor Barchocheba, who appeared under the cha- 
 racter of the Messiah, to deliver his countrymen 
 from the power of the emperor Adrian. An account 
 of this revolt, and the new and dreadful calamities, 
 which the Jews suffered in consequence of the 
 insurrection, will be related in the following 
 chapter. 
 
 * De Rossi's Hebrew Biography. 
 
 t David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 105 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Jews rebel in the reign of the emperor Trajan. They are subdued 
 and banished from the Isle of Cyprus. The emperor Adrian begins 
 to rebuild Jerusalem, and plants a Roman colony in the new city. 
 Rebellion of the Jews. Barchocheba declares himself the Mes- 
 siah, and is made leader of the insurgents. He chooses the famous 
 rabbi Akibha for his precursor. The rebels raise a formidable army. 
 Adrian sends forces against them, and besieges them in Either. 
 This city surrenders to the Romans. The false Messiah is slain. 
 Horrid carnage of the Jews. Multitudes of them are sold, and 
 transported to Egypt. Adrian completes the building of Jerusalem, 
 and prohibits the Jews from entering the city. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the complicated afflic- 
 tions, which the Jews suffered in Palestine during 
 the destruction of their city and temple, the measure 
 of their calamities was not completed. They had 
 scarcely begun to breathe after the ruin of their 
 country, when their impatience under a foreign yoke 
 broke out in an open revolt during the reign of the 
 emperor Trajan, who had interdicted them from 
 reading their law, and treated them with great seve- 
 rity.* 
 
 A. D, 115.] The rebellion was commenced by the 
 Jews in Cyrene, where they had been settled for many 
 years, and become powerful. At first they gained 
 considerable advantages over the enemy, who fled to 
 Alexandria, and massacred all the Jews in the city. 
 Those of Cyrene, exasperated at this dreadful re- 
 prisal, having chosen one Andrew for their com- 
 mander, murdered two hundred and twenty thousand 
 of the Lybians, and depopulated the country. The 
 emperor Trajan sent Martius Turbo with a power- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 611.
 
 106 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 ful army against them, and the rebels were reduced 
 after several desperate battles, which were attended 
 with great slaughter.* 
 
 A. D. 116] The following year, the Jews in 
 Mesopotamia, alarmed at the fate of their brethren 
 in Egypt, appeared in arms, and with such force, 
 that the inhabitants of the whole country were filled 
 with consternation. This induced Trajan to send 
 Lucius Quietus, the greatest general in the empire, 
 against them, who slew great numbers of the insur- 
 gents, and subjected the rest to the Roman power. 
 To prevent their again assembling and rebelling, 
 the emperor appointed him governor in Palestine, 
 to watch their motions and keep them in awe.f 
 
 Soon after, the Jews, who were numerous in the 
 island of Cyprus, made a more dreadful insurrection, 
 and massacred two hundred and forty thousand of 
 the inhabitants. Trajan sent Adrian, a famous ge- 
 neral, against them, with a powerful army. After 
 an obstinate conflict, the rebels were reduced, and 
 the emperor published an edict, banishing them 
 from the island, and forbidding them to return, 
 under the severest penalties.]; 
 
 A. D. 130.] Notwithstanding the miseries, which 
 the Jews suffered by their revolt, their rebellious 
 spirit was still unsubdued. Adrian, the successor of 
 Trajan, had prohibited them from circumcising 
 their children ; and sent a colony to rebuild Jeru- 
 salem, near the place where the ancient city stood. 
 He designed to adorn it after the Roman style, and 
 call it CEiia Capitolina, from the name of his family. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 511. + Ibid. i Ibid. p. 512.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 107 
 
 This exasperated the minds of the Jews, and stimu- 
 lated them to commence an open rebellion.* 
 
 A. D. 132.] Coziba, one of the banditti, who 
 infested Judea, and committed all kinds of violence 
 against the Romans, was the leader of the in- 
 surgents. To facilitate the success of his bold 
 enterprize, he assumed the name of Barchocheba, 
 which signifies the son of a star ; and pretended he 
 was the person prophesied of by Balaam in the 
 words, ( ' There shall come a star out of Jacob, and 
 a sceptre shall rise out of Israel." This barbarian, 
 so well calculated by his courage and enterprising 
 spirit to be the Messiah, according to the perverted 
 conceptions of the Jews, was acknowledged in that 
 character by his infatuated countrymen. f He en- 
 gaged to deliver his nation from the power of the 
 emperor Adrian, and restore its ancient liberty and 
 glory. The famous rabbi Akibha, being chosen by 
 him for his precursor, espoused his cause, afforded 
 him the protection of his name, and not only pub- 
 licly anointed him as the Messiah, and king of the 
 Jews, but placed a diadem on his head, caused 
 money to be coined in his name, and followed him 
 to the field, at the head of twenty thousand of his 
 disciples, and acted in the capacity of master of his 
 horse. By calling on all the descendants of Abraham 
 to assist the hope of Israel, an army of two hundred 
 thousand men was soon raised, who repaired to 
 
 * Basnagc, p. 512. 
 
 + Several impostors had appeared before him; some under the 
 title of the Messiah; others under that of his precursors; most 
 of whom were the disciples of Judas the Gaulonite. But Barcho- 
 cheba was the first who obtained great celebrity.
 
 108 HISTOKY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Either, a city near Jerusalem, chosen by the famous 
 impostor for the capital of his new kingdom.* 
 
 Adrian at first neglected to take measures against 
 the revolt, supposing the Jews had been too effectu- 
 ally humbled by his predecessor to be able so soon 
 to raise a formidable insurrection. But being ap- 
 prized, that numbers had flocked to the standard of 
 Barchocheba, he sent Tinius Rufus, governor of the 
 province, with a powerful military force against 
 them. The rebels, however, gained great advan- 
 tages over the imperial army, and destroyed vast 
 numbers of Romans and converted Jews. Their 
 rapid success and sanguinary devastations, filled 
 Rome with astonishment and consternation. At 
 length, Julius Severus, one of the greatest generals 
 of his age, was despatched to crush this dangerous 
 revolt. This able commander, not thinking it 
 prudent to oppose at once so formidable an army, 
 attacked and defeated the insurgents in parties ; and, 
 at length, cut off the supplies of the enemy, and 
 besieged them in Either, f 
 
 The rebels defended themselves with obstinate 
 resolution ; and, even put Tryphon, a famous rabbi, 
 to death, because he proposed their surrendering to 
 the Romans. However, they were not able long to 
 withstand the repeated and vigorous attacks, which 
 were made upon the city. In one of these assaults, 
 the pretended Messiah was killed, and Either obliged 
 to surrender. The Jewish history, bloody as it is 
 in almost every page, records no fact, excepting the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, more horrid, than the 
 undistinguished and promiscuous slaughter which 
 
 * Basnage, p. 515. t Ibid. p. 518.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 109 
 
 ensued. Akibha* and his son were put to a most 
 cruel death. Five hundred and eighty thousand 
 fell by the sword in battle, besides a vast number, 
 who perished by famine, sickness, fire, and other 
 calamities. The Jewish historians affirm, that a 
 greater number were destroyed in this war, than the 
 whole amount of their nation, when they emigrated 
 from Egypt ; and, that their sufferings, under Ne- 
 buchadnezzar and Titus, were not so great as those 
 they endured under Adrian. Of these unhappy 
 people, who survived the second ruin of their nation, 
 vast numbers were exposed for sale at the fair of 
 Terebinth, f at the price of horses, and dispersed 
 over the face of the earth. Those who could not 
 find purchasers at this place, were removed to 
 another fair, which was kept at Gaza ; others were 
 transported to Egypt.J 
 
 A. D. 136.] After the war was terminated, Adrian 
 completed his design of rebuilding Jerusalem. In 
 order to prevent new revolts among the Jews, he 
 caused the ancient monuments of their religion to be 
 destroyed, and studiously profaned all the places 
 which they revered. He erected a theatre with the 
 stones, which had been used for the temple, and 
 dedicated a temple to Jupiter Cajfitolinus, where 
 that of Jehovah formerly stood. He placed a hog 
 of marble upon the gates of the city, on the side of 
 
 * With him, say the Jews, perished the glory of their law. After 
 bis death, hi-s tomb, which they suppose to have been at Tiberias, was 
 visited with great solemnity. Enfitltfs Philosophy, TO!, ii. p. 201. 
 
 t The fair of Terebinth was annually kept on the plain of Mamre, 
 sacred for having been the place where Abraham pitched his tent, and 
 where he received the heavenly guests. Gen. xvii. 17. 
 
 i Basnage, p. 519.
 
 110 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Bethlehem ; and, as he hated the Christians as well 
 as the Jews, he erected a statue of Venus in the 
 place where Christ was crucified ; and in that where 
 he arose from the dead, one of Jupiter. In the 
 grotto of Bethlehem, where our Saviour was born, 
 he established the \ orship of Adonis.* 
 
 The emperor, by a severe edict, prohibited the 
 Jews, upon pain of death, from entering Jerusalem,f 
 and fixed a vigilant garrison of the Roman cohorts 
 to enforce the execution of his orders. He even 
 forbade them to view their once beloved city at a 
 distance. " Before this period," says a late author, 
 <e they were seen covered with rags, traversing, 
 midst sighs and lamentations, the Mount of Olives, 
 and the remains of their temple. They were 
 reduced to the necessity of being economists in their 
 misery to purchase this favour from the avarice of 
 the soldiery. At this price they obtained, as a 
 singular indulgence, permission to go thither and 
 weep on the anniversary of the sacking of their city ; 
 and the Jews were obliged to pay for the right of 
 shedding tears, in those places where they purchased 
 and shed the blood of Jesus Christ ! " J 
 
 In the calamities of the Jews, we contemplate the 
 fulfilment of the prophecies, which foretold them 
 
 * Basnage, p. 519. 
 
 + Though Adrian interdicted the Jews from entering Jerusalem, 
 they were not banished from Judea ; the patriarchs still resided in 
 that country, and the famous school of Tiberias still existed. The 
 condition of those, who remained in Palestine, was, however, ex- 
 tremely wretched. According to Juvenal, some of the Jews in Rome 
 and Egypt, after the revolt, were obliged to turn fortune-tellers for 
 their subsistence. Basnage, p. 519. 
 
 Gregoire, in his Essay on the Reformation of the Jews, quotes 
 as au authority for this fact, St. Jerome in Sophonian. chap. x.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. Ill 
 
 long before they took place. Moses had predicted, 
 that they should be carried into Egypt, and sold at 
 a very low price. " And the Lord" said he, " shall 
 bring thee into Egypt again with ships, and ye 
 shall be sold unto your enemies, and no man shall 
 buy you."* When Jerusalem was taken by Titus, 
 the captives, with their wives and children, were sold 
 at the lowest price ; and we learn from St. Jerome, 
 " that after their last overthrow by Adrian, many 
 thousands of them were sold ; and those, who could 
 not find purchasers, were transported into Egypt, 
 and perished by shipwreck or famine, or were mas- 
 sacred by the inhabitants."f 
 
 * Deut. xxviii. 68. t See Newton on the Prophecies, p. 70.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 State of the Jews in the EastOf the princes of the captivity. Judah 
 the saint compiles the Misna. History of that work. Jews rebel 
 under Marcus Antoninus. Marcus Aurelius renews Adrian's edict 
 against them. They are treated with kindness by Septimius 
 Severus. Of their state under Heliogabalus. They are favoured 
 by Alexander Severus, and the subsequent Roman Emperors. 
 
 WHILE the Western Jews were exposed to the 
 terrible calamities, which have been related in the 
 preceding chapter, a milder destiny attended their 
 brethren in the east. Trajan, indeed, had carried 
 . his arms against them as far as Mesopotamia ; but 
 Adrian, after his accession to the throne, consented, 
 that the Euphrates should be the boundary of the 
 Roman empire. Those, therefore, who resided 
 beyond that river, were not concerned in that 
 prince's war against their nation. Many, however, 
 who panted after liberty in the most remote pro- 
 vinces of the empire, passed into Judea to assist 
 their brethren. Yet they answered no other pur- 
 pose, but to augment the number of the slain,* and 
 increase the triumph of the conquerors.f 
 
 A. D. 122.] The history of the eastern is more 
 obscure than that of the western Jews, the former 
 having but an imperfect knowledge of the events 
 which took place among their brethren in those 
 remote countries. Previous to the destruction of 
 
 * The number of the slain, according to Basuage, amounted to 
 above six hundred thousand, which number could not have been 
 found in Judea, after the sufferings of that country under Trajan. 
 
 f Basnage, p. 162.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 113 
 
 the temple, those of that nation, who resided in the 
 eastern countries, sent presents to Jerusalem ; re- 
 paired thither from time to time, to pay their 
 devotions ; and acknowledged the supreme authority 
 of the high priests. But after the ruin of their 
 country, having no longer the band of unity, which 
 was formed by the temple and high priests, they 
 imitated their brethren in Palestine, and elevated 
 chiefs to preside over their synagogues, whom they 
 styled princes of the captivity.* 
 
 The origin of these chiefs is not known ; it is 
 only evident, that they did not exist till the second 
 century. They were installed with great pomp and 
 solemnity. Babylon or Bagdat was chosen for the 
 place of their residence, where they presided over 
 ten courts of justice. There were twenty-eight 
 synagogues, among which was that of the prince, 
 supported with pillars of marble of various colours. 
 His office was to confer ordination on all the heads 
 of the synagogues in the east, from whom he received 
 contributions to enable him to support his dignity, 
 and pay the tribute which was exacted by the kings 
 of Persia. It is believed that Huna, who was 
 cotemporary with Judah the Saint, was the first 
 prince of the captivity at Babylon. These princes 
 exercised the same authority in the eastern, that the 
 patriarchs of Tiberias maintained in the western 
 countries. f 
 
 The Jews, however, pretend, that these chiefs 
 were superior in power and dignity to the patriarchs 
 of Judea, and affirm, that all, who remained of the 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 156. 
 t Basnage, p. 162. Lewis's Hebrew Antiquities 
 I
 
 114 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 race of David, abandoned that province, and retired 
 to Babylon, where they conclude the sceptre men- 
 tioned by Jacob is to be found. But men of learning 
 among the Christians have proved, that they have 
 greatly exaggerated the grandeur and authority of 
 these princes, who were subjected to the Persian 
 monarchs. And, if we consider the low condition 
 of the Jews, and the oppressions, which they endured 
 from the Parthians, Romans, and other nations, it 
 will appear evident, that the princes of the captivity 
 could possess only a small share of authority.* 
 
 In order to raise the glory of their nation, the 
 Jews bestow the highest encomiums on the learned 
 men, who flourished among them during the second 
 century. In particular, they extol the famous rabbi 
 Judah,f the third Jewish patriarch, who obtained 
 the appellation of Saint. He was born in the city of 
 Sephora, and having acquired great celebrity for his 
 piety and profound learning, presided over the 
 academy of Tiberias with uncontrolled authority, 
 and decided the most abstruse controversies. His 
 memory was so highly revered among the Jews, 
 that they compare him with the Messiah ; they 
 relate many extraordinary accounts of this rabbi ; 
 among the rest, they assert, that he made the em- 
 peror, Marcus Antoninus, a proselyte to Judaism, 
 and, that it was by his order, that Judah compiled 
 the Misna.J 
 
 * Modem Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 180. 
 
 t Judah was born on the same day that Aktbha died, and the Jews 
 imagine this event was predicted by Solomon, when he says, The sun 
 riselh, and the sun goeth down. Akibha dying was the sun that set, 
 and Judah the Saint the rising sun. Basnage, p. 156. 
 
 t Eufield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 198.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 115 
 
 i 
 
 This celebrated book is a code of the Jewish canon 
 and civil law. It was held in such profound vene- 
 ration by the Jews, that they called it the second 
 law, (which the name Misna signifies in Hebrew) 
 importing, that it has the same authority with their 
 Pentateuch or first law. Judah was induced to 
 undertake this work from a just apprehension, that 
 his nation, in their various dispersions and migrations 
 through so many provinces, and during the inter- 
 ruption of their public schools, would neglect to 
 practise the rites of their religion ; and the traditions 
 of their fathers would be obliterated from their 
 memory.* 
 
 " The history of the Misna," says Enfield,f " is 
 briefly this : The sect of the Pharisees, after the 
 destruction of Jerusalem, prevailing over the rest, 
 the study of traditions became the chief object of 
 attention in all the Jewish schools. The number of 
 these traditions had, in a long course of time, so 
 greatly increased, that the doctors, whose principal 
 employment it was to illustrate them by new ex- 
 planations, and to confirm their authority, found it 
 necessary to assist their recollections by committing 
 them under distinct heads to writing. At the same 
 time, their disciples took minutes of the explanations 
 of their preceptors, many of which were preserved, 
 and grew up into voluminous commentaries. The 
 confusion, which arose from these causes, was now 
 become so troublesome, that, notwithstanding what 
 Hillel J had before done in arranging the traditions, 
 
 * Basnage. Maurice's Indian Antiquities. 
 
 t Enfield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 198. 
 
 t The name of Hillel is held iu the highest esteem among the 
 
 i 2
 
 116 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Judah found it necessary to attempt a new digest of 
 the oral law, and of the commentaries of the most 
 famous doctors. This arduous undertaking is said 
 to have employed him forty years. It was com- 
 pleted, according to the unanimous testimony of the 
 Jews, about the close of the second century. This 
 Misna, or first Talmud, comprehends all the laws, 
 institutions., and modes of life, which, beside the 
 Hebrew scriptures, the Jews supposed themselves 
 bound to observe." * 
 
 .This work was soon respected by the Jews as a 
 sacred book. It consists of a variety of traditions, 
 and explanations of several passages of scripture, 
 and serves as a supplement to their written law. 
 According to their account, these traditions were 
 delivered to Moses, during his abode on mount 
 Sinai, -and he afterwards communicated them to 
 Aaron, Eleazar, and his servant Joshua. They 
 transmitted them to the elders, who delivered them 
 to the prophets; and they passed from Jeremiah to 
 Baruch, and from him to Ezra, who delivered them 
 to the grand synagogue, the last of whom was Simon 
 the Just. Thus these traditions were handed down 
 from generation to generation, in regular succession, 
 till they were transmitted to Judah the Saint, who 
 committed them to writing, and thus formed the 
 voluminous compilation styled Misna ; f this work 
 
 Jews, for his exertions to perpetuate the knowledge of the tra- 
 ditionary law. He arranged its precepts under six general classes, 
 and thus laid the foundation for that digest of Jewish law, called the 
 Talmud. EnfieUfs Philosophy. 
 
 * Enfield. 
 
 t See a particular account of all the receivers of oral tradition, in 
 David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 276 286.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 117 
 
 was taught in all the schools, both in Palestine and 
 Babylon. Such is the account of David Levi,* 
 and the creed of every rabbi. 
 
 Dr. Prideaux, rejecting the Jewish fiction, ob- 
 serves, that, " after the death of Simon the Just, 
 about two hundred ninety nine years before Christ, 
 the Mischnical doctors arose ; who, by their com- 
 ments and conclusions, added to the number of those 
 traditions, which had been received and allowed by 
 Ezra, and the men of the great synagogue ; so, that 
 towards the middle of the second century, under the 
 empire of Antoninus Pius, it was found necessary to 
 commit these traditions to writing, more especially, 
 as the country had greatly suffered under Adrian, 
 many of the schools had been dissolved, and their 
 learned men cut off; and, therefore, the usual 
 method of preserving these traditions had failed. f 
 
 The Misna of Judah did not, however, resolve all 
 the doubtful cases and questions, which were agitated 
 by the Jews ; and it was thought to need some 
 larger explanation to render it more intelligible. 
 This induced Jochanan, a celebrated doctor of the 
 Jewish law, with the assistance of two disciples of 
 Judah, to write a commentary on the Misna. This 
 work was called the Talmud of Jerusalem, because 
 it was composed in Judea, for the use of the Jews, 
 who remained in that country. 
 
 In the second century, several new sects were 
 formed among the Jews, while those remained, 
 which had figured in the time of our Saviour. The 
 Gaulonites still retained their seditious spirit against 
 
 * David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jewi. 
 t Prideaux's Connection.
 
 IIS HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 all foreign government. But the Pharisees had, 
 since the destruction of Jerusalem, formed the bulk 
 of the nation. The Hemero-Baptists were a branch 
 of this denomination, only distinguished by their 
 more frequent washings. The Masbotheans, were 
 a branch of the Sadducees, for they denied the im- 
 mortality of the soul, and attributed all events to 
 chance. The Hellenists were the Jews, who spoke 
 Greek, and read the Septuagint in the synagogues. 
 Though there was at first some jealousy between 
 them and their brethren, who performed public 
 worship in the Hebrew language, they were allowed 
 to use the Greek translation in their religious as- 
 semblies. But, after they found, that the Christians, 
 in disputing against Judaism, derived advantage 
 from the Septuagint version, their prejudice against 
 it was heightened, and those who vindicated it were 
 regarded by the other party, as sectarians and 
 schismatics.* 
 
 The edict of Adrian, which prohibited the Jews 
 from circumcising their children, being still in force, 
 their impatience under this restriction stimulated 
 them, notwithstanding their late calamities, again to 
 have recourse to arms. The emperor Antoninus, 
 however, soon suppressed the revolt ; and afterwards 
 restored to them the privilege for which they con- 
 tended, and treated them with great moderation and 
 kindness. He, however, forbade their attempting to 
 make proselytes to their religion. 
 
 In the commencement of the reign of Marcus 
 Aurelius, the eastern Jews, who were subjects of 
 the king of Parthia, joined that monarch in a war 
 
 * Basnage, p. 528.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 119 
 
 against the Romans. The emperor, incensed at 
 this conduct, after he had reduced the rebels, re- 
 newed Adrian's severe edict against them. But 
 those laws were not executed in the remote pro- 
 vinces.* 
 
 A. D. 197.] The emperor Septimius Severus, in 
 the commencement of his reign, declared war against 
 the Samaritans and Jews. They had settlements 
 in Galilee; but the prohibition, which excluded 
 them from entering the precincts of Jerusalem, was 
 still in force. This unhappy people, though so 
 often humbled and subdued, attempted once more to 
 repel their enemies, and invaded Samaria and Judea. 
 After the emperor had reduced them to obedience, 
 he relaxed his severity against them. In order to 
 reward their fidelity to him, when Pescennius Niger 
 was competitor for the throne, he allowed them the 
 privileges of Roman citizens, and rendered them 
 eligible to offices of trust and honour, f 
 
 A. D. 200.] The chiefs and doctors of the 
 eastern Jews obtained celebrity in the commencement 
 of the third century, and established academies in 
 various parts. After the Persian monarchy was 
 restored, and the Parthian overthrown, the rabbies 
 were for some time treated with great respect. At 
 this prosperous period, Samuel Jarchi, who was 
 famed for his literary acquirements, particularly for 
 his skill in astronomy, came from Judea, was consti- 
 tuted chief of an academy at Nahardea ; and among 
 other dignities obtained that of prince of the capti- 
 vity.* 
 
 The tranquillity, which the Jews enjoyed in the- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 523. + Ibid. p. 531. J Ibid.
 
 120 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 east proved, however, only a prelude to a violent 
 persecution, which Sapor, king of Persia, com- 
 menced against them. According to the Jewish 
 historians, he was instigated by his subjects, who, 
 being jealous of the influence of their nation, endea- 
 voured to effect their destruction. 
 
 The scene was reversed, and their affairs assumed 
 a favourable aspect under Zenobia, queen of Pal- 
 myra. During the reign of this celebrated princess, 
 they flourished in every part of her dominions ; 
 erected superb synagogues, and were exalted to the 
 highest dignities. But, after this heroine was sub- 
 dued by Aurelian, they retired from her dominions 
 to Persia.* 
 
 A. D. 218.] Heliogabalus, who at this time 
 ascended the throne, had been circumcised, and ab- 
 stained from swine's flesh. He, however, erected a 
 superb temple in honour of the sun, the idol he 
 worshipped. He ordered the palladium, the vestal 
 fire,- the mother of the gods, and whatever the 
 Romans held in the highest veneration, to be con- 
 veyed to this temple. Being well acquainted with 
 the tenets of the Samaritans and Jews, he intended 
 to blend their religious rites with the adoration of his 
 deity. The unexpected death of this emperor, who 
 was assassinated by his soldiers, delivered the Jews, 
 who never would have consented to adopt his reli- 
 gion, from the fiery trial which awaited them.f 
 
 Alexander Severus, who succeeded Heliogabalus, 
 highly favoured the Jews, corresponded with them, 
 and was instructed in their religion. This emperor 
 had a domestic chapel, where he placed the statues 
 
 * Basnagc, p. 533. + Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 121 
 
 of Abraham, of Orpheus, and of Christ. He was 
 desirous of erecting a temple to Christ, and re- 
 ceiving him into the number of gods. His object 
 was, by the aid of the Eclectic philosophy, to blend 
 the Pagan, Jewish,, and Christian religions.* 
 
 The subsequent Pagan Roman emperors con- 
 tinued the tranquillity which the Jews enjoyed. In 
 particular Philip, who was born in Arabia, where 
 they carried on commercial pursuits, treated them 
 with the greatest indulgence. And it does not 
 appear, that they were involved in any of the violent 
 persecutions which the Christians suffered during 
 the reigns of Decius, Valerian, and Dioclesian.f 
 
 It seems from the preceding account, that the 
 Jews enjoyed intervals of tranquillity, and were 
 treated with kindness and indulgence by several of 
 the Pagan emperors of Rome. The numerous 
 remains of this people, though they were still 
 excluded from the precincts of Jerusalem, were per- 
 mitted to form and maintain considerable establish- 
 ments, both in Italy, and in the provinces ; to 
 acquire the freedom of Rome, to enjoy municipal 
 honours, and to obtain at the same time, an exemp- 
 tion from the hard and burdensome offices of society. 
 The moderation of the Romans gave a legal sanc- 
 tion to the forms of ecclesiastical police which were 
 instituted by the vanquished sect. New synagogues 
 were erected in the principal cities in the empire, 
 and the institutions and rites of the Mosaic law 
 were celebrated in the most public and solemn 
 manner.^ 
 
 * Basnage, p. 532. Gibbon's Roman Empire, vol. ii. p. 305. 
 t Basnage, p. 533. Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 337.
 
 122 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Alexander Severus and his successors in particular 
 treated the Jews with great clemency. But, as it 
 will appear in the following parts of this history, 
 when the Christian princes were at the head of the 
 Roman empire, they did not show so much indul- 
 gence to a nation, whom they considered as the inve- 
 terate enemies of Jesus Christ.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 123 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 State of the Jews under Constantine and his successors. The emperor 
 Julian highly favoured this people, and proposed to assist them in 
 rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. Of the vast preparations 
 which were made for this purpose, and the miracle which caused 
 his design to he abandoned. 
 
 IN the fourth century, one of the most important 
 revolutions took place, that ever was known in the 
 annals of mankind. The splendid edifice of pagan 
 superstition was subverted, and Christianity esta- 
 blished under Constantine the Great and his suc- 
 cessors. During- the reign of this monarch, the city 
 of Jerusalem, which Adrian called Elia, resumed its 
 ancient name. The emperor enlarged and beautified 
 it with many superb buildings and churches ; and 
 his pious munificence extended to every spot which 
 had been consecrated by the footsteps of the apostles 
 and prophets, and of the Son of God. * 
 
 This important change in the religion of the 
 Roman empire did not prove advantageous to the 
 Jews. Constantine, in the commencement of his 
 reign, enacted some severe laws, which abridged 
 their privileges. Their increasing numbers and 
 prosperity having rendered them insolent, they 
 insulted and abused those who deserted the syna- 
 gogue and embraced Christianity. The emperor 
 charged them with stoning and burning those who 
 renounced their religion ; and condemned them and 
 all their accomplices to suffer the same punishment. 
 He also forbade them to make proselytes under the 
 
 * Gibbon, rol. iv.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 severest penalties ; and gave liberty to all the slaves, 
 who accused their masters of having circumcised 
 them, or who professed the Christian religion. He 
 further ordered, that they should be obliged to serve 
 at all public offices, like the other subjects of the 
 empire, from which, however, he exempted the pa- 
 triarchs, priests, and others, who officiated at the 
 synagogues, schools, &c.* 
 
 The council of Elvira in Spain, which is com- 
 monly placed in the reign of Constantine, prohibited 
 the Christians, who had been in habits of social inter- 
 course with the Jews, from eating with them in 
 future. Though the penalty fell only on the Chris- 
 tians, who were made liable to excommunication, it 
 subjected the unhappy Israelites to insults and con- 
 tempt. By another decree this council prohibited 
 the possessors of land from permitting Jews to bless 
 the fruits of the earth,f because their benedictions 
 would render those of the Christians useless. The 
 council threatened to expel from the church those, 
 who refused to obey these orders. J 
 
 During the reign of Constantine, the Jews were 
 numerous in Persia, and having experienced great 
 kindness and liberality from many of the sovereigns 
 in that kingdom, had acquired great influence at 
 court. Emboldened by their prosperity, and stimu- 
 lated by a desire of revenging the insults and indig- 
 nities they suffered in the Roman empire, they, in 
 
 * Basnage, p. 354. 
 
 + The Jews in this country appear to have been tenants to the 
 Christians. They had public prayers in their synagogues for divine 
 blessings on their grounds. Jortiri* Remarks on Ecclesiastical 
 History, vol. ii. p. 294. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 544.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 125 
 
 conjunction with the Magi, raised a bloody perse- 
 cution against the eastern Christians. Many were 
 slaughtered at their instigation, their churches 
 demolished, their sacred books burnt, and, as the 
 persecution was long as well as bloody, every trace 
 of Christianity was nearly obliterated.* 
 
 A. D. 341.] The cruelty of the Jews did not long 
 remain unpunished. Constantius, who succeeded 
 his father, and hated this people on account of their 
 religion, treated them with the utmost rigour. During 
 his reign they raised an insurrection in Diocsesarea 
 in Palestine, in order to co-operate with the Persians, 
 who at the same time invaded the Roman empire, 
 and laid siege to Nisibis. The emperor sent an 
 army, who took Judea in their way to Persia, 
 defeated the rebels, and destroyed the city.f 
 
 Soon after, Constantius, incensed against the 
 Jewish nation, not only revived the laws which had 
 been enacted against them in the former reigns, but 
 added new ones still more severe. Every Jew that 
 married a Christian, circumcised a slave, or retained 
 any who were Christians, was punished with death. 
 The Jewish patriarch, who was still permitted to 
 exercise a precarious jurisdiction, held his residence 
 at Palestine ; and the neighbouring cities were filled 
 with a people who fondly adhered to the promised 
 land. But the edict of Adrian, which exiled them 
 from Jerusalem, was renewed and enforced ; and 
 they viewed from afar the walls of the holy city, 
 which was profaned in their eyes by the triumph 
 of the cross, and the devotion of the Christians. J 
 
 * Basnage, p. 544. t Ibid. 
 
 Basnage. Gibbon's Roman History, vol. iv. p. 90,
 
 126 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The death of Constantius delivered the Jews from 
 the evils they endured. Their affairs assumed a 
 more favourable aspect, when Julian, styled the 
 apostate, was elevated to the imperial dignity. As it 
 was his determined purpose to subvert the Christian, 
 and restore the Pagan worship, his aversion to the 
 Christians induced him to treat the Jews with distin- 
 guished kindness and liberality. He allowed them 
 the free exercise of their religion ; and exempted 
 them from the heavy taxes which were imposed upon 
 them by his predecessors. Emboldened by such 
 powerful protection, they assembled in several cities 
 in Syria and Judea ; demolished the churches, and 
 committed other outrages. Their example was fol- 
 lowed by their brethren in Egypt, who destroyed 
 the finest churches in Alexandria.* 
 
 Julian established the Pagan religion by law ; 
 disqualified the Christians from bearing offices in the 
 state ; fined and banished their clergy ; forbade 
 them to teach the sciences in the public schools ; 
 imposed a tax on all who refused to sacrifice to idols ; 
 and in short used every method that human inge- 
 nuity could invent, to destroy the Christian religion. 
 But finding his attempts baffled by the inflexible 
 firmness of the Christians, he formed the famous 
 design of rebuilding the temple of Jerusalem. Its 
 final destruction had been foretold by Christ and the 
 prophets ; and it was, as he imagined, reserved for 
 him to falsify their predictions ; and he meant to 
 have converted the success of his undertaking into a 
 specious argument against the faith of prophecy and 
 truth of revelation. f 
 
 Banage, p. 546. t ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 127 
 
 In pursuance of his general design of opposing 
 revelation to itself by setting one sect against an- 
 other, the emperor addressed a public epistle to the 
 nation or community of the Jews, dispersed through- 
 out the provinces. In this letter he honours the pa- 
 triarch with the title of brother. He compassionates 
 their misfortunes, praises their constancy, declares 
 himself their gracious protector, and concludes with 
 a promise, that, if he should return victorious from 
 the Persian war, he would rebuild Jerusalem, and 
 pay his grateful vows to the deity in that holy 
 place.* 
 
 The prospect of an immediate and important 
 advantage would not suffer the impatient monarch to 
 await the remote and uncertain event of a Persian 
 war. He resolved to erect a stately temple on the 
 commanding summit of Moriah; to establish an 
 order of priests, whose interested zeal would detect 
 the arts, and resist the ambition of their Christian 
 rivals; and to invite a numerous colony of Jews, 
 whose stern fanaticism would be always prepared to 
 second, and even anticipate, the hostile measures of 
 the Pagan government.f 
 
 For this purpose, the emperor assigned immense 
 sums out of the public revenue ; and committed the 
 superintendency of the plan to Alypus, his intimate 
 friend, whose aversion to Christianity was congenial 
 to his own. This minister, having obtained the 
 strenuous support of the governor of Palestine, 
 provided immense quantities of materials, and large 
 numbers of workmen. To use the words of a 
 
 * Warburton's Julian. 
 
 t Gibbon, vol. iv. p. 105. Warburton's Julian.
 
 128 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 celebrated author, " At the call of their great de- 
 liverer, the Jews from all the provinces of the empire 
 assembled on the holy mountain of their fathers ; 
 and their insolent triumph alarmed and exasperated 
 the Christian inhabitants of Jerusalem. The desire 
 of rebuilding the temple has in every age been the 
 ruling passion of the children of Israel. In this 
 propitious moment, the men forgot their avarice, 
 and the women their delicacy ; spades and pick- 
 axes of silver were provided by the vanity of the rich, 
 and the rubbish transported in mantles of silk and 
 purple. Every purse was opened in liberal contri- 
 butions, every hand claimed a share in the pious 
 labour, and the commands of a great monarch were 
 executed by the enthusiasm of a whole people." * 
 
 A. D. 363.] On this occasion, however, the 
 power of Julian, who had all the resources of the 
 empire at his command, and the enthusiasm of the 
 Jews, were unsuccessful; it is attested by several 
 respectable writers, that while the workmen were 
 digging up the foundations of the temple, terrible 
 earthquakes and balls of fire broke forth, which 
 obliged them to desist, and caused a total suppression 
 of the work.f 
 
 The most unexceptionable testimony to this extra- 
 ordinary fact is that of Ammianus Marcellinus, a 
 celebrated Pagan historian, who was a friend and 
 admirer of Julian. This writer, in his history of 
 his own times, has thus recorded the obstacles which 
 interposed to interrupt the restoration of the temple 
 of Jerusalem : " Whilst Alypus, assisted by the 
 governor of the province, urged with vigour and 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. iv. p. 106. t Basuage, p. 546.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 129 
 
 diligence the execution of the work, horrible balls of 
 fire, breaking out near the foundations with frequent 
 and reiterated attacks, rendered the place from time 
 to time inaccessible to the scorched and blasted 
 workmen ; and the victorious element continuing in 
 this manner obstinately and resolutely bent, as it 
 were, to drive them to a distance, the undertaking 
 was relinquished." * 
 
 This wonderful event is also attested with some 
 variations f by Ambrose, Chrysostom, and Gregory 
 Nazianzen, cotemporary Christian writers, the last 
 of whom published his account of the miracle before 
 the expiration of the same year, and has boldly 
 declared, that this preternatural event was not dis- 
 puted by the infidels. The subsequent writers, 
 who relate this extraordinary fact, are the historians 
 Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret.J; 
 
 In latter times the truth of this miracle has been 
 maintained by some writers of high reputation in 
 the republic of letters ; particularly the learned 
 bishop Warburton, who has published an ingenious 
 treatise in order to prove the miraculous interposition 
 of Providence in defeating the attempt to rebuild the 
 temple of Jerusalem. 
 
 In defence of the truth of this miraculous interpo- 
 sition, it has been alleged, that it differs from the 
 pretended miracles of those days, that it was not 
 wrought to serve a party. No sect could claim any 
 honour or credit from it ; but it was performed 
 by Providence for the credit of Christianity, and 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus, Lib. XXIII. chap. i. p. 330. 
 t All, however, agree in the principal points. 
 See Warbur ton's Julian, and Jortin's Remarks. 
 K
 
 HJSTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to serve the common cause against Judaism and 
 Paganism.* 
 
 Others, particularly Mr. Basnage and Dr. Lardner, 
 have expressed their doubts respecting the truth of 
 this miracle. f The latter of these writers judiciously 
 observes, "Julian's intention (or desire at least) to 
 rebuild the city of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple, 
 was never accomplished, but was frustrated and 
 defeated. Whether it was owing to miraculous 
 interposition, or to his expensive preparations for 
 the Persian war, and other circumstances of his 
 atfairs, and to his defeat and death in that war, the 
 overruling providence of God ought to be acknow- 
 ledged in the event ; and the argument for the 
 truth of the Christian religion, taken from the fulfil- 
 ment of our Saviour's prediction in the destruction 
 of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of the Jewish 
 people by Vespasian and Titus, and their continued 
 dispersion, remains in all its force." J 
 
 * Jortin's Remarks, vol. ii. p. 327. 
 
 t The reader is referred to Basnage's History of the Jews, and to 
 TO!, viii. of Larduer's Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, for the reasons 
 on which they ground their disbelief of this miracle. 
 
 i Lardner's Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. viii. p. 393.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 131 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 State of the Jews under Valentinian and Valens. During the reign of 
 Theodosius they insult the Christians at the feast of Purim. 
 Edicts of Theodosius II. A false Messiah appears in Candia. 
 Tumult in Alexandria. Violent behaviour of Cyril, bishop of that 
 city. Jews in the west favoured by Honorius. Reputed con- 
 version of those in Minorca. Suppression of the Jewish patriarchs. 
 State of the Jews after the irruption of the barbarous nations 
 into the Roman empire. 
 
 A. D. 387.] THE reign of Jovian, who suc- 
 ceeded Julian, was too short to affect any material 
 alteration in the condition of the Jews. Valentiniau, 
 who, under the reign of an apostate, had signalized 
 his zeal for the honour of Christianity, granted a 
 general toleration to his subjects. The Pagans, 
 the Jews, and all the various sects which acknow- 
 ledged the divine authority of Christ, were protected 
 by the laws from arbitrary power and popular insult. 
 He prohibited the Jewish synagogues from being 
 profaned, plundered, and demolished. Under his 
 reign, and that of Valens, the Jewish patriarchs were 
 restored to the enjoyment of all their privileges. 
 However, Valens deprived this people of one great 
 advantage, by revoking the decree which had 
 exempted them from public offices.* 
 
 The Jews enjoyed a peaceable interval during 
 the reigns of Gratian, Theodosius, and Arcadius. 
 Theodosius I. granted them particular jurisdiction ; 
 and besides their civil and public judge, they had the 
 power of electing officers and magistrates of their 
 own persuasion. They possessed also authority to 
 
 * Basnage, p. 547.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 execute the decrees, which were passed respecting 
 the religion and discipline of their brethren. The 
 tranquillity which they enjoyed under Theodosius 
 was, however, disturbed by some bigotted Chris- 
 tians, who caused one of their synagogues to be 
 burnt ; but upon complaint being made to the em- 
 peror, he ordered it to be rebuilt. St. Ambrose, it 
 is said, justified the outrage, and was highly offended 
 with the emperor for protecting an unbelieving 
 nation.* 
 
 During the reign of Theodosius II. the liberal 
 treatment which the Jews had long experienced, 
 emboldened them to offer an insult to the established 
 religion. Being assembled to celebrate the feast of 
 Purim, instead of hanging a figure of Haman on a 
 high gibbet, as had been their common custom, they 
 presumed to fix it on a cross, and with their usual 
 execrations burnt the cross and the figure. The 
 emperor being apprized of their insolent behaviour, 
 prohibited their erecting and burning such gibbets, 
 under the penalty of being deprived of all their 
 privileges. The Jews generally obeyed ; but those 
 of Macedon and Dacia continued their insults of this 
 kind ; which the Christian magistrates retaliated by 
 burning their houses and synagogues, and putting 
 their leaders to death, f 
 
 A. D. 408.] In order to suppress these disorders, 
 the emperor issued an edict, forbidding the Christians 
 to burn the synagogues, and the Jews to offer insults 
 to the established religion. About three years after, 
 those of Inmestar, a city in Chalcis, being inflamed 
 
 * Basnage, p. 547. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History. 
 + Basnage, p. 550.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 133 
 
 with wine at the feast of Purim,* fastened a young 
 Christian to a gibbet, who died in consequence of 
 their cruel treatment. The Christians, exasperated 
 at this conduct, took arms, and the Jews being 
 numerous in that country, a bloody engagement 
 ensued, in which many of both parties were killed. 
 At length the governor of the province was ordered 
 by the emperor to punish the instigators of these 
 disorders, and an end was put to the tumult.f 
 
 The Christians, however, still continued to plunder 
 and burn their synagogues, and appropriate their 
 goods to the use of the church, particularly at 
 Antioch, where the Jews were numerous and 
 affluent. Upon complaint being made to Theo- 
 dosius, he ordered the people to restore what they 
 had taken, and erect new synagogues. But he was 
 induced to repeal this equitable act at the instigation 
 of the famed saint in the air, Simon Stylites,J who 
 was in high esteem with the clergy, and exerted all 
 the influence he had acquired by the fame of his 
 sanctity, to prevent restitution being made. After 
 Theodosius had revoked his orders, the Christians 
 of Antioch and the neighbouring provinces were 
 emboldened to commit new acts of violence against 
 
 * The Jews celebrate the feast of Purim by drinking much wine, 
 because they say by means of a wine banquet Esther made the king 
 so g6od humoured, that he was induced to grant her request. 
 Priaeaux's Connection. 
 
 t Basuage, p. 151. 
 
 * Simon was a Syrian, who derived his appellation from his living 
 on the top of a pillar, where he is said to have continued thirty-seven 
 years. This fanatic had thus acquired a most shining reputation, 
 and attracted the veneration of all about him. It has been said, that 
 the emperor wrote a polite letter to him, in which he styles him the 
 holy martyr in the air. Bagnage, p. 551.
 
 134 HISTORY OF T11E JEWS. 
 
 the Jews. The emperor was obliged, in 425, to 
 publish an explanation of his former edicts, in order 
 to suppress the cruelty and injustice, which the 
 revocation of his late decree caused the bigotted 
 people to inflict upon this unhappy nation. 
 
 A. D. 432.] The Jews were numerous in the 
 island of Candia, and had acquired wealth. About 
 this time an impostor appeared, who pretended to 
 be a second Moses, sent to deliver his people. He 
 promised to divide the sea, and afford them a safe 
 passage through it to their own land. During one 
 year he passed through every town and village in 
 the island, and persuaded his countrymen to meet 
 him on the day, and at the place appointed. They 
 collected as much of their effects as they were able 
 to carry, and having assembled with their wives and 
 children, he led them to the top of a rock, and 
 commanded them to cast themselves into the sea. 
 The men, with unshaken faith, instantly obeyed, 
 and the women and children followed with equal 
 ardour. Many were drowned ; others were saved 
 by Christian fishermen. They became sensible of 
 their infatuation, and endeavoured to seize the 
 impostor ; but he had the address to elude the 
 search, which led them to suspect that he was the 
 devil. Ashamed of their blind credulity, many were 
 induced to embrace the profession of Christianity.* 
 
 A. D. 415.] The city of Alexandria was com- 
 puted to contain about one hundred thousand Jews, 
 who had early distinguished themselves by their 
 dexterity in trade, and like the other Egyptians 
 were mutinous and seditious. At this time they 
 * Basnage, p. 551.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 135 
 
 appear to have been greatly relaxed in the strictness 
 of their religious habits ; and a number of them, 
 instead of attending the synagogues on the sabbath, 
 chose to be present at the public diversions, which 
 were exhibited on that day. On these occasions 
 frequent dissensions took place between them and 
 the Christians, which seldom terminated without 
 bloodshed. Cyril, the bishop of the city, was ardent 
 in the prosecution of heresy, and entertained, in 
 particular, an extreme aversion against the Jews, 
 whom he threatened with ecclesiastical execution. 
 But confiding in the protection of Orestes, the 
 governor of Alexandria, who was their friend 
 and patron, they despised the menaces of the 
 bishop. 
 
 An altercation having taken place with the 
 Christians, the Jews resolved to attack them in the 
 middle of the night. For this purpose they de- 
 spatched several persons through the streets of the 
 city, who exclaimed, that the principal church was 
 in flames. Alarmed at this outcry, the Christians 
 came hastily out unarmed ; and the Jews, who 
 distinguished them by some peculiar marks, imme- 
 diately attacked them, and many were slain in this 
 tumult.* Exasperated at this outrage, Cyril, with- 
 out waiting for a legal sentence, led a seditious 
 multitude to the attack of the synagogues, which 
 they levelled with the ground. They then entered 
 the houses, and, without making any distinction 
 between the guilty and the innocent, plundered them 
 of all their goods, which were appropriated to the 
 use of the church. They next compelled the rem- 
 * Basnage, p. 551.
 
 136 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 nant of the unbelieving nation to abandon the city 
 almost naked, and Alexandria was impoverished by 
 the loss of an industrious and wealthy colony.* 
 
 Orestes was enraged at this infringement upon 
 his authority. The people also declared against the 
 proceedings of the bishop, and endeavoured to 
 persuade him to submit to the governor. But he 
 resolutely refused, and, taking* the gospel in his 
 hand, endeavoured to intimidate him to a recon- 
 ciliation. Upon finding Orestes inflexible, he com- 
 manded a regiment of monks,f amounting to fifteen 
 hundred, to descend from the mountains, and attack 
 him in his chariot. Accordingly, having first reviled, 
 'they assaulted and dangerously wounded him. His 
 life, however, was preserved by the people, who 
 repaired to his assistance, rescued him out of the 
 hands of the monks, and compelled them to provide 
 for their safety by flight. After the tumult was 
 appeased, Orestes caused Ammonius, the principal 
 offender, to be put to death, and sent an account of 
 the whole transaction to his court. Cyril, also 
 wrote to the emperor to justify his conduct ; and 
 in his next sermon declared Ammonius a martyr in 
 the cause of Christianity. J 
 
 The indiscreet zeal of Cyril produced a new 
 commotion, in which many persons lost their lives; 
 and an atrocious murder gave additional horrors to 
 this sedition. Hypatia, daughter of Theon, a cele- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 532. 
 
 t Cyril kept a standing army of dragoons, namely, the Egyptian 
 monks and Alexandrian ecclesiastics, -who were always ready to fight 
 his battles. Jortin'a Remarks on Eccles. Hist. vol. viii. p. 106. 
 
 i Basnage, p. 556. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, 
 vol. iii. p. 106.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 187 
 
 brated astronomer, publicly taught philosophy in 
 the Platonic school at Alexandria, where her 
 father had presided. This lady, who was eminently 
 distinguished for her talents and learning, had 
 obtained great celebrity, and attracted a crowded 
 audience. Orestes was in the habit of consulting 
 her in all difficult cases, and paid great deference to 
 her judgment. She was, however, a Pagan, and 
 being suspected of hindering a reconciliation be- 
 tween the governor and Cyril, was assaulted by the 
 fanatical populace, and barbarously assassinated 
 before one of the Christian churches. It is even 
 said, that Cyril, who detested her religion, who was 
 jealous of her reputation, and suspected her of 
 taking an active part against him, instigated his 
 followers to put her to death.* 
 
 A.D. 412.] While the bishop of Alexandria 
 exhibited this intolerant spirit, a Roman monarch 
 displayed the liberality of a more enlightened period. 
 The Jews in the west, under the protection of 
 Honorius, enjoyed the full exercise of their religion. 
 This emperor enacted a law, which exhibited his 
 generous and extensive views, importing that the 
 real glory of a prince consisted in allowing all his 
 subjects of different religious sentiments, the full and 
 
 * Basnage, p. 553. Dupin and some other ecclesiastical writers 
 endeavour to vindicate Cyril, and clear him from being concerned 
 in the murder. But a learned writer observes, " if there be not 
 sufficient evidence to condemn him as author of the murder, neither 
 is there room to acquit him. If he was innocent he should at least 
 have excommunicated those who were concerned in this vile assassi- 
 nation; but it does not appear that this was done; and neither 
 Socrates nor Valerius have said one word in his vindication." Jortiris 
 Remarks, vol. iii. p. 155.
 
 138 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 r 
 
 peaceable enjoyment of all their rights and privileges'. 
 Agreeably to this decree, he expressly prohibited the 
 destruction of synagogues, and the appropriation of 
 them to any other purposes. He also gave orders, 
 that they should not be compelled to violate the 
 sabbath on account of their public services, alleging 
 that the rest of the week was sufficient for secular 
 purposes. He disapproved of the unjust calumnies 
 which were raised against this people; and com- 
 manded the governors of provinces to do them justice, 
 by resisting all the encroachments which had been, 
 and should in future be made upon their privileges. 
 He also allowed them to retain Christians in their 
 service, provided they left them at entire liberty to 
 fulfil the duties of their religion.* On the other 
 hand, to prevent the Jews from abusing their liberty, 
 the emperor prohibited their building new syna- 
 gogues, and making proselytes ; and deprived them 
 of some offices f which they formerly enjoyed in the 
 empire. 
 
 A. D. 428.] The celebrated but disputed con- 
 version of the Jews in Minorca, is said to have 
 taken place in the fifth century. There were two 
 considerable towns in this island ; and the Hebrews 
 were interdicted from that, in which the Christian 
 bishop resided. It is even related, that those who 
 presumed to enter it were generally punished with 
 sudden and miraculous death. The other was 
 chiefly inhabited by the Jews who, under Honorius f 
 
 * Basnage, p. 557. 
 
 t The Jews were admitted into the Roman troops for four cen- 
 turies; they continued on the same footing till the emperor Honorius 
 thought proper to declare them incapable of military service. 
 Gregoirr's Essay on the Reformation of the Jeics.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 139 
 
 enjoyed very considerable and lucrative offices. 
 Theodosius, president of the synagogue, and doctor 
 of the law, was the principal person in the island. 
 Severus, the bishop, was persuaded by Orosius, 
 who had lately returned from Jerusalem, loaded with 
 miraculous relics, to attempt their conversion. They 
 began with private, and proceeded to public con- 
 ference in the synagogue. The Christians, being 
 apprized that the Jewish women intended to assault 
 them, provided for their defence. A tumult ensued, 
 in which the synagogue was destroyed. It is said, 
 however, that the bishop exhibited such a number of 
 miracles, that their principal men were induced to 
 relent, and in the course of eight days the greatest 
 part of the Jews were converted to the Christian 
 faith, and their synagogue to a church. But some, 
 who continued obstinate and intractable, concealed 
 themselves in caverns, till hunger compelled them to 
 quit their retreats ; others, leaving their property 
 behind them, sought an asylum in foreign countries. 
 These facts clearly demonstrate that compulsory 
 means had been used to effect a conversion.* 
 
 A. D. 429.] The Jews sustained a severe affliction 
 in the fifth century, by the office of patriarch, which 
 had kept up a centre of unity among them, being 
 abolished by the imperial law. . Those chiefs were 
 supported by taxes levied upon the Jewish people,, 
 which, at length, became so exorbitant, that they 
 applied to the civil power for relief. Instead, how- 
 ever, of obtaining redress, they had the mortification 
 of seeing the tribute converted to the emperor's use; 
 and, as there was no income to support the dignity. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 55*. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii.
 
 140 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 it became extinct. After this period the western 
 Jews were solely under the direction of the chiefs 
 of the synagogues, whom they called Primates.* 
 
 The fifth century was remarkable for the eruption 
 of the barbarous nations upon the western empire. 
 Yet the Jews only participated in the calamities 
 which usually attend great revolutions. Under the 
 Vandals they were allowed the free exercise of their 
 religion, and on the payment of tribute were per- 
 mitted the freedom of commerce. One of the effects 
 of the invasion was the destruction of trade, which 
 those barbarians, who delighted in war, held in little 
 estimation. Commerce was therefore transferred to 
 a people, who were generally treated with ignominy 
 and contempt, and precluded from enjoying titular 
 dignities, and civil and military offices. f 
 
 After the Goths obtained possession of Italy, the 
 Jews continued to be protected by those barbarous 
 kings. Theodoret, in particular, deserves high 
 commendation for the liberality of his conduct. 
 During his reign, the Jews had formed establishments 
 at Naples, Rome, Milan, and Genoa, for the benefit 
 of trade, and under the sanction of the laws. Yet 
 their persons were insulted ; their effects pillaged by 
 the populace of Ravenna and Rome, upon the most 
 frivolous, or extravagant pretensions. Theodoret 
 endeavoured to rectify these abuses ; he defended 
 them against the Christian zealots, and forbade any 
 
 * Theodosius and Valentinian deprived the patriarchs of their 
 office, and applied the taxes which were levied for their support to 
 the imperial treasury. Honorius also published, at the end of the 
 fourth century, a law upon the same subject. Basnage, p. 556. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 600. Anderson on Commerce.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 141 
 
 compulsory measures to be employed for their con- 
 version. He reproved the senate for suffering one 
 of their synagogues to be burnt at Rome ; and the 
 clergy of Milan for attempting to seize upon 
 another.* When the citizens of Genoa deprived 
 them of the privileges which they hud for a long 
 time enjoyed among them, they sought redress from 
 Theodoret, who permitted them to rebuild their 
 synagogues, and restored to them the free exercise 
 of their civil and religious rights. Thus the Jews 
 concluded the fifth century in the Roman empire ; 
 though they had frequently suffered from the violent 
 tumults and animosities of the people ; yet the 
 authority of their sovereigns enabled them to pre- 
 serve some of their most important privileges, f 
 
 * Basnagc, p. 561. Gibbon, vol. v. p. 89. t Ibid.
 
 142 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Of the Jewish academies in the east. Rabbi Asce begins to compile 
 the Talmud of Babylon. An account of the Masora. Persecution 
 of the Jews in Persia during the fifth and sixth centuries. Of the 
 Sebureans and Gaons. State of the Jews under the Persian mo- 
 narchs. Their attempt upon Tyre. Of their state in the west. 
 Justinian's edicts against them. Appearance of a false Messiah. 
 Revolt in Cesarea. The Jews assist the Goths against Justinian. 
 They raise an insurrection in Antioch. Conversion of those in the 
 island of Cyprus. 
 
 THE Jewish academies in the east were towards 
 the close of the fifth century in a flourishing condi- 
 tion, under the direction of rabbi Asce, who was 
 eminently distinguished for his talents and learning. 
 He was born at Sora in Babylon, and at the early 
 age of fourteen was chosen president of the cele- 
 brated academy in that city, which office he enjoyed 
 sixty years. He died in 427. 
 
 After having taught with the highest reputation 
 forty years, he began a collection of the sayings, 
 debates, and decisions of the rabbies, from the time 
 of Judah the Saint to the period in which he lived. 
 He arranged thirty-five books ; but his death pre- 
 vented his completing the work. However, it was 
 at length finished by his disciples, and styled the 
 Talmud of Babylon.* This collection, like the 
 
 * It is so called from its being the production of the Babylonian 
 schools, as the Talmud of Jerusalem derives its name from its being 
 compiled for the Jews in Palestine. This consists of the Misua of 
 Judah the Saint, and the Gemara of Jochanan. The Talmud of 
 Babylon consists of the same Misna, with the Gemara of rabbi Asce. 
 On the subject of these Gemaras, a distinguished Jew has remarked, 
 that " being nothing more than a collection of sentiments, parables,
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 143 
 
 Talmud of Jerusalem, comprises the Misna, which 
 is the text, and is common to both ; and the Gemara 
 or commentary, which is called the completion. 
 The Jews entertain the highest veneration for this 
 work ;* a learned writer of their nation styles it, "a 
 complete system of all their learning, and a compre- 
 hensive rule of all the practical parts of their laws 
 and religion/'f 
 
 Rabbi Asce left a son called Huna, and two 
 celebrated disciples, who were to have finished the 
 Babylonian Talmud. But the work was retarded 
 by a violent persecution which raged in Persia 
 against the Jewish nation, and which is said to have 
 continued seventy-three years. The synagogues 
 were shut, the observation of the sabbath prohibited, 
 and the schools and chapels given to the Magi. 
 Huna, who was then the Jewish chief, and his two 
 disciples were imprisoned, and suffered death with 
 astonishing constancy. But the youthful part of the 
 community, being more attached to the pleasures of 
 life, were easily induced to apostatize from their reli- 
 gion ; and their example was followed by a general 
 defection in Israel. J 
 
 and legal determinations of the several great men of their schools at 
 different times, the two Gemaras may be considered as one, and the 
 Babylonish only a continuation of the Jerusalem. It is true, however, 
 says he, the former is that intended to be designated by the generic 
 expression of Talmud; but only because, as being later and more 
 complete than that of Jerusalem, it comprises the last." Adams' Reli- 
 gious 'JVorld displayed, vol. i. p. 33. 
 
 * It has even been said, that though they affirm the Scripture, the 
 Misna, and Gemara, to be equally of divine authority, they compare 
 the Scripture to water, the Misna to wine, and the Gemara to the 
 choicest wine. Bastiage, p. 168. 
 
 t Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 310. J Basnage, p. 562.
 
 144: HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The compilation of the Talmud was, however, 
 resumed by the learned men of the nation, and it is 
 generally supposed, that it was completed in the 
 sixth century. This work was received with high 
 applause by the Jews, who agreed that no addition 
 or diminution should be made to it for the future. 
 But a new order of doctors arose, called Sebureans 
 or Sceptics, who professed to doubt of every thing, 
 and opposed the infallibility which their brethren 
 attributed to the Talmud.* 
 
 After the Jews had lost their existence as a nation, 
 they were solicitous to preserve the purity and 
 integrity of their sacred books. For this purpose 
 a number of learned rabbles compiled a work, styled 
 the Masora, in which they first fixed the true 
 reading of the Hebrew text by vowels and accents ; 
 and, secondly, numbered not only the chapters and 
 sections, but even the verses, words, and letters of 
 the Old Testament. A late learned writer has styled 
 this work " the most stupendous monument in the 
 whole history of literature, of minute and perse- 
 vering labour/'f The Jews call the Masora " the 
 hedge, or fence of the law," because the enume- 
 ration of the verses, &c. is a mean of preserving it 
 from being altere<J or corrupted. 
 
 They assert that when God gave the law to Moses 
 on mount Sinai, he taught him the true reading, 
 which was handed down by oral tradition from age 
 to age, till it was committed to writing. Elias Le- 
 vita, a celebrated rabbi, who bestowed twenty years' 
 labour on explaining the Masora, makes the first 
 compilers of it the Jewish doctors of the famous 
 
 * Basnage, p. 562. i Butler's Horse Biblice, p. 57.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 145 
 
 school of Tiberias, about five hundred years after 
 Christ.* 
 
 The age in which the Masorites arose has, how- 
 ever, been much disputed. Some writers placed 
 their origin in the sixth century ; and others main- 
 tained, that they did not appear till the tenth. Bas- 
 nage asserts, that they were not a society, but a suc- 
 cession of men ; and that the Masora was the work 
 of many grammarians, who, without associating and 
 communicating their notions, composed this collec- 
 tion of criticisms on the Hebrew text.f 
 
 The sixth century commenced with a violent per- 
 secution of the Jews in the east, under Cavades, 
 a prince of a cruel disposition, who attempted to 
 compel all his subjects to embrace the Persian reli- 
 gion. The celebrated Meir, a learned rabbi, lived 
 at this time, and, exasperated at the severe treatment 
 of his brethren, declared war against the king of 
 Persia. At length, however, he was defeated and 
 put to death. The Persians then entered the city 
 in which Zeutra, the prince of the captivity, resided, 
 and having pillaged it, caused him and the president 
 of the council to be executed. [A. D. 522.] The 
 family of the prince escaped destruction by a preci- 
 pitate flight. Zeutra, his son, retired into Judea, 
 and was raised to an office of trust and honour by 
 his brethren in that country. J 
 
 Chosroes the Great, who succeeded Cavades, 
 treated the Jews with greater severity than his 
 predecessor. They endeavoured to obtain the favour 
 of this prince, by persuading him to break off his 
 
 * Jennings' Lect. vol. i. p. 401. t Basnage, p. 182. 
 
 + Ibid. p. 564. 
 
 L
 
 146 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 negotiations for peace with the emperor Justinian, 
 which were then in great forwardness. For this 
 purpose they promised Chosroes, that, if he would 
 consent to continue the war, they would furnish him 
 with fifty thousand men, by whose assistance he 
 might be enabled to conquer Jerusalem,, one of the 
 richest cities in the world. The king, duped by 
 their flattering promises, broke off his treaty with 
 the emperor, and prepared to carry the project into 
 execution. He was, however, soon informed, that 
 the persons who were employed in the treacherous 
 design had been seized by order of government ; and 
 after making a full discovery of their plan and 
 abettors, had been put to death. But this intel- 
 ligence did not deter Chosroes from prosecuting the 
 war, which was conducted with great energy, and 
 many successful inroads were made into Syria and 
 Palestine. The Jews, however, participated in the 
 common calamities, and were treated with equal 
 severity with the other inhabitants of the conquered 
 countries. Their academies were shut; their love 
 of learning became extinguished \ the prince of the 
 captivity was obliged to remove into Judea, and the 
 eastern Jews were destitute of chiefs to preside over 
 them.* 
 
 A. D. 589.] When Hormisdas the Third as- 
 cended the throne, he restored their former privileges, 
 which they continued to enjoy during the reign of 
 this prince. The academy of Pundebita was opened 
 under the direction of the celebrated rabbi Chanan 
 Mehischa. A new order of doctors appeared, who 
 were called Gaons, (sublime, or excellent,) and de- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 565.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 147 
 
 stroyed the Sebureans, or Sceptics. These doctors 
 were constituted chiefs of the academies, were con- 
 sulted upon all difficult questions, and their decisions 
 were regarded as oracles by their brethren, who 
 considered them the ablest interpreters of the law.* 
 
 After Chosroes II. had murdered his father Hor- 
 misdas in order to obtain the throne, his son Varanes 
 rebelled against him, and had the address to engage 
 the Jews in his interest. They, however, paid 
 dear for their presumption ; and Varanes being re- 
 duced to subjection, they were regarded as a faithless 
 and implacable people, that excited the subjects 
 against their princes, and fomented sedition. Those 
 of Antioch were the first victims of Chosroes' resent- 
 ment ; many of whom perished by the sword ; others 
 were put to death by the most cruel torments ; and 
 those, who survived, subjected to the most abject 
 slavery.f 
 
 A. D. 613.] Chosroes, however, was afterwards 
 reconciled to the Jews, who appear to have rendered 
 him many signal and important services. They acted 
 in concert with this monarch during his invasion of 
 Palestine, and even furnished him with an army of 
 twenty thousand men. When, after the reduction of 
 Galilee, the Persian monarch made himself master of 
 Jerusalem,]; they, with furious bigotry, pillaged and 
 destroyed the Christian churches ; and the king 
 having delivered the Christian prisoners into their 
 hands, they satiated their implacable hatred against 
 
 * Basnage, p. 505. Modern Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 208. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 566. Mayor's Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 18. 
 
 ^ Jerusalem was recovered from the Persians by the Greek emperor 
 Heraclius, and soon after taken by the Arabians. See the following 
 chapter. 
 
 L2
 
 148 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 them, by putting ninety thousand of this unhappy 
 people to a cruel death.* 
 
 While Chosroes was besieging Constantinople, 
 and all the forces of Syria and Judea were employed 
 in defence of that city, the Jews conspired with 
 their brethren in Palestine to make an attempt to 
 conquer Tyre, and destroy its inhabitants. But 
 the Tyrians having obtained timely intelligence of 
 their design were prepared for the attack, and re- 
 pulsed them with great bravery. After this disap- 
 pointment, they dispersed themselves through the 
 country, and assaulted and burned many of the 
 Christian churches. They were, at length, van- 
 quished by the Tyrians, who sallied out of the city, 
 and made a terrible slaughter. f 
 
 Whilst the eastern Jews, in the sixth century, 
 sustained a series of persecutions in Persia, their 
 brethren in the west were cruelly oppressed, and 
 gradually stripped of their immunities and privileges. 
 The emperor Justinian, who assumed the preroga- 
 tive of deciding on all religious controversies, issued 
 an edict which prohibited their celebrating the 
 passover according to their own calculation, and 
 obliged them to observe it at the same time with the 
 Christian church. Soon after he forbade the magis- 
 trates to admit them to give evidence against the 
 Christians ; and deprived them of the privilege of 
 making wills, and bequeathing legacies. These 
 decrees were followed by another, still more oppres- 
 sive, which interdicted them from educating their 
 children in their own faith. Justinian also, at the* 
 request of the council of Carthage, deprived those of 
 
 * Basnagc, p. 566. t Basnage. Modern Univer. Hist.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 149 
 
 Africa of the exercise of their religion, and 
 commanded the prefect to convert their synagogues 
 into churches.* 
 
 A. D. 530.] The Jews were exasperated by 
 these severe edicts, and the general discontent and 
 indignation soon ripened into an open rebellion. 
 One Julian, who pretended to be the Messiah, had 
 the address to attract many of his brethren in Pales- 
 tine to his standard. After assuming the title of 
 conqueror, he armed his followers ; led them against 
 the Christians ; and they, being wholly unprepared 
 for an attack, were slaughtered in great numbers. 
 At length, however, Justinian sent troops against 
 the insurgents ; and, though they fought with des- 
 peration, they were soon entirely routed. The false 
 Messiah was taken, and immediately put to death ; 
 and thus the revolt was terminated. f 
 
 A. D. 555.] Twenty-five years after, the Jews 
 in Cesarea rebelled against the Roman government ; 
 and, notwithstanding the inveterate hatred which 
 subsisted between them and the Samaritans, they 
 united their forces against the Christians. The 
 insurgents attacked and demolished many of the 
 churches, and massacred large numbers of the 
 people, particularly the governor in his own palace. 
 Justinian, upon being apprised of the revolt, and 
 the cruelties which were perpetrated, confiscated 
 the property of the most affluent ; and the others, 
 who engaged in the rebellion, were beheaded or 
 banished. J 
 
 * Basnage, p. 576. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 215, 
 t Ibid. t Basnage, p. 577.
 
 150 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The Jews joined the Goths* in Italy against Jus- 
 tinian and his general Belisarius. While this cele- 
 brated officer was engaged in the siege of Naples, 
 they defended the city with the most obstinate reso- 
 lution. When the citizens were about to capitulate, 
 they encouraged and persuaded them to hold out to 
 the last extremity. In consequence of their exer- 
 tions the siege was protracted, which occasioned the 
 destruction of many of the Roman soldiers. When 
 the city was taken, though Belisarius endeavoured to 
 inspire his troops with sentiments of clemency and 
 pity, the Jews, without any distinction of age, sex, 
 or rank, were cruelly put to death. Intimidated 
 by this dreadful severity, they remained peaceable 
 during the two subsequent reigns. 
 
 A. D. 602.] At length, under the reign of 
 Phocas, the Jews at Antioch, where they had 
 become populous and affluent, raised an insurrection 
 against the Christians, who defended themselves with 
 great resolution ; but not being sufficiently powerful 
 to repel their enemies, they became the victims of 
 their cruelty. Many were burnt in their houses ; 
 and bishop Anastasius, and several others, after 
 having endured the greatest indignities, were put to 
 death. The rebellion, however, after an arduous 
 conflict, was suppressed by a powerful body of 
 forces, which Phocas sent against them ; and the 
 barbarous conduct of the insurgents severely 
 punished, f 
 
 * The fidelity of the Jews to the Gothic kings cannot justly be 
 alleged against them, since they were then their subjects. 
 Basntige, p. 579. 
 
 f Basnage, p. 578.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 151 
 
 A. D. 606.] The Jews, at this period, notwith- 
 standing the edict of Adrian, had become numerous 
 in Cyprus. About four years after the insurrection 
 at Antioch, bishop Leontius, fearing that the island 
 would suffer similar calamities, resolved to use every 
 possible method to effect their conversion. His 
 endeavours proved so successful, if we may depend 
 upon his apology to be genuine, that the greater 
 part of them renounced Judaism, and were bap- 
 tized.* Many of their brethren, in other parts, 
 were about this time induced to profess the Christian 
 religion. A learned ecclesiastical historian, however, 
 remarks, that " it must be acknowledged, that of 
 these conversions the greater part were owing to 
 the liberality of Christian princes, rather than to the 
 force of argument, or love of truth. "f 
 
 * Banage. p. 579. t Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Hist. vol. ii. p. 98.
 
 152 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 }(.\ > 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Appearance of Mahomet. His behaviour to the Jews. They take 
 arms against him, are reduced, and compelled to become tributary. 
 Rapid conquests of the caliph Omar; he besieges and takes Jeru- 
 salem. The Jews rejoice at his success in Persia. They are fa- 
 voured by the first caliphs. -Those in Italy are protected by pope 
 Gregory the Great. They are severely treated by the emperor 
 Heracliusj who instigates other monarchs to persecute them. 
 
 A. D. 609.] MAHOMET, the famous Arabian 
 impostor, appeared in the early part of the seventh 
 century, and established a new religion, which, by 
 force of arms, made a rapid progress in the world. 
 Many of the Jews, after the destruction of their 
 country, had tied to Arabia; and the industrious 
 exiles, who aspired to liberty and power, obtained 
 possession of several towns and fortresses, and had 
 armies, and princes to command them. Their 
 number and respectability induced Mahomet at first 
 to treat them with great attention. He ordered his 
 followers when they prayed, to turn towards the 
 temple of Jerusalem ; and adopted many of their 
 opinions and customs, in order to engage them 
 in his interest.* 
 
 The Jews, dazzled by the splendour of his vic- 
 tories, began to regard him as the expected Messiah, 
 and some persons of distinction among them em- 
 braced his religion. However, they were, soon 
 after, much offended at his eating camel's flesh, which 
 is forbidden by the Mosaic law. But the fear of 
 appearing inconstant, or the hope of deriving ad- 
 vantage from the impostor, induced them to aid him 
 * Basnage, p. 566. Gibbon, vol. vi.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 153 
 
 in his design. The Arabian writers assert, that 
 this nation sent twelve of their doctors to assist him 
 in compiling the Koran.* But they afterwards 
 became his inveterate enemies; and their behaviour 
 gave rise to the most implacable hatred on his part. 
 His aversion to this unhappy people continued till 
 the last moment of his life ; and, in " the double 
 character of an apostle and a conqueror, his per- 
 secution extended to both worlds. "f In his Koran, 
 he reproaches them with betraying and murdering 
 the prophets, and styles them, " a people justly 
 cursed of God for their violation of his sabbath and 
 laws ; for their treatment of Jesus Christ, whom he 
 acknowledges to be a great prophet ; and for having 
 filled up the measure of their iniquity by rejecting 
 his own mission. "J 
 
 The Jewish tribe at Kainoka dwelt at Medina 
 under the protection of the city. Mahomet seized 
 the occasion of an accidental tumult, and summoned 
 them to embrace his religion, or contend with him 
 in battle. " Alas!" replied the trembling Jews, 
 tc we are ignorant of the use of arms; but we 
 persevere in the faith and worship of our fathers; 
 why wilt thou reduce us to the necessity of a just 
 defence." But as war was inevitable, Cajah, one 
 of the most distinguished persons of the Jewish 
 nation, who had uniformly opposed all the measures 
 of the impostor, appeared at the head of his country- 
 men. 
 
 In the third year of the Hegira.ll Mahomet be- 
 
 / O ^ II 
 
 * Basnage, p. 566. t Gibbon, vol. -vi. 
 
 J Sale's Koran, vol. i. p. 35. ^ Basnage, p. 568. 
 
 i Hegira, is a term signifying the epocba, used by tbe Arabians
 
 154 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 sieged the Jews in Hegiasa, and having obliged 
 them to surrender at discretion, drove them into 
 exile. Their wealth was confiscated,, and distributed 
 among his followers. After several engagements, 
 in which the impostor was victorious, Cajah attacked 
 him near Kaibar; and though this place was the seat 
 of the Jewish power in Arabia, this miserable people 
 were defeated with great slaughter. Their leader, 
 who with difficulty escaped, being resolved to try 
 the event of another engagement, was again com- 
 pletely routed; and suffered death with that con- 
 stancy which characterizes his nation. After the 
 termination of the unequal conflict, the Jews were 
 compelled to submit to the power of the conqueror, 
 and become tributary. Some time after the death 
 of the impostor, they were transplanted to Syria, 
 he having left it as his dying injunction, that one 
 and the true religion should alone be professed in 
 his native land of Arabia.* 
 
 In the caliphs, who succeeded Mahomet, were 
 united both the temporal and the spiritual power; 
 and their valour, being animated by the violent spirit 
 of fanaticism, was altogether irresistible. Omar, 
 the second caliph, was one of the most rapid con- 
 querors, who ever spread desolation over the face 
 of the earth. During the ten years of his reign, 
 he subdued Arabia, Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, 
 and Egypt. With the Saracens under his command, 
 he invested Jerusalem, and after an obstinate siege, 
 
 and Turks, who begin their computation from the day that Mahomet 
 was compelled to make his escape from the city of Mecca, which took 
 place, July 16, A. D. 622, under the reigu of the emperor Heraclius. 
 * Gibbon, yol. vi.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 155 
 
 which lasted four months, the Christians, having 
 obtained an honourable capitulation, surrendered 
 the city. The conqueror would not allow them to 
 be deprived of their churches. But by his command, 
 the ground where Solomon's temple stood, was pre- 
 pared for the foundation of a mosque, which was 
 the first Mahometan place of worship erected in 
 Jerusalem.* 
 
 When Persia submitted to the victorious Saracens, 
 the Jews, who hoped for a favourable change in 
 their affairs, rejoiced in their success. Isdesgerdi 
 the Third, the last Persian monarch, had, according 
 to their annals, either begun, or carried on a bloody 
 persecution against them ; giving their synagogues 
 to the Magi, and causing their academies to be shut. 
 The rapid conquests of the enemies of their cruel 
 oppressors, who were either Pagans or Christians, 
 and the frequent destruction of the churches of the 
 latter, highly gratified their inclinations. They are 
 even accused of having ingratiated themselves with 
 the Saracens, by instigating them against the Chris- 
 tians. Those enthusiastic conquerors for some time 
 used their prosperity with moderation ; and though 
 the Jews often changed masters by the swift suc- 
 cession of monarchs, they only participated in the 
 
 
 * Basnage, p. 572. Jerusalem was transferred from the possession 
 of the Greek Christians, to the dominion of the Arabian Musselmans, 
 and continued in subjection to the caliphs, about four hundred 
 years. When Omar look the city, the inhabitants were allowed 
 the exercise of their religion; but they were prohibited from 
 building any new churches, either in the metropolis, or the adjacent 
 country; from riding upon saddles, or bearing any kind of arms. 
 They were obliged to dress in a different manner from the Maho- 
 metans, and subjected to pay tribute to their conquerors. Ocfcley'f 
 Saracen's Conquests, p. 258.
 
 156 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 common calamities which attend great revolutions 
 in governments. They highly extol the humanity 
 of the first caliphs, who restored them to the free 
 exercise of their religion ; allowed the princes of the 
 captivity to enjoy great authority, and permitted 
 their academies to be opened, and placed in a 
 flourishing condition.* 
 
 A. D. 606.] A number of the Roman pontiffs 
 have been equally indulgent to the Jewish nation 
 with the first caliphs. In Italy, where this people 
 were numerous in the seventh century, they were 
 treated with moderation and kindness by pope 
 Gregory the Great. Their general conversion was 
 the object of his ardent desires, and earnest endea- 
 vours. In order to effect this benevolent design, he 
 wrote to his receiver in Sicily, to abate those who 
 professed the Christian religion a third part of the 
 revenues they were indebted to him. He also 
 warmly exhorted his clergy and flock to use the Jews 
 with candour and tenderness, alleging, that they 
 were one day to be recalled, and become a large 
 part of Christ's fold ; and that the proper method to 
 conduct them to the unity of the faith, was kind and 
 friendly treatment. te Violence," said he, " will dis- 
 gust those who might be allured by gentleness and 
 charity." He strongly expressed his abhorrence of 
 the persecution they suffered in different countries, 
 and condemned the zeal of some of the bishops 
 against them. He even reprehended the conduct of 
 a converted Jew, who, in order to ingratiate himself 
 with the Christians, set up a cross, and image of the 
 virgin, in a synagogue. Gregory ordered the cross 
 
 * Basil age, p. 573.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 357 
 
 and image to be removed, alleging, that since the 
 laws did not permit the Jews to build new syna- 
 gogues, they ought to be allowed the free enjoyment 
 of those they already possessed.* With the same 
 liberal spirit he condemned the conduct of the bishop 
 of Terracina, who had deprived them of a syna- 
 gogue in his diocese, which was permitted by the 
 laws ; and had expelled them from another place, 
 where they had retired in order to perform their 
 devotional exercises, f 
 
 This pontiff, however, who was frequently con- 
 sulted respecting the domestic affairs of the Jews, 
 disapproved of their purchasing Christian slaves, 
 and revived the laws which had been enacted against 
 this traffic. He also ordered, that all their Jewish 
 domestics, who professed the Christian religion, and 
 received baptism, should obtain their liberty. J 
 
 The cruel treatment which the Jews soon after 
 experienced from Heraclius, the Greek emperor, 
 formed a striking contrast to the clemency of the 
 Roman pontiff. This monarch hated the Hebrew 
 race on account of their religion, and his animosity 
 against them was increased by finding at Tiberias 
 one of the nation so rich as to be able to supply his 
 army and court with provisions. This man, elated 
 with his affluence, molested the Christians with trou- 
 blesome law suits, and malicious prosecutions. But, 
 being sensible that he had exposed himself to the 
 resentment of the emperor, he endeavoured to elude 
 
 * It appears that the former edicts of the emperor Theodosius 
 were still in force against the Jews, notwithstanding the clemency of 
 pope Gregory towards this people* Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. 
 p. 220. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 579. * Ibid.
 
 158 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 his vengeance by professing the Christian religion. 
 This expedient, however, did not lessen the mo- 
 narch's aversion to the Jewish nation.* 
 
 Heraclius was still more exasperated against the 
 Jews, when, upon his consulting the diviners con- 
 cerning the fate of the empire, he received for 
 answer, that a circumcised nation would prove its 
 ruin. Considering how powerful and numerous the 
 Hebrews were in most parts of his dominions, and 
 that they still cherished the hope of being restored 
 to their native country, he believed them to be 
 the people intended by the prediction. The great 
 and frequent efforts they had made to recover their 
 liberty, and their cruel and sanguinary proceedings 
 against the Christians at different times, and in 
 various places, confirmed him in this belief; and 
 induced him to persecute them with the utmost seve- 
 rity. He banished them from Jerusalem, to which 
 they had once more gained access ;f and issued an 
 edict, prohibiting them from approaching within 
 three miles of the city. The emperor was not 
 satisfied with persecuting this unhappy people in his 
 own dominions ; but instigated other monarchs to 
 follow his example. J The calamities which they 
 suffered in Spain, Gaul, and other kingdoms, will be 
 related in the following chapter. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 580. According to the account of Mosheim, " the 
 emperor Heraclius, being incensed against this miserable people, by 
 the insinuations of the Christian doctors, persecuted them in a most 
 cruel manner, and ordered multitudes of them to be inhumanly dragged 
 into the Christian churches, in order to be baptized, by violence and 
 compulsion." Mosheims Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii- p. 152. 
 
 t Previous to the conquest of Jerusalem by the Saracens, which 
 has been mentioned in the preceding part of this chapter. 
 
 J Basnage, p. 58 1 .
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 159 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Jews in Spain are cruelly persecuted by Sisebut, the Gothic king 
 of that country. Decrees of the councils of Toledo. Frequent 
 apostasy of the Jewish converts. The archbishop of Toledo writes 
 in order to convert them. They form a conspiracy against the 
 Spanish government. Severe laws are enacted against them. Of 
 the Jews in Gaul. They are expelled by king Dagobert, and by 
 Wamba, king of the Goths. They found an academy in Lunel. 
 
 THE Jews, who were transplanted to Spain by 
 the policy of Adrian, had become numerous in that 
 kingdom, and acquired wealth by their dexterity in 
 trade. Their affluence excited the avarice of their 
 masters ; and, as they had lost the use of arms, they 
 might be oppressed with impunity. The emperor 
 Heraclius, who had been engaged in war with 
 Sisebut., the Spanish monarch, made it one of the 
 principal articles of the peace, that the king should 
 compel them to receive baptism, or abandon the 
 kingdom. The religious bigotry of Sisebut induced 
 him readily to accede to this article ; and without 
 consulting any of his bishops, and even contrary to 
 their remonstrances, he imprisoned the most distin- 
 guished personages among this unhappy people.* 
 
 After having remained some time in confinement, 
 large numbers of Jews, in order to preserve their 
 wealth and lives, consented to be baptized. The 
 estates of the more obstinate were confiscated, and 
 their bodies tortured. Some found means to retire 
 into Gaul, where similar miseries awaited them. 
 They assert, however, that during the life of 
 Sisebut, they were not even allowed the privilege of 
 
 * Mariana's History of Spain.
 
 160 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 preferring their religion to their country, and endea- 
 vouring to escape by a voluntary exile from the evils 
 they endured.* 
 
 A. D. 633.] The conduct of the king was 
 highly censured by Isidore, bishop of Seville, and 
 condemned by the clergy in Spain. In the fourth 
 council of Toledo, f in which Isidore presided, it 
 was declared unchristian and unlawful to use com- 
 pulsory measures in religion. The reasons assigned 
 were, that God hardens, and has compassion on 
 whom he pleases ; and that none can be saved with- 
 out their own free consent. This council, however, 
 ordained, that those whom persecution had induced 
 to receive baptism, should be compelled, for the 
 honour of the church, to persevere in conforming 
 to the external rites of the Christian religion. This 
 decree, which derogates from the liberal spirit exhi- 
 bited in the former, was enacted, because the 
 pretended converts relapsed into Judaism, whenever 
 the immediate influence of terror was withdrawn.]; 
 
 A. D. 638.] Chintila, who succeeded Sisenand, 
 treated the Jews with the greatest rigour ; and 
 appeared to be totally regardless of the sacred rights 
 of conscience. The decree of this monarch, which 
 commanded all his subjects to profess the Christian 
 faith, was the signal of persecution and exile ; and 
 an edict was passed for their total expulsion. It 
 
 * Basnage, p. 581. History of Spain. 
 
 f This council was assembled by Sisenand, who having dethroned 
 the son of Sisebut, endeavoured to reconcile the minds of the people 
 to his government, by prevailing upon the clergy to give a religious 
 sanction to his proceedings. The council conformed to his views, and 
 instructed the Goths to unite under his government. Basnage, p. 581. 
 
 | Basnage, p. 5S2. History of Spain.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 161 
 
 appears probable, that the usurious advantage, which 
 they might derive from their wealth, augmented the 
 public hatred against them. Yet the Goths were 
 unwilling to deprive themselves of industrious men 
 over whom they might exercise lucrative oppression ; 
 and the Jews continued in Spain under the weight 
 of the civil and ecclesiastical laws.* 
 
 In order to engage the Spanish clergy to forward 
 his views, Chintila convened the fifth council of 
 Toledo. This assembly passed several decrees in 
 his favour, which the king caused to be confirmed 
 by another council, convoked the same year, and 
 at the same place. The divines, who composed 
 this assembly, highly commended his zeal against 
 the Jews ; and blessed God for having given them 
 such a wise and pious prince. They solemnly ra- 
 tified the edict he had enacted for the banishment 
 of this miserable people; and declared, that no 
 prince for the future should ascend the Spanish 
 throne, till he had taken an oath to observe all the 
 laws against them ; and he who violated this sacred 
 engagement was to be anathematized. f 
 
 These severe laws were punctually observed by 
 the succeeding monarchs. The Visigothic kings 
 enacted a law which completely authorized perse- 
 cution; and alleged in their vindication, that "since 
 the violent take the kingdom of heaven by force, 
 men ought to be stimulated to obtain this blessing." 
 
 * Basnage, p. 582. History of Spain. 
 
 + Basnage observes, that the different decrees enacted in this, and 
 the preceding council, were owing to the death of Isidore of Seville. 
 This benevolent prelate, who was a strong advocate for mild treatment, 
 presided in the fourth council of Toledo, but died before the sixth. 
 Basnage, p. 582. 
 
 M
 
 162 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 By this law it was ordained, that every Jew, who 
 refused to receive baptism, should suffer a severe 
 corporal punishment, be exiled from the kingdom, 
 and have all his goods confiscated.* 
 
 A. D. 653.] Multitudes of this persecuted people, 
 intimidated by the gloomy prospects before them, 
 were induced to conform externally to the national 
 faith. But as their conformity was only extorted by 
 terror, many were soon observed to apostatize. To 
 remedy this evil, a new council was convened. The 
 Jews, apprehending that the decrees of the assembly 
 would be the prelude of a violent persecution against 
 them, resolved to shelter themselves from the im- 
 pending calamity. For this purpose, the most dis- 
 tinguished personages of their nation met, and 
 wrote to the king in the name of their brethren 
 in Spain, declaring that, though they had till then 
 dissembled, they were now firmly resolved to become 
 sincere converts, and wholly conform to the laws of 
 the gospel. They 'assured his majesty, that they 
 would no longer observe their sabbath, circumcise 
 their children, or form any connexions by marriage 
 with those who were unbaptized ; and promised to 
 persecute any of their brethren, who should presume 
 to violate these engagements. They even consented., 
 provided their lives might be spared, to be doomed 
 to perpetual slavery, and have all their effects con- 
 fiscated, f 
 
 The ample promises contained in this letter, ren- 
 dered their sincerity more suspected, and their 
 conduct more strictly observed. It was accordingly 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. History of Spain. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 582. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 223.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 163 
 
 discovered, that they still performed the Jewish rites, 
 and even ventured to attack the Christian religion. 
 The king, finding* the difficulty of effecting his 
 purpose by coercive measures, ordered Julian, 
 archbishop of Toledo, to write against them; and 
 this prelate, in 686, published a learned treatise, 
 in which he proves from the prophetic writings, 
 that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. 
 
 The Gothic kings and bishops at length discovered, 
 that injuries would produce hatred, and that hatred 
 would find an opportunity of revenge. The Jews 
 exulted in the victories of the Mahometans, and 
 commenced a dangerous and hostile correspondence 
 with their brethren, who, under the administration 
 of Chintila, had sheltered themselves from perse- 
 cution in Africa. On receiving from them assurance 
 of support, and with the secret hope of more ef- 
 fectual succour from the Saracens, they fixed a day 
 to erect the standard of revolt.* 
 
 Before the appointed time arrived, their pre- 
 parations had alarmed, and their intentions been 
 betrayed to king Egica. This monarch complained 
 of the conspiracy to the council of Toledo, and 
 demanded the assistance and advice of the divines, 
 who composed the assembly. Upon deliberation 
 they resolved, that all the circumcised should be 
 declared perpetual slaves, that their estates should 
 be confiscated, and their children taken from them, 
 and educated in the Christian faith. f 
 
 If from Spain we turn to a neighbouring country, 
 we find the Jews still oppressed and persecuted. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 583. History of Spain. + Basaage. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 As soon as the Romans* were driven out of Gaul, 
 and the Visigoths suppressed, several directions and 
 decrees were made respecting them, and one in 
 particular, under Childebert, [A. D. 540.] who 
 forbade them to appear in the streets of Paris from 
 Tuesday in the holy week to Easter Sunday. The 
 council of Orleans about the same time enacted 
 a similar decree, which renders it evident, that they 
 were dispersed in several parts of France, f They 
 were still more numerous in Languedoc. Ferreol, 
 bishop of Uzes, was expelled from his diocese, for 
 having treated them with too great familiarity and 
 kindness. His motive was, an ardent desire to effect 
 their conversion. After he had continued in exile 
 many years, and the king had restored him to his 
 bishopric, he fell into the other extreme, and ba- 
 nished the Jews.J 
 
 Avitus, bishop of Clermont, was distinguished by 
 his zeal for the conversion of this people, and 
 induced several persons among them to profess their 
 belief in Christianity. One of the new converts 
 entered the city in his white garment, which being 
 observed by a Jew, he threw a pot of oil of very 
 offensive odour upon him. This outrage irritated 
 the Christians to such a degree, that had not the 
 bishop interposed, the otfender would have been 
 
 * Gaul was shared by the Visigoths and Burgundians, when Clovis, 
 king of the Franks, defeated Syagrius, a Roman usurper in that pro- 
 vince, and established a new kingdom, to which he gave the name of 
 France, or the land of freemen. Russell's Modern Europe. 
 
 t The Jews who settled in Gaul at an early period, made but little 
 figure, and are only known by some edicts of Constantino, which 
 mention them in Belgic Gaul. They began to be noticed in the his- 
 tories of the country in the sixth century. 
 
 t Basuage, p. 583.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 165 
 
 immediately put to death. The humanity* of Avitus, 
 however, only delayed the effects of their resentment 
 till the succeeding festival. The people at that time 
 demolished their synagogue, and the Jews were 
 reduced to the alternative of professing Christianity, 
 or being exiled. The greater part of them chose to 
 conform to the established worship, and were bap- 
 tized.* 
 
 King Chilperic, who observed, that the Jews 
 in Paris were numerous and affluent, resolved to use 
 compulsory measures to induce them to abjure their 
 religion. As he led an immoral life he hoped, by his 
 zeal in attempting the conversion of an unbelieving 
 people, to make an atonement for his sins, and 
 secure the favour of heaven. He therefore com- 
 manded, that all who refused to receive baptism, 
 should be punished with the utmost rigour, f 
 
 A. D. 692.] They were treated with still greater 
 severity by king Dagobert, who was notorious for the 
 scandalous irregularity of his conduct. In order to 
 avoid public odium, to ingratiate himsdf with his 
 clergy and people, and gratify the emperor Hera- 
 clius.^; he banished from his kingdom upon pain of 
 death, all the Jews, who refused to profess the 
 Christian religion. Many who had fled from Spain 
 to escape persecution suffered a second exile. But 
 still more of them preferred dissimulation, and con- 
 sented to be baptized. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 584. t Ibid. 
 
 + The emperor Heraclius, who had expelled the Jews from his 
 dominions, and caused them to be banished from Spain, sent ambas- 
 sadors to Dagobert to oblige him to imitate these examples. 
 Basnage, p. 584. 
 
 ^ Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 226.
 
 166 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 A. D. fi'JS.] Wamba, king of the Goths in 
 Languedoc, also exhibited a violent enmity against 
 this people ; and issued an edict which expelled them 
 from his dominions. But he experienced the most 
 determined opposition from the abbot Raymirus, and 
 the court of Toulouse, who united to protect this 
 persecuted race, and opposed the king's edict by 
 force of arms. The king entrusted count Paul, his 
 favourite, with the command of an army, which was 
 destined to act against the rebels. But, instead of 
 suppressing, he united with them, took Narbonne, 
 and caused himself to be crowned king. At length, 
 however, he was defeated, and condemned by 
 Wamba ; and his accomplices, especially the Jews, 
 felt the effects of this monarch's resentment, and 
 were expelled from Ihe kingdom.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the sufferings of the Jewish 
 nation in the seventh century, the academy which 
 they had founded at Lunel, a city in Languedoc, 
 began to flourish. In process of time it acquired 
 great celebrity, and was the place where some of 
 the most learned Jewish rabbies received their 
 education. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 584.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 167 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Of the pretended conversion of the king of Chozar to Judaism. 
 State of the eastern Jews in the eighth and ninth centuries. They 
 are favoured by several of the caliphs, who were attached to literary 
 men. Edict of Iraan Jaaffar against them. Al-Wathek obliges 
 them to pay heavy taxes. Motavel condemns, them to wear a 
 disgraceful badge of distinction. State of the Jews under the 
 Grecian emperors. A false Messiah appears in Spain. Of their 
 state in France. Punishment inflicted upon them by the emperor 
 Charlemagne. They are highly favoured by Lewis, suruamed Debo- 
 nair; but their condition is less agreeable under Charles the Bald. 
 
 THE eighth century is celebrated by Jewish 
 writers for the conversion of Chozar, a Pagan prince, 
 to their belief. According to their accounts, he 
 became dissatisfied with the religion of his people 
 and progenitors ; and conversed on this subject with 
 philosophers, Christians, Mahometans, and Jews. 
 At length, a learned rabbi convinced him, that 
 Judaism was the only true religion, to which all 
 others were but as the shadow to the substance, 
 or the picture to the living original. Chozar there- 
 fore abjured his former tenets, and, after he was 
 initiated in the belief and ceremonies of the Jews, 
 employed himself in converting his subjects. He 
 sent for the most learned men of this nation from all 
 countries to instruct his people ; and from that time 
 the original Jews were held in high estimation. A 
 tabernacle was erected, similar to that of Moses ia 
 the wilderness ; to which they and the Chozrean 
 converts repaired to the Jewish worship. The king 
 became prosperous ; triumphed over his enemies,
 
 168 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and enlarged his dominions by new and considerable 
 ^ conquests. Such is the account of Jewish writers ; 
 but notwithstanding 1 the degree of credit which they 
 have endeavoured to attach to the conversion of 
 Chozar, and of his subjects, the real existence of 
 that prince, and of his kingdom, has always been 
 much disputed.* 
 
 During the eighth., and part of the ninth century, 
 the eastern Jews under the dominion of the caliphs, 
 sustained their share in the calamities which resulted 
 from the civil wars among their conquerors. They, 
 however, enjoyed entire liberty of conscience under 
 the caliph Abdalmelech, and his two successors 
 Alwalid and Solyman. Their academies flourished; 
 and their doctors possessed all their ancient privi- 
 leges. 
 
 In the reign of Zeyd they suffered some oppres- 
 sions, which were caused more from the rapacious- 
 ness of his ministers, than the cruelty of the 
 monarch. But upon the dissolution of the govern- 
 ment of the Ommiades under Mervan, their con- 
 dition was ameliorated by the princes of the dynasty 
 of the Abbassides.f 
 
 A. D. 740.] The caliph Almansor, who was a 
 learned prince, patronised and encouraged literary 
 men, and invited a large number of them to his 
 court, without any regard to their particular reli- 
 gious opinions. Many Jews accepted the invitation 
 of this monarch, and took advantage of his liberality 
 to place their academies in a more flourishing condi- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 587. Modern Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 228. 
 t The fall of the Ommiades, and the establishment of the dynasty 
 of the Abbassides, took place about 750. Gibbon.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 tion than ever. They boast of the many famous 
 men who appeared among their nation at this period ; 
 among whom Rabbi Acha was distinguished for his 
 profound learning, and his voluminous treatise on 
 the precepts of the law, under the tide of Shealtoth, 
 or Questions. About this time rabbi Annanus 
 revived the sect of the Sadducees, which had been 
 almost extinct after the destruction of Jerusalem ; 
 but under him the denomination acquired new vigour, 
 and became formidable to that of the Pharisees.* 
 
 A. D. 760.] The Jews of Arabia and Persia 
 experienced the mortification of having an edict 
 issued against them by Iman Jaaffar, surnamed the 
 Just. Stimulated by zeal for his religion, he or- 
 dained, that those who embraced the Mahometan 
 faith should be sole heirs of the property of the 
 whole family. This decree, which was punctually 
 executed, induced many Jewish, and other children 
 to apostatize in order to obtain estates, to which 
 they were unable to claim any just title. 
 
 Almansor was succeeded by Mohadi, who obliged 
 the Jews either to embrace the Mahometan religion, 
 or wear a disgraceful badge of distinction. In the 
 reign of this prince, Hakem, an impostor, appeared, 
 and by pretended miracles gained many disciples. 
 This man, who is said to have been of Jewish origin, 
 asserted, that the divinity, which in former times 
 appeared in a human shape, now made his abode 
 in him, and that he was the visible image of the 
 
 * Some writers have styled Annanus the founder of the Caraites 
 but according to Basnage, and the authors of the Modern Universil 
 History, this denomination were of much earlier date ; and Annann 
 only revived the ect of the Sadducees.
 
 170 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 most high God. Mohadi sent forces against the 
 impostor, who besieged him in one of his fortresses. 
 Upon which he first poisoned his followers, and then 
 destroyed himself.* 
 
 A. D. 786 ] Aaron, the successor of Mohadi, 
 was distinguished for his love of literature, and 
 encouraged and patronized learned men of all reli- 
 gions, and of every profession. In particular he 
 highly favoured the Jews, who were dispersed in his 
 dominions, and chose one of their nation to send on 
 an embassy to Charlemagne, the emperor of the 
 west. He succeeded in his commission, and enjoyed 
 a distinguished reputation at the court of Aaron. 
 This caliph placed the academies of the eastern 
 Jews in a flourishing condition ; and they enjoyed 
 ^profound tranquillity during his reign. f 
 
 A. D. 831.] Mamoun, the brother of Aaron, 
 was also attached to literature, and caused the most 
 valuable Jewish works to be translated into Arabic. 
 And though this instance of his liberality exasperated 
 his subjects, he continued to distinguish learned men 
 of all nations and religions. Mashalla, a celebrated 
 Jewish astronomer, was so highly esteemed at his 
 court, that he was styled the Phoenix of the age. 
 During the reign of Mamoun, the famous impostor 
 Moses appeared, who pretended that he was the 
 great lawgiver of the Jews, whom God had recently 
 raised from the dead.J 
 
 A. D. 841.] Al-Wathek, instead of imitating 
 the conduct of the most enlightened caliphs who 
 ^receded him, became an implacable enemy to the 
 
 * Basoage, p. 591. Gibbon, vol. vii. p. 189. 
 t Basnage, p. 592. J Ibid. p. 594.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 171 
 
 Jews. He hated this people, because they refused 
 to receive the Koran as an authentic revelation ; and 
 the fraudulent practices of which they had been 
 guilty in the management of the finances, during 
 the reign of his predecessor, increased his enmity 
 against them. During his reign they were loaded 
 with heavy taxes, and obliged to pay large sums into 
 the treasury.* 
 
 A. D. 849.] Motarakei the successor of AI- 
 Wathek, treated the Jews with still greater severity. 
 He compelled them to wear a cord or sash round their 
 waists, as an invidious mark of distinction ; and 
 excluded them from all offices in the Divan, which it 
 appears they had till then enjoyed. He forbade 
 their riding on horses, and only permitted them to 
 use asses or mules with iron stirrups. 
 
 The edicts of this monarch not only extended 
 through his empire, but spread into the neigh- 
 bouring kingdoms ; and these marks of infamy, in 
 a greater or less degree, have subsisted ever since 
 in those countries which are subjected to the Turks ; 
 and also in other parts of Europe under Christian 
 kings. Many of Motarakel's successors treated this 
 degraded people with equal contempt. In the reign 
 of Mahomed, the last of the princes who succeeded 
 him, Achmet, the governor of Egypt, revolted, and 
 formed a new dy nasty. f 
 
 If we turn from the Mahometan to the Christian 
 monarchs, we find the Jews exposed to equal, if not 
 greater, vexations and persecutions. The empire in 
 
 * Basnage, p. 594. 
 
 + Egypt was dismembered from the caliphate about the end of the 
 ninth century.
 
 172 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the west, in the eighth century, was greatly agitated 
 by the civil dissensions between the Iconoclasts and 
 the worshippers of images ; and the Jews were un- 
 justly accused of fomenting these dissensions. Leo 
 Isauricus, the Grecian emperor, commenced his 
 reign with the persecution of this people ; and com- 
 manded them to abjure their tenets, and embrace 
 Christianity under the severest penalties. They 
 saved their lives by dissimulation, and consented to 
 be baptized, and receive the communion ; but at the 
 same time expressed their internal aversion to the 
 religion they had recently professed, by washing 
 themselves in common water, and eating common 
 bread immediately after receiving the sacraments. 
 The patrons of images, notwithstanding the stre- 
 nuous exertions of the emperor, at length prevailed. 
 The Jews, who had pretended obedience to the 
 mandates of Leo, being suspected of insincerity, 
 were obliged to subscribe a new formulary, in which 
 they acknowledged themselves worshippers of the 
 cross, and holy images ; and prayed to God that he 
 would inflict upon them the leprosy of Gehazi, and 
 the fear of Cain, if they did not willingly conform 
 to the established religion.* 
 
 Nicephorus, who succeeded Leo about the com- 
 mencement of the ninth century, protected the Jews, 
 and permitted them to live quietly under his govern- 
 ment. They were still more favoured by his suc- 
 cessor Michael, who tolerated all religions; is said 
 to have imbibed something from each denomination ; 
 and entertained a peculiar regard for the Jews.f 
 
 * Fleury's Ecclesiastical History, vol.v. p. 43. Basnage, p. 569. 
 + Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 239.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 173 
 
 But little is known respecting the situation of this 
 people in Italy and Spain during the eighth and 
 ninth centuries. About the year 724, those who 
 resided in Spain involved themselves in a new cala- 
 mity by listening to the delusive promises of one of 
 their countrymen, named Serenus. This man, taking 
 advantage of the dissensions between France and 
 Spain, proclaimed himself the Messiah, and induced 
 multitudes to follow his standard towards Palestine, 
 where he engaged to establish his empire. The 
 wealth which this infatuated people left behind them 
 was seized by the government. Those, who did 
 not perish by the way, returned to Spain to lament 
 their blind credulity, and the losses they had sus- 
 tained.* 
 
 A. D. 763.] Languedoc, being at this time in 
 the possession of the Visigoths, (as well as part of 
 Spain,f) was infested with frequent incursions of 
 the Arabs. It is said they were in alliance with, 
 and even invited by the Jews, who engaged to assist 
 them in destroying the Christians. They are also 
 accused of requesting the aid of the Saracens to 
 emancipate themselves from the tyranny and oppres- 
 sion of the bishop of Toulouse. These Mahometan 
 invaders, after traversing Narbonne, penetrated as 
 far as Lyons, and laid waste the country with fire 
 and sword. Charlemagne, having afterwards com- 
 pletely defeated the Saracens and retaken Toulouse, 
 resolved to destroy the treacherous Jews, who had 
 encouraged the invasion, and occasioned so much 
 
 * Basnage, p. 597. 
 
 + The Saracens, or Moors, bad invaded Spaio, and rednced a lar?r 
 part of that kingdom.
 
 174 IIISTOIIY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 bloodshed. He was, however, prevailed upon to 
 commute their punishment, and only the principal 
 and most guilty suffered death. The others, who 
 inhabited the city, were condemned to receive a box 
 on the ear thrice a year at the gates of one of the 
 churches, which should be named by the bishop ; 
 and to pay a perpetual fine of thirteen pounds of 
 wax.* 
 
 Charlemagne, however, in some instances, treated 
 the Jews with gentleness and moderation. They 
 boasted of having the liberty of purchasing the 
 sacred utensils and rich furniture of the churches, 
 which the bishops and abbots, induced by luxury 
 and avarice, had exposed to sale. And though this 
 monarch enacted a severe law, prohibiting the clergy 
 from carrying on this scandalous traffick, he did not 
 exact any restitution from those of Hebrew origin, 
 or lay any restrictions upon their commerce. f 
 
 They were highly favoured by Lewis, surnamed 
 Debonair, whose chief physician, named Sedecias, 
 was one of the Jewish nation. This man had 
 acquired such an ascendancy over the monarch, 
 that the courtiers endeavoured to conciliate his 
 and his countrymen's friendship with the richest 
 presents. They had an easy access to the person 
 of their sovereign, who allowed them the liberty of 
 
 * This event, though related by many historians, is disputed by 
 Basnage, who admits only the truth of two facts, viz. that Toulouso 
 was besieged by the Saracens, and that the Jews in the city were ill 
 used and buffetted in the person of their syndic. " This," says he, 
 " was done out of hatred to the Jews, without their being guilty of 
 the imputed crime of betraying the city; and the story of their 
 treachery was invented, in order to authorize the punishment and the 
 infamy." Basnage, p. 598. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 598.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 175 
 
 erecting new synagogues, and granted them other 
 extensive privileges. Such powerful protection ren- 
 dered them haughty and insolent, and excited the 
 jealousy of the Christians. 
 
 Agobard, bishop of Lyons, not only prohibited them 
 from purchasing Christian slaves, but forbade them 
 to observe the sabbath, and carry on any commerce 
 with the Christians during Lent. They complained 
 of these edicts to the king, who sent three commis- 
 saries to Lyons to make inquiries into the bishop's 
 conduct; and, upon their report, the Jews were 
 immediately restored to their ancient privileges. 
 Agobard, being mortified and disappointed, formed 
 new accusations against them ; but they were re- 
 jected at court, as false and groundless.* 
 
 After the bishop found all his attempts frustrated, 
 he resolved to take a journey to court, to solicit 
 Lewis more effectually against the Jews. But the 
 king, surrounded by courtiers who hated the prelate, 
 and were attached to this people,, absolutely resisted 
 all his solicitations, and only granted him an audience 
 when he was about to depart. The protection the 
 outcasts of Israel found at the court of Lewis against 
 one of the most learned bishops of the age, rendered 
 them so popular, that it was said openly at court, 
 that the descendants of Abraham were entitled to 
 respect. Even some Christians observed Saturday 
 for the sabbath, and preferred attending the sermons 
 of the rabbies to those of the curates and monks, 
 who at this time were extremely ignorant. It is 
 even said, that a deacon named Paudo, quitted his 
 office in the church, and went over to the synago^ue.f 
 
 * Basnage, p. 599. Mod. Univ. Hist, vol.xiii. p. 241. t Ibid.
 
 176 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The Jews under Charles the Bald, were less flou- 
 rishing and popular, than they had been during the 
 reign of his predecessor. One of the French bishops, 
 named Remisius, ordered the clergy in his diocese, 
 to preach every Saturday in the synagogues. This 
 induced a number of Jewish parents to send their 
 children to other parts of the kingdom in order to 
 prevent their conversion. Remisius complained of 
 their conduct to the king, and persuaded him to 
 command the bishop of Aries, and other prelates, to 
 follow his example. The consequence was, that 
 many of the Jewish children were voluntarily bap- 
 tized. Soon after Charles was poisoned by Sedecias, 
 the Jewish physician, who was so famous in the 
 preceding reign ; and it was supposed he was in- 
 stigated to commit this crime by his countrymen, 
 who hated the king, because he favoured these 
 conversions. It was, however, discovered, that 
 many of the nobility corrupted Sedecias, and en- 
 gaged him to destroy the life of his sovereign.* 
 The Jews were also accused of favouring the 
 incursions of the Normans, which took place during 
 the reign of Charles ; and of treacherously betraying 
 Bourdeaux and other cities into the hands of these 
 invaders. They were still exposed to the ignomi- 
 nious sentence of being buffetted three times every 
 year at the church door. But this indignity, which 
 originated from a decree of Charlemagne, was not 
 executed on all the Jews, but confined to the syndic, 
 or head magistrate, who received this punishment 
 in the name of the rest. In remote cities they were 
 also liable to many insults from the populace. At 
 
 * Basnage, p. 699. Modern Universal HUtory, vol. xiii. p. 243.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 177 
 
 Beziers, in Languedoc, it was the custom to throw 
 stones upon them from Palm Sunday to the Tuesday 
 in Easter week. This indignity, however, was at 
 length redeemed by a tribute which they paid to the 
 bishop in this place.* 
 
 * Basnage, p. C92. Gregoire, p. 224. 
 
 
 N
 
 178 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Flourishing state of learning among the eastern Jews at the com- 
 mencement of the tenth century. Their tranquillity is interrupted 
 by internal divisions. Of their learned rabbies. The Jews in Egypt 
 are persecuted by the caliph Hakem, who introduces a new reli- 
 gion. They are expelled from the east. Some of the most learned 
 among them pass into Spain, and cultivate literature under the Sa- 
 racens. The Talmud is translated into the Arabic language. They 
 attempt to convert the Mahometans; and are persecuted by the 
 king of Grenada. King Ferdinand I. resolves to destroy them ; 
 but is prevented by the pope and bishops. The revolution caused 
 by the Moors in Africa extricates them from persecution. They 
 are favoured by Alphonso, and his grandson Peter. The Crusaders 
 massacre the Jews. Disputes arise among them respecting the 
 study of the sciences. Of the learned rabbies in Spain and France. 
 
 A. D. 927.] WHILE Christendom was involved 
 V in darkness and ignorance, the Saracens became the 
 / patrons of philosophy in the east. The Jews, under 
 their dominion, imitated their example, and applied 
 to learning with assiduity and success.* New aca- 
 demies were erected in consequence of the rapid 
 increase of professors and pupils ; and those which 
 had subsisted for ages were placed in a flourishing 
 condition, under able preceptors. The Jews boast, 
 that the famous men who appeared among them at 
 this time, were superior to those of any preceding 
 "~age, since their dispersion. f 
 
 Their tranquillity was, however, soon interrupted 
 
 * In the ninth century the Jews began to make themselves ac- 
 quainted with the sciences of the Arabs. In particular tfiey excelled 
 in the study of medicine. From the beginning of the ninth to th 
 end of the thirteenth century, eminent schools of philosophy flourished 
 in the Saracen empire. Enfield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 234. 
 
 t Bainage, p. 601.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 179 
 
 by internal divisions. David, prince of the captivity, 
 a haughty and ambitious man, had, according to 
 the Jewish accounts, found means to deliver his 
 nation from the tribute which till then they were 
 compelled to pay to the caliphs. After having thus 
 augmented his authority, he reigned as absolutely 
 as an eastern monarch. In consequence of his ar- 
 rogant behaviour, frequent altercations took place 
 between him and the heads of the academies,* which 
 produced fatal divisions, and involved the Jews in 
 fresh difficulties. 
 
 A.D. 103?.] The nation at this time were nu- 
 merous and powerful, especially in the city of 
 Pheruty Shiboour. A new academy was founded 
 in this city, at the head of which was the famous 
 rabbi Sherira, under whom it flourished about thirty 
 years. He was a man of great learning, but a vio- 
 lent enemy to the Christians, particularly to the 
 monks; and on that account more highly respected 
 by his brethren. When arrived at an advanced age, 
 he was succeeded by his son Hay,f who obtained 
 such a distinguished reputation, that the Jews re- 
 sorted from all parts to attend his instructions; and 
 
 * The power of the heads of the academies was almost equal to 
 that of the princes. For the latter could not enact any laws except 
 they were sanctioned by the former. These chiefs have had frequent 
 insurrections against each other. The princes of the captivity and 
 heads of the academies were both elected by a majority of votes ; 
 and sometimes both these dignities were vested in the same person. 
 Basnage, p. 602. 
 
 t The Jews pretend that he was lineally descended from king David; 
 hence he bore the lion on his arms, as did all the kings of Judah, 
 agreeably to Jacob's prophecy concerning that tribe. But he acquired 
 still greater celebrity by various writing*, particularly the famous 
 cabbalistical work, styled, " The voice of God in power." Modern 
 Univertal Hittory, vol. xiii. p. 247.
 
 180 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 styled him, " the most excellent of all the excellent." 
 He was placed at the head of two academies, and 
 elected prince of the captivity. He died in 1037, 
 aged sixty-nine years.* 
 
 The Jews, in the reign of the caliph Hakem, 
 suffered persecution for a short time in Egypt. The 
 object of this monarch was to abolish Islamism, and 
 establish a new religion, of which he should be the 
 head.f The large number of Pagans, who acceded 
 to his novel dogmas and pretensions, flattered his 
 vanity, and induced him to persecute the Christians 
 and Jews, who opposed and contemned his doctrines. 
 He obliged the latter to wear a disgraceful mark of 
 distinction ; commanded their synagogues to be shut ; 
 and compelled them to embrace his tenets. But 
 he soon changed his opinions, and permitted them 
 to return to their former religion. 
 
 A. D. 1039.] The caliphs of the house of the 
 Abbassides, who had always favoured the Jews, 
 having lost their authority, the sultan Gela Doullat, 
 who reigned by the name of Cajem, resolved to 
 extirpate this unhappy people. For this purpose he 
 shut up their academies ; banished their professors ; 
 and killed the prince of the captivity, with his family. 
 This persecution dispersed some of the nation into 
 the deserts of Arabia, while others sought an asylum 
 in the west. From the period in which the Jews 
 were expelled from the east, most authors date the 
 total extinction of the princes of the captivity ; but, 
 
 * Basnage, p. 602. 
 
 t He blended the religion of the Druses, with other tenets, which 
 he pretended to receive from the deity. Basnage, p. 605. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 605.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 181 
 
 if we may believe the Jewish travellers, Benjamin 
 de Tudela and rabbi Petachiah, who visited their 
 brethren in the twelfth century, they still found one 
 of these chiefs among the Israelites in Persia, who 
 boasted that he was lineally descended from the 
 prophet Samuel. If this account is true, it proves 
 that these princes were not all of the lineage of 
 David, as the Jews pretend. It is evident, however, 
 that they were seldom seen after the eleventh cen- 
 tury ; and preserved only an empty name without 
 authority.* 
 
 When the Jews were expelled from the east, 
 multitudes of the nation passed into Africa, and 
 from thence joined their brethren in Spain, who 
 were favoured by the caliphs. They had assisted 
 the Saracens in the conquest of this kingdom ; and 
 gratitude, as well as policy, induced the victors to 
 reward those to whose open or secret aid they were 
 so much indebted. An intimate connexion, there- 
 fore, took place between the disciples of Moses and 
 those of Mahomet, which was cemented by their 
 reciprocal hatred of the Christians ; and subsisted 
 till their common expulsion. f 
 
 Some of the most learned men among the Jews, 
 after their banishment from the east, found an asy- 
 lum in Spain, and were patronized by the Saracen 
 monarchs. This period, therefore, was one of the 
 most brilliant epochas of Jewish literature from the 
 time of the destruction of Jerusalem. Even in the 
 darkest ages of their history they cultivated their 
 language with assiduity, and were never destitute of 
 grammarians, or subtle interpreters of the scripture. 
 * Basnage, p. COS. + History of Spain.
 
 182 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 But, generally speaking, it was only during their 
 union with the Saracens in Spain,* or in the flou- 
 rishing ages of the caliphs of Bagdat, that they 
 ventured into general literature, and used in their 
 writings a foreign, and consequently (in their view) 
 a profane language.f 
 
 While the attention of the Christians and Ma- 
 hometans in Spain was occupied by (heir mutual 
 hostilities, the Jews enjoyed an interval of tranquil- 
 lity. Their academies were in a flourishing state 
 under the Saracen monarchs ; and they became 
 numerous and affluent. During this prosperous 
 era many learned doctors appeared among them, 
 whose erudition has been celebrated by Jewish 
 writers. fThe Talmud, however, was so little 
 known in Spain, that they were obliged to send 
 deputies to the Babylonian academies, to decide the 
 disputes which arose among them. Even the prayers 
 which they offered up on the grand expiation day, 
 and other national fasts, were composed by one of 
 the Babylonish rabbies.jj Hasheym II. the Saracen 
 monarch of Cordova, Who was a friend and patron 
 \ to the Israelites, commanded this celebrated work to 
 be translated into the Arabic language, in order 
 either to gratify his curiosity, or prevent their 
 frequent excursions to Bagdat, or Jerusalem, from 
 which it is said he apprehended fatal conse- 
 quences. J 
 
 The wars in Spain, which raged with violence 
 during the eleventh century, and the revolutions to 
 
 * The Saracens subdued Spain in the eighth century, 
 t Butler's Horae Biblicse. + Basnage, p. 606. 
 
 ^ About the beginning of the eleventh century, Toledo, Valentia,
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 which they gave rise, were in their commencement 
 beneficial to the Jews. Rabbi Samuel Levi, being 
 secretary and prime minister to the king of Grenada, 
 was by him appointed chief of their nation, and 
 exerted himself to the utmost to promote their 
 interest and honour. For this purpose he sent for 
 some of the most learned Jewish rabbies from 
 Babylon and Egypt, to whom he was a liberal bene- 
 factor. His countrymen had the satisfaction of 
 seeing his son succeed him in all his dignities. 
 [A. D. 1055.] Their joy, however, was damped 
 by his arrogant behaviour, which was very different 
 from that of his father, who in the zenith of his 
 prosperity was distinguished for humility and 
 moderation.* 
 
 The interval of tranquillity which the Jews en- 
 joyed, was, about the middle of the eleventh century, 
 disturbed by an unfortunate event. Joseph Hallevi, 
 a learned and zealous rabbi, assisted by the Arabic 
 version of the Talmud, endeavoured to convert the 
 Mahometans to the Jewish faith. The king of Gre- 
 nada, highly exasperated at this attempt against the 
 established religion, caused the principal offender to 
 be apprehended and executed. A violent persecution 
 of his nation immediately followed, and one hundred 
 thousand families experienced its destructive effects. 
 The severity of this monarch was more sensibly felt 
 after a series of prosperity, which had rendered 
 them affluent and powerful. They were appre- 
 hensive that the other sovereigns would follow his 
 
 Seville, and almost all the great cities in Spain, had their independent 
 kingdoms. RtuseFs Modern Europe, vol. i. p. ISO. 
 * Basnage, p. 607.
 
 184 HISTOEY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 example. But the persecution was quickly sup- 
 pressed, and did not extend beyond the kingdom of 
 Grenada.* 
 
 The Jews were exposed to suffer still more severe 
 and cruel treatment under king Ferdinand. This 
 monarch, having declared war against the Saracens, 
 resolved to consecrate his enterprise by previously 
 / extirpating all the Israelites in his kingdom. But 
 the Spanish prelates openly condemned and opposed 
 this measure ; and pope Alexander II. wrote a letter 
 to them, in which he highly commended their 
 opposition to Ferdinand's bloody design ; severely 
 reproved this monarch for his furious and unchristian 
 zeal ; and reminded him of the example of pope 
 Gregory the Great, who had strenuously opposed 
 similar persecution, and the demolishing of the 
 synagogues. The united remonstrances of the pope 
 and bishops delivered the Jews from the impending 
 
 evil.f 
 
 A. D. 1080.] The revolution, caused by the 
 Moors in Africa, more effectually extricated them at 
 this period from persecution. Alphonso, the suc- 
 cessor of Ferdinand, being extremely distressed by 
 the increasing power of the Saracens, found himself 
 obliged to befriend and caress the Jews, in order to 
 obtain from them personal and pecuniary assistance. 
 Accordingly he promoted them to great and lucrative 
 offices ; and even allowed them to be judges over 
 the Christians. Pope Gregory highly disapproved 
 of this last instance of the king's indulgence ; and 
 upbraided him with having exalted the synagogue 
 of Satan above the church of Christ." The reinon- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 607. + Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 185 
 
 strances of the Roman pontiff could not induce the 
 monarch to diminish those privileges, which he had 
 granted merely from interested motives.* 
 
 A. D, 1096.] Peter I. the grandson of Alphonso, 
 was equally regardless of the remonstrances of 
 Nicolas de Valeutia, who endeavoured to prejudice 
 the king against the Jews, by painting in strong 
 colours their hatred to the Christians ; and assuring 
 him, that they were his most dangerous and inve- 
 terate enemies. But this monarch was averse to 
 persecution ; and maintained that violence would 
 have no lasting, or beneficial effect. The moderation 
 of Peter could not, however, preserve this 'unhappy 
 people in several other parts of Spain from the fury 
 of the crusaders, f who massacred vast numbers of 
 
 * Basnage, p. 607. 
 
 t The crusades, or expeditions to recover the holy land from the 
 hands of the Mahometans, commenced about the year 1095. The 
 foundation of these expeditions was a superstitious veneration for those 
 places where our Saviour performed his miracles, and finished the 
 work of redemption. Peter the Hermit, a native of Amiens in 
 Picardy, had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and being deeply 
 affected with the dangers to which the pilgrims were exposed, as well 
 as Ihe oppressions which the eastern Christians endured, formed the 
 bold design of leading into Asia, from the furthest extremities of the 
 west, armies sufficient to subdue that warlike nation, which then pos- 
 sessed the holy land. This fanatical monk ran from province to 
 province, with a crucifix, exciting princes and people to the holy war; 
 and wherever he came kindled the same enthusiastic ardour with 
 which he himself was animated. People of all ranks caught the 
 contagion ; not only the gallant nobles of the age with their martial 
 followers, but men in the more humble and pacific stations in life ; 
 ecclesiastics of every order, and even women and children engaged 
 with emulation in an undertaking which was deemed sacred and meri- 
 torious. If we may believe the concurring testimony of contemporary 
 authors, six millions of persons assumed the cross, which was the 
 badge that distinguished such as devoted themselves to this holy 
 warfare. Nor did the fumes of this enthusiastic zeal evaporate at
 
 186 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 , them. Under the idea of procuring a blessing on 
 their expedition, they destroyed the descendants of 
 those, who crucified our Saviour.* 
 
 Notwithstanding all the persecutions the Jews 
 suffered in Spain during the eleventh century, many 
 rabbles appeared, who were distinguished for ability 
 and learning. Samuel Cophni, a native of Cordova, 
 published a commentary on the Pentateuch, the ma- 
 nuscript of which is still extant in the Vatican library. 
 Soon after him flourished the five Isaacs at nearly 
 the same period; one of whom, called Isaac Alphesi, 
 came from Africa to Spain. He was esteemed the 
 most learned man of his age ; and was chosen chief 
 of the captivity in this kingdom. The second of 
 the Isaacs was the son of Baruch, who derived his 
 origin from the ancient Baruch, and pretended, that 
 his family came to Spain as early as the reign of 
 Titus, and had subsisted there till this time. He 
 understood Latin, Greek, and Arabic ; and was so 
 profoundly versed in mathematics, that the king of 
 Grenada, who was a passionate admirer of this 
 science, sent for him to court in order to receive his 
 instructions. This monarch treated him with such 
 flattering distinction, that he continued to reside at 
 his court till his death, which took place 1007. The 
 other three Isaacs were also men of distinguished 
 ability and learn ing. f 
 
 once ; the phrensy was as lasting as it was extravagant Daring two 
 centuries Europe seems to have bad no object but to recover, or keep 
 possession of the holy land; and during this period vast armies conti- 
 nued to march to Palestine. Robertton't History of Charlet P. 
 vol. i. p. 22. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 608. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 609. Modern Uaiver. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 256.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 187 
 
 The number of famous rabbies, who appeared in 
 Spain during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, 
 gave rise to disputes respecting the utility of stu- 
 dying the sciences. Those who had acquired a taste 
 for literature ardently wished to make farther im- 
 provements. According to Enfield,* " the attention, 
 which was paid to the writings of Aristotle,f both 
 by Arabians and Christians, excited the emulation of 
 the Jews, who addicted themselves to the study of 
 the Peripatetic philosophy. This innovation, so 
 inconsistent with the reverence which they professed 
 to entertain for the law and traditions of their fathers, 
 was exceedingly displeasing to the zealous advocates 
 for Talmudic learning, who easily perceived, that as 
 the one gained ground, the other would decline." 
 The ancient curse denounced upon the Jew who 
 should instruct his son in Grecian learning was 
 revived. But rabbi Solomon-ben-Abraham, who 
 taught at Barcelona, mitigated the severity of this 
 decree, which he had not sufficient courage to abolish ; 
 and pronounced an anathema and sentence of 
 excommunication against all, who began to study 
 Greek before they were twenty years old. Rabbi 
 Mar, however, restored the Jewish students to the 
 entire liberty of learning the languages, as well as 
 the arts and sciences. J 
 
 In Prance, during the tenth and eleventh cen- 
 
 * Enfield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 204. -, 
 
 t To facilitate the study of Aristotle among the Jews, his writings 
 were translated from the Arabic to the Hebrew tongue- Several other 
 ancient works, particularly the Elements of Euclid, and the medical 
 writings of the Greeks, towards the close of the thirteenth century, 
 appeared in a Hebrew dress. 
 
 i Basnage, p. 610.
 
 188 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 turies, only a few rabbies appeared, who were dis- 
 tinguished for ability and learning^ The most cele- 
 brated among them was rabbi Gersion, who flourished 
 in the eleventh century. Some suppose he was a 
 native of Germany ; however, he published his 
 book of constitutions in this kingdom. Though 
 a long time elapsed before this work met with the 
 approbation of the other Jewish doctors ; yet it 
 was received as a code of excellent laws about the 
 year 1204, and its author dignified with the title of 
 the " Light of the French Captivity."* 
 
 Jacob, the son of Jekar, one of Gersion's pupils, 
 was a great musician and casuist; and the succeeding 
 Jewish doctors followed his decisions with implicit 
 reverence. Rabbi Judah, another of his disciples, 
 also held a distinguished rank among the learned men 
 of his nation. He composed a treatise on the rights 
 of women ; and a work on the Jewish calculations of 
 time. According to his account their first epocha 
 was from their departure from Egypt ; they began 
 another date from the period in which they were first 
 governed by kings ; and a third from the time 
 Alexander the Great first entered Jerusalem, which 
 was observed till the tenth century, during which 
 period rabbi Sherira flourished, and obliged his 
 nation to date from the creation of the world. He 
 also published a number of sermons. Another of 
 Gersion's pupils, rabbi Moses Hardarsian, or the 
 preacher, acquired a distinguished reputation. He, 
 and rabbi Judah, introduced the custom of preaching 
 in the synagogues, which had been much neglected. 
 The former was the author of a commentary on 
 
 * Basnage, p. 610.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 J89 
 
 Genesis, which has often been quoted by Christians 
 against the Jews.* 
 
 Joseph-Ben-Gorian, known to his nation by the 
 name of Josippon, is supposed, by Basnage and 
 others, to have been a French rabbi of the eleventh 
 century. He endeavoured in his History of the 
 Jews, written in Hebrew, to pass for the famous 
 historian Josephus, and has succeeded with his 
 nation. f But the most learned Christian writers 
 reject this performance as spurious, on account of 
 the many interpolations, modern names, and con- 
 tradictions, which are found in this history. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 609. 
 
 t Priestley's Letters to the Jews, p. 4. David Levi asserts, that 
 the work called Josephoen Ben Gorian was written bj Josephus to the 
 Jews in Hebrew; and that the other history, to which his name is 
 prefixed, was written to the Romans in Greek. Lev?* Letters to 
 Priestley, p. 67.
 
 190 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 Of the Jews in Hungary during the eleventh century. Persecution of 
 this people in Germany and Bohemia. The Crusaders massacre 
 vast multitudes of them in their march through the cities of Ger- 
 many to the Holy Land. They arrive at Jerusalem, besiege and 
 take the city, and put all the Jews to death. Of the second crusade. 
 The Jews are massacred in most parts of Europe. 
 
 A.D. 1092.] DURING the latter part of the 
 eleventh century, St. Ladislaus, king of Hungary, 
 convened a synod, which prohibited the Jews from 
 marrying Christian women, or purchasing slaves 
 who had embraced this religion. Colo man, his son 
 and successor, also forbade their making use of 
 Christian slaves ; but he permitted them to buy and 
 cultivate lands within the jurisdiction of a bishop. 
 These laws clearly demonstrate, that they were 
 numerous and powerful in this kingdom.* 
 
 The number and power of the Jews had also 
 become great in Germany ; and they had erected 
 superb synagogues in most of the principal cities, 
 particularly at Treves, Cologne, Metz and Francfort. 
 They had passed from Franconia into Bohemia ; and 
 having in the eleventh century assisted the Christians 
 against the irruptions of the barbarians, were 
 allowed the privilege of a synagogue. They suf- 
 fered indeed severe persecutions in several parts of 
 these kingdoms ; and the fanaticism of the populace 
 frequently exposed them to destruction. A priest 
 named Gotescal, at the head of fifteen thousand ban- 
 ditti, declared war against them ; and being sup- 
 ported and encouraged by several monarchs, passed 
 
 * Basnage, p. 616.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 191 
 
 into Hungary, and committed the most horrid out- 
 rages upon this unhappy people. But at length it 
 being discovered, that he pillaged the Christians as 
 well as the Jews, he was surprised and slain with 
 the greatest part of his army. 
 
 Not long after, the landgrave of Lininghen 
 declared himself the persecutor of the Jews, and 
 committed several acts of violence against them. But 
 on his attempting to penetrate into Hungary, he 
 was surprised and defeated. The emperor Henry IV. 
 exerted himself in defence of this oppressed people ; 
 and ordered them to be reinstated in their abodes 
 and property. This occasioned fresh complaints 
 against them : and they were accused of having 
 exaggerated their losses, in order to enrich them- 
 selves by a more plentiful restitution.* 
 
 A. D. 1096.] Soon after, the Crusaders in- 
 volved them in the most terrible calamities they had 
 ever experienced since the reign of Adrian. These 
 expeditions awakened all the rage of their enemies 
 against them ; and ' ' their population seemed to have 
 increased only to furnish new victims." The cham- 
 pions of the cross, in their march through Germany 
 to the holy land, massacred all who refused to profess 
 the Christian religion. Fifteen hundred were burnt 
 at Strasburgh, thirteen hundred at Mayence ; and 
 the flames being communicated to the city, it was in 
 great danger of being reduced to ashes. -j- This 
 massacre was continued from the month of April till 
 July. According to the JewishJ historians, five 
 
 * Basuage, p. 616. 
 
 t Grcgoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 5. 
 
 t A. modern Jewish author has thus described the miseries his
 
 192 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 thousand of their nation were either slaughtered or 
 drowned ; and the number of those, who preserved 
 their lives by dissimulation, was much more consi- 
 derable. They were so far from exaggerating, that 
 the Christian writers make the amount of those who 
 were destroyed vastly greater. The Batavian an- 
 nalists assert, that upwards of twelve thousand were 
 slain in their country ; and all agree, that the 
 number of those who perished in other parts of 
 Germany* was almost incredible. Many, in the 
 phrensy of despair, put a period to their own lives. 
 Even some women at Treves, seeing the Crusaders 
 approaching, killed their children, telling them, 
 te that it was much better to send them into Abraham's 
 bosom, than to abandon them to the Christian's." 
 Some of the men barricaded their houses, and preci- 
 pitating- themselves, their families, and wealth into 
 
 nation endured from the fury of the Crusaders : " When from his soli- 
 tar; retreat an enthusiastic hermit preached the crusades to the 
 nations of Europe, and a part of its inhabitants left their country to 
 moisten with their blood the plains of Palestine, the knell of promis- 
 cuous massacre tolled before the alarm-bell of war. Millions of Jews 
 were then murdered to glut the pious rage of the Crusaders. It was 
 hy tearing the entrails of their brethren that these warriors sought to 
 deserve the protection of Heaven. Skulls of men and bleeding hearts 
 were offered as holocausts on the altars of that God who has no 
 pleasure even in the blood of the innocent lamb; and ministers 
 of peace were thrown into a holy enthusiasm by these bloody 
 sacrifices. It is thus that Basil, Treves, Coblentz, and Cologne, 
 became human shambles." Appeal to the Justice of Kings and 
 Nations, by 31. Michael Berr. 
 
 * Metz is, perhaps, the only city in Germany where the Crusaders 
 did not imbrue their hands in the blood of the Jews. Lewis the 
 Young, on his departure for Palestine, assembled his army in this 
 place; and yet it is not said, that the Jews received any insult. The 
 silence of history in this respect amounts to a positive proof, if we 
 consider, that Metz theo had historians. Gregoire, p. 242.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 193 
 
 the rivers, or the flames, disappointed the malice, or 
 at least the avarice, of their implacable enemies. 
 Others, who were less obstinate, fled for refuge to 
 the palace of Egibert the bishop. This prelate 
 preached to them a sermon, by which they pretended 
 to be converted. But as soon as the influence of 
 terror was withdrawn, all except one resumed their 
 former religion. 
 
 During this period of darkness and fanaticism, 
 while the public outcry denounced vengeance against 
 an unbelieving race, it must gratify every benevolent 
 heart to catch a feeble voice in history whispering 
 consolation to tbejjufferers in Israel. Our pleasure 
 is increased when we discover this humanity among 
 the clergy, who have been often accused of insti- 
 gating the persecutions against them. > At Mayence 
 and Spires we find prelates sheltering them from the 
 fury of the Crusaders, receiving the fugitives to 
 their houses, and even causing some of their perse- 
 cutors to be executed. The bishop of Spires, in 
 particular, has been celebrated for his active inter- 
 ference in their behalf.* 
 
 A. D. 1099.] After murdering the Jews in the 
 cities through which they passed, the champions of 
 the cross advanced in order to invest Jerusalem, 
 which they regarded as the consummation of all 
 their labours. They took the cityf by assault, after 
 
 * Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 5, 6. 
 
 t This great event took place on the fifth of July, in the last year 
 of the eleventh century. The Christian princes and nobles, after 
 choosing Godfrey of Bouillon king of Jerusalem, began to settle 
 themselves in their newly conquered countries. Some of them, how- 
 ever, returned to Europe, in order to enjoy at home the glory which 
 
 O
 
 194 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 a siege of five weeks ; and impelled by a mixture of 
 military and religious rage, destroyed the inhabitants 
 without distinction of sex or age. Their fury rose 
 to such a height, that all the Jews, being the suc- 
 cessors of those who had crucified our Saviour, were 
 most inhumanly put to death.* 
 
 A. D. 1147.] The persecutions which the Jews 
 suffered from the Crusaders were not terminated after 
 the conquest of Jerusalem. Other expeditions were 
 undertaken in order to secure to the Christians the 
 possession of the holy land, to enlarge their con- 
 quests, and to recover the city after it was retaken 
 by the Mahometans. f The second crusade was 
 promoted by the exhortations of St. Bernard, and 
 supported by the emperor Conrad, and the French 
 king Lewis VII. The hermit Rodolphus, who was 
 commissioned to proclaim the holy war along the 
 banks of the Rhine, earnestly inculcated upon the 
 German princes the necessity of exterminating the 
 enemies of Christ within their own territories. 
 Other preachers followed his example ; and the 
 Jews, seized with consternation, retired to Nurem- 
 burg, and other cities, in which the emperor kindly 
 received and protected them. Many of the Chris- 
 tian bishops highly condemned the hermit's perse- 
 cuting doctrine. St. Bernard in particular severely 
 
 they had acquired by this popular enterprize. Hume's History of 
 England, vol. i. p. 232. 
 
 * Guthrie's History of the World, vol. vii. p. 66. Gibbon, 
 rol. zi. p. 65. 
 
 i From the time that Jerusalem was taken by the western Chris- 
 tians, that is, from July 5, 1099, to the end of the year 1162, the 
 city was governed by five Latin kings, and the church by eight patri- 
 archs. Jfarilie'i Travels
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 195 
 
 censured it ; and, in a letter to the archbishop of 
 MetZj advised to have the fiery zealot banished to 
 his solitude. Not contented, however, with writing 
 pathetic letters upon the subject, he repaired to 
 Germany, where he afforded an efficacious protection 
 to the Jews by the influence he derived from his 
 talents, learning, and virtues.* 
 
 The persecution kindled by the Crusaders was not 
 confined to Germany, but extended through the 
 greatest part of Europe. The public outcry was, 
 " Let us exterminate the descendants of those, who 
 crucified Jesus Christ ; and let the name of Israel 
 be no more remembered." But though vast multi- 
 tudes fell a sacrifice to the bigotry of the princes and 
 people, a still greater number, driven to despair by 
 the miseries they suffered, perished by suicide, f 
 
 While our attention is engaged, and our feelings 
 agitated in reviewing the terrible calamities which 
 the Jews were compelled to endure, we may be led 
 to inquire, What are the causes of the reciprocal 
 hatred which has subsisted between them and other 
 nations ? A celebrated author, who has deeply 
 interested himself to ameliorate the condition of this 
 persecuted nation, has given the following answer 
 to this query. 
 
 " The resistance of the Jews in their last war 
 against the Romans greatly incensed the latter, who 
 took every opportunity of inspiring all the people of 
 the empire with their prejudices. The Jews, driven 
 from their country, but continually elevated by the 
 imposture of false Messiahs, who added fuel to their 
 fanaticism, could not tamely submit to a foreign 
 
 * Basnage, p. 617. Gregoire, p. 6. t Basnage, p. 616. 
 
 02
 
 196 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 yoke ; and they preserved, even to the seventh 
 century, a spirit of sedition, which excited hatred 
 against them. 
 
 <f Besides, people pardon each other least for 
 thinking differently in respect to religion ; and if 
 there be any religion capable of offending the vanity 
 of those, who are not followers of it, without doubt 
 it is that of the Jews. Its divine author gave it this 
 spirit with a view to raise a barrier between his 
 people and the corruption of those idolatrous nations, 
 by whom they were surrounded. Judaism is an 
 exclusive worship ; and though it imposes the obli- 
 gation of universal philanthropy, its singularity 
 tends to make other men be considered as odious and 
 profane. As it professes that there is only one God, 
 the Gentiles revolted against a dogma which sapped 
 the very foundation of Paganism ; besides they 
 never spoke of circumcision, the most ancient of all 
 rites, but with a smile of derision ; and the passage 
 from ridicule to contempt is immediate. It is a prin- 
 ciple in morals, that people do not hate what they 
 despise : but the misfortunes of the Jews have ren- 
 dered them an exception. Contempt consigned them 
 to disgrace, and fury to torture. The Christians, 
 beholding in them the authors of a Deicide, some- 
 times forgot the example of their Founder, who, 
 jwhen upon the cross, implored forgiveness for his 
 executioners. Mahomet at first shewed a great 
 respect for the Jews ; but this sentiment soon gave 
 place to fury. His Koran was filled with violent 
 declamation against men, enemies to his doctrine ; 
 and the Mussulmans, who argued with the sabre, 
 included the Jews in the proscription of all religions
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 197 
 
 different from Islam ism. Length of time gave 
 strength to this animosity, which became hereditary, 
 because fathers took care to inspire it into their 
 children. Soon after, it was supposed that the Jews, 
 irritated, but too weak to oppose striking vengeance 
 to barbarous oppression, privately occasioned public 
 misfortunes ; and the vulgar adopting this idea 
 without examination, massacred them in the most 
 brutal manner. The Jews, forced to follow usu- 
 rious practices, when they became rich excited envy 
 by their opulence, which rendered them still more 
 odious. Such are the sources of the hatred which 
 the whole world have sworn against the Jewish 
 people, and of the persecution that has every where 
 followed them. 
 
 " The result of these events exhibits action and 
 re-action. The Jews of the same sect have always 
 been united together, because there was little dispro- 
 portion among them of rank and fortune, and very 
 little luxury. Their years of jubilee brought them 
 very near to the primitive equality, which civil insti- 
 tutions continually destroy ; and their misfortunes 
 have made this union closer, and strengthened its 
 ties. But, being banished, proscribed, and every 
 where abused, can they entertain any affection for 
 their tyrants ? They must indeed conceive an aver- 
 sion to all those who are leagued against them ; and 
 particularly to the Christians, whom they consider as 
 guilty intruders, for having eclipsed their religious 
 splendour."* 
 
 * The above extract is made from the English translation of 
 Gregoire's Essay on the Physical, Moral, and Political Reformation of 
 the Jews, p. 30 32.
 
 198 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 State of the Jews in various parts of the east in the twelfth century. 
 Of the princes of the captivity. The Israelites were numerous 
 in Egypt, but only a small number was found in Palestine. Of 
 those in the Turkish dominions, and in Italy, Germany, and 
 France. St. Bernard exerts his influence in their behalf. They are 
 favoured by pope Innocent II. and Alexander HI. They become 
 powerful in Spain during the reign of Alphonso VIII. 
 
 A.D. 1172.] BENJAMIN of Tudela, a city 
 in Navarre, affirms that he visited many regions 
 both in the east and west, in the twelfth century, for 
 the purpose of ascertaining the situation of the 
 Jewish people. He published an account of his 
 travels,* and gave a minute relation of whatever 
 was honourable and interesting to his nation. He 
 even invented new countries, and mentioned king- 
 doms and cities, which did not then exist. A learned 
 modern author, speaking of this work, and that of 
 rabbi Petachiah, who travelled about the same 
 period, observes, that " a wish to magnify the im- 
 portance of their brethren is discernible in the 
 writings of both ; and, for their extreme credulity, 
 both are justly censured. But, after every reason- 
 able deduction is made on these accounts from the 
 credibility of their narrative, much will still remain 
 to interest an intelligent and cautious reader, f 
 
 Benjamin informs us, that the Jews in the east, in 
 the twelfth century, enjoyed the peaceable exercise 
 of their religion, and possessed several considerable 
 
 * This work has been translated from the Hebrew into the French, 
 by J. P. Barratier. 
 
 + Butler's Horae Biblicse.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 199 
 
 synagogues. Four thousand of his brethren inha- 
 bited Bassorah, an island on the Tigris. Seven 
 thousand resided at Almozal, answering to the an- 
 cient Nineveh. In this city our traveller found 
 Zaccheus, a prince descended from the house of 
 David, and a Jewish astronomer named Beren ai 
 Pherec, who officiated as a chaplain to Zin Aldin,* 
 a Mahometan king. Passing through Rehoboth, in 
 his way to Bagdat, he discovered three thousand 
 Jews ; and five hundred at Karchemish,, famed for 
 the defeat of Pharaoh Necho, and situate on the 
 banks of the Euphrates.f 
 
 The celebrated academy of Pundebita had lost 
 much of its original grandeur, and contained only a 
 few learned rabbies, who superintended about two 
 thousand of their brethren, part of whom applied 
 themselves to the study of the law. The academy 
 of Sora was also in a decayed condition ; and that 
 of Nahardea was only famed for a synagogue, which 
 its superstitious inhabitants had built of materials 
 conveyed from Jerusalem. The great men, who 
 formerly resided in the eastern countries, had fled 
 to the west ; and the Jewish academies declined in 
 consequence of their departure. But, though there 
 were but few learned rabbies in the east, the Jews, 
 according to our author's account, were still nume- 
 rous ; he informs us he found ten thousand of them 
 at Obkeray, which city he pretends was built by 
 king Jechoniah during the Babylonian captivity. J 
 
 * It may appear surprising, that a Jewish astronomer should be 
 chaplain to a Mahometan prince ; but many of the Jews were induced 
 to temporize, either through fear, or interested motives. Modern 
 Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 262. 
 
 t Basnage, p 6 19. J Ibid. p. 620.
 
 200 HISTORV OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Benjamin arrived at Bagdat during the reign of 
 the caliph Mostanged, who highly favoured his 
 nation, and retained a number of Jews in his service. 
 This prince was well versed in the Hebrew language, 
 and had acquired some knowledge of the Mosaic 
 law. The city of Bagdat contained about one 
 thousand Jews, who possessed twenty-eight syna- 
 gogues. They were also allowed ten tribunals, 
 under the direction of ten eminent men of their 
 nation, who were chosen to transact their affairs. 
 These chiefs were, however, subordinate to the 
 prince of the captivity. Benjamin asserts, that the 
 person who then enjoyed this dignity was styled 
 Lord by the Jews, and by the Mahometans the son 
 of David, he being, according to our author, lineally 
 descended from that monarch. His authority ex- 
 tended over all his brethren in the dominions of the 
 caliph ; and from Syria to Hindostan. Our traveller 
 also affirmed, that this chief received regal honours ; 
 had an hundred guards to escort him when he visited 
 the caliph ; and that a herald marched before him, 
 crying, Prepare the way for the Lord, the son of 
 David. The Jewish people in the most remote 
 parts were, he says, obliged to receive their teachers 
 from him by the imposition of hands ; and he was 
 enabled to support his dignity by the large presents 
 and tribute which he received from his nation.* 
 
 The existence of a succession of these imaginary 
 potentates has been strenuously maintained by 
 Jewish authors. Their views were to aggrandize 
 the glory of their nation, and deprive Christians of 
 the force of the argument furnished by the prophecy 
 * Basnage, p. 620.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 201 
 
 / of Jacob, concerning the termination of the Jewish 
 S polity and independence speedily after the coming 
 of the Messiah.* 
 
 Some of the most learned of the Jewish rabbies, 
 however, acknowledge, that the regal and judicial 
 power has been abolished. David Kimchi lamented 
 the calamities of his nation, foretold by the prophet 
 Hosea, and exclaimed, that " he saw in his time the 
 accomplishment of the oracle; and those days of 
 exile, in which there was neither prince or king of 
 the house of David ; but on the contrary, they were 
 subjected to other nations." Abarbanel also observes 
 that ie Isaiah speaks of a new calamity the Jews 
 were to suffer, viz. that they should have neither 
 kingdom, sovereignty, nor judicial sceptre." The 
 testimony of these eminent men clearly evinces, 
 tfiat the Israelites, deprived of jurisdiction in their 
 native country, possessed only the shadow of au- 
 thority in the east. Even Benjamin confesses, that 
 his nation was tributary, that the synagogues were 
 maintained by means of a patent given by the caliph, 
 when he was promoted to the regal dignity ; that 
 the prince of the captivity purchased his privileges 
 and grandeur ; and that he received his power from 
 this monarch by the imposition of hands. f 
 
 Leaving the province of Bagdat, our traveller 
 passed through Resen, where he found five thousand 
 
 * Gisborne on the Christian Religion. 
 
 i The persecution, which the Jews in the east suffered in the pre- 
 ceding century, renders it probable, that our author's account of the 
 grandeur of the prince of the captivity is greatly exaggerated. Yet 
 still he acknowledges, that his dignity was purchased by a tribute to 
 the caliph, and by large presents to his officers. Basnage, p. 20. 
 Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 264.
 
 302 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 of his brethren, who possessed a spacious synagogue. 
 In Hila, about five miles from ancient Babylon, he 
 discovered four synagogues, and ten thousand Jews. 
 Passing eastward, he arrived at the banks of the 
 river Chebar, where he found sixty synagogues. 
 He asserted, that the prophet Ezekiel was buried 
 on the banks of this river; that his tomb was pre- 
 served; and that both Jews and Persians resorted 
 to it as a place of devotion. In Cufa, once the me- 
 tropolis of the caliphs, he discovered nearly seven 
 thousand of his nation, who possessed only one sy- 
 nagogue.* 
 
 Our traveller found the Jews numerous in Egypt, 
 and computed thirty thousand of them in one city 
 upon the frontiers of Ethiopia. There were about 
 two thousand Israelites and two synagogues at Mis- 
 raim, at present Grand Cairo. The chief of all 
 the synagogues in Egypt resided in this city; ap- 
 pointed the Jewish doctors ; and supported the in- 
 terest of his nation. Several parts of the land of 
 Goshen were inhabited by Jews; two hundred were 
 found in one place, in another five hundred; and 
 nearly three thousand in the city of Goshen. About 
 the same number resided at Alexandria, and but 
 a few at Damietta.f 
 
 Our author found at Tyre about four hundred of 
 his nation, most of whom were employed in the 
 glass manufacture. There were, however, a few 
 learned men among them, who were well versed in 
 the Talmud. The Samaritans having abandoned 
 their ancient capital, some of them retired to Csesarea, 
 where he found about two hundred, and one hundred 
 
 * Basnage, p. 620. f Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 203 
 
 at Sichem, which had become the seat of their reli- 
 gion. They were extremely strict in solemnizing 
 their festivals, and offering their sacrifices on Mount 
 Gerizzim.* 
 
 In Jerusalem, the ancient capital of the Jewish 
 religion, Benjamin found only two hundred of his 
 nation, who all resided together, and made but a 
 mean figure in the metropolis. They were not nu- 
 merous in other cities of Judea ; in one of which 
 he found only two, in another twenty. Shunan con- 
 tained about three hundred. At Ascalon there were 
 five hundred and fifty three, Jews and Samaritans. 
 Upper Galilee contained a larger number; many of 
 the Israelites retired into this province after the de- 
 struction of Jerusalem, and founded the famous 
 academy of Tiberias. Yet he discovered only one 
 synagogue in this part of Judea. f 
 
 From Palestine our author passed into Greece, 
 and found two hundred Jews, who resided in and 
 about Mount Parnassus, and obtained a subsistence 
 by cultivating vegetables. There were three hun- 
 dred of this nation at Corinth, and two thousand at 
 Thebes, who were either dyers, or silk weavers. 
 There were a small number at Lepanto, Patras, 
 and other parts of the Turkish empire; but they 
 were neither numerous nor affluent. When Ben- 
 jamin arrived at Constantinople, he discovered about 
 two thousand of his nation, who resided in the 
 suburb called Galata, or Pera, where they had 
 formerly been settled by the emperor Theodosius. 
 They were all silk weavers, or merchants. There 
 were besides five hundred Caraites, who were sepa- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 622. t Ibid.
 
 204 HISTORY OF THE JEW. 
 
 rated by a wall from the other Jews, in order to 
 prevent all intercourse between them. The rem- 
 nants of the nation in the Ottoman empire were 
 forbidden to ride on horses throughout the streets 
 of the cities ; and were hated and insulted both by 
 Turks and Greeks.* 
 
 Prom Constantinople our traveller passed into 
 Italy : and relates the dissensions, which then reigned 
 between the inhabitants of Genoa, Pisa, and other 
 republican cities. He observes, that the Jews were 
 few in these parts ; and that whatever party gained 
 the ascendancy, they were sure to be oppressed. 
 When he repaired to Rome, he found his brethren 
 more numerous ; among whom were several learned 
 doctors, particularly rabbi Jechiel, who was super- 
 intendant of the pope's finances. Capua was no less 
 famed for the number and learning of her doctors, 
 though the city contained only three hundred Jews. 
 Benjamin reckoned five hundred at Naples, two 
 hundred at Salerno. There were others settled at 
 Benevento, Ascoli, and Trani. The islands of Sicily 
 and Corsica also contained a considerable number 
 of Jews; particularly the former, where he dis- 
 covered about two hundred at Messina, and five 
 hundred at Palermo, f 
 
 Our traveller passed from Italy into Germany, 
 where he asserts, that he found his nation not only 
 more numerous and affluent,^ but also more learned, 
 devout, and hospitable to strangers. They lamented 
 
 * Basnagc, p. 624. + Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 274. 
 
 t Benjamin wrote an account of his travels about 1 1 70 ; in seventy 
 years, the Jews had recovered from the massacres of the Crusaders, 
 mentioned in the preceding chapter. Gibbon, vol. ii. p. 26.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 205 
 
 the desolation of their city and temple ; and earnestly 
 expected a glorious recall to their once happy 
 country. Those, however, who dwelt upon the 
 banks of the Rhine, were uneasy on account of the 
 long delay of the Messiah's appearance ; and Ben- 
 jamin confesses he was not able to console them 
 by what he related respecting the state of their 
 nation in the east.* 
 
 He concluded his tour with visiting the syna- 
 gogues in France, in some of which he found but 
 few Jews. Three hundred of his brethren resided 
 at Narbonne, under the direction of the famous 
 rabbi Calonymo, who had acquired great power and 
 wealth, and was said to have been lineally descended 
 from king David. In Montpelier there were many 
 Jews, as well as Turks and Greeks, who resorted 
 thither from foreign parts. 
 
 Lunel, a city in Languedoc, contained an academy, 
 in which the Jews studied the divine law with intensfe 
 application. Our author also discovered an assembly 
 at Paris, who were devoted to the study of the law, 
 and received those of their nation who repaired to 
 the city from foreign parts as brethren. f 
 
 It appears from the above account, and that of 
 rabbi Petachiah^J a native of Ratisbon, who visited 
 his nation at nearly the same period, that the Jews 
 were in a declining state in many countries. In 
 particular, their number was greatly diminished on 
 
 * Basnage, p. 624. f Ibid. 
 
 i Rabbi Fetachiah gives an account of some Jews he found in 
 Tartary, who did not observe the traditions of the fathers. Upon his 
 inquiring why they neglected the observance of these traditions, they 
 answered they had never beard of them. Jlfodern Universal History.
 
 206 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the banks of the Euphrates ; and in the ancient 
 cities where they were formerly computed to have 
 amounted to nine hundred thousand. 
 
 A. D. 1147.] St. Bernard, whose humanity to 
 the Jews has been noticed in the preceding chapter, 
 continued to repress the violence of their enemies. 
 He alleged, that it was necessary to tolerate them at 
 present, in order to effect their future conversion ; 
 and made use of his influence over pope Innocent 
 the Second, to inspire him with the same sentiments 
 of gentleness and forbearance. When this pontiff 
 made his grand entrance into Paris, they approached 
 him with profound respect, and presented him the 
 roll, or volume of their law. Upon receiving it 
 from their hands, he returned this answer, " I reve- 
 rence the law given by God to Moses, but condemn 
 your exposition of it, because you still expect the 
 Messiah, whom the catholic church believes to be 
 Christ, who liveth and reigneth with the Father, and 
 the Holy Ghost." His successor, Alexander III. 
 also favoured and protected the Jews, and prohibited 
 the people from insulting- them on their sabbaths, 
 festivals, or any other occasion. Under such power- 
 ful patronage, they became flourishing, affluent, 
 and learned in Rome, and several other cities in 
 Italy.* 
 
 A. D. 1 170.] The Jews were no less powerful 
 ! in Spain during part of the twelfth century. One 
 of them, named Joseph, was prime minister to Al- 
 phonso VIII. and had a coach of state, and guards 
 to attend him. At length, however, he was expelled 
 from his office, by the treachery and intrigues of 
 
 *. Basnage, p. 634.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 207 
 
 Gonzales, one of his dependents, who, having' in- 
 curred the displeasure of his benefactor by his 
 criminal conduct, resolved to escape the punishment 
 he deserved, by effecting his ruin. Under pretence 
 of filling the monarch's coffers, this wretch prevailed 
 upon Alphonso to grant him eight of the principal 
 Jews. These he caused to be put to death, and 
 confiscated their effects. He iiext offered a much 
 larger sum for twenty more. But the king thought 
 it more honourable to seize their estates for de- 
 fraying his expences, than to deprive them both of 
 their lives and property. This unhappy people, 
 who rejoiced to be able to purchase their lives and 
 liberty upon any terms, voluntarily poured immense 
 sums into the treasury. Gonzales was soon after 
 imprisoned by the king, and his fall established their 
 tranquillity.* 
 
 Alphonso was afterwards induced to treat the 
 Jews with great indulgence, in consequence of his 
 passion for a beautiful young Jewess, named Rachel, 
 to whom he sacrificed his honour and interest. Her 
 countrymen, seizing the advantage, grew extremely 
 powerful and insolent, and the court and clergy 
 were offended at the haughtiness of their behaviour. 
 At length, the fury of their enemies rose to such an 
 height, that they caused the young Jewess to be 
 murdered. The nation, however, derived essential 
 benefit from this prosperous epoch, and became 
 numerous and affluent. Rabbi Eliakim, who was 
 highly esteemed in Spain, and composed his ritual of 
 all the ceremonies used in every synagogue, com- 
 monly styled, " The Ritual of the Universe," has 
 
 * Basnage, p. 635.
 
 208 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 computed that there were twelve thousand Jews in 
 the city of Toledo. They were also in a flourishing 
 state at Andalusia, where great numbers applied to 
 the study of theology and the sciences. At length, 
 they divided themselves into three different sects, of 
 which Maimonides, who lived at this time, has given 
 an account. This division was regarded by him as 
 one of the fatal consequences of the abolition of the 
 Sanhedrin.* 
 
 * Basnage, p. 635.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 209 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Of the learned men who flourished among the Jews during the twelfth 
 century. An account of the impostors who pretended to be the 
 Messiah, and of the calamities in which they involved their nation 
 during this period. 
 
 DURING the twelfth century many celebrated 
 Jewish rabbles appeared, whose abilities and learn- 
 ing did honour to their nation ; and whose writings 
 have furnished assistance towards understanding the 
 Old Testament. They often, however, instead of 
 explaining the literal sense, eagerly searched after 
 mystical and allegorical interpretations ; and gave a 
 tedious and minute detail of the ceremonies, which 
 had caused them to relinquish the spirit of their 
 law.* 
 
 Nathan Ben Jechiel is ranked among the great 
 men, who appeared in the twelfth century. He was 
 the author of a work called Harak, in which he 
 \jexplained all the terms in the Talmud in so copious 
 a manner, that he has exhausted the subject. He 
 was chief of the Jewish academy at Rome; and 
 died in that city in the year llOG.f 
 
 Abraham Ben Ezra, one of the greatest men of 
 his age and nation, was born at Toledo in Spain, 
 and styled by the Jews, the wise, great and admi- 
 rable doctor. He travelled for the purpose of 
 acquiring knowledge ; and far excelled his brethren 
 in sacred and profane literature. A learned Italian 
 writer); asserts, that " he was an able philosopher, 
 
 p. 625. + Ibid. 
 
 De Roisie's Hebrew Biography. Enfield's Philosophy. 
 P
 
 210 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 physician, astronomer, mathematician, grammarian, 
 and poet; and, that he was so well versed in 
 Hebrew, Chaldaic, Arabic, and other languages, 
 that he composed in them all with great facility." 
 His method of explaining the scriptures differed 
 rom the other rabbies ; for instead of seeking after 
 mystic interpretations, he generally adhered to the 
 literal meaning ; and gave such proofs of his genius 
 and good sense, that the Christians prefer him to the 
 other Jewish expositors. His most celebrated work 
 is, "Commentaries on the Old Testament."* He 
 died at Rhodes, 1174, in the seventy-fifth year of 
 his age.f 
 
 Moses Maimonides, who was eminently distin- 
 guished among the learned men of this age, was 
 born of an illustrious family at Cordova in Spain, in 
 the year 1131. He boasted of being descended 
 from the house of David, as did many of the 
 Spanish Jews. He made such a rapid progress in 
 science and literature, that his countrymen styled 
 him the " eagle of doctors ;" and asserted that " of 
 all their nation none ever so nearly approached to 
 the wisdom and learning of their great founder and 
 lawgiver as Moses the son of Maimon." At length, 
 however, the superiority of his genius, and the vast 
 fund of knowledge which he acquired, excited 
 the envy and jealousy of the Jews. Perhaps also 
 his connexion with Averroes, a celebrated Arabian 
 philosopher, who was one of his preceptors, might 
 
 * He also wrote various theological, grammatical, mathematical, 
 and astrological works, many of which remain in ancient libraries, 
 not yet edited. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 626.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 have led him to adopt obnoxious opinions. His 
 writings, particularly his Moreh Nevochim, or reso- 
 lution of doubtful questions, soon raised him many 
 opponents. The design of this work was to explain 
 the meaning of several difficult and obscure words, 
 phrases, metaphors, parables, allegories, &c. in 
 scripture. It was written for the benefit of those 
 who were in doubt whether they should interpret 
 such passages according to the letter, or rather figu- 
 ratively and metaphorically. It was asserted by many 
 at this time, that the Mosaic rites and statutes had 
 no foundation in reason ; but were ordained by God 
 upon a principle purely arbitrary.* /On the other 
 side, Maimonides argued, that the Mosaic dispensa- 
 tion in general was instituted with a wisdom worthy 
 of its divine author, and explained the causes and 
 reasons of each particular branch of it.) But he 
 exhibited less respect for the decisions of the Talmud, 
 than the other Jewish doctors who preceded him. 
 Those of his nation who were most attached to these 
 fables were highly offended. Rabbi Solomon, then 
 chief of the synagogues at Montpelier, persuaded 
 the doctors who studied under him to engage in 
 defence of the Talmud. Accordingly they not only 
 opposed the doctrine of Maimonides, but endea- 
 voured to blast his reputation. They burnt his 
 works, and excommunicated those who read them, 
 and addicted themselves to the study of philo- 
 sophy, f 
 
 The rabbies of Narbonne, with the great David 
 Kimchi at their head, exerted all their eloquence in 
 
 * Basnage, p. 627. Biographical Dictionary, 
 t Basnage, p. 627. Modern Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 287. 
 
 P 2
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 defence of Maimonides, and excommunicated their 
 brethren at Montpelier. This contention lasted 
 forty years, and called forth the abilities of the 
 learned men on both sides of the question. The 
 schism to which this dispute gave rise was abolished 
 in 1232. 
 
 Maimonides, finding- his residence in Spain trou- 
 blesome and hazardous, removed to Egypt, and 
 settled at Cairo. His knowledge of the healing art 
 induced the sultan of Egypt to choose him for his 
 physician ;, and he employed his credit at court in 
 protecting his nation. He also founded an academy 
 at Alexandria for their benefit, and gained many 
 pupils from various countries. They were, however, 
 soon dispersed by persecution. Some assert, that 
 this great man died in Egypt 1201 ; others, that 
 his death took place in Palestine 1205.* 
 
 This learned Jew was not only master of many 
 eastern languages, which was a singular accomplish- 
 ment in his time, but was well versed in the Greek 
 tongue, and had read the works of the Grecian phi- 
 losophers, whom he frequently quotes. He was 
 celebrated for his knowledge of the arts and sciences, 
 as well as languages ; was eminently distinguished as 
 a physician ; and in Talmudic learning excelled all 
 his cotemporaries.f His writings are too numerous 
 to be particularly mentioned.]; 
 
 Solomon Ben Isaac Jarchi is ranked among the 
 illustrious rabbies of the twelfth century. He was 
 
 * Basnage, p. 037. i Enfield's Philosophy, vol. ii. p. 205. 
 
 * He was the author of twenty-five noted works, besides some 
 others of less importance. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. 
 p. 211.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 213 
 
 born 110$, at Troyes in Champagne, in France. 
 Having 1 acquired a large fund of Jewish learning, he 
 travelled through Germany, Italy, Greece, Jerusa- 
 lem, Palestine and Egypt, where he had an inter- 
 view with Maimonides. Prom Egypt he passed to 
 Persia, and thence to Tartary and Muscovy. After 
 his return to Europe, he visited all the academies, 
 and disputed against the professors, upon any ques- 
 tions proposed by them. He was well versed in 
 physic and astronomy, and master of several lan- 
 guages besides the Hebrew. He wrote Commenta- 
 ries on the Pentateuch, and some of the Prophets ; 
 also on the Gemara, which procured him the title of 
 Prince of Commentators. He died at Troyes, 
 11SO.* 
 
 The family of the Kimchis has been eminently 
 distinguished in the annals of Jewish literature. 
 Joseph Kimchi was a man of great learning, but a 
 violent enemy to the Christians, whom he inveighed 
 against in his writings. David Kimchi, his son, 
 one of the most zealous defenders of Maimonides, 
 flourished in Spain at the end of the twelfth/ and at 
 the commencement of the thirteenth century. This 
 celebrated rabbi far excelled his father in ability and 
 learning, and had not imbibed such strong preju- 
 dices against the Christians. His writings have been 
 held in such high estimation by his nation, that they 
 supposed it impossible to attain to any eminence in 
 letters and theology without studying them. He 
 composed a grammar and dictionary of the Hebrew 
 language, by which he acquired the reputation of 
 excelling all the Jews who preceded him in gram- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 657. General Biographical Dictionary.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 matical knowledge. He also was the author of a 
 Commentary on the Psalms., and other books of the 
 Old Testament. Part of this work has been 
 translated into Latin, and inserted in the Bibles of 
 Venice and Basil. Moses Kimchi, his brother, was 
 also distinguished for his learning ; and has written 
 a treatise, styled the Garden of Delight, the 
 manuscript of which was preserved in the Vatican 
 library.* 
 
 Three celebrated rabbies, named Levi, or Halevi, 
 appeared during the twelfth century. Abraham 
 Halevi was a learned cabbalistical Jew, who, having 
 placed himself at the head of the traditional party, 
 violently attacked the Caraites ; but being inferior to 
 them in point of argument, he had resource to 
 Alphonso VII. for whom he had performed signal 
 services, and who rewarded him by commanding his 
 opponents to be silent.f 
 
 Juda Levi was the author of the Cosri, a pole- 
 mical treatise on religion, especially the Jewish ; and 
 a pathetic elegy, in which he deplored the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem.]; 
 
 Another learned rabbi, named Judas Halevi, was 
 born at Cologne ; and after many conferences with 
 the Christians became a convert, and was baptized 
 by the name of Herman. After he embraced Chris- 
 tianity, he entered among the regular canons of 
 St. Augustine. 
 
 Some learned Jewish women appeared during the 
 
 * Basnage, p. G30. t Ibid. 
 
 $ Thi elegy has been translated by Mr. Bing, and inserted in a note 
 of Gregoire's work on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 280. 
 *, Basnage, p. 630.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 215 
 
 twelfth century. The rabbi Petachiah, who visited 
 the synagogues of his nation at that period, has 
 asserted, that the daughter of the prince of the 
 captivity was so well versed in the law and Talmud,, 
 that many resorted to her for instruction, and that 
 she read lectures through the lattice of her window, 
 in order to be heard without being seen by her 
 pupils. 
 
 It appears from the Jewish annals, that some of 
 the nation have been raised to the highest offices in 
 the courts of princes. Others have acquired applause 
 at the head of armies ; in particular, the celebrated 
 don Solomon, a Portuguese Jew, who was as much 
 distinguished for his knowledge in philosophy, as 
 for his skill in the military department. His merit 
 raised him, in 1190, to the dignity of field-master- 
 general ; and he discharged the duties of his office 
 with such fidelity, that he soon obtained the 
 command of the whole army. The envy and jea- 
 lousy of the grandees was at length excited by his 
 valour and success. But he subdued their enmity 
 by his remarkable humility and moderation.* 
 
 In the twelfth century several learned Jews re- 
 nounced their religion. For instance, Samuel Ben 
 Jehudah, or, as he is commonly called, Asmouil, 
 deserted the synagogue, and professed the Maho- 
 metan faith. In order to prove the sincerity of hk 
 conversion, in 1174 he wrote a book against his 
 nation, in which he charges them with having altered 
 the law of Moses. This accusation was received 
 with such applause by the Mahometans, that they 
 forbade the quoting or translating any part of 
 
 * Basnage, p. 630.
 
 216 HISTOltY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the Pentateuch according to the Jewish or Christian 
 copies.* 
 
 One of the Christian converts received the name 
 of Peter Alphonso at his baptism. After he deserted 
 the synagogue, he wrote dialogues against the Jews, 
 and was appointed physician to Alphonso VII. king 
 of Castile and Leon. He died in the year HOS.f 
 
 It is indeed surprising, that the learned rabbies of 
 the twelfth century did not sufficiently enlighten 
 their nation as to prevent their being frequently 
 duped by impostors. But the number of those who 
 appeared in this age was greater than in any pre- 
 ceding or subsequent century. In 1137, a false 
 Christ arose in France, and engaged his followers to 
 hold unlawful assemblies. In consequence of the 
 impostor's crimes, the government caused many of 
 the synagogues to be demolished. But at length he 
 and a large number of his followers were appre- 
 hended and put to death. J 
 
 The following year the Persians were disturbed 
 by a Jew, who called himself the Messiah; and 
 collected a formidable army of his nation. The 
 Persian monarch hired him to disband his soldiers ; 
 but when the stipulated sum was paid, the king 
 finding himself out of danger, compelled the dis- 
 armed Jews to reimburse him the money, and 
 caused the impostor to be beheaded. 
 
 In 1157, another false Messiah appeared in 
 Spain. He was a native of Cordova, and was 
 supported in his imposture by one of the greatest 
 rabbies in that city, who had previously written a 
 
 * Basnage, p. 630. t Modern Univer. Hist, vol.xiii. p. 291. 
 
 t Jortin's Remarks, vol. ii. p. 304. S Basnage, p. 632.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 21? 
 
 book to prove the near approach of his manifes- 
 tation by the stars. The majority of the most 
 intelligent Jews regarded him as insane ; but the 
 great body of this infatuated people believed in 
 him, and many were ruined by their blind credu- 
 lity.* 
 
 Ten years after, another impostor declared that 
 the Messiah would manifest himself in the course of 
 a year. This person appeared in the kingdom of 
 Fez, and involved the Jews,, who were dispersed 
 through the country , in a new persecution. 
 
 The same year an Arabian Jew assumed the title 
 of the Messiah, and pretended to work miracles, 
 and gained many followers. But at length he was 
 apprehended, and brought before the Arabian king. 
 When he was questioned by the monarch, what had 
 induced him to act this imposture, he boldly replied, 
 that he was indeed a prophet sent from God. The 
 king then asked him, what miracle he could perform 
 to confirm his mission ? Cut off my head, said he, 
 and I will return to life again, f The monarch took 
 him at his word, promising to believe in him, if his 
 prediction was fulfilled. After his death his deluded 
 followers cherished the expectation, that though he 
 did not immediately rise from the dead, he would 
 at length reanimate their hopes by his appearance. 
 But they were compelled to give up the idea, and 
 were severely fined and punished for their blind 
 credulity. J 
 
 * Basnage, p. 635. Jortin's Remarks, vol.ii. p. 304. 
 
 + This is supposed to have been an artifice of the impostor, who 
 preferred a speedy death to the cruel and lingering torture to which 
 he would otherwise have been exposed. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 63?.
 
 5218 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Some time after, a Jew who dwelt beyond the 
 Euphrates, called himself the Messiah, and drew 
 vast multitudes after him. He founded his preten- 
 sions on his having been a leper, and being wonder- 
 fully healed in one night of this obstinate disease. 
 The Jewish doctors soon persuaded him and his 
 followers, that this supposed miracle was not a suf- 
 ficient evidence of his mission. The populace 
 became ashamed of their blind credulity ; but, as 
 they had taken arms in his cause, a fresh persecution 
 was raised against them. One of their writers 
 informs us, that, exhausted with their sufferings on 
 his account, ten thousand of this miserable people 
 renounced their religion ; which has rendered the 
 memory of this impostor odious to the whole 
 nation.* .dm 
 
 In the year 1174, another pretended Messiah 
 arose in Persia. This impostor seduced multitudes 
 of the common people, and involved his nation in 
 a new and severe persecution. 
 
 A Jew, named David Almusser, appeared in 
 Moravia, in the year 1196, who set up for the 
 Messiah, and boasted that he possessed the power of 
 rendering himself invisible whenever he pleased. 
 Vast multitudes followed him, and were deceived by 
 his artifice. In order to prevent the ill consequences 
 of his popularity, the king promised him his 
 life on condition that he would surrender himself. 
 He complied ; but the prince caused him to be im- 
 prisoned. He had the address, however, to escape ; 
 and for some time eluded all pursuit. At length the 
 king summoned the Jews to deliver him up ; and, in 
 
 * Basnage, p. 632.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 order to avoid a fresh persecution, they complied. 
 He was put to death, and a heavy fine imposed upon 
 his nation.* 
 
 David Alroi, or El-David, was the most famous 
 impostor, who appeared during the twelfth century. 
 He was a native of Almaria, which city contained 
 about one thousand Jews, who paid tribute to the 
 king of Persia. In the year 1199 he assumed the 
 title of the Messiah ; and being a man of learning, 
 and well versed in all the arts of deception, he 
 attracted many followers. After he had deluded the 
 populace by his pretended miracles, he prevailed 
 upon them to arm themselves in his cause. The 
 Persian king, alarmed at the rapid progress of the 
 insurgents, commanded the impostor to repair to 
 court, promising, that if he proved himself the 
 Messiah, he would acknowledge him as a king, sent 
 from heaven. El-David, contrary to expectation, 
 obeyed the summons, and assured the king that he 
 was really the Messiah. Upon which he was ordered 
 to be imprisoned till he could prove his mission by 
 extricating himself by a miracle. He had the 
 address to escape, and though the king despatched 
 messengers in search of the impostor, they were 
 unable to find and apprehend him. But at length, 
 upon a promise of receiving ten thousand crowns, 
 his father-in-law consented to betray and put him to 
 death. Vast numbers who had been deluded by him 
 were cruelly slaughtered, f 
 
 After giving an account of the false Messiahs who 
 appeared among the Jews, Dr. Jortin remarks, " It 
 
 * Basuage, p. 632. Jortin's Remark*, vol. ii. p. 304. 
 t Basnage, p. 633.
 
 220 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 may seem strange that they should have rejected 
 Christ, who gave them so many proofs of his mission, 
 and yet should follow every impostor who pretended 
 to be the Messiah, without offering any sufficient or 
 even plausible evidence of it. The reason is plain ; 
 our Saviour, by not setting up a temporal kingdom, 
 dashed all their worldly views at once ; but the 
 claimers of the title of Messiah began with promises 
 of delivering them from their enemies, and restoring 
 to them their country, and their lost liberties."* 
 
 * Jortin's Remarks, -vol. ii. p. 319.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Of the Jews in England. William the Conqueror brings a colony of 
 them into the kingdom. They are favoured by William Rufus. 
 Henry II. grants them new cemeteries in London. They are mas- 
 sacred at the coronation of Richard I. Their sufferings from the 
 Crusaders. Five hundred perish by suicide in York Castle. Of 
 the cruel oppression they suffered under king John. They are also 
 oppressed by Henry III. They are accused of adulterating the 
 coin ; two hundred and eighty are executed for that crime in 
 London. They are expelled from England by Edward I. 
 
 IT is difficult to ascertain at what period the Jews 
 first settled in England. But it appears that there 
 were considerable numbers established in the king- 
 dom before the conquest.* William the Conqueror 
 brought a large colony of this nation from Rouen in 
 Normandy for a stipulated sum of money, which 
 they presented him. After he had introduced them, 
 he assigned them a place to inhabit, and carry on 
 commerce. It appears by an ancient law, mentioned 
 by Sir Henry Spelman, that they were mere vassals 
 to the king, and could not dispose of their persons 
 or property without his consent. 
 
 During the feudal ages, the Jews appear to have 
 been the most opulent, polished, and literary 
 
 * Basnage asserts, that the English Jews were banished from the 
 kingdom in the beginning of the eleventh century. But does not 
 mention on what account, or under what monarch the expulsion took 
 place. 
 
 Dr. Tovey, the author of a work called Anglia Judaica, who has 
 taken great pains to search after the antiquities of the Hebrew nation 
 in England, contends that the existence of Jews in the kingdom, was 
 coeval with Julius Caesar, and says nothing of any banishment of 
 them prior to that of Edward I. Adams' Religious World Displayed, 
 vol. i. p. 11.
 
 222 HISTORY Of THE JEWS. 
 
 % portion of the laity. They were the only bankers, 
 
 j or, as the vulgar termed them, the usurers of the 
 
 times. They conducted what then existed of 
 
 foreign trade ; and often visited the civilized south 
 
 / of Europe. They wrought most of the gold and 
 
 \ silver ornaments for churches. 
 
 William Rufus, who was an irreligious prince, 
 highly favoured this singular people ; and not only 
 permitted, but encouraged them to enter into solemn 
 contests with his bishops concerning the true faith. 
 It is said, that he sent for some learned Christian 
 divines and rabbies, and ordered them fairly to 
 dispute the question of their religion in his pre- 
 sence; assuring them he was perfectly indifferent 
 between them, and that he would embrace that 
 doctrine which upon comparison, appeared to be 
 supported by the most solid arguments. Accord- 
 ingly, it is related, that there was a public meeting 
 of the chief leaders on both sides in London, where 
 the Jews opposed the Christians with so much 
 energy, that the bishops and clergy were not without 
 some solicitude how the dispute might terminate. 
 No other class of men were at this time sufficiently 
 enlightened to engage with the priesthood. Some 
 young Jews were even so imprudent as to value 
 themselves upon their infidelity. It has been asserted, 
 that they became so powerful and opulent towards 
 the conclusion of the reign of William Rufus, that 
 
 m 
 
 they not only held public disputes, but endeavoured 
 by pecuniary bribes and other allurements to induce 
 the poor to embrace their religion.* 
 
 * Hume's History of England, vol. i. p. 189. Molloy De Jure 
 Maritime, p. 400.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 223 
 
 A. D. 1177.] Henry II. has been highly cen- 
 sured by monkish writers for tolerating and pro- 
 tecting the Jews. They were so numerous in his 
 reign, that, possessing only one burying-ground in 
 the city of London, they petitioned the king to allow 
 them some new cemeteries. This request was 
 granted ; and places to inter their dead were as- 
 signed them on the outside of every city where they 
 dwelt. In this reign one Joshua, a Jew, furnished 
 the rebels in Ireland with large sums of money ; and 
 their opulence had rendered them so presumptuous 
 as to ridicule the higher dignitaries of the church. 
 We may in part attribute to them the spirit which 
 dictated the constitutions of Clarendon.* In 1188, 
 the parliament at Northampton proposed to assess 
 them at 60,000, and the Christians at 70,000, 
 towards the projected war. The Jews must, there- 
 fore, have been vastly rich, or the parliament ex- 
 tremely tyrannical. But this nation, from their 
 first residence in England, were always considered 
 as vassals to the crown, who might be pillaged 
 according to the caprice of the reigning sove- 
 reign, f 
 
 ,A. D. 1189.] When Richard I. ascended the 
 throne, this people brought large presents in order 
 to secure the royal protection. Many having 
 hastened from remote parts of England to West- 
 minster, the court and populace imagined they had 
 
 * Decrees enacted by the council of Clarendon, which Henry II. 
 convened in order to check the usurpations of the pope and clergy. 
 Hume, vol. i. 
 
 t Monthly Magazine and British Register, 1796. Molloy de Jure 
 Maritime.
 
 224 HISTORY OF THE JEWS* 
 
 conspired to bewitch the king,* and an edict was 
 issued to prevent their presence at the coronation. 
 But considerable numbers, whose curiosity was 
 greater than their prudence, fancied they might 
 pass unobserved among the crowd, and ventured to 
 insinuate themselves into the abbey. Upon being 
 discovered, they fled in great consternation ; but the 
 people pursued them and murdered several.f 
 
 A rumour spread rapidly through the city, that 
 the king, in honour of the festival, had given orders 
 for the massacre of the Jews : a command so agree- 
 able was instantly executed on all who fell into the 
 hands of the* populace. Those who remained at 
 home were exposed to equal danger ; the people 
 moved by rapacity and zeal broke into their houses, 
 which they plundered, after having murdered the 
 owners. Where the Jews barricaded their doors 
 and defended themselves with vigour, the rabble set 
 fire to the houses, and made way through the flames 
 to exercise their pillage and violence. The usual 
 licentiousness of London, which the sovereign power 
 with difficulty restrained, broke out with fury, and 
 continued these outrages. The inhabitants of the 
 other cities of England, hearing of the slaughter of 
 this unhappy people in the metropolis, imitated the 
 example ; and, though the government published a 
 proclamation the day after the coronation, in order 
 to suppress the fury of the populace, the persecution 
 was continued the greater part of the year. J 
 
 * A superstitious idea that the Jews were most of them conjurors 
 was prevalent during the dark ages. Basnage, p. 638. 
 
 t Hume's History of England. Smollet's History of England. 
 t Hume's History of England.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 225 
 
 This miserable race suffered a still more severe 
 persecution, when Richard I. impelled more by the 
 love of glory than by superstition, engaged in the 
 crusades.* They had furnished him with vast sums 
 towards the expedition ; but this did not satisfy the 
 people, whose zeal against an unbelieving race was 
 heightened by the holy war ; and who complained 
 of the conduct as well as the faith of the Jews. 
 The prejudices of the age had made the lending of 
 money on interest pass by the invidious name of 
 usury; yet the necessity of the practice had still 
 continued it, and the greater part of this dealing 
 fell every where into the hands of the Jews, who, 
 being already infamous on account of their religion, 
 had no honour to lose. They were therefore apt to 
 exercise a profession odious in itself, by every kind 
 of rigour, and even sometimes by rapine and ex- 
 tortion. The industry and frugality of this nation, 
 had put them in possession of all the ready money 
 which the idleness and profusion, common to the 
 English and other European nations, enabled them 
 to lend at an exorbitant and unequal interest. f 
 
 Those who were preparing for the holy war, felt 
 indignant that the enemies of Christ should abound 
 
 * This was the third crusade. Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and 
 Syria, had taken the city of Jerusalem from the Christians, and 
 placed on its walls the banners of Mahomet. This incident rekindled 
 with fresh fury, the zeal of the military adventurers among the 
 Christians. 
 
 + Hume, vol. i. p. 135. The Jews took this extravagant interest 
 with the dreadful prospect of murder before their eyes, and a cer- 
 tainty of paying a large portion of it to the king. It is, therefore, 
 natural to suppose, that a people who were exposed to such cruelties 
 and insults, and had so uncertain an enjoyment of their riches, would 
 carry usury to the utmost extremity. JUacphenon on Commerce, 
 
 Q
 
 226 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 in wealth, while they, who supposed themselves his 
 peculiar friends and favourites, should be obliged to 
 deprive their families of necessaries in order to defray 
 the expenses of the crusades. Hence they persuaded 
 themselves it would be a meritorious act to destroy 
 the descendants of those, who crucified our Saviour, 
 and apply their wealth to this holy enterprize. 
 Though the king at his departure had left orders 
 that they should not be molested; yet as soon as he 
 quitted the kingdom their fury broke out anew. 
 They destroyed many of these wretched people at 
 Norwich, Stamford, aiid other places, and seized 
 upon their property. The murderers took shipping 
 as soon as possible, and fled to Jerusalem, not so 
 much as one of them being detained by the magis- 
 trates, or any further inquiry made respecting their 
 injustice and cruelty.* 
 
 A still more horrid transaction took place at York, 
 where the Jews were great usurers ; and where, 
 as they lived in a splendid manner, their opulence 
 excited envy, and increased the hatred against them. 
 The populace in this city assembled to inflict the 
 same barbarities upon them, which their countrymen 
 had suffered in London, and other places. Upon 
 which, the principal persons among this people 
 applied to the -governor of York Castle, and pre- 
 vailed upon him to grant them an asylum. The 
 place was sufficiently strong for their defence. But 
 a suspicion arising, that the governor, who frequently 
 went out into the city, had combined with their 
 enemies to destroy them, they one day refused him 
 entrance. He complained to the sheriff, and to the 
 
 * Monthly Magazine and British Register, 1796.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 heads of the violent party who were deeply in debt 
 to the Jews, and was ordered to attack the castle. 
 The sheriff, however, repented of, and revoked 
 the order, and the superior citizens refused their 
 aid. But, as the fury of the populace could be 
 appeased only by murder and robbery, an attack 
 was made.* When the Jews found that they could 
 not hold out any longer, and their offers of pur- 
 chasing their lives with money were rejected, they 
 took the horrid resolution of destroying themselves, 
 one of the most desperate among them exclaiming 
 in despair, that " it was better to die courageously 
 for the law, than to fall into the hands of the Chris- 
 tians." Accordingly, after setting fire to the towers 
 of the castle, and destroying their wives and children, 
 they put a period to their own lives. Five hundred 
 perished at this time. A few who surrendered in 
 hopes of mercy, were murdered by the populace, f 
 
 Immediately after this dreadful catastrophe, those 
 who were indebted to the Jews, repaired to the 
 cathedral where the bonds were deposited, com- 
 pelled the officer to deliver the obligations, and 
 discharged their debts by burning them in the 
 
 * A late writer asserts, that the leader of the rabble who attacked 
 the castle was a canon regular, whose zeal was so fervent, that he 
 stood by them in his surplice, which he considered as a coat of mail, 
 and reiteratedly exclaimed, " Destroy the enemies of Jesus." This 
 spiritual laconism invigorated the arm of men, who perhaps wanted 
 no other stimulative than the hopes of obtaining the immense pro- 
 perty of the besieged. The same author also asserts, that a venerable 
 rabbi, who was highly esteemed among his brethren, first proposed 
 to them to perish by suicide, in order to elude the tortures which 
 they expected would be inflicted upon them if they fell into the hands 
 of their enemies. Curiosities of Literature, vol. ii. p. 427. 
 
 t Basuage, p. 638. Anderson, vol. i. p. 224. Macpherson, vol. i. 
 p. 83.
 
 228 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 church, with great solemnity. They also entered 
 and plundered the desolate houses which belonged 
 to the Jews. The king, incensed at this insult to 
 his authority, ordered the bishop of Ely, at that 
 time chief justice of the realm, to make severe ex- 
 amples of the guilty. But before he arrived in York- 
 shire, the principal offenders had fled into Scotland, 
 and the city of London. Imputing what had hap- 
 pened to the ungoverned fury of the multitude, the 
 prelate contented himself with depriving the high 
 sheriff and governor of their offices, and levying fines 
 upon the most opulent of the inhabitants.* 
 
 A. D. 1199.] The cruel persecutions which the 
 Jews suffered during the reign of Richard, had in- 
 duced many of the wealthiest among them to leave 
 the kingdom. The consequent diminution of the 
 revenue was so sensibly felt, that John, upon his 
 accession to the throne, used various arts to allure 
 them to return. He granted them, upon receiving 
 a large sum of money, a charter which confirmed 
 all their ancient privileges ; and allowed them to hold 
 land, to build synagogues, and name a high priest 
 by the title of Presbyter Judaeorum.f Many of 
 this oppressed people returned, and were afterwards 
 more cruelly plundered than ever. Their exorbitant 
 
 * Basnage, p. 688. Smollet's History of England, vol. ii. p. 227. 
 When the king employed Granville the justiciary to inquire into 
 the authors of these crimes, the guilt was found to involve so many 
 of the most considerable citizens, that it was deemed more prudent 
 to drop the prosecution, and very few suffered the punishment due to 
 this enormity. Hume's History of England, vol. i. p. 351. 
 
 t By the canon law no Jews could erect a synagogue; for if they 
 attempted to build these places of worship they might be seized by 
 the crown. Matthew Paris'* History of England. JVacpher$on 0n 
 Commerce.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 229 
 
 usury, united with the religious prejudices of the 
 age, had rendered them so odious to the people, that 
 they were continually demanding their expulsion, 
 or rather extermination. But the English kings 
 found a more advantageous way of punishing them 
 by heavy fines. This procedure proved to the Jews 
 that their extortions would not only be tolerated, but 
 encouraged, if they were well paid for. This com- 
 pelled them to rise in their demands upon those who 
 applied to them for the use of money. And thus 
 a system of usurious oppression was at the same time 
 prohibited by law, and sanctioned by the practice 
 of the sovereigns, who used them as their instru- 
 ments to fleece the people in order to fill their own 
 coffers.* 
 
 A. D. 1210.] King John, regardless of the pri- 
 vileges which the Jews had purchased from him in 
 the beginning of his reign, ordered the whole of 
 them, women as well as men, to be imprisoned and 
 tormented till they should pay 66,000 marks. The 
 ransom required from a wealthy Jew of Bristol, 
 was 10,000 marks of silver; and on his refusing to 
 pay that ruinous fine, he ordered one of his teeth 
 to be extracted every day, to which the unhappy 
 
 * The kings even went so far as to claim the whole property of the 
 Jews. They were to reside only in such places as they assigned them, 
 so that their officers might on all occasions find them and their fami- 
 lies. They were not suffered to remove without special license. They 
 were banished, executed, and subjected to fines and ransoms whenever 
 the kings thought proper, and were sold or mortgaged to those who 
 would advance money on their assignment. They were always obliged 
 to wear a disgraceful mark of distinction on their garments. The 
 revenue arising from their wealth was so great, that there was a par- 
 ticular office established for the management of it, called the fix- 
 chequer of the Jews. Molloy de Jure Maritime, p. 407, 4o
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 man submitted seven days, and on the eighth agreed 
 to satisfy the king's rapacity. Isaac, a Jew of Nor- 
 wich, became bound to pay 10,000 marks. It is 
 asserted by some historians,* that the king, not 
 satisfied with the vast sums extorted from this mi- 
 serable people, confiscated all their property, and 
 expelled them from the kingdom. It appears, how- 
 ever, that they soon returned. 
 
 A. D. 1216.] Henry III. liberated such Jews 
 as were in prison, and ordered them to be protected 
 against the cruelty of the Crusaders.f In 1233, this 
 monarch founded a seminary, where Jewish converts 
 might be supported without labour or usury. This 
 induced many of the nation to profess Christianity ; 
 and the house continued till after their expulsion 
 from England. J 
 
 Upon a petition of the inhabitants of Newcastle, 
 the king granted them the inhospitable privilege, 
 that no Jew should reside among them. During 
 this reign, the archbishop of Canterbury, and the 
 bishops of Lincoln and Norwich, in order to expel 
 the Jews for want of sustenance, published injunc- 
 tions through their respective dioceses, that no Chris- 
 tian should presume to sell them any provisions 
 under pain of excommunication. The prior of 
 Dunstable, however, about the same period, granted 
 to several Jews liberty to reside within his domains, 
 
 * Matthew Paris. Macpherson, vol. i. p. 376. 
 
 t The Jews were so deeply alarmed at the persecution which their 
 brethren in France, Spain, and Germany, suffered at this time from 
 the Crusaders, that they purchased an edict from the king to preserve 
 them from similar outrages. Basnagc, p. 678. 
 
 $ Basnage, p. 679.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 in consideration of the annual payment of two silver 
 spoons.* 
 
 A. D. 1235.] The Jews of Norwich were ac- 
 cused of having stolen a Christian child and kept 
 him a year, that they might circumcise and crucify 
 him at the ensuing passover; but being detected 
 previously to that period, they suffered a severe pu- 
 nishment. In London they were also accused of 
 murder, f and, after enduring various vexations and 
 torments, were deprived of a third part of all their 
 estates. This, however, did not satisfy the insa- 
 tiable king, who soon after renewed his extortions. 
 This wretched people were accused of coining false 
 money, and counterfeiting the prince's seal ; and 
 under these pretences were loaded with enormous 
 taxes. In 1241, 20,000 marks were exacted from 
 them. Two years after, a Jew, named Aaron, of 
 York, was compelled to pay four gold and four 
 thousand silver marks. Seven years after, the same 
 man was accused of forgery, and condemned to pay 
 four thousand marks of gold and fourteen thousand 
 of silver. The high penalty imposed upon him, 
 which it seems he was thought able to pay, may be 
 deemed by some rather a presumption of his in- 
 nocence than of his guilt. J 
 
 A. D. 1254.] New supplies were demanded 
 
 * Monthly Magazine, 1796. 
 
 i It appears probable, that most, if not all the accusations of this 
 kind were made against the Jews, to give a better pretence for ex- 
 torting their money ; for, according to Basnage, those of London were 
 accused of murder, on their refusal to pay the great sums the king 
 demanded. The least surmise, made upon the slightest foundation, 
 obtained credit among their enemies, who sought their destruction. 
 
 J Hume's History of England.
 
 232 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 from the Jews for carrying on the Spanish war. 
 Irritated to the highest degree by this oppression, 
 they requested permission to depart from England 
 for some more propitious and friendly country.* 
 But this they were refused, and compelled to pay 
 part of the contribution. The following year the 
 king renewed these extortions. He represented, 
 that notwithstanding the taxes he had raised, he still 
 continued poor and involved in debt ; and declared, 
 that " he must have money from any hand, from any 
 quarter, or by any means." He then demanded 
 eight thousand marks of the Jews, and, upon 
 their pleading insolvency, sold them to his brother 
 Richard for that sura. It was expected he would 
 demand a rigorous payment of the debt ; but he 
 compassionated their situation, and was convinced 
 of their poverty and inability. 
 
 A. D. 1262.] The hatred of the people against 
 the Hebrew nation had, during the reign of Henry, 
 arrived at such a height, that, when the barons 
 appeared in arms against the king, they endeavoured 
 to attach the citizens of London to their interest by 
 massacreing seven hundred of this devoted race. 
 An attempt, which was made by one of the nation 
 to oblige a Christian to pay an enormous interest for 
 a loan of money, is said to have afforded a pretence 
 
 * Elias, a London Jew, undertook to plead for his brethren before 
 the council ; and made a pathetic speech, representing the impos- 
 sibility of their paying the sum demanded. Several instances are re- 
 lated by Basnage of the Jews bribing their judges to be favourable to 
 them. In particular, John Lunel, though in the ecclesiastical line, 
 was accused of receiving large sums from many Jews for his pro- 
 tecting them at the bar, and diminishing their taxes. Page 679.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 233 
 
 for this barbarous act.* They first plundered their 
 houses, and burnt their new synagogue to the 
 ground, f It was however rebuilt ; but in 1270 
 taken from them by the king and given to the friars 
 penitents, who had complained that " they were not 
 able to make the body of Christ in quiet for the great 
 howlings the Jews made during their worship."]; 
 
 A. D. 1276.] In the third year of the reign of 
 Edward I. a law passed the commons concerning 
 Judaism, which seemed to promise this unhappy 
 people a qualified security. The apparent design of 
 it was to introduce a regularity in the revenue ex- 
 acted from them, which had hitherto consisted of 
 arbitrary taxes levied upon them by the king. This 
 statute prohibited the usury of the Jews, but allowed 
 them to purchase houses and lands. No Christian 
 was, however, permitted to lodge in their dwellings ; 
 and every Jew above seven years of age was obliged 
 to wear a peculiar mark of two cables joined upon 
 his upper garment. 
 
 * Macpherson on Commerce. 
 
 t This synagogue was built during the time the Jews were 
 most favoured by king Henry; and surpassed in magnificence the 
 Christian churches. After this synagogue was seized by the king, 
 it was dedicated to the blessed virgin. M. Paris'* Hist, of England, 
 p. 393. 
 
 i The learned author of Anglia Judaica observes, " that the friars 
 were situated in Old Jewry, and having but a small dark chapel 
 belonging to their friary, thought the Jews' fine synagogue which 
 stood next to it, more convenient for them, and therefore begged it 
 of the king, and furnished him with that reason for it." David Levi'i 
 Letters to Priestley, p. 6. 
 
 ^ Among other curious particulars contained in this statute, with 
 regard to the terms on which the Jews were tolerated in England, by 
 the second section, " the good Christians were not to take above half 
 their substance." Obnervations an the Statute*, p. 180. 
 
 r - !-<.-. .
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 A. D. 1287.] King Edward, however, whose 
 prejudices against this unhappy people were in- 
 creased by his expedition into the holy land, treated 
 them with great rigour. He forbade their selling or 
 assigning their debts without his license. He 
 ordered all their repositories throughout the kingdom 
 to be searched, and established an inquisition to take 
 cognizance of those who neglected to wear the dis- 
 tinguishing badges. The oppression and misery 
 under which they continually groaned appear to 
 have rendered them regardless of character ; and 
 the frequent extortion of vast sums from them* 
 seems to have made them imagine every method jus- 
 tifiable, which they could take to indemnify them- 
 selves. They were accused of adulterating the 
 coin, circulating counterfeit money, and making 
 fraudulent exchanges. In consequence of their 
 guilt, and the outcry raised against them, all the 
 Jews in England were imprisoned on one day, and 
 two hundred and eighty executed in London, besides 
 vast numbers in other parts of the kingdom. Their 
 houses and lands, as well as the goods of multitudes, 
 were sold and confiscated. The king, lest it should 
 be suspected that the riches of the sufferers were the 
 chief part of their guilt, ordered a moiety of the 
 money raised by these confiscations to be set apart, 
 and bestowed upon such as were willing to be con- 
 verted to Christianity. But resentment was more 
 prevalent with them than any temptation from their 
 
 * It was computed, that the Jews paid the crown in the space of 
 seven years, viz. from the fiftieth year of Henry III. to the second 
 year of Edward I. no less than four hundred and twenty thousand 
 pounds, or two hundred and sixty thousand pounds of our modern 
 money. Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. p. 322.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 235 
 
 poverty ; and very few could be induced by inte- 
 rest to embrace the religion of their persecutors.* 
 
 A. D. 1290.] About this time king Edward, 
 prompted by his zeal and rapacity., ordered the Jews 
 to be banished from the kingdom, and never to 
 return, upon pain of death. He seized at once 
 their whole property, and allowed them only money 
 sufficient to bear their expences into foreign coun- 
 tries, where new persecutions and extortions awaited 
 them.f But the seamen of the cinque ports 
 despoiled most of them of this small pittance, and 
 even threw some hundreds of this miserable people 
 into the sea. The king inflicted a capital punish- 
 ment upon the perpetrators of this crime. The 
 number of those who were expelled amountecTto 
 sjxj;een^thpjisaiid five hundred and eleven. Edward 
 had previously banished them from his territories in 
 France. After this expulsion, the Jews never ap- 
 peared again in a body in England during three 
 hundred and fifty years. J 
 
 * Basnage, p. 680. Macpherson, vol. i. p. 438. Hume, vol. it. 
 p. 4. 
 
 t The clergy were so well pleased with the banishment of the 
 Jews, that they granted a tenth of their benefices to the king ; and 
 afterwards joined with the nobility in obliging him with a fifteenth of 
 their temporalities, to make some amends for the loss he sustained by 
 the expulsion of a people, from whom his predecessors had exacted 
 considerable subsidies in the emergency of affairs. Smollet, vol. i. 
 p. 140. 
 
 Anderson on Commerce, vol. i. p. 322. Macpherson. vol. i, 
 p. 450. Henry's History of Britain, vol. iv. p. 46.
 
 236 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 State of the Jews in France. They are expelled the kingdom by 
 Philip Augustus. They are severely persecuted under the reign of 
 Lewis IX. who at length banishes them from his dominions. Severe 
 laws enacted against them by the duke of Brittany, and the 
 councils of Lyons and Vienne. The Jews are recalled by Philip 
 the Bold. They are banished by Philip the Fair, and recalled 
 by Lewis XI. Irruption of the shepherds, and their cruelty. The 
 Jews are accused of causing the rivers, wells, &c. to be poisoned. 
 The terrible punishment they suffered for this supposed crime. 
 They are banished by Philip the Tall. They invent bills of ex- 
 change. They are recalled by John II. They are accused of 
 various crimes, and cruelly treated during the reign of Charles VI. 
 They are finally expelled the French dominions. 
 
 WHILE the Jews in England were enduring all 
 kinds of oppression and misery, their brethren in 
 Prance were subjected to similar sufferings and per- 
 secution. About the year 1182, King Philip, sur- 
 named the August,, under pretence of piety and zeal 
 for the honour of God, banished them from his do- 
 minions,* and confiscated their estates. They were 
 permitted to retain only what could be collected from 
 the sale of their furniture ; for which they found it 
 difficult to obtain purchasers. It is even said, that 
 they were robbed of the small sums they were ena- 
 bled to raise, and reduced to the greatest misery, 
 and that many fell victims to these tyrannical pro- 
 ceedings. Soon after, however, the king ordered 
 them to be recalled ; and upon finding that this 
 measure excited the resentment of the Zealots, he 
 
 * The murder of a youth named Richard, was laid to their charge, 
 and served as a pretence for expelling them from France. Picart 
 p. 173.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 237 
 
 excused himself by alleging-, that his object was to 
 extort money from them to defray the expences of 
 the crusade.* 
 
 A. D. 1218.] After the Jews were resettled in 
 the kingdom, they resumed their former usurious 
 practices, and accumulated wealth, with which they 
 purchased lands.f The king at first connived at 
 their extortions, because they had bought his pro- 
 tection ; but, upon the remonstrance of his people,, 
 new laws were enacted to remedy this evil. 
 
 A. D. 1230.] Lewis IX. surnamed the Saint, 
 in the beginning of his reign called a council at 
 Melun ; in which a new law was enacted, expressly 
 prohibiting all his subjects from borrowing any 
 money of the Jews. It appears from various edicts, 
 that the effects of all this unhappy people who were 
 settled in the kingdom belonged to the barons, 
 within whose territories they had fixed their resi- 
 dence. They were forbidden by the law to change 
 their abode without the permission of their lord, 
 who was empowered to follow and claim them as 
 fugitive slaves even in the royal domain. It also 
 appears that they were regarded as an object of 
 traffic, and transferred with the land from one 
 proprietor to another, and sometimes sold separately, 
 their value being estimated according to their talents 
 
 * Basnage, p. 636. 
 
 t During the reign of Philip Augustus, the Jews were in some 
 measure the property of the lord in whose territories they resided ; 
 but servitude did not always prevent them from becoming the pos- 
 sessors of land. We even find that in France they were the owners 
 of vast domains ; yet it may be readily perceived that it was a matter 
 of no great difficulty to deprive these of their wealth, who were 
 not masters of their own persons. Gregoire, p. 10.
 
 23b HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and industry. If a Jew became a convert to Chris- 
 tianity, the whole of his property was confiscated to 
 the use of his lord.* The passion for extorting 
 wealth from this miserable race was so vehement, 
 " that a conversion was considered as a bankruptcy, 
 and even paradise did not possess the right of 
 
 asylum."t 
 
 Saint Lewis not only sanctioned and confirmed, 
 but even extended these oppressive laws. He or- 
 dered the Jews to be severely fined if they neglected 
 to wear a distinguishing and disgraceful badge on 
 their garments, and prohibited them from having 
 any intercourse with the Christians. During his 
 reign, when a Jew appeared in evidence against a 
 Christian, he was compelled to swear by the ten 
 names of God ; and his oath was accompanied with 
 a thousand imprecations upon his own head, if he 
 deviated from the truth. The person who admi- 
 nistered the oath thus addressed him, " May the 
 Lord God send you a continual fever or ague, if 
 you are guilty of perjury ; may he destroy you 
 in his anger, you, and your family, and your 
 effects ; may the sword and death, fear and inqui- 
 
 * This singular custom of confiscating all the goods of the Jews 
 
 who embraced Christianity, was first introduced into France ; and is 
 
 known only by the law which suppressed it, given at Basvilie, 1392. 
 
 - Thus by a strange and impious inconsistency, this wretched people at 
 
 >, one time incurred a severe penalty by renouncing Judaism ; at 
 
 *+\ another epoch, those in the same country, who refused to profess 
 
 I Christianity, were ordered to be burnt. The practice of confiscating 
 
 / the property of those Jews who professed Christianity began under 
 
 i the feudal government, and was continued in most parts of Europe 
 
 x_tH the end of the fourteenth century. Mimtesquieu't Works. French 
 
 Encyclopedia. 
 
 + Essay on Public Happiness, vol. ii. p. 427.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 239 
 
 etude, pursue you on all sides ; may the earth 
 swallow you up like Dathan and Abiram ; may 
 all the sins of your parents, and all the male- 
 dictions contained in the law of Moses fall on your 
 head." To this dreadful imprecation the Jews were 
 to answer three times, " So be it."* 
 
 A. D. 1288.] The most signal calamity which 
 the Jews suffered during the reign of St. Lewis was 
 a persecution raised against them by the Parisians, 
 on acount, as was pretended, of their sacrificing 
 some Christian children on Good Friday, and of 
 using their blood at the solemnity of the passover. 
 For this imputed act of murder and impiety, they 
 were cruelly slaughtered in the metropolis. The 
 persecution was also extended to Brie, Touraine, 
 Anjou, Poitou, and Maine ; in which places up- 
 wards of two thousand five hundred Jews^ who 
 refused to embrace Christianity, were put to death 
 by the most cruel tortures. Their sufferings would 
 probably have been prolonged, had not pope Gre- 
 gory IX. interposed, and written to St. Lewis, 
 requesting him to allow them liberty of conscience. 
 
 During the king's imprisonment in the holylandf 
 a crusade was formed in his kingdom of simple shep- 
 herds, whose professed object was to march thither 
 and release him. They grounded their chimerical 
 design upon revelations, and pretended they had the 
 gift of working miracles. The enthusiastic fury 
 spread till their army amounted to an hundred thou- 
 sand men, who marched to Bourges, plundered the 
 
 * Gifford's History of France, vol. i. p. 436, 437 450. 
 t St. Lewis was at the head of the sixth and seventh crusades in 
 1248 and 1870.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Jews, and seized all their books in order to commit 
 them to the flames. At length, however, they were 
 subdued, and many of them put to death.* 
 
 The following- year a conference was held in the 
 presence of Blanche, the queen regent, during 
 St. Lewis's absence, between rabbi Jechiel, a learned 
 cabbalist, and Nicholas Donim, a celebrated Jewish 
 convert. The French authors assert, that Jechiel, 
 baffled and mortified by the powerful arguments of 
 his opponent, retired in disgust to Jerusalem. While 
 the king was under confinement in the holy land, he 
 sent an edict to France to expel the Jews from his 
 dominions, which was punctually executed by the 
 queen regent. 
 
 A. D. 1239.] The Israelites being numerous and 
 great usurers in Brittany, the nobility and merchants 
 united in a complaint against them to John le Roux, 
 the duke. An act was passed which declared, that 
 at the request of the bishops, abbots, barons, and 
 vassals in Brittany, all the Jews should be for ever 
 banished from that province. By this law all their 
 debtors were exonerated, and their effects ordered 
 to be retained; and those who had recently killed 
 a Jew were forbidden to be disturbed. The king 
 of France was to be requested to expel this hated 
 race, and confiscate their property. The duke en- 
 gaged for himself and his successors, for the present 
 and future to support this law; and, if he violated 
 it, he authorized the bishops to excommunicate him, 
 and confiscate his lands in their dioceses without 
 regard to any privileges. f 
 
 * Basnage, p. 672. t Ibid. p. 671. Gregoire, p. 248.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 241 
 
 A. D. 1240.] The celebrated council of Lyons 
 passed also a decree enjoining all Christian princes 
 who had Jews in their dominions, under penalty of 
 excommunication, to compel them to refund to the 
 Crusaders all the money they had obtained by usury. 
 This oppressed people were also prohibited from 
 demanding any debts due to them from the Crusaders 
 till their death or return. 
 
 The council of Vienna, held in the same century, 
 defended the Christians against the exorbitant usury 
 of the Jewish nation. This people, however, not- 
 withstanding these decrees and precautions, in some 
 provinces of France, particularly in Languedoc, 
 were raised to the magistracy,* and in most parts 
 of the kingdom kept Christian slaves. 
 
 A. D. 1275.] Philip the Bold, the successor of 
 St. Lewis, was induced to recal the Jews in order 
 to promote commerce, effect the circulation of money, 
 and improve his exhausted finances. They became 
 powerful and affluent under the reign of this prince. 
 In 1290, Edward king of England, banished this 
 people from Gascony, and his other dominions in 
 France, f 
 
 A. D. 1300.] The example of the English mo- 
 narch was followed by Philip the Fair, who published 
 an edict by which all the Jews who refused to profess 
 Christianity were expelled the kingdom, never to 
 return upon pain of death. It is allowed, that this 
 
 * The city of Montpelier in particular had been frequently ia 
 danger of seeing a Jew at the head of the magistracy ; upon which 
 account, William IV. lord of it, found himself obliged to forbid it 
 by his last will, as his grandfather had done about fifty years before. 
 Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. Sit. 
 
 t Hume's History of England. 
 
 R
 
 242 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 unhappy people were sacrificed to the king's extreme 
 avarice,* for he seized upon all their wealth, and 
 only allowed them money to defray their expenses 
 to the frontiers. Many perished by the way with 
 fatigue and want, and those who survived retired 
 into Germany. Hence the Jews of that country 
 supposed themselves of French extraction. .Among 
 those who escaped exile by receiving baptism^ many 
 relapsecTand returned to J udais m . 
 
 The conversion of the celebrated Nicolas de Lyra, 
 however, appears to have been sincere. He wrote 
 a learned treatise against his nation, and spent the 
 remainder of his life in the explanation of the scrip- 
 tures. Most of the proselytes think themselves 
 obliged to give a testimony of their faith by writing 
 against their deserted brethren; but he is said to 
 have adduced more cogent arguments against them 
 than any Jewish convert before him. He studied 
 some time in the university of Paris, and then en- 
 tered into the Franciscan order. He died at his 
 convent at Verneuil in the year 1340. f 
 
 A. D. 1314.] The same avarice which caused 
 Philip to expel the Jews from France, induced Lewis 
 the Tenth, the succeeding monarch, to recal them. 
 He expected by this measure to recruit his finances, 
 and thus be enabled to reduce the Flemings to sub- 
 jection. The condition of their return was paying 
 a very heavy tax; and the time of their remaining 
 in the kingdom limited to twelve years. During 
 this period they were at liberty to engage in trade, 
 or support themselves by labour. They were allowed 
 
 * Basnage, p. 674. 
 
 t Modem Universal History, rol. xiii. p. 32 1 .
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 243 
 
 to collect their old debts, two thirds of which the 
 king claimed for himself. They were also permitted 
 to purchase synagogues, burying-places, and their 
 books, except the Talmud. But they were BOW 
 obliged, as before, to wear a particular mark of 
 distinction. They were prohibited from lending 
 money on usurious interest, written obligation, or, 
 in short, any thing but pledges. They were like- 
 wise forbidden to dispute on religion either in public 
 or private.* 
 
 A. D. 1320.] In the reign of Philip V. surnamed 
 the Tall, the shepherds and other inhabitants of the 
 country left their flocks and farms, and asserted, that 
 they were going to Jerusalem for the relief of the 
 holy land. With no other weapons than a pilgrim's 
 staff they marched in great bodies, which were in- 
 creased by the junction of the populace, which they 
 met on their way. Their leaders were two profligate 
 priests, who pretended to work miracles, and thus 
 imposed upon the credulity of the people. They 
 ravaged several of the southern provinces, broke 
 open the prison doors, and enlisted all the criminals 
 they found into their society. By these means they 
 made themselves masters of several cities, and com- 
 mitted the vilest outrages and cruelties; but more 
 particularly against the Jews. This miserable race, 
 left to the choice of death or baptism, collected their 
 most valuable effects, and fled before this tumultuous 
 rabble. A considerable number of them having 
 taken refuge in the royal castle of Verdun, in the 
 diocese of Toulouse, were there besieged by the 
 shepherds. They defended themselves with vigour 
 
 * Basnage, p. 674.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 and desperation ; and, finding* their arms fail, began 
 to throw their children over the walls in hopes to 
 excite the compassion of their enemies ; but in 
 vain.* 
 
 The shepherds set fire to the fortress, and expected 
 to satiate their rage with the slaughter of the be- 
 sieged. But the Jews perceiving there was no 
 means of escape, to avoid falling into the hands of 
 the enemy, requested one of their brethren, a young 
 man of great strength, to put them all to death. 
 The wretch accepted the fatal commission, and after 
 he had massacred five hundred he presented himself 
 >^ to the besiegers with a few children, whose lives he 
 had spared, and demanded baptism. His request, 
 however, was rejected, and he received the punish- 
 ment due to his barbarity. At length a great 
 number of the shepherds were apprehended and 
 executed at different places, particularly at Tou- 
 louse, where they had massacred all the Jews in the 
 
 city.f 
 
 A. D. 1330.] This miserable people were ten 
 years after involved in another calamity, pretended 
 to have been occasioned by their having suffered 
 themselves to be bribed by the Saracen king of Gre- 
 nada, to procure the poisoning of all the rivers, 
 wells, and reservoirs of water. A leper having de- 
 posed, that he was hired hy a certain rich Jew to 
 effect this purpose, the people in several provinces, 
 without waiting for the necessary formality, attacked 
 the Jews, and put them to the most cruel death. 
 Some, driven to despair, perished by suicide. At 
 
 * Basnage, p. 675. Gifford. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 664. Gifford, vol. i. p. 539.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 345 
 
 Paris, however, none but those who were supposed 
 guilty were destroyed. The rich were imprisoned 
 till they would discover their treasures, the greatest 
 part of which the king seized for his own use, and 
 expelled this devoted race from his dominions.* 
 
 After the Jews were banished the kingdom by 
 Philip the Tall, they took refuge in Lombardy, and 
 gave to the foreign merchants bills of exchange, 
 drawn upon those to whom they entrusted their 
 effects at parting, and those bills were accepted. 
 Thus te commerce was seen to arise from the bosom 
 of vexation and despair." f It was reserved for an \ 
 oppressed people to invent a method, by which 
 merchants in regions the most remote from each / 
 other could procure the value of their commodities / 
 without the inconvenience of transporting gold or I 
 silver. In this way the Jews often eluded the vio- J^ 
 lence and rapacity of their enemies ; the richest 
 among them frequently having none but invisible 
 effects, which they could convey imperceptibly 
 wherever they pleased. Thus they accelerated their 
 return ; for though the princes were willing to banish 
 their persons, they wished to retain their wealth. J 
 
 A. D. 1360.] In the reign of John II. the Jews 
 endeavoured to procure their recall. During the 
 king's captivity they had made several proposals 
 
 * Basnage, p. 675. Giffbrd, vol. i. p. 139, vol. ii. p. 206. 
 
 t Montesquieu's Works, vol. ii. p. 60. 
 
 J French Encyclo. Gregoire's Observations nouvelles sur les Juifs. 
 
 ^ King John was taken prisoner in 1356 by the celebrated prince 
 of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince, sou of Edward HI. of England. 
 The French king had agreed to pay three millions of gold crowns for 
 his ransom. The first payment was to be 600,000 crowns ; and a* 
 France could not then furnish the money, they were obliged to recall
 
 246 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to the regent, who evinced a disposition to grant 
 them a favour which they offered to purchase at a 
 very high price. Soon after his release John pub- 
 lished a declaration, by which he permitted them to 
 return and remain in the kingdom twenty years. 
 Besides the sum which they advanced for this privi- 
 lege, every master of a family paid twelve florins of 
 gold on his entrance into, and six florins yearly for 
 the liberty of residing in France. A general poll 
 tax was also levied upon them of one florin per 
 head. The king strictly prohibited their exorbitant 
 usury, and permitted them only to take moderate 
 interest.* 
 
 During the reign of Charles VI. the Jews were 
 accused of murdering a new convert, and other 
 crimes, f for which some were executed, others 
 scourged, and fines levied upon the synagogues. 
 These severities induced many to assume the mask 
 of Christianity. | The people, however, in 1380, 
 insisted upon their expulsion, and assembled as it is 
 said at the instigation of certain noblemen, who had 
 borrowed large sums of this persecuted race, who 
 though generally considered as the outcasts of so- 
 ciety, exerted their industry with success in the 
 acquisition of wealth. The houses of the public 
 receivers, most of whom were Jews in Lombardy, 
 were broke open ; the chests in which the money 
 
 the Jews, and sell them the liberty of trading in France. Anderson, 
 vol.i. p. 45'2- 
 
 * Gifford, vol. ii. p. 269. Basnage, p. 676. 
 
 t Charles VI. during his reign, becoming deranged in his intellect, 
 it was suspected that the Jews deprived him of his reason. Gregoire, 
 p. 22. 
 
 i Basnage, p. 676.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 24? 
 
 was deposited were seized,, and their contents emp- 
 tied into the streets ; while the registers, bonds, and 
 all other securities for money lent, were destroyed. 
 In one street alone thirty houses were pillaged, and 
 all the furniture, clothes, plate, and jewels, became 
 the prey of the populace. The Jews endeavoured 
 to preserve their lives by flight, but most of them 
 were intercepted and massacred ; while the few who 
 escaped, took refuge iu the dungeons of the Chatelet. 
 The women in despair attempted to follow their 
 husbands with their children in their arms ; but the 
 mob forced their children from them, and carried 
 them to be baptized.* 
 
 The government was too weak to inflict on the 
 insurgents the punishment which their crimes 
 deserved. The Jews, however, were re-established 
 in their habitations ; and an order was issued by the 
 council for every one to restore, under pain of 
 death, whatever he had taken from them ; but the 
 order was treated with contempt. These miserable 
 objects of oppression, after being despoiled of their 
 property, were exposed to prosecutions from those 
 who had left pledges in their hands ; but an ordi- 
 nance was passed to exempt them from the conse- 
 quences, on taking an oath, that the property which 
 was the object of the action had been taken from 
 them during the tumult, f 
 
 A. D. 1394.] In the reign of Charles VI. a 
 council, which was held on the 17th of September,, 
 passed an act for the final expulsion of the Jews 
 from France. The provost was ordered to super- 
 intend the execution of the edict, and take an inven- 
 
 * Gifford, vol. ii. p. 269. + Ibid.
 
 248 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 tory of all the effects which could be found in their 
 houses at the time of their departure. They were 
 obliged to leave the kingdom in November ; and 
 from this last exile they begin the date of their 
 years. The greater part of this persecuted people 
 retired into Germany. In the city of Metz in Lor- 
 raine they preserved their ancient privileges,* the 
 city being at the time of their expulsion a free town 
 in the imperial territories. After it was annexed to 
 the French dominions, the king of France continued 
 to tolerate the Jews who were settled there, and for 
 a long period it was the only place in the kingdom 
 where they enjoyed a privileged abode, f 
 
 Respecting the repeated accusations brought 
 against the Jews, of crucifying Christian children, 
 poisoning the rivers, &c. a late author observes, " In 
 the dark periods of the middle agesj the Jews, 
 punished but in the most dreadful manner for real 
 crimes, suffered oftener for crimes merely chimerical. 
 The relations of their sacrificing Christian children 
 are given by Christian historians. But even grant- 
 ing, that rage, madness, or a desire of revenge, may 
 
 * The Jews were established at Metz as early as the year 888, 
 since at that epoch Gorabert the dean brought some complaints 
 against them. Sigebcrt de Gemblours taught in this city in the 
 twelfth century with such success, that they eagerly resorted to hear 
 his instructions. Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 283. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 676. Clifford, vol. ii. p. 344. 
 
 * The middle age, as it is called, is considered as terminating at 
 the taking of Constantinople in the fifteenth century. Its commence- 
 ment is not so well fixed by historians, some carrying it back even to 
 the reign of Constantine, and some only to the division of the empire 
 under Theodosius. The middle age contains a period of about one 
 thousand years. The term dark age is sometimes used to express the 
 ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries, which were the most barbarous 
 portions of this dark period.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 24$ 
 
 have induced some fanatics to commit these excesses, 
 are we to consider the whole nation as culpable ? 
 
 " The poisoning of fountains by bundles of 
 herbs, or noxious mixtures, forms an accusation 
 much more absurd ; for in order to commit crimes, 
 people must be actuated by some motives, and the 
 hopes of success. But what success could the Jews 
 expect in poisoning the springs, which were con- 
 stantly renewed, and from which they themselves 
 daily drew water. Ask the physicians, if, at a time 
 when chemistry was only in its infancy, a poison 
 was known sufficiently active to produce that effect. 
 Can we allow ourselves to be persuade'd, that the 
 Jews, who were so much interested in living upon 
 good terms with other nations, should attempt crimes, / 
 the execution of which was evidently impossible ; 
 and which they must naturally expect would provoke 
 new persecutions?"* 
 
 It ought, however, to be remembered, that the 
 cruelty of professed Christians to the Jews in the 
 dark ages is no argument against the truth of that 
 sacred religion, the genuine spirit of which breathes 
 " peace on earth and good will to men." This 
 spirit was exemplified in the primitive Christians, the 
 apostles, and martyrs, and more especially in their 
 Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who prayed for 
 his persecutors, saying, " Father, forgive them,, for 
 they know not what they do."f 
 
 * Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 26. According 
 to Basnage most of these accusations against the Jews were the 
 reports of their inveterate enemies, who continually sought their de- 
 struction, p. 044. 
 
 t See Letters of certain Jews to Voltaire.
 
 250 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Jews in Spain are persecuted by the bishop of Toledo. They are 
 massacred by the Crusaders. Raymond de Penneforte attempts to 
 convert them. They are favoured by Alphonso X. and James I. 
 king of Arragon. They are deluded by an impostor, who predicted 
 the appearance of the Messiah. Irruption of the shepherds. The 
 pestilence spreads from their army. The Jews are accused of poi- 
 soning the rivers. They are favoured by Alphonso XL- Their 
 enemies conspire to destroy them. Fresh insurrections at Toledo. 
 Many Jews perish by suicide. Of the persecutions they suffered 
 at Castile and Arragon in the latter part of the fourteenth century. 
 Pope Benedict appoints a conference between them and the Chris- 
 tians. A large number of Jews profess Christianity. Of the pre- 
 tended conversions by Vincent Ferrier. Cruelty of the inquisition. 
 They are banished from Spain. Terrible distress of the refugees. 
 They are received into, and soon after expelled from Portugal. 
 
 A. D. 1209.] THE sufferings of the Jews in 
 Spain, were equally severe with those of their bre- 
 thren in England and France. At the commence- 
 ment of the thirteenth century, the bishop of Toledo 
 perceiving them to increase in number and wealth 
 excited the populace against them, and., putting 
 himself at their head, entered and plundered their 
 houses and synagogues. He endeavoured to vin- 
 dicate his conduct by accusing the Hebrews of having 
 betrayed the city when it was besieged by the Moors ; 
 but the silence of impartial historians exculpated 
 them from the charge.* 
 
 A. D. 1212.] The Crusaders, who soon after 
 assembled near Toledo, completed the work of de- 
 struction which the bigoted prelate had begun. They 
 prescribed no limits to their cruelty, but made such 
 
 * Basnage, p. 659.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 havock and carnage among this miserable people, 
 that Abarbanel, a celebrated Jewish writer, con- 
 sidered this as one of the most severe and bloody 
 persecutions which his nation ever suffered, and that 
 it caused a gTeater number to abandon Spain than 
 Moses conducted out of Egypt. The Spanish nobles 
 endeavoured to interpose their authority, and to 
 suppress these cruelties. But Ferdinand, who then 
 possessed the sovereign power, and wished to in- 
 gratiate himself with the populace by the extirpation 
 of the Albigenses and other sects, encouraged and 
 promoted the persecution.* 
 
 A. D. 1250.] During the reign of James I. 
 king of Arragon, who was distinguished for his zeal 
 for Christianity, great efforts were made to convert 
 the Jews. Raymond de Penneforte,f general of 
 the Dominicans, confessor to the king and minister 
 to the pope, used energetic measures to effect this 
 purpose. He had already, by his reputation and 
 address, suppressed the violence of the populace 
 against this unhappy people; and persuaded the 
 king that mildness and instruction were the most 
 effectual means to induce them to embrace Chris- 
 tianity. Agreeably to his benevolent plan, several 
 of the Dominican friars were chosen to learn the 
 Hebrew and Arabic languages, and directed to apply 
 themselves assiduously to the study of the scriptures, 
 that they might be enabled to dispute with the Jewish 
 rabbies in order to convince them of their errors. 
 The attempts made to convert the Jews were, how- 
 ever, in general unsuccessful; though they highly 
 
 * Basnage, p. 670. 
 
 t Raymond was canonized by pope Clement Till.
 
 252 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 esteemed Raymond for his singular humanity and 
 moderation.* 
 
 A. D. 1255.] Alphonso X. king of Castile, and 
 a celebrated astronomer, encouraged and promoted 
 learned men of all religious denominations. By his 
 order Judali de Toledo translated and improved the 
 astronomical works of Avicenna, a learned Arabic 
 writer. Isaac, the son of Cid, and other rabbies, 
 assisted him in compiling certain astronomical tables, 
 which bear the name of the king, and do honour to 
 his memory.f 
 
 Alphonso rewarded them with royal munificence, 
 and became so generous a patron to the nation, that 
 the jealousy of the Zealots was excited, and they 
 formed new plots and accusations against them. Three 
 villains of the city of Orsana, in Andalusia, threw the 
 dead body of a man into the house of a Jew, and 
 accused him of the murder. This improbable as- 
 sertion gained credit, and awakened the popular 
 fury and hatred against them. A great number of 
 Jews were inhumanly put to death, and others fled 
 for refuge to the houses of their Christian acquaint- 
 ance. The inhabitants of Palma also rose, and 
 destroyed many of this unhappy people. Upon this 
 
 * Raymond Martin, another Dominican, wrote a treatise against 
 the Jews, called " Pugio Fidei," or the " Poniard of Faith." This 
 work is considered as a learned and powerful defence of the Christian 
 religion against the arguments of the Jews. Another monk, named 
 Paul, of the same order, held a conference in the palace of the king 
 with Moses Nachmanides, a famous cabbalistical Jew. Both sides 
 claimed the victory. Paul obtained an edict from king Ferdinand, 
 enjoining the Jews to open their houses and synagogues to him, 
 and to furnish him with all their Hebrew books whenever he came to 
 dispute with them. Basnage, p. 660. 
 
 t Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 304.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 253 
 
 they sent a deputation to court to obtain the sup- 
 pression of a massacre which was so likely to prove 
 general. Their enemies also sent deputies on their 
 part, who arrived first at court, and accused them. 
 Joseph, however, who was at the head of the depu- 
 tation, and chief of the Jewish council, was so elo- 
 quent in pleading his cause before the Spanish 
 monarch, that his countrymen were acquitted of the 
 pretended murder.* 
 
 Many learned men appeared among the Jews 
 daring the time that they enjoyed the favour of the 
 king Alphonso. In this number, Meir Mithridos, 
 a native of Toledo, was eminently distinguished. 
 He was the author of a famous cabbalistical work, 
 and a volume of letters against Nachmanides and 
 Maimonides, and educated many pupils who became 
 the boast of the Jewish nation. 
 
 Nor was it only at the court of Castile that learned 
 rabbies appeared and were respected. James I. 
 king of Arragon, was so far from adopting the pre- 
 judices against them, that he applied to them for 
 moral and religious instruction.f For, though the 
 Jewish people were hated and despised by the 
 populace, and by the ignorant among the clergy, 
 they were at this time admired and encouraged by 
 the great and learned. 
 
 A. D. 1258.] Their happiness was, however, soon 
 after disturbed by a celebrated impostor named Ze- 
 chariah, who formed the design of deceiving all the 
 
 * Basnage, p. 663. 
 
 + The king, it is said, expressed an approbation of some parts of 
 the Jewish prayer books. The clergy in this age applied themselves 
 rather to controversy than devotion. Modern Universal History. 
 vol. xiii. p. 307.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 synagogues in Spain. He pretended, that by his 
 knowledge of the prophecies he had discovered the 
 exact time of the appearance of the Messiah, which 
 he predicted to be just at hand. This impostor even 
 foretold ttje very day on which this mighty deliverer 
 was to appear, who should gather together his elect 
 people, subdue their enemies, and replace them in 
 their ancient inheritance. Deceived by this pro- 
 phecy and expectation of the Messiah, the Jews 
 prepared themselves for the event by fasting and 
 prayer, and at the time appointed repaired to the 
 synagogues clothed in white. But discovering the 
 imposture, they became ashamed of their blind cre- 
 dulity, and were exposed to the insults and derision 
 of their enemies.* 
 
 A. D. 1320.] But the most terrible calamity 
 which they suffered during this period was by the 
 body of shepherds who had committed such fatal 
 ravages in France. Having become numerous and 
 powerful they entered Spain, and carried fire and 
 sword into several provinces. The Jews, in parti- 
 cular, were the victims of their rapacity and cruelty. 
 Many preserved their lives by surrendering their 
 property and renouncing their religion. Those 
 who could not be induced to make these sacrifices 
 were instantly and inhumanly put to death.f 
 
 The pestilence which arose in the army of the 
 shepherds, and extended through the neighbouring 
 countries, was productive of new evils to this un- 
 happy people. The desolation occasioned by this 
 destructive scourge, was attributed to their malice 
 
 * Basnage, p. 664. Modern Universal History, TO!, xiii. 
 t Basnage, p. 604.
 
 HISTORT OF THE JEWS. 255 
 
 against the Christians. They were accused of 
 having bribed the peasants of Mesura to poison the 
 rivers, and of having furnished them with poison for 
 that purpose. This absurd allegation* gained cre- 
 dit, and caused great numbers of Jews tg be impri- 
 soned and tried. After a long confinement, how- 
 ever, they acquitted themselves of the crimes laid to 
 their charge. But the king, who was unwilling to 
 confess and condemn the injustice of his conduct, 
 pretended that he detained them in prison in order 
 to effect their conversion ; and caused fifteen thou- 
 sand who refused to receive baptism to be put to a 
 cruel death. 
 
 A. D. 1333.] Alphonso XI. king of Castile, 
 was the friend and protector of the Jews, being 
 principally directed in his affairs by Joseph, one of 
 the nation, whom he had appointed intendant of his 
 finances. This monarch was, however, prevailed 
 upon by his mutinous and discontented subjects to 
 pass a decree against them, on account of a pre- 
 tended indignity offered to the sacrament by a 
 Jewish boy. The clamour of the populace was so 
 violent, that a council was convened to deliberate 
 whether they should be put to death or banished. 
 The latter measure being preferred, they were com- 
 manded to abandon the kingdom in three months. 
 Happily for them, the prince royal obtained a 
 revisal of the process, by which it appeared, that a 
 young Christian had inadvertently committed the 
 supposed crime. On this deposition, the king 
 
 * The inventors of this palpable calumny were those who owed 
 money to the Jews, and who wished to be delivered from their em- 
 barrassment without paying it. Gregoire, p. 28.
 
 256 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 recalled his edict. The acquittal of the Jews highly 
 mortified and exasperated their enemies, who as- 
 serted, that the Christian had been bribed to give an 
 evidence in their favour. In another city many of the 
 nation werf put to death for the pretended offence.* 
 
 A. D. 1349.] Soon after, a fresh insurrection 
 against the Jews broke out in Toledo, and their 
 terror and desperation on this occasion baffles all 
 description. One of them, perceiving the Zealots 
 breaking into the house in order to massacre all they 
 found, in a phrenzy of rage and despair killed his 
 relations who had taken refuge with him, and then 
 destroyed himself in order to avoid falling into the 
 hands of his enemies, f 
 
 A. D. J396.] In the reign of Henry III. of 
 Castile, Martin, archdeacon of Astigi, by vehe- 
 mently preaching against the Jews through the 
 streets of Seville and Cordova, exasperated the 
 populace to such a degree, that they massacred 
 them in both places. The persecution spread to 
 Toledo, Valencia, and Barcelona, where some were 
 plundered, others murdered, while the most artful 
 professed Christianity in order to escape such acts of 
 violence. The populous synagogues of Seville and 
 Cordova became almost deserted. These wretched 
 fugitives, who had fled to Andalusia and other pro- 
 vinces, were put to death by the inhabitants. King 
 John, the son and successor of Henry, treated the 
 Jews with equal cruelty. During his reign, many 
 perished by being deprived of the necessaries of life, 
 and those who survived were compelled to wear a 
 disgraceful mark of distinction. J 
 
 * Basnage, p. 665. + Basuajje, p. 667. + Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 25? 
 
 The situation of the Jews in Arragon was not 
 much more eligible than that of their brethren in 
 Castile. That kingdom was involved in civil and 
 intestine wars, which could only be supported by 
 large imposts. The heaviest taxes were levied upon 
 a people who had been so long the miserable objects 
 of oppression. But though they were exposed to 
 continual vexations and persecutions, several learned 
 men, during the fourteenth century, appeared among 
 those in Spain. In particular, two physicians* of 
 the Castilian king acquired great celebrity. One of 
 these famous men, named Meir Algudes, was chief 
 of all the synagogues in Spain. He translated 
 Aristotle's Ethics, and flourished till the year 
 1405. f 
 
 A. D. 1412. ] At the commencement of the fif- 
 teenth century, the antipope Benedict XIII. who 
 was then in Arragon, distinguished himself by his 
 zeal for the conversion of the Jews. To efifect this 
 purpose, he summoned the most celebrated rabbies 
 in Spain to attend a conference which he appointed 
 for religious discussions between them and the Chris- 
 tians. Jerome de Sancta Fide, who had deserted 
 the synagogue and embraced Christianity, persuaded 
 the pope to take this step, by assuring him that he 
 could convince his countrymen, by passages out of 
 the Talmud, that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. 
 This convert was not only the chief promoter, but 
 the principal conductor of the dispute. Rabbi Vidal 
 
 * The learned Dr. Friend in his History of Medicine asserts, that 
 the Jews were the princes of that science in Europe during the 
 middle ages. Gregoire, p. 218. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 680.
 
 258 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 was chosen to defend the Jewish religion. The 
 Jews at this time expressed unusual respect for the 
 pope, who entertained them with politeness, and 
 defrayed their expences.* But they treated Jerome 
 with great asperity, their minds being exceedingly 
 embittered against him, both for deserting the syna- 
 gogue, and involving them in a dispute from which 
 they apprehended fatal consequences, f 
 
 The tenour and result of this famous conference 
 is variously related by Christian and Jewish histo- 
 rians. The latter, however, confess that they 
 bribed several bishops to persuade Benedict to break 
 off the dispute, from an apprehension that it would 
 exasperate their enemies against them. But the 
 pope insisted upon Jerome's performing his engage- 
 ment ; and four or five thousand Jews were con- 
 verted upon reading his relation of the conference, 
 which he presented to this pontiff. The high 
 celebrity of this performance induced Joseph Albo, J 
 J a Spanish rabbi, to compile his articles of faith, in 
 N order to confirm the wavering minds of his brethren. 
 1 He pretended, that a belief of the future coming of 
 / the Messiah was not necessary to salvation ; and 
 ( censured Mai mon ides, without naming him, for 
 \ having made this an essential part of his creed. He 
 
 * They, it is said, even carried their impious flattery so far as to 
 apply to him the words of David's petition to God ; " Shew us thy 
 mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation." Basnage, p. 680. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 680. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. 
 
 This rabbi, finding the arguments which were adduced to prove 
 that the Messiah was come made a great impression upon the Jews, 
 maintained, that a belief of his coming was out an essential article 
 of faith, and wished to have it expunged from the creed of Maime- 
 nides. Basnage, p. 344.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 259 
 
 reduced the fundamental dogmas of the Jewish 
 faith to three, viz. the existence of God, the law of 
 Moses, and future rewards and punishments.* 
 
 A. D. 1413.] The following year Benedict XIII. 
 published his constitution against the Talmud,, and 
 the usury of the Jews. But, as he was deposed 
 soon after, all his ordinances were revoked; and it 
 does not appear that his plans were followed by 
 Martin of Florence his successor. 
 
 A. D. 1413.] Vincent Perrier, who has been 
 canonized for his miracles and zeal for converting 
 the Jews, appeared at this time. The Christians 
 compute, that the number whom he induced to 
 abandon their religion amounted to twenty-five thou- 
 sand. According to the Jewish accounts still more 
 deserted the synagogues. But whatever was their 
 number, it appears that the greatest part of them 
 renounced their former religion, merely to avoid 
 severe and cruel treatment. They secretly circum- 
 cised their children, observed the passover, and 
 neglected none of the Jewish rites and ceremonies. f 
 
 The dissimulation of the pretended converts did 
 not long pass unnoticed by the clergy, who ac- 
 quainted Ferdinand, the Spanish monarch, and the 
 pope Sixtus IV. with their conduct. Exasperated 
 
 * Addison's Present State of the Jews, p. 17. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 689. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 347. 
 A small number of Jews were, however, esteemed sincere converts; 
 among whom Solomon, the son of Levi, was included. Having read 
 a work of Thomas Aquinas, he embraced Christianity, and took the 
 name of Paul of Burgos. Soon after his baptism he was raised to 
 the bishopric of that city, which was his native place, and afterward* 
 to the patriarchate of Aquileia. He left a SOD who succeeded him in 
 the bishopric, and wrote a history of Spain. Basnage, p. 690.
 
 260 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 at (he affront offered to the Christian religion, the 
 tribunal of the inquisition* was directed to pay close 
 attention to the behaviour of these delinquents ; and 
 all Christian princes were exhorted to assist in 
 bringing them to condign punishment. This de- 
 cree, which was published in most parts of Spain, 
 filled the Jews with such consternation, that seven- 
 teen thousand immediately returned to the church, 
 and submitted themselves to whatever censure or 
 penance should be inflicted. Two thousand of this 
 miserable people, part of whom confessed that Jesus 
 Christ was the true Messiah, were put to death. 
 Many were sentenced to a long imprisonment, and, 
 after regaining their liberty, were ordered to wear 
 two red crosses on their upper garments, in ac- 
 knowledgment that they had deserved the flames. 
 Nor were the sacred repositories of the dead spared ; 
 human bodies were disinterred and burned ; their 
 property was confiscated, and their children were 
 declared incapable of succeeding to the possessions 
 of their parents. Notwithstanding the watchfulness 
 of the inquisition, many found means to emigrate; 
 others -were more careful to conceal their dissimu- 
 
 * The court of the inquisition was introduced into Spain in the 
 fifteenth century by Ferdinand and Isabella ; and was principally 
 intended to prevent the relapse of the Jews and Moors, who had 
 been, or pretended to be, converted to the faith of the church of 
 Rome. Torquemade, a Dominican, confessor to queen Isabella, pre. 
 tended that the dissimulation of the Jews would greatly injure the 
 cause of religion. The queen listened with respectful deference to 
 her confessor, and at length gained over the king to consent to the 
 establishment of this barbarous tribunal. Its jurisdiction extended 
 over all who in their practice or opinions differed from the established 
 church. Walton's History of the Reign of Philip II. vol. ii. 
 p. 134, 135.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 261 
 
 lation ; and some endeavoured to be better instructed 
 previously to their professing Christianity.* 
 
 A. D. 1445.] The populace" still continued to 
 oppress and insult this unhappy people, and at- 
 tributed all the public calamities to the obstinacy of 
 the recusant, or the hypocrisy of the conforming 
 Jews. At this time an insurrection of the inha- 
 bitants of Toledo took place, on account of a 
 pretended infringement on their privileges. The 
 resentment of a mutinous people was principally 
 levelled against the Jews, whose houses they plun- 
 dered, and murdered all who opposed them. After 
 the tumult subsided, laws were enacted which ex- 
 cluded the new converts from all offices of trust and 
 honour. 
 
 The Spanish clergy, however, took them under 
 their protection. The dean of the cathedral church 
 in the city particularly exerted all his eloquence in 
 their favour, and endeavoured to interest- the 
 feelings of the people by representing, that many 
 illustrious families, who had intermarriedf with the 
 converted Jews, would be deprived of all their em- 
 ployments by the execution of these laws. All his 
 efforts would have proved ineffectual, had not pope 
 Nicolas I. published a bull, by which he excom- 
 municated all who were for excluding the Jewish 
 or Pagan proselytes from any civil or ecclesiastical 
 preferment. This decree of the sovereign pontiff 
 
 * Basnage, p. f.91. Modern Univer. Hist. 
 
 t A number of the Grandees, who had nothing left but their titles, 
 had married into Jewish families in order to repair the losses they 
 had sustained by their prodigality. Voltaire's fforks, vol. Hi. 
 p. 33.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 was so displeasing to the Spanish nation, that he 
 was obliged to issue a second bull to confirm it; and 
 Mariana is almost the only Spanish writer who has 
 given it a place in his history.* 
 
 A. D. 1492.] Soon after Ferdinand and Isabella 
 had completed their reduction of the Moors, they 
 issued an edict, commanding the Jews either to 
 embrace Christianity, or quit the kingdom in four 
 months. The people were at the same time pro- 
 hibited, under the severest penalties, from affording 
 provisions or any other assistance to those who should 
 be found in Spain after this period. Their attach- 
 ment to the law of Moses was superior to every other 
 consideration; and the Spanish historians affirm., 
 that eight hundred thousand persons abandoned 
 the kingdom pursuant to this decree. The Jewish 
 writers make the number two hundred thousand 
 families ; which, reckoning only five to each family, 
 must have amounted to a million of souls, f 
 
 The reputation which the celebrated rabbi Isaac 
 Abarbanel enjoyed at court, could not prevent his 
 being included among the exiles. J He was born at 
 Lisbon, 1437, of an ancient family, who boasted 
 a lineal descent from king David. His parents took 
 
 * Mariana's History of Spain. Basnage, p. 691. t Ibid. 
 
 * Rabbi Isaac Karo was another learned exile. He retired first to 
 Portugal, and thence to Jerusalem. He lived a perfect recluse in this 
 city, and devoted himself to study. He composed a Commentary on 
 the Pentateuch, partly cabbalistical and partly literal. Modern 
 Universal History. 
 
 ^ He founded his pretensions on the testimony of Isaac AbenGeath, 
 who says io one of his commentaries on the scriptures, that at the 
 time of the destruction of the first temple, two families of the race 
 of David went into Spain ; one of whom settled at Lucena, the other 
 at Seville; and that from the latter Abarbanel was descended. After
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 263 
 
 great care of his education, and, as he possessed 
 distinguished abilities, he made a rapid progress in 
 the sciences, especially sacred literature. But his 
 ambition to figure at court induced him to turn his 
 chief attention to politics, finance, and commerce. 
 
 During the reign of Alphonso V. king of Portugal, 
 he was chosen one of his privy council, and filled 
 his station with dignity and splendour till the death 
 of this monarch. But being discarded in the reign 
 of his successor, who hated the Jews, he fled to 
 Castile. He was graciously received by Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, and advanced to preferments, which 
 he enjoyed until his countrymen were expelled from 
 Spain. He exerted himself to the utmost to save 
 himself and his nation from this fatal stroke. But 
 finding all his efforts useless, he embarked for Naples, 
 and arrived there with his family in 1493. Being 
 educated a courtier, he ingratiated himself with Fer- 
 dinand, king of Naples; and both that sovereign 
 and Alphonso his successor protected and employed 
 him. He died at Venice, 1508, in the seventy-first 
 year of his age, and was interred at Padua. Several 
 of the Venetian nobles, and all the Jews, attended his 
 funeral. He published many learned works,* par- 
 ticularly a commentary on Exodus, Deuteronomy, 
 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and other books of the 
 Old Testament^ 
 
 the example of his father he assumed the title of Don, the usual 
 custom among the nobles of Spain. Boissi Dissertations Critiques 
 pour servir a Vhisloire des Juifs. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 692. De Ilossic's Hebrew Biography. 
 
 f He applied himself to study with indefatigable ardour, and was 
 held in such high estimation among the Jews, that some did not he- 
 sitate to pronounce him superior to Maimonides. They agree, that
 
 2()4 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The sufferings of the Jewish emigrants who em- 
 barked for other countries were inexpressible and 
 almost inconceivable. Some of the vessels took fire, 
 and the miserable objects of oppression perished in 
 the names. Others were so heavily laden that they 
 sunk, and many were drowned. Great numbers 
 were shipwrecked on foreign coasts, and perished 
 with cold and hunger. One of the Spanish pilots 
 formed the resolution of murdering all the Jews in 
 his vessel, in order, as he pretended, to revenge the 
 death of Christ, whom their ancestors had crucified. 
 They represented to him that Christ, tf who died 
 for the redemption of mankind, did not desire the 
 death but the salvation of the sinner." The sailor 
 in consequence of this pathetic remonstrance gave 
 up the design of murdering them ; but caused them 
 to be stripped naked, and set down on the next 
 shore, where part of them perished with hunger; 
 others were destroyed by lions who came out of 
 a neighbouring cavern. The remainder were saved 
 by the humanity of a master of a vessel, who took 
 them in upon seeing their miserable condition.* 
 
 The pestilence also destroyed many of these un- 
 fortunate exiles; and, to complete their calamities, 
 those who reached the city of Fez in Africa, were 
 refused admittance by the merciless inhabitants, and 
 died for want of the necessaries of life. When those 
 who sailed for Italy arrived at Genoa, they found the 
 city afflicted by a famine, which had greatly raised 
 
 to a mind clear and penetrating he added a lively and fertile imagina- 
 tion, which was exhibited in his easy and copious elocution. Dis- 
 sertations Critiques, fife. 
 * Basnage, p. 693.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 265 
 
 the price of provisions. The inhabitants, seeing 
 them macerated by sufferings, and destitute of 
 money to purchase food, met them with the cross 
 in one hand and bread in the other ; and refused to 
 give sustenance to any who would not previously 
 consent to adore the cross. Many of this wretched 
 people,, who had the courage to abandon their coun- 
 try and riches for their religion., were unable to resist 
 this second temptation.* 
 
 The tyrannical manner, in which the bigotry and 
 avarice of king Ferdinand had induced him to treat 
 the Jews, was highly condemned by all judicious 
 Christians. This unhappy race, upon the first 
 notice of their intended expulsion, had found means 
 to elude the vigilant rapacity of the monarch, and 
 convey the richest of their effects into the countries 
 where they intended to retire. In consequence of 
 which, the wealth acquired by their expulsion was 
 not so considerable as the king expected. The 
 Spanish nobility complained that their cities and 
 towns were disinhabited. The senate of Venice 
 and the parliament of Paris expressed their astonish- 
 ment at the banishment of a nation, whose address 
 in pecuniary negociation was so useful to the public. f 
 Though pope Alexander VI. dignified the Spanish 
 monarch with the title of Catholic, yet he readily 
 received the exiles into his own dominions, and 
 treated them with great kindness and humanity.^ 
 
 ' . 
 
 
 
 * Basnage, p. 692. 
 
 i The expulsion of the Jews gave a violent check to the commerce 
 of Spain, which was almost entirely in their hands. Bigland't f^iew 
 of ihe World. 
 
 Basnage, p. 69;).
 
 266 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Many of the Jews sought a nearer asylum in Por- 
 tugal. John II. * the sovereign of that kingdom, 
 had formerly sent some of this nation f to make dis- 
 coveries on the coasts of the Red Sea; and they 
 brought him exact and faithful accounts. They had 
 assisted the Portuguese adventurers in the discovery 
 of the East Indies. Notwithstanding these impor- 
 tant services, the king consented to receive them 
 only on condition that each one should pay him 
 eight golden ducats, and quit his dominions at a 
 limited time, or forfeit his liberty. On his part he 
 engaged, when the time fixed for their departure 
 arrived, to furnish vessels to transport them to any 
 place where they chose to retire. The king was 
 desirous of fulfilling his engagement; but his orders 
 were disregarded, and the fugitives, who were about 
 to leave Portugal, were treated in such a barbarous 
 manner by the seamen, that many chose to remain 
 in the kingdom and be sold as slaves, rather than 
 expose themselves to the perils and hardships of 
 a new voyage. J 
 
 Emanuel, his successor, appeared at first to com- 
 miserate their sufferings, and restored to them their 
 liberty. Their peace, however, was of short du- 
 ration ; and the king reluctantly sacrificed them to 
 an alliance which he contracted with the daughter 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella. The queen having de- 
 clared, that ct she would not acknowledge a son-in- 
 law who permitted the enemies of God to remain in 
 
 * In the reign of John I. the Jews had their synagogues and rabbles 
 in Portugal. 
 
 t Murphy's Travels! n Portugal, p. 223. 
 
 i Basnage, p. 694. Murphy's Travels in Portugal, p. 224.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 267 
 
 his dominions/' he issued an edict which expelled 
 them from Portugal, and fixed a day on which those 
 who remained should be deprived of their liberty. 
 
 When the appointed time arrived, the king was 
 greatly affected with the idea of expelling such mul- 
 titudes of people ; and resolved at least to effect the 
 conversion of their children. He had engaged that 
 ships should be provided for their emigration at 
 three principal ports ; but he issued a proclamation 
 forbidding them to embark any where but at Lisbon. 
 When they arrived at this city, he ordered all the 
 children under fourteen years of age to be forcibly* 
 taken from their parents, in order to be educated in 
 the Christian faith. The execution of this barba- 
 rous command was attended with the most affecting 
 circumstances. Many of the wretched parents, in 
 a phrenzy of rage and despair, first killed their 
 children, and then destroyed themselves. The king 
 had invented so many delays to retard the departure 
 of these unfortunate exiles, that many remained in 
 the kingdom, and were sold as slaves. Overwhelmed 
 with these complicated afflictions, at length they 
 consented to assume the mask of Christianity, and 
 recovered their liberty and children. The sincerity 
 of these pretended converts was, however, greatly 
 suspected, and the least discovery of their predilection 
 for the Mosaic religion exposed them to the cruelties 
 of the merciless inquisition.* 
 
 * Murphy's Travels in Portugal, p. 6901
 
 268 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The Jews in Germany are accused of various crimes. They endeavour 
 to hinder the conversion of a young man of their nation at Frank- 
 fort. Part of the city is burned, and a number of Jews destroyed. 
 Accusation against those of Haguenau. They are massacred at 
 Bavaria and Bern. Of several learned nibbles. The Jews nourish 
 at Lithuania in the thirteenth century. Decrees enacted against 
 them in the council of Vienna. A regulation made at Augsburg 
 respecting the oaths to be administered to them. Disputes between 
 the Rabbinists and Caraites. Raind Fleisch excites the people in 
 various parts of Germany to massacre the Jews. They are pro- 
 tected by the bishop of Spires. They are murdered by the Flagel- 
 lants. Persecution against them on pretence of their poisoning 
 the rivers. Cruelties practised against those of Bohemia. They 
 are accused again of poisoning the rivers, and banished the empire. 
 They are persecuted in various parts during the thirteenth century. 
 
 A. D. 1222.] THE Jews have been more fre- 
 quently accused of enormous crimes in Germany 
 than in any other part of Europe. When the Per- 
 sians and Tartars made incursions into this country, 
 they were charged with favouring and assisting these 
 enterprizes, in hopes of being delivered from the 
 persecutions which they suffered from the Christians. 
 They were., probably, more justly accused the same 
 year of opposing the conversion of a young man of 
 their nation at Frankfort who was desirous of re- 
 ceiving baptism.* The people were incensed at 
 this opposition, and arms were seized on both sides. 
 Several Christians lost their lives; and about one 
 hundred an^ eighty Jews perished by the sword, or 
 the fire they had kindled. One half of the city was 
 consumed; and the most prudent among them were 
 
 * Basnage, p. 682.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 269 
 
 induced to profess Christianity, to avoid being sacri- 
 ficed to the resentment of the multitude.* 
 
 A. D. 1241.] The Jews in Germany were fre- 
 quently accused of murdering Christian children at 
 their passover. The first instance which occurs 
 was at Haguenau in Lower Alsatia, where three of 
 them were found dead in a Jewish house. Com- 
 plaint was made to the emperor Frederic II. who, 
 not being inclined to believe the report, coldly 
 replied, " that since the children were dead, they 
 must be buried/' This instance of his incredulity 
 exasperated the people ; but as they were unable to 
 prove the alleged crime, the Jews, upon paying a 
 considerable sum, obtained a favourable judgment 
 from the emperor. f 
 
 A. D. 1286.] About this time those of Munich 
 in Bavaria suffered a severe calamity. An old 
 woman having confessed that she sold them a child^ 
 whom they murdered, the people, without waiting 
 the event of a trial, put to death all of this miserable 
 race whom they could find. The town officers, 
 after attempting in vain to suppress the tumult, 
 advised the Jews to retire into their synagogue, 
 which was a strong stone building. They complied ; 
 but notwithstanding great efforts were made by the 
 duke and the officers to appease and disperse the 
 multitude, they were all burned and destroyed in 
 it.;}; An accusation of a similar nature was brought 
 
 * The fervour of the Jews is singularly inclined to fanaticism; and 
 they are highly incensed when one of their members abjures his reli- 
 gion. This is in consequence of a principle imputed to Maimonides, 
 that those who abandon Judaism ought to be persecuted to hell 
 Gregoire, p. 84. 
 
 + Bagnage, p. 683. + Ibid.
 
 270 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 against those of Wurtzburg and Bern, where they 
 were massacred in the same manner. 
 
 Notwithstanding these persecutions, the Jews in 
 Germany boast of the learned rabbles who appeared 
 in the thirteenth century, particularly Baruc and 
 Eliezer de Germeciman, both of whom were famous 
 cabbalists ; and the latter wrote a celebrated treatise, 
 called, " The Mantle of the Lord." Meir de Rot- 
 temburgh was also distinguished for his learning, 
 and became the judge and chief doctor of his 
 German brethren.* 
 
 The Jews nourished in Lithuania during the thir- 
 teenth century. King Boleslaus granted them 
 liberty of conscience and other privileges, which 
 they preserved under his successors. Their pros- 
 perity excited the envy of the populace, who 
 endeavoured to disturb their peace, and blast their 
 reputation. It was observed in the council of 
 Vienna, which was convened in 1267, that they 
 were become so numerous and powerful that the 
 income of the clergy was considerably diminished. 
 It was, therefore, ordained that they should reim- 
 burse them, in proportion to what they might have 
 considered themselves entitled, had their families 
 been Christian. The council also enacted, that they 
 should be compelled to demolish the new and superb 
 synagogues which they had erected, and be con- 
 tented with their former places of worship. These 
 decrees, however, proved abortive ; for the German 
 princes and nobles protected those who refused to 
 obey ; and even obliged their officers to afford shelter 
 to the unhappy victims who implored their assistance. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 684.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The clergy were, therefore, necessitated to pursue 
 more violent measures, and excommunicated all who 
 favoured and defended the Jews.* 
 
 A new regulation was made at Augsburg upon 
 observing that they did not consider it a crime to 
 violate their oaths. Previously to this time they 
 had been compelled to swear by the saints, by the 
 blessed Mary, or even by the Son of God. But, 
 as they made no scruple to violate these oaths, they 
 were obliged to swear by the name of God, and the 
 law of Moses. Yet they supposed even these 
 solemn engagements were annulled on the great day 
 of expiation ; and could, therefore, be of force for 
 only one year. It is also said, that a number of 
 their casuists authorize deception, equivocation, 
 mental restriction, and hypocrisy, f According to a 
 concession of the Talmud, it is lawful to dissemble 
 for the sake of peace. J 
 
 A. D. 1285.] About this time the disputes be- 
 tween the Rabbinists and Caraites were conducted 
 with great violence. Aaron Cohen, a rabbi of great 
 learning, who was the head of the latter sect, wrote 
 a treatise to expose the absurdities of the Talmud. 
 He explained their articles of faith, and styled his 
 work, " The Tree of Life/' because he supposed 
 a belief of their dogmas necessary in order to attain 
 eternal salvation. Though he acknowledged a re- 
 surrection, he confined it only to the true believers 
 of the house of Israel. But notwithstanding his 
 attempt to lessen the attachment which the Caraites 
 
 * Basnage, p. 684. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 337. 
 
 t Gregoire, p. SI. J Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 338. 
 
 , The Rabbinists arc modern Pharisees.
 
 272 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 began to discover to tradition,, rabbi Nissi, another 
 famous doctor of this sect, was obliged at the 
 earnest request of his pupils, to explain the Misna. 
 Even Aaron was at length induced to give an alle- 
 gorical explication of several passages of scripture. 
 But though this relaxation in the tenets of their 
 opponents gratified the Rabbinists,* the hatred 
 between the two sects continued with unabated 
 violence, f 
 
 A. D. 1264.] During the contest between Adol- 
 phus of Nassau and Albert of Austria, each of 
 whom had been elected emperor, a fanatical peasant, 
 named Raind Fleisch, taking advantage of the wars 
 which raged in Germany, commenced an itinerant 
 preacher in the Upper Palatinate, Franconia, and 
 other provinces. He pretended that God had sent 
 him to exterminate the Jews ; and, in order to exas- 
 perate the people against them, asserted that they 
 had stolen a consecrated host. The credulous mul- 
 titude, without further enquiry, immediately seized 
 upon those in Nuremberg, Rottemberg, and several 
 other towns in Franconia and Bavaria, and put 
 them to death. Others chose rather to destroy them- 
 selves, with their wives, children, and effects, than 
 to be thrown into the flames by their enemies. 
 Albert would gladly have suppressed this barbarous 
 massacre ; but he was afraid that Raind Fleisch, who 
 was regarded as a messenger from God, would 
 
 * Basnage, p. 085. 
 
 t The hatred between these sects is carried so far, that the Rab- 
 binists assert, that if a Caraite and a Christian happen to be in danger 
 of drowning together, they ought to make a bridge of the body of 
 the Caraite, in order to save the Christian. Gregoirc, p. 86.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 213 
 
 persuade the people to favour and join his com- 
 petitor. The persecution was at length stopped, 
 and the city of Nuremberg laid under a heavy fine, 
 besides being half consumed by the fire which the 
 miserable Jews had set to their houses.* 
 
 A. D. 1339.] The council, which pope Cle- 
 ment V. convened at Vienna against the Templars, 
 condemned the usury of the Jews, and decreed that 
 those who favoured them should be considered as 
 heretics. This edict involved them in vexatious 
 lawsuits and other misfortunes. They were, how- 
 ever, in some measure, relieved by Menicho, bishop 
 of Spires, who forbade them to be molested on that 
 account in his dominions ; and alleged, that the 
 law could not concern them, seeing the church does 
 not judge those that are without. A few years 
 after, Lewis I. king of Hungary, banished them 
 from all his dominions. f 
 
 A. D. 1349.] The Flagellants, who arose in 
 the fourteenth century, and derived their name 
 from the cruel scourges which they inflicted upon 
 their own persons, supposed that murdering the 
 enemies of Christ would render their penance more 
 acceptable. J Accordingly they plundered and 
 burnt the Jews at Spires, Strasburg, and Thu- 
 ringen. But, after committing some outrages at 
 
 * Basnage, p. 685. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 340. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 686. 
 
 It has been asserted, that before these fanatics began their 
 penance, they read their commission with an audible voice, which 
 was comprised in a letter sent to them by the Almighty himself, and 
 delivered to them by an angel, with express cominand to scourge 
 themselves and massacre the Jews. Picarfs Religious Ceremonies ef 
 the Jems, p. 172. 
 
 T
 
 274 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Frankfort, they agreed to an accommodation. A 
 Jew named Cicogne, whose family was numerous in 
 that city, being dissatisfied with the compromise, 
 threw fire into the town house, which consumed the 
 building, and all the records preserved in it. The 
 flames spread to the cathedral, which was reduced 
 to ashes. This crime was severely punished ; for 
 not only the incendiary, but all his brethren in 
 Frankfort, a few excepted who retired into Bohe- 
 mia, were put to death.* 
 
 In the course of the same year the Jews were 
 accused of poisoning the rivers, wells, and reser- 
 voirs of water. They were suspected of this crime 
 upon no other foundation, than that they had 
 escaped the common mortality which took place in 
 most parts of Europe. A suspicion being sufficient 
 to condemn them, a new massacre ensued in several 
 provinces of Germany, in which some were burned, 
 and others cruelly slaughtered. Those of Metz, 
 however, resolved to defend themselves ; and having 
 seized about two hundred unarmed Christians, put 
 them to death in a barbarous manner. The in- 
 censed populace collected, furiously attacked, and 
 killed twelve thousand Jews. They next set fire to 
 their houses, which spread and raged so vehemently, 
 that the great bell and glass in the cathedral church 
 were melted down. The persecution of this miser- 
 able people extended over all Germany. In the 
 imperial cities all their houses were demolished, and 
 castles and towers built with the materials, f 
 
 Robert, the reigning count Palatine, and his 
 ministers, endeavoured in vain to suppress the 
 
 * Basnage, p. 686. t Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 275 
 
 tumult and afford an asylum to an injured race, 
 whose innocence was acknowledged by honest men. 
 But they were opposed by some of the nobility ; 
 and the populace accused them of accepting bribes 
 to defend the enemies of Christ. All the Jewish 
 inhabitants of Ulm, together with their property 
 and effects, were burned ; their wretched brethren 
 who survived in those parts were without friends or 
 a place of refuge, the princes not daring, at so 
 critical a time, to interpose in their behalf. 
 
 At Lithuania, however, they met with more 
 equitable treatment. Casimire the Great, being 
 enamoured with a beautiful Jewess, named Esther, 
 had, at her request, granted them several consi- 
 derable privileges.* 
 
 A. D. 1391.] Those Jews who had fled for 
 refuge to Bohemia, were not better treated than 
 their brethren in Germany. Winceslaus,f the 
 emperor and king of Bohemia, squally discharged 
 the cities and nobility from the debts they owed to 
 these miserable objects of persecution. The people, 
 therefore, considering them abandoned by tha4, 
 prince, attacked them at Gotha, and a terrible car- 
 nage ensued. The Jews of Spires, without distinc- 
 tion of age or sex, were all put to death, except 
 a few children, who were hurried to the font to be 
 baptized. As a pretence for this cruelty, they were 
 accused of insulting a priest as he was carrying the 
 sacrament to a sick person. The citizens of Prague, 
 
 * Basnage, p. 686. 
 
 + This prince, having rendered himself odious to his people by his 
 intemperance and other vices, sought to regain their favour by his 
 severity to the Jews. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 irritated at seeing them celebrate their passover, 
 chose that time to burn their synagogue, and those 
 who there engaged in devotional exercises. This 
 inhuman deed was executed without any opposition, 
 and not one of them escaped.* 
 
 Soon after, they were again accused of poisoning 
 the rivers and springs, and punished for this pre- 
 tended crime. The persecution was not confined to 
 Germany, but extended to Italy, Provence, and 
 other parts. The Jewish historians assert, that the 
 emperor was convinced of their innocence, and 
 represented to his council, that it was impossible for 
 them to be guilty of this offence, as the rivers and 
 springs, which have a free and unrestrained course, 
 cannot be contaminated by poison. But the people 
 were so highly exasperated against this miserable 
 race, that, in order to preserve them from more 
 dreadful calamities, the emperor was under the ne- 
 cessity of issuing an edict, enjoining them to depart 
 the country, or receive baptism. [A. D. 1400.] 
 The Jews assert, that few at this time were induced 
 to apostatize, or, as they expressed it, " to forsake 
 the glory of their God."f 
 
 Great numbers of the Jews had settled in Thu- 
 ringia and Misnia. But, at the commencement of 
 the fifteenth century, the landgraves exacted vast 
 sums for affording them an asylum. Upon their 
 refusal to pay an enormous tax, they were arrested 
 and imprisoned, and obliged to give up a large part 
 of their wealth in order to regain their liberty. J 
 
 ,, ,:;^t .-,; .-,?*" 
 
 * Basnage, p. 687. 
 
 t Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 343. 
 
 J Basnage, p. 687.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 277 
 
 A. D. 1434.] About this period, the council of 
 Basil commanded the prelates, in all the places where 
 there were Jews, to appoint learned divines to 
 preach to them, and obliged them, under the 
 severest penalties, to attend the sermons. At the 
 same time, the Christians were prohibited from 
 having any social intercourse with them, or em- 
 ploying them as servants, nurses, farmers, or phy- 
 sicians. They were not permitted to reside in 
 houses near any church, or in the inside of any 
 city. This degraded people were also compelled to 
 wear a particular habit; and condemned to lose all 
 the sums they lent on sacred books, crosses, and the 
 ornaments of churches.* 
 
 Twenty years after, Lewis X. duke of Bavaria, 
 banished them from his dominions, without re- 
 garding his own interest, or the remonstrances of 
 his friends. He also confiscated all their effects, and 
 erected public edifices in the places where they had 
 inhabited. f 
 
 A. D. 1492.] The princes of Mecklenburgh 
 also treated this wretched people with extreme 
 rigour. They were accused of offering an indig- 
 nity to a consecrated host, which they purchased of 
 a priest ; for this crime thirty Jews, together with 
 the priest, were put to a cruel death. Seven years 
 after, [A, D. 1499.] those of Nuremburg, who were 
 numerous and affluent, were banished from the city. 
 The citizens charged them with various offences, in 
 order to palliate their severity. But the principal 
 cause appears to have been their wealth, and 
 
 * Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History. 
 
 t Basnag-c, p. 729.
 
 278 HISTOHY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the usurious practices to which they were ad- 
 dicted.* 
 
 Their expulsion was probably accelerated by the 
 appearance of an impostor, named David Leimlein. 
 Though he had' not the temerity to declare himself 
 the Messiah, he confidently affirmed, that the 
 mighty conqueror would appear in 1500. He styled 
 himself chief of the army of Israel, and went to 
 Lisbon and persuaded a young convert to return to 
 Judaism, and act in concert with him. He gave 
 him the name of Solomon Malcho, and exhorted 
 him to diligently read the rabbinical writings. His 
 pupil made such a rapid progress in his studies, 
 that the Italian Jews affirmed his sermons were 
 dictated by some angel. Not contented with preach- 
 ing, he compiled several curious treatises, which 
 increased his reputation. Meantime David distin- 
 guished himself by his long fasting, being some- 
 times six days without taking any food, and thus 
 attracted public notice and admiration. The credu- 
 lous Jews were hence induced to demolish their 
 ovens, expecting the^ following year to eat unlea- 
 vened bread in Jerusalem. While they were 
 preparing for the voyage, David, perceiving that he 
 had set too short a time for their pretended deli- 
 verance, declared, that " the sins of the nation 
 had retarded the coming of the Messiah." This 
 caused the infatuated people to appoint a solemn 
 fast, in order to appease the anger of God, and 
 hasten the appearance of their long expected de- 
 li verer.f 
 
 At length, Malcho, who declared himself the 
 
 * Basnage, p. 729. t Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS* 279 
 
 precursor of the Messiah, was so imprudent as to 
 desire an audience of Charles V. then at Mantua. 
 He was admitted ; but that monarch caused him to 
 be arrested and put to a cruel death.* 
 
 * Leimlein was sent prisoner to Spain, and died there a few days 
 after his confinement. Yet such was the infatuation of the Italian 
 Jews, that a long time elapsed before they would believe but that he 
 was still alive in this kingdom. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. 
 p. 393.
 
 280 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Jews are protected by the Roman pontiffs during the thirteenth 
 and fourteenth centuries. They are numerous in Naples. They 
 are massacred in Trani. They build a magnificent synagogue in 
 Bologna in the fifteenth century. The Jews are persecuted by pope 
 John III. Massacre of those in Trent. Alexander VI. favours and 
 protects the Jews. Those refugees, who seek an asylum in Naples, 
 are persecuted by the inquisitors. Paul HI. is partial to the Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 WHILE the other European nations oppressed 
 and persecuted the wretched fugitives of Israel, the 
 Roman pontiffs, with a small exception, treated 
 them with lenity, defended them against their per- 
 secutors, and often checked the mistaken zeal of 
 those who sought to convert them by force.* In- 
 stances of their kindness and humanity towards the 
 Jewish nation occur in various parts of the fore- 
 going history. As early as the seventh century 
 they were protected by pope Gregory the Great. 
 In the eleventh, Alexander II. condemned the per- 
 secuting spirit of king Ferdinand, and endeavoured 
 to defend them against the rage of the Crusaders. 
 At a later period, Gregory IX. a zealous promoter 
 of the holy war, observing that the Crusaders in 
 many places began their expedition with massacres 
 of the Jews, not only loudly reprehended them, 
 but took all proper methods for preventing such 
 barbarity. He also interposed in their favour when 
 the inhabitants of Haguenau accused them of mur- 
 dering Christian children. He wrote a letter to 
 
 O 
 
 Lewis IX. to stop the persecution which was raised 
 
 * Butler's Horae Biblicae, p. 88.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 281 
 
 ngainst them during the reign of that monarch. 
 Two other letters of his,, addressed to all Christians, 
 pass a severe censure upon those, who, under the 
 cloak of religion, concealed their avarice in order to 
 harass the Jews ; and he there enjoined them to 
 imitate the example of his predecessors, who had 
 declared themselves their defenders. Many of the 
 nation were indebted for their lives to his toleration, 
 not only in his own dominions, but in England, 
 France, and Spain. In 1247, Innocent IV. wrote 
 to vindicate them from the crimes* which were laid 
 to their charge ; and said, that they were more 
 miserable under Christian princes, than their ances- 
 tors had been under Pharaoh/'f 
 
 In Naples the Jewish people were become nu- 
 merous and affluent, particularly in the capital and 
 the city of Trani. The king, in order to reward 
 them for some important services, treated them with 
 great indulgence, and at his death recommended 
 them to the States. Bat these, instead of allowing: 
 
 o 
 
 them the full enjoyment of their religion, endea- 
 voured to effect their conversion. The Jews, 
 apprehending a persecution, offered to embrace 
 Christianity upon condition of being permitted to 
 marry into the richest and noblest families in the 
 kingdom. To their great surprise these terms were 
 accepted, and they were obliged to accede to their 
 own proposal. Those, however, who could not 
 
 * The edicts of so many pontiffs to destroy the effects of the 
 calumnies against the Jews render it highly probable, that these 
 reports were not founded on sufficient evidence. JVote to JMosheim'* 
 History, vol. vi. p. 220. 
 
 f Basnage, p. 668. Butler's florae Biblicae, p. 88.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 form advantageous connexions, soon relapsed into 
 Judaism. A monk of Trani, resolved to punish 
 them for their dissimulation ; and, to effect this 
 purpose, concealed a cross in a heap of earth, and 
 charged a Jew of the city with the fact. Exaspe- 
 rated at this supposed crime, the people rose, and a 
 massacre immediately followed. The tumult ex- 
 tended to Naples, where the Jews would have been 
 put to death had not the nobility interposed, and 
 concealed the most wealthy, and consequently the 
 most obnoxious, in their houses. Pope Alexander 
 the Fourth also sent to Naples to exert his authority 
 in their favour.* 
 
 Clement V. who at the commencement of the 
 fourteenth century had removed the papal seat to 
 Avignon, exerted himself to save the Jews from 
 the persecution of the shepherds. He excommuni- 
 cated them ; but the anathemas of the church made 
 little impression on that furious people. This 
 pontiff not only protected the Jews, but afforded 
 them the means of instruction, and ordered that 
 every university should have professors to teach 
 Hebrew, and men whose education rendered them 
 capable of disputing with and convincing the Jews 
 of their errors. f 
 
 John XXII. his successor, was for pursuing a 
 different method; and supposed the most probable 
 way of effecting their conversion was to burn all the 
 copies of the Talmud. Several of the bishops 
 having asserted, that they had seen some of this 
 nation ridiculing the Catholics as they carried the 
 cross in procession, the pope was prevailed upon to 
 
 * Basnage, p. 669. + Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 283 
 
 issue an edict which expelled them from all the terri- 
 tories of the church. In order to avoid the im- 
 pending evil, they applied to Robert, king of 
 Naples and Sicily, who, being a friend and favourite 
 of the pontiff, persuaded him, upon their presenting 
 him with a large sum of money, to revoke his edict. 
 
 Clement VI. treated the Jews with singular kind- 
 ness and humanity. When they were put to death 
 in various parts of the kingdom upon pretence of 
 poisoning the rivers, he exerted himself to the 
 utmost to suppress the popular fury. He also 
 preserved them from the cruelty of the inquisition , 
 which raged with unrelenting fury against the Albi- 
 genses. Under his protection they even maintained 
 a friendly correspondence with some of the members 
 of this bloody tribunal. They presented Emerio, 
 who compiled the directory of the inquisition, a 
 Bible that they pretended was written by Ezra, 
 which the Dominicans have preserved with great 
 veneration. While they were massacred without 
 mercy in every part of Europe, Avignon became 
 their asylum ; and Clement VI. their friend and 
 protector, omitted nothing that could tend to soften 
 the lot of the persecuted, and disarm the fury of 
 their persecutors. * 
 
 A. D. 1394.] The Jews were numerous and 
 powerful at Bologna during the fourteenth century. 
 They had there built the most magnificent syna- 
 gogue in Italy, and established an academy. Boni- 
 face IX. did not oppose their erecting this syna- 
 gogue, which, by its size and beauty, excited the 
 attention and admiration of travellers. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 670. Gregoire, p. 8.
 
 284 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 A. D. 1412.] Though the Jews were generally 
 favoured and protected by the popes, yet, at the 
 commencement of the fifteenth century, John 
 the Twenty-third issued several edicts against them. 
 He not only raised a persecution in his own domi- 
 nions, but encouraged and stimulated the Spanish 
 government to massacre this unhappy people. Soon 
 after, however,, Nicolas II. being raised to the 
 pontificate, treated them with great indulgence. 
 He preserved those in his own dominions from the 
 inquisition ; and sent letters into Spain to prevent 
 their being obliged to abjure their own religion.* 
 
 A. D. 1472.] They had not long enjoyed the 
 patronage of this pontiff before a new persecution 
 was raised against them. Sextus IV. had been 
 prevailed upon to canonize one Simon, who, as was 
 pretended, had been murdered two hundred years 
 before by the Jews in Trent. The public hatred 
 being thus revived, the populace, in the bishopric 
 of Trent and in the city of Venice, plundered and 
 massacred the circumcised. The doge and senate 
 were obliged to interpose their authority to suppress 
 the slaughter ; but the magistrates of Trent, being 
 less equitable, expelled the Jews from the city. 
 
 A. D. 1492.] After the Catholics in Spain and 
 Portugal had banished the Jews, the Italians re- 
 ceived them with open arms. Pope Alexander VI. 
 not only relieved the wants of the unhappy fugitives, 
 but enjoined their brethren at Rome, who had 
 treated them with great neglect, to afford them 
 every assistance in their power for establishing 
 themselves in his dominions. He allowed them the 
 
 * Basnage, p. 721.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 285 
 
 same privileges as their brethren had formerly en- 
 joyed ; and endeavoured to procure them the free 
 and unrestrained exercise of their religion in all the 
 other states of Italy.* 
 
 It is said, that when the Portuguese exiles came 
 to Italy, the university of Jews at Rome offered the 
 pope a thousand ducats on condition of his refusing 
 those of Spain permission to settle in his territories. 
 But Alexander rejected their offer with disdain, and 
 reproved them for their barbarity towards their 
 brethren. He also decreed, that they should be 
 banished from his dominions, and the Spanish Jews 
 received in their place ; and they were obliged to 
 pay a vast sum before they could obtain a revocation 
 of this order.f 
 
 The favourable disposition of pope Alexander 
 towards the Jewish nation., induced many of them 
 from various parts to seek an asylum in his terri- 
 tories. Among others, whom the pontiff's kindness 
 invited to Rome, was the learned rabbi Jochanan, a 
 German, who had been settled at Constantinople, 
 and who was celebrated for his knowledge in the 
 mysteries of the cabbala.J 
 
 Part of the Spanish and Portuguese exiles sought 
 an asylum in Naples. But they were exposed to 
 the unrelenting cruelty of the inquisitors in that 
 kingdom, and suffered such terrible oppressions, 
 that the people rebelled. The viceroy was induced 
 to expel them, in order to be delivered from the 
 
 * Basnage, p. 722. 
 
 t This curious fact is handed down to posterity by Jewish writers. 
 Rossi's Hebrew Biography. 
 t Basnage, p. 722.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 tyranny of these merciless men. He alleged, that 
 " as the ancient inhabitants were sound in the faith, 
 there was not any farther need of this bloody tri- 
 bunal." Charles V. soon after [A. D. 1534.] au- 
 thorized his viceroy's conduct, by refusing to tolerate 
 them either in Naples or Sicily. This severity, 
 however, did not deter one Ricci, a converted Jew, 
 from dedicating to that monarch a celebrated trea- 
 tise on what he styled " Celestial Agriculture." He 
 was a physician in Germany and a profound cabba- 
 list, who attempted to prove the mysteries of Chris- 
 tianity from that science.* 
 
 A. D. 1539.] Paul HI, was so indulgent to the 
 Jews, and they became so numerous and powerful 
 during his pontificate, that cardinal Sadolet in- 
 'veighed against him on account of his partial 
 fondness for an unbelieving race. He asserted, 
 that this pontiff was kinder to them than to the 
 Christians ; and that none could be raised to civil or 
 ecclesiastical dignities but through their favour and 
 interest ; while at the same time he persecuted the 
 Protestants. Though the cardinal's remonstrance 
 did not produce all the effect that was desired, yet 
 it caused a redress of the most flagrant abuses. 
 They were, however, sometimes persecuted in 
 Rome ; yet, it must be admitted, that there is no 
 country in the world in which less Jewish blood has 
 been spilled, and in which the rites of humanity 
 have been more respected with regard to their 
 nation, than in the ecclesiastical state. f 
 
 A learned writer has thus accounted for the kind- 
 
 * Basnage, p, 723. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 722. Letters of certain Jews to Voltaire, p. 41.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 287 
 
 ness of the Roman pontiffs to the Jews. l( The 
 court of Rome excelled all other courts in policy, 
 craft, and worldly wisdom. It saw the folly of 
 expelling and distressing the Jews ; it knew the use 
 that was to be made of an industrious people, skilful 
 in commerce, and in the management of the reve- 
 nues ; who had no particular dislike to papal autho- 
 rity, and no disposition to assist heretics, schismatics, 
 or reformers, and had not credit sufficient to make 
 proselytes to their own religion."* 
 
 The persecution of the Jews during the middle 
 ages, which has been related in the five preceding 
 chapters, exhibits in such a striking manner the 
 exact accomplishment of the famous prophecy of 
 Moses, Deut xxviii. that this chapter appears to be 
 a correct miniature picture of the leading features 
 in their history, drawn by the pencil of inspiration. 
 The reflecting and devout must feel an augmented 
 veneration for the sacred scriptures, while they turn 
 their attention to the complete agreement of the 
 prophecies, and the events which fulfil them ; and 
 scepticism and infidelity be confounded by seeing the 
 history of succeeding ages so accurately delineated, 
 and contemplating, in the fate of this suffering 
 people, a <( striking phenomenon, incomprehensible 
 to human reason." 
 
 Among other awful denunciations against the 
 Jewish nation, which we have seen fully accom- 
 plished in the course of this history, Moses declares, 
 ff Thou shait only be oppressed and spoiled ever- 
 more." Numerous instances occur of the cruel op- 
 pressions and pillages this devoted race have suffered 
 
 * Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii.
 
 288 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 in England, France, Germany, and Spain. In the 
 east, as well as in Europe, they have been continu- 
 ally subjected to heavy fines and impositions. How 
 often in different countries have they been forced to 
 redeem their lives by vast sums extorted from them ! 
 Did sovereigns want pecuniary assistance to carry 
 on their wars, the Jews were compelled to give up 
 their riches. A massacre was generally the prelude 
 to a plunder, as we have seen in various parts of 
 Europe. When banished from England in the 
 reign of Edward I. their estates, which were confis- 
 cated, brought immense sums to the crown. When 
 Philip Augustus expelled them from France, he 
 confiscated their estates ; yet he soon after recalled 
 this oppressed people in order to fleece them again. 
 They have " every where paid for liberty to exist, 
 and have scarcely obtained that of breathing an 
 impure air." 
 
 The great lawgiver of the Hebrew nation also 
 declares, " Thy sons and thy daughters shall be 
 taken from thee, and given to another people." 
 How exactly has this prophecy been fulfilled in 
 several countries, especially in Spain and Portugal. 
 In the former of these kingdoms the council of 
 Toledo decreed, that the children of the Jews should 
 be taken from them, and educated in the Christian 
 faith ; in the latter, when this miserable people were 
 expelled, all under fourteen years of age were for- 
 cibly detained, in order to be baptized. In the 
 frenzy and despair of the wretched parents at 
 parting with their children, we contemplate the 
 accomplishment of another prophetic denunciation : 
 " Thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes,
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 289 
 
 which thou shalt see." Accordingly we find that 
 some of them, driven to madness, put a period to 
 their own lives ; and others, sacrificing nature to 
 their religion, destroyed their tender offspring. In- 
 stances of their madness and desperation frequently 
 occur in the preceding chapters in England, when 
 the Jews in York Castle killed themselves, their 
 wives, and children ; in France, when they were 
 assaulted by the shepherds, and destroyed their 
 children ; in Spain, when a number perished by 
 suicide at the insurrection of Toledo ; and in Ger- 
 many, when persecuted for the pretended crime of 
 stealing a consecrated host, they destroyed them- 
 selves, their wives, children, and effects. 
 
 After mentioning the oppression and barbarous 
 cruelty the Jews were compelled to endure, and the 
 madness consequent upon their extreme sufferings, 
 Moses declares, " Thou shalt become an astonish- 
 ment, a proverb, and a by- word among all nations, 
 whither the Lord shall lead thee." How exactly 
 has this prophecy been fulfilled upon this unhappy 
 race, who have been consigned to infamy ever since 
 their dispersion ! " Is not the pretended avarice, 
 usury, and hard-heartedness of a Jew become pro- 
 verbial ?"* In various countries of the east, as 
 well as in Europe, they have been subjected to invi- 
 dious, humiliating, and disgraceful distinctions, and 
 condemned to wear exteriorly the badges of their 
 abject state ; and every where exposed to the insults 
 of the vilest populace. They have been treated as 
 of a different species ; and in several parts of 
 
 * See David Levi's Defence of the Old Testament in a series of 
 tetters to Thomas Paine 
 
 U
 
 290 H1STORV OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Europe, subjected to the same toil with those 
 animals which by their religious principles they 
 abhor.* Pagans, Christians, and Mahometans 
 have agreed in abusing, vilifying, and persecuting 
 the Jews. 
 
 The sacred writer proceeds in delineating the 
 horrid outline of their miseries, and declares, " The 
 Lord will make thy plagues wonderful, even great 
 plagues, and of long continuance/' The calamities 
 they have endured were indeed the greatest which 
 the world ever witnessed. Ever since the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem they have been outcasts from 
 society, subsisting amidst contempt and persecution. 
 For near eighteen centuries, the nations of the 
 earth have been treading under foot the remains of 
 Israel. What nation ever suffered so much, and 
 yet continued so long ? The chief diversity in 
 their condition has arisen from the various kinds of 
 miseries to which they have been subjected. In 
 Christendom they have been despised, calumniated, 
 oppressed, banished, executed, and burned. The 
 tyranny exercised against them has been as capri- 
 cious as it was cruel. In France they have been at 
 one time compelled to assume the mask of Christi- 
 anity to save themselves from a cruel death ; at 
 another epoch the estates of those who renounced 
 Judaism were confiscated. At one period, they 
 have been banished through superstition ; at ano- 
 ther, recalled through avarice. An animated writer 
 of their own nation has observed, " It seems as if 
 they were allowed to survive the destruction of their 
 country, only to see the most odious and calumnious 
 
 * Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 52.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 291 
 
 imputations laid to their charge, to stand as the 
 constant object of the grossest and most shocking 
 injustice, as a mark for the insulting finger of scorn, 
 as a sport to the most inveterate hatred. It seems 
 as if their doom was incessantly to suit all the dark 
 and bloody purposes, which can be suggested by 
 human malignity, supported by ignorance and 
 fanaticism."* * 
 
 * M. Michael Berr's Appeal to the Justice of Kings and Nations, 
 published at Straslmrg, 1801.
 
 292 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 State of the Jews in the east. They suffer from the invasion of the 
 Tartars. -Those in the Grecian empire enjoy an interval of tran- 
 quillity. Of their state in Media and Persia.- Agreement made 
 between Shah Abbas I. and the Jews in the latter of those kingdoms. 
 A general massacre of them takes place during the reign of Shah 
 Abbas II. Of those in Schiraz and other parts of Persia. Of the 
 learned men in the academy of Sapheta. Dissimulation of a pre- 
 tended convert to Christianity. State of the nation in the Ottoman 
 empire. 
 
 THE number and power of the eastern Jews 
 were greatly diminished in the thirteenth century. 
 Nasser Ledinillah, caliph of Bagdat, being a zeal- 
 ous Mahometan, and extremely avaricious, became 
 jealous of a people who exerted their abilities with 
 success in the acquisition of wealth, and who re- 
 ceived every pretended Messiah with alacrity and 
 joy. He therefore soon raised a persecution against 
 them, and compelled them all to adopt the Maho- 
 metan religion, or leave the Babylonian territories. 
 Some departed into different parts, while others dis- 
 sembled in order to avoid exile.* 
 
 Palestine was greatly depopulated by the wars 
 which raged between the Christians and Saracens, 
 and the government of the cities was frequently 
 changed. The Jews, however, had still syna- 
 gogues and learned rabbies in their native country. 
 Moses Nachmanides, one of the greatest cabbalis- 
 tical writers which the age produced, left Gironna, 
 the place of his birth, retired to Judea, and erected 
 a synagogue. On account of his profound know- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 655.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 293 
 
 ledge of the law, he was styled the father of 
 wisdom ; and a sermon he preached before the 
 king of Castile, " on the excellence of the law/' 
 rendered him equally famous for his eloquence. His 
 writings are various, but chiefly of the cabbalistical 
 kind.* 
 
 During the thirteenth century several learned 
 rabbies appeared in other parts of the east. In 
 particular Aaron Cohen, a Caraite, who practised 
 physic at Constantinople, 1294. He was the author 
 of a commentary on the Pentateuch and other parts 
 of scripture, and a work styled the " Perfection of 
 Beauty." Aaron the son of Eliab, another Caraite, 
 appeared about fifty years after. He attacked Aben 
 Ezra, and other traditionalists, with great energy 
 and force of argument, in a work entitled, " The 
 Crown of the Law," which is a literal comment on 
 the Pentateuch, f 
 
 A. D. 1291.] The Jews in the vicinity of Baby- 
 lon, and in other parts of the east, suffered greatly 
 from the invasion of the Tartars ; but at length 
 they enjoyed an interval of tranquillity under Jehan 
 Argun, by means of a Jewish physician named 
 Saadeddoulat, whom that prince raised to the office 
 of his chief minister. Being learned and of po- 
 lished manners, he acquired great influence at 
 court ; and exerted himself to the utmost to promote 
 the welfare of his brethren, who derived important 
 advantages from his interposition in their favour. 
 Their prosperity, however, was soon interrupted 
 by the death of this monarch ; and the Jewish 
 
 * Basnage, p. 655. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 339. 
 + Biographical Dictionary, vol. i. p. 8.
 
 294 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 physician, who had exasperated the Mahometans by 
 his partiality to his nation, was charged with having 
 poisoned his benefactor, and on the accusation con- 
 demned to suffer death. The populace soon after 
 massacred vast numbers of his countrymen, in order 
 to revenge the real or pretended injuries they had 
 suffered from them during the life of Argun.* 
 
 It is probable, that the Jews in the Grecian 
 empire were generally allowed the exercise of their 
 religion during the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- 
 turies ; for the Greek writers of those periods 
 severely reproach the Latins for compelling them to 
 be baptized and assume the mask of Christianity. f 
 
 A. D. 1500.] During the wars and rapid con- 
 quests of Tamerlane, the Jews in Media and Persia 
 were not only attenuated and impoverished, but 
 their academies, learning, and learned men had 
 totally disappeared. They had scarcely recovered 
 from these disasters when they were involved in new 
 calamities. They were numerous in Media when 
 Ishmael Sophi, chief of the family of the Persian 
 kings, commenced his conquests ; and, astonished 
 at his rapid and wonderful success, they began to 
 consider him as the true Messiah. In this opinion 
 they were confirmed by his declaring himself a 
 prophet sent by God to reform the Mahometan 
 religion. But Ishmael exhibited a peculiar aversion 
 to the Jews, despised their flattery, rejected their 
 bomage, and treated them with greater severity 
 than any of his subjects.^; 
 
 At the commencement of the reign of Shah 
 
 * Basnage, p. 659. Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 658. J Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 295 
 
 Abbas,, the kingdom of Persia was greatly depo- 
 pulated. This monarch was hence induced to 
 confer important privileges on all strangers who 
 would settle in the kingdom. Multitudes of people 
 repaired from the neighbouring parts, in particular 
 vast numbers of Jews. Their dexterity in pecu- 
 niary negociations, and success in engrossing the 
 commerce of the country, having excited the envy 
 and jealousy of the other inhabitants, they com- 
 plained to the king. This monarch was appre- 
 hensive, that severity to them would deter others 
 from settling in and induce foreigners to retire from 
 his dominions. But having found a fortunate 
 pretence for persecuting them by the authority of 
 the Koran, he resolved to compel them to embrace 
 Mahometanism, or suffer death. The Mufti hu- 
 manely interposed, and prevented the execution of 
 his cruel design. It was resolved, however, to 
 summon the principal Jewish doctors before the 
 Sophi's tribunal.* 
 
 Shah Abbas strictly examined them respecting the 
 abolition of their sacrifices, and other ceremonies at 
 the appearance of Jesus Christ, whom Mahomet 
 had succeeded. The rabbies, astonished at those 
 interrogatories, declared that they expected a Mes- 
 siah, and could not receive him whom their ancestors 
 had crucified. Abbas was exasperated at this 
 answer, since the Koran mentions Christ with vene- 
 ration. " Why will you not believe in Christ," 
 says he, " since I believe in him ?" He afterwards 
 asked them, " What they thought of Mahomet ?' 
 This demand intimidated and confounded them, and 
 
 * Basnage, p. 697.
 
 296 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 sensible of the danger of discovering their opinion 
 of the impostor, they answered, that c< Moses was 
 the great prophet, and the only one whom they ought 
 to follow ; but that they did not absolutely reject 
 Mahomet, because he was the son of Abraham by 
 Ishmael." They then had recourse to prayers and 
 entreaties for mercy ; and to protestations, that 
 their object in settling in Persia was to serve the 
 king with fidelity and zeal.* 
 
 Abbas severely reproved them for adducing their 
 expectation of a Messiah, as an excuse for their 
 obstinate incredulity. " But," said he, " to remove 
 this vain pretence, fix a time for his appearance, I 
 will tolerate you till the accomplishment of this 
 period. Yet, if the Messiah, who has delayed his 
 coming for so many ages, deceive you once more, 
 it is just you should embrace the Mahometan faith, 
 or be deprived of your property, your children, and 
 lives." He allowed them some time to prepare an 
 answer. After mature deliberation they informed 
 the king, that their great deliverer would appear in 
 seventy years from the day on which they had been 
 summoned before his tribunal. Their object was to 
 elude the threatened punishment, expecting that 
 neither the monarch nor themselves could survive till 
 this period was terminated. Abbas, who was ex- 
 tremely avaricious, extorted vast sums for granting 
 an oppressed people this interval of tranquillity. 
 He engaged, it is said, on his part, that if the 
 Messiah appeared within seventy years, all Persia 
 was to profess Judaism. If not, the Jews were to 
 embrace the Mahometan religion, or consent to 
 
 * Basnage, p. 697. Modern Universal History.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 297 
 
 their utter destruction in all the Sophi's dominions. 
 After the agreement was registered and signed by 
 both parties, they were taxed at two millions of 
 gold.* 
 
 Many years elapsed after the death of Abbas 
 before this contract was discovered, during which 
 the Persians were disturbed by continual wars with 
 the Turks. Amurat IV. who in 1638 subdued 
 Bagdat, found great numbers of Jews in that city ; 
 but though he violated his engagement, and mas- 
 sacred the Persians, he spared the Israelites, under 
 the idea that they might render him essential 
 service. f 
 
 A. D. 1666.] It is related, that Shah Abbas II. 
 who enjoyed a peaceable reign, in searching the 
 registers of the palace found the treaty which his 
 predecessor had made with the Jews. A great 
 council was convened on this occasion, in which 
 it was unanimously resolved, that this wretched 
 people should be exterminated without delay. 
 Accordingly an order was issued to Persians and 
 strangers, to massacre them without regard of 
 sex, age, or condition. Those only were excepted 
 who should profess the Mahometan religion. This 
 persecution commenced at Ispahan, the capital of 
 the kingdom, extended with equal severity to the 
 several provinces inhabited by wealthy Jews, and 
 for three years they were pursued with fury, and 
 
 * Basnage disputes the truth of the account of Shah Ahbas's en- 
 tering into this agreement with the Jews, though related by many 
 historians. It is, however, agreed by all, that they were violently 
 persecuted by this monarch, as well as by Shah Abbas II. Basnage' t 
 History, p. 698. 
 
 t Basnage, p. G98.
 
 298 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 massacred without intermission or pity. A few, 
 however, found means to escape into the Turkish 
 dominions., others into India, and many preserved 
 their lives by abjuring their religion.* It was, 
 however, at length observed, that the pretended 
 converts secretly practised the Jewish rites, and the 
 king, finding that compulsory measures could not 
 effect a change in their minds, permitted them to 
 retain their former religious principles. They were 
 obliged annually to pay a large sum of money to the 
 sovereign, and to wear a disgraceful badge of dis- 
 tinction, f 
 
 The Jews were numerous at Schiraz, where the 
 Persians had a more famous academy than at Is- 
 pahan. They pretended to be descended from the 
 tribe of Levi. A still larger number resided at Lar, 
 the metropolis of one of the Persian provinces, and 
 had a quarter assigned them between the city and 
 castle. They extended themselves on the coast of 
 Ormus, in order to procure some part of the Indian 
 trade, which was once conducted by their brethren, 
 who were formerly numerous in those parts. J 
 
 A. D. 1638.] Bagdat, once the residence of the 
 princes of the captivity, was much reduced after it 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 369. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 699. Gregoire, p. 16. 
 
 After the king of Portugal expelled the Jews from his kingdom, 
 he suffered them to live at Goa and other places, and exercise their 
 religion. But in 1639 they were deluded by a pretended Messiah, 
 whose fame extended to Portugal. Some of the Jewish converts in 
 that kingdom, elated with the prospect of a deliverer, betrayed their 
 secret attachment to the religion of their ancestors. Upon which 
 the inquisition compelled all in the eastern parts, who were subject to 
 the king of Portugal, either to suffer exile or profess Christianity. 
 Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 3fi5.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 299 
 
 was taken by Amurat IV. A large proportion of 
 the inhabitants were Jews, who possessed a syna- 
 gogue, and enjoyed the unrestrained exercise of 
 their religion. They were, however, hated and 
 despised by the Persians.* 
 
 The Jewish historians inform us, that those of 
 their nation in Armenia were charged with having 
 killed a Christian ; and the murder being confessed 
 by the accused, many of this miserable people were 
 crucified, and others burned. Three days after, 
 the Christian appeared ; the accusation was disco- 
 vered to have been invented through malice, and 
 the confession extorted by torture. Complaint 
 being made to Solomon II. the Armenian magistrates 
 were forbidden to take cognizance of similar cri- 
 minal cases in future, and they were ordered to 
 bring them before the tribunal of the sultan. f 
 
 The Jews, since their dispersion, have never 
 been numerous in Palestine, but have seen their 
 ancient and beloved country successively possessed 
 by Pagans, Christians, and Turks. It has indeed 
 been frequently visited by Jewish, as well as 
 Christian devotees. But few have fixed their abodes 
 in a province, where they found it difficult to 
 acquire wealth, and even procure a tolerable sub- 
 sistence. 
 
 Sapheta in Galilee was the most populous and 
 celebrated city which the Jews possessed in Pa- 
 lestine. Those who inhabited it were treated with 
 more kindness than in any other part of the Ottoman 
 empire. They have had many learned rabbies and 
 professors, who have presided in the academy in 
 
 * Basnage, p. 699. t Gregoire, p. 18. Basnage, p. 703.
 
 300 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 this city, to which they sent their children to be in- 
 structed in the Hebrew language ; for it was their 
 opinion, that it could no where else be taught with 
 equal purity. This academy succeeded that of 
 Tiberias, and acquired a similar reputation.* 
 
 The most celebrated cabbalist who has appeared 
 since Simeon Jochaides, taught in this seat of 
 learning. He was born at Cordova in Spain, hence 
 he acquired the name of Moses Cordova. He left 
 a cabbalistical work, entitled " The Garden of 
 Pomegranates."f 
 
 Dominic of Jerusalem taught for a considerable 
 time in the same academy. After he had completed 
 his studies and lectures on the Talmud, he applied 
 himself to the theory and practice of medicine, and 
 acquired such celebrity, that the sultan invited him 
 to Constantinople to be his physician. At length, 
 he embraced the Christian religion, and afterwards 
 translated the New Testament into Hebrew, and at 
 the same time answered some objections of the rab- 
 bies against Stephen's martyrdom. { 
 
 But those who have been most celebrated in the 
 academy were, the learned Moses Trani and Joseph 
 Karo, who presided in it about the middle of the 
 sixteenth century. The former was a native of 
 Trani, and taught with such success, that he was 
 styled by his brethren, " the light of Israel," " the 
 Sinaite of Mount Sinai, and the rooter up of 
 Mountains/' because he solved the difficulties in the 
 
 * It appears that this academy was not erected till after the twelfth 
 century, since Benjamin de Tudela does not mention it in his 
 trayels. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 783. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 395. 
 
 i Basnage, p. 703.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 301 
 
 law. He wrote a body of Jewish laws, in which he 
 distinguished between those which were written by 
 Moses, those which have been transmitted by oral 
 tradition, and those which are only founded on the 
 decisions of the doctors. Joseph Karo was a native 
 of Spain, from whence he retired into Galilee. He 
 wrote so well on the rights of the Jewish nation, 
 that he was styled " the prodigy of the world."* 
 
 Besides the abovementioned doctors who were 
 foreigners, there were other celebrated rabbies, who 
 were born and educated at Sapheta ;f among 
 whom Moses Alsheh and Samuel Ozida were emi- 
 nently distinguished. The former acquired great 
 reputation by his eloquent sermons and his learned 
 commentaries upon some parts of the law. All the 
 titles of his works are metaphorical. One is called 
 " The Rose of Sharon," and others have similar titles. 
 Ozida was also a celebrated preacher, and wrote a 
 commentary on the Lamentations of Jeremiah, 
 which he called " The Bread of Tears." 
 
 The number of Israelites in Jerusalem was much 
 smaller than in Sapheta. In 1665, an instance of 
 profound dissimulation took place in this city. A 
 Jew, who was induced from interested motives to 
 desert the synagogue, so eminently distinguished 
 himself among the Christians, that they promoted 
 
 * Basnage, p. 700. 
 
 t The famous Judah Jona was born at Sapheta ; but after he com- 
 pleted his studies, he travelled to Amsterdam, and from thence to 
 Hamburg, and the Jews in this city chose him for their judge. Soon 
 after he removed to Poland, and embraced the Christian religion. 
 He at length settled at Rome, where he taught the Hebrew language 
 to Bartolocci, an Italian monk, and the author of the " Bibliotheca 
 Rabbinica," a learned work in four folio volumes. Judah died in 
 1668. Modern Univer. Hftt.
 
 302 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 him successively to all the orders of the clergy , and 
 at length exalted him to the dignity of patriarch of 
 Jerusalem. Being a man of boundless ambition, 
 he repaired to Constantinople to obtain that see, 
 which was vacant. He was there seized with a dan- 
 gerous distemper, and perceiving death approaching, 
 he called many Grecian bishops and a large number 
 of his Hebrew brethren, to whom he solemnly 
 declared, that " he had always believed the Jewish 
 religion, and renounced the bishopric of Jerusalem 
 to die in his old profession." Those who heard 
 him lay aside the mask of Christianity were filled 
 with astonishment and consternation.* 
 
 The Jews have long been numerous in other 
 parts of the Ottoman empire, particularly at Con- 
 stantinople ; they inhabited a suburb in Galata, 
 which was called the Jewry in the time of the Cru- 
 saders. Though hated and despised by the Turks, 
 they rendered themselves so useful by their skill in 
 pecuniary transactions, that they carried on the 
 greatest part of the commerce of the country, and 
 Christians as well as Turks employed a Jewish 
 broker in all their negociations. Among other pri- 
 vileges they obtained that of selling wine ; and it 
 was supposed that which they prepared was of the 
 purest kind, because they are prohibited by their 
 law from making any mixture, f 
 
 Michsez, a Jew, was accused of having per- 
 suaded Selim II. to attempt the conquest of Cyprus. 
 In consequence of which, after the reduction of the 
 island, his nation obtained greater privileges than 
 
 * Basnage, p. 701. Modern Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 373. 
 t Basnage. p. 718. Oregoire, p. 184.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 303 
 
 the Christians, and became numerous and affluent. 
 The sultan made choice of a Jew named Solomon 
 Rophe, to negotiate a peace with the republic of 
 Venice, and soon after granted them the privilege of 
 establishing a printing-office at Constantinople and 
 Salonichi. By this means copies of the law, which 
 had become scarce in the east, were universally dis- 
 persed, and, in consequence of their being more 
 assiduously studied, several eminent rabbies and 
 heads of synagogues left the place of their birth to 
 settle in these cities.* 
 
 In particular, Solomon, the son of Japhe, came 
 from Germany to reside in Constantinople, where he 
 explained the Jerusalem Talmud, and printed a 
 comment on the Pentateuch, and several other 
 works. Rabbi Gedaliah, another learned doctor, 
 who boasted that he was descended from king David, 
 left Lisbon to settle in that metropolis as a phy- 
 sician, and teach the laws and ceremonies of his 
 nation. He was appointed head of the synagogue, 
 and assiduously laboured to reconcile the Caraites and 
 Talmudists. But both parties proved so obstinate, 
 that his labours were ineffectual. He, however, de- 
 rived the advantage of publishing several other 
 works, as well as his own treatise of Seven Eyes, 
 alluding to the vision of Zechariah.f 
 
 Many of the Jews settled at Lepanto, Corinth, 
 and other cities in Greece. But, in consequence of 
 the desolate state of the country, and the heavy 
 taxes which they were compelled to pay to the Porte, 
 they have been generally in indigent circumstances. 
 Their condition was more eligible at Thessalonica 
 
 * Basnage, p. 719. t Ibid.
 
 #04 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 (now Salonichi) where they have been settled ever 
 since the time of St. Paul. They for ages have 
 possessed a considerable academy, and in later times 
 a printing-office has been established. In this city 
 Moses Abelda published several of his works, the 
 most celebrated of which were, his mystical expo- 
 sition of the Pentateuch, and a moral treatise on 
 the miseries of human life, called the " Vale of 
 Tears." The design of this performance was to 
 comfort his nation under their calamitous dispersion. 
 Joseph, the son of Sen, also published a treatise 
 " on the use of the Gemara " in this city. The 
 famous impostor Zabathai Tzevi chose Salonichi as 
 the theatre whereon to act his part, imagining, that, 
 if he could impose on the doctors in this academy, 
 it ^vould be easy to delude his more ignorant 
 brethren. An account of his success among his 
 infatuated nation will be given in the following 
 chapter.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 305 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Jews frequently duped by impostors. An account of Zabathai 
 Tzevi, a false Messiah. Of bis precursor Nathan Levi. Of his 
 success in different cities. He repairs to Constantinople, and is 
 imprisoned by the sultan's orders. Of the great attention which 
 was paid him in prison. He is summoned to appear before the 
 sultaii, and professes the Mahometan religion. 
 
 IN the foregoing- chapters we have seen the Jews 
 during sixteen centuries obstinately persisting in 
 rejecting the true Messiah, and frequently duped by 
 impostors who assumed this character. This infa- 
 tuation continued unabated, notwithstanding the 
 repeated disappointments which often involved this 
 miserable people in terrible calamities. 
 
 A. D. 1666.] The Jewish nation entertained 
 sanguine expectations that some wonderful event 
 would take place during this year, and false reports 
 were eagerly circulated. It was said, that great 
 multitudes marched from unknown parts to the 
 remote desarts of Arabia, and were supposed to be 
 the ten tribes of Israel who have been dispersed for 
 many ages ; that a ship was arrived in the north 
 part of Scotland with sails and cordage of silk ; 
 that the mariners spoke nothing but Hebrew, and 
 that on the sails was this motto, " The twelve tribes 
 of Israel." These accounts excited the enthusiasm 
 of the credulous people, and prepared their minds 
 to receive an impostor.* 
 
 At this period Zabathai Tzcvi proclaimed himself 
 
 * According to the predictions of some Christian writers, who 
 commented upon the Apocalypse, some wonderful eyent was to take 
 place ia 1666 respecting the Jews. Turkish History, p. 174, 
 
 X
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the Messiah and deliverer of Israel, to whom he 
 promised a glorious kingdom of prosperity and 
 peace. This famous, or rather infamous impostor, 
 was born at Aleppo, of mean and obscure parents. 
 But, as he early discovered a taste for learning, he 
 made great proficiency in that kind of literature 
 which was taught by his nation. As soon as he 
 came from school he began to preach in the Streets 
 and fields, even before the Turks ; and though ridi- 
 culed by them, he had the address to gain a number 
 of disciples by whom he was greatly admired. He 
 studied the prophecies so assiduously, in order to 
 apply them to himself, that it was supposed his in- 
 tellect was deranged. He imagined, or pretended 
 to fancy, that he could ascend above the clouds, as 
 Isaiah had foretold ; and upbraided his disciples 
 with their blindness, because they would not ac- 
 knowledge they had seen him in the air. He also 
 pretended to perform other miracles by the power of 
 the name Jehovah. Upon which account some of 
 the most intelligent Jews summoned him to appear 
 before the synagogues and condemned him to death. 
 But, as they could not prevail upon any to execute 
 the sentence, they contented themselves with banish- 
 ing the impostor. 
 
 He passed over to Salonichi, and, as the Jews 
 were numerous in this city, he supposed it a proper 
 theatre on which to act his part. But being ex- 
 pelled from thence, as well as from Athens, and 
 several other Greek towns, he retired to Alexandria, 
 where he acquired great celebrity. After travelling 
 into the Morea and Tripoli he arrived at Gaza, and 
 there preached repentance, and faith in himself so
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 effectually, that the Jews gave up business* and 
 applied themselves wholly to devotion and alms. But 
 in order to render his character more agreeable to 
 the predictions of the prophets, it was necessary that 
 he should be ushered in by a precursor. For this 
 purpose he made choice of a Jew of great repu- 
 tation at Gaza, named Nathan Levi, whom he easily 
 persuaded to act this part. The time was favour- 
 able, for, according' to the cabbalistical interpretation 
 of Daniel, the Messiah was to appear in or about 
 the year 1675. f 
 
 Zabathai Tzevi and his precursor travelled to 
 Jerusalem. Levi, after his arrival, assembled the 
 Jews, and abolished the fast which was to be cele- 
 brated in the month of June following, because 
 mourning was improper at the joyful period of the 
 Messiah's appearance. He then declared Tzevi 
 was their long expected deliverer, and specified the 
 time for the conquest and ruin of the Grand 
 Seignor. Part of the nation believed in the im- 
 postor ; but the most sensible men among them 
 clearly perceived, that the intended insurrection 
 would cause their destruction in the Ottoman empire. 
 They, therefore, anathematized and condemned 
 him to death, alleging that he neither possessed the 
 characteristics of the Messiah, nor Levi those of 
 his precursor. 
 
 Being obliged to quit Jerusalem, he came to 
 Smyrna, and from thence to Constantinople, where 
 
 * These were prohibited from conducting business, under the pe- 
 nalty of excommunication. They expected that after their Messiah 
 had subdued the nations they should gain possession of all the wealth 
 of unbelievers. Turkish History, vol. ii. p. 176. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 702. Turkish History, p. 175.
 
 308 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 he expected to gain numerous disciples. But the 
 Jews in this city had previously received letters from 
 twenty-five rabbles, who had excommunicated him, 
 in which they pronounced him lf an impious wretch/' 
 and declared, " that the person who killed him 
 would render an acceptable service to God, and save 
 many souls." This induced Tzevi to return to 
 Smyrna,, where he received four ambassadors sent 
 by his precursor to acknowledge him as the Messiah. 
 As Levi was a man of eminence among his brethren, 
 this embassy greatly increased the followers of the 
 impostor, and even imposed upon part of the 
 learned rabbies. The multitude, dazzled by his 
 affected humility, frequent washings, diligent and 
 early attendance at the synagogues, and more espe- 
 cially by his pathetic sermons, acknowledged him 
 for their Messiah and king, and brought him magni- 
 ficent presents to support his dignity.* 
 
 In the mean time Levi was employed in per- 
 suading his nation in different parts, that Tzevi was 
 their long-expected deliverer, who was about to sub- 
 vert the Ottoman empire. He asserted that, after 
 being concealed nine months, this mighty conqueror 
 would appear in glory, mounted upon a celestial 
 lion ; and that a superb temple would descend from 
 heaven, in which sacrifices were continually to be 
 offered. While Levi was at Damascus, he wrote to 
 Tzevi, and thus began his letter, " To the king, 
 our king, lord of lords, who redeems our captivity, 
 the man elevated to the height of all sublimity, the 
 Messias of the God of Jacob, the celestial lion, 
 Zabathai Tzevi/' 
 
 * Basnage, p. 70S. Turkish History, fol. ii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 At this period, the Jews in all the Turkish domi- 
 nions entertained great expectations of glorious 
 times. They were devout and penitent, prayed, 
 fasted, and inflicted severe penances upon them- 
 selves. Business was neglected, superfluities were 
 sold, and the poor provided for by immense contri- 
 butions.* 
 
 The Jewish doctors at Smyrna convened again 
 to consult upon an affair which daily became more 
 important. The most judicious among them, not 
 finding the character of the Messiah in Tzevi, con- 
 demned him to death. But the impostor's party 
 being far the most numerous, he caused them to 
 assemble in the great synagogue in this city, cele- 
 brated a new feast, repeatedly pronounced the name 
 Jehovah, and altered the Jewish liturgy. His audi- 
 ence acknowledged his authority, and supposed 
 they beheld something divine in his person. A 
 third sentence of death pronounced by the rabbies 
 did not intimidate him, because he was convinced 
 none would presume to execute it. He repaired, 
 however, to the cadi, whom his friends had found 
 means to gain, and put himself under his pro- 
 tection. 
 
 Some of the credulous multitude affirmed, that 
 fire proceeded from his mouth when he addressed 
 the cadi, that a pillar of fire had terrified the 
 Turkish governor, and deterred him from putting 
 Tzevi to death. The multitude conducted him 
 from the cadi's presence in triumph, singing these 
 words from Psalm cxviii. 16, " The right hand of 
 the Lord is exalted," &c.f 
 
 * Basnage, p. 70J. t Basnage. p. 702. Turkish History.
 
 310 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The next step taken by the impostor was to cause 
 a throne to be erected for himself and his queen, 
 from which he addressed his subjects. He com- 
 posed a new summary of belief, which the people 
 were obliged to receive with implicit faith, as 
 coming from the hand of their Messiah. Some, 
 who had the temerity to oppose it, were compelled 
 to- save themselves by flight. Many who had been 
 incredulous now professed to believe in him to 
 whom they applied the prophecies of the Old Tes- 
 tament. When he had attained this height of 
 authority, he ordered the Jews, who were in the 
 habit of praying for the grand seignor in their syna- 
 gogues, to erase his name from their liturgy, and 
 substitute his own. He styled himself, " King of 
 the kings of Israel," and Joseph his brother, 
 {f King of the kings of Judah ;" he also elected 
 princes to govern his brethren in their march to the 
 holy land, and to administer justice to them after 
 they obtained the possession of their beloved 
 country. At length, he declared he was called of 
 God to visit Constantinople, where he had a great 
 work to perform ; and accordingly embarked in a 
 small vessel for this city, while many of his disciples 
 followed him by land. The sultan, being informed 
 of his arrival, despatched orders to his vizier to ap- 
 prehend and confine him in prison.* 
 
 This event, instead of discouraging, strength- 
 ened the faith of the Jews ; for they recollected 
 that Levi had predicted, that the Messiah was to be 
 concealed nine months. They maintained that the 
 sultan had not power to put him to death. The 
 
 * Basnage, p. 702.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 311 
 
 criminal, upon his examination, asserted that his 
 nation had compelled him to assume the title of 
 king. This answer induced the vizier to treat, him 
 with great mildness, and permit the Jews to visit 
 him in prison. Those of Constantinople were as 
 infatuated as their brethren in Smyrna. They 
 forbade commerce, and refused to pay their debts. 
 Some English merchants not knowing how to re- 
 cover what was owing to them, from the Jews, 
 took this occasion to visit Tzevi, and make their 
 complaints to him against his subjects ; upon which 
 he wrote to them as follows : 
 
 " To you of the nation of the Jews, who expect 
 the appearance of the Messiah, and the salvation of 
 Israel, peace without end. Whereas we are in- 
 formed that you are indebted to several of the 
 English nation, it seemeth right unto us to order 
 you to make satisfaction for your just debts, which, 
 if you refuse to do, be it known, that you are not 
 to enter with us into our joys and dominions."* 
 
 Tzevi remained a prisoner in Constantinople two 
 months. The grand vizier, who was preparing to 
 go to Candia, did not think it safe to leave him in 
 the city during his absence, he therefore removed 
 him to the Dardanelles. This the Jews supposed 
 a new miracle ; and asserted, that the sultan had 
 not power to put him to death. Having bribed the 
 governor, great numbers repaired to the castle 
 where he was confined, not only those who were 
 near, but from Poland, Germany, Leghorn, Venice, 
 and other places. f They brought Tzevi rich pre- 
 
 * Basnage, p. 702. 
 
 t Even the Portuguese Jews at Amsterdam composed a form of 
 prayer to be made use of by those who went to Adrianople to visit 
 the pretended Messiah. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 376.
 
 312 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 sents, and received in return his blessings and pro- 
 mises of advancement. The Turks raised the price 
 of provisions upon those who visited their pretended 
 Messiah.,, and the profit induced them to connive at 
 the attention which was paid him. 
 
 The impostor, during his confinement, com- 
 manded the Jews to celebrate his birth day with 
 feasting, illuminations, and music ; and abolished 
 the solemn fast which had been observed on that 
 day on account of the destruction of their temple. 
 He despatched ambassadors to various parts to pro- 
 claim him the Messiah, and publish the miracles 
 which he pretended to have performed. He en- 
 joined his nation to acknowledge the love of God in 
 giving them consolation by the birth of their king 
 and Messiah.* 
 
 In the height of Tzevi's success, Nehemiah 
 Cohen, a Polish Jew, came to visit him in his con- 
 finement. He was a man of great learning in the 
 cabbala and eastern languages. It is said, that he, 
 in his conference with the impostor, maintained, 
 that according to the scriptures there ought to be a 
 twofold Messiah ; one the son of Ephraim, a poor 
 and despised teacher of the law, the other the son 
 of David, and a mighty conqueror. Nehemiah 
 was contented to be the former, and leave the dig- 
 nity and glory of the latter to Tzevi. But he 
 accused him of too great forwardness and presump- 
 tion in assuming the character of the son of David 
 previously to the appearance of the son of Ephraim. 
 Tzevi, exasperated at this reproof, excluded Cohen 
 from any share in the transaction. Upon which the 
 latter went to Adrianople, and informed the mi- 
 
 * Turkish History, vol. ii. p. 177.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 nisters of state, that the impostor was a dangerous 
 person, who sought to subvert the Turkish govern- 
 ment. The grand seignor, at the request of his 
 principal officers, summoned him to appear in his 
 presence, and commanded him to be set as a mark for 
 his archers, to prove whether he was invulnerable.* 
 
 In order to avoid the impending trial Tzevi re- 
 nounced all his vain-glorious pretensions, and con- 
 fessed that he was only an ordinary Jew. The 
 sultan informed him, that his treason and other 
 crimes could only be expiated by embracing the 
 Mahometan faith ; and that if he refused, the stake 
 was prepared to impale him. The impious wretch 
 replied, that " he had long earnestly desired to own 
 himself a convert ; and he felt himself highly ho- 
 noured in making this glorious profession of the 
 true faith in the presence of his sultan /'f 
 
 The news of Tzevi's having embraced the Ma- 
 hometan religion soon spread through the Turkish 
 dominions. His deluded followers were filled with 
 consternation, grief, and shame, and exposed to the 
 contempt and derision of their enemies. Several of 
 the Jews still continued to use, in their public 
 worship, the forms prescribed by this Mahometan 
 Messiah ; which obliged the principal men of that 
 nation in Constantinople to send to Smyrna, and 
 forbid this practice upon penalty of excommuni- 
 cation. J 
 
 During these transactions, the Jews, in more 
 remote parts, instead of attending to commerce, 
 wrote letters to their brethren, filled with accounts 
 
 * Basnage, p. 702. Turkish History, vol. ii. p. 181. 
 t Basnage, p. 703. J Ibid.
 
 314 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 of the wonderful works performed by Tzevi their 
 Messiah. They reported, that when the grand 
 seignor sent messengers to apprehend him,, he 
 caused them alt to be struck dead ; but upon being 
 requested, recalled them to life. They added, that 
 though the prison in which Zabathai was con- 
 fined was fastened with strong iron locks, he was 
 seen to walk the streets with numerous attendants, 
 and that his chains were converted into gold, which 
 he gave to his followers. The Jews of Italy sent 
 legates to Smyrna to inquire into the truth of these 
 reports, who, upon their arrival, were mortified and 
 astonished at the intelligence, that their pretended 
 Messiah had embraced the Mahometan faith. But 
 the brother of Tzevi attempted to persuade them 
 that it was only his apparition which appeared in a 
 Turkish habit; that he had been translated to heaven, 
 and that God would again send him down to earth at 
 a proper season. He added, that Nathan his pre- 
 cursor, who had wrought many miracles, would soon 
 arrive at Smyrna, reveal hidden things, and confirm 
 their faith. But this pretended Ellas was not suf- 
 fered to visit the city, and though the legates saw 
 him in another place, they received no satisfaction.* 
 Tzevi passed the remainder of his days at the 
 Turkish court. He became a learned and zealous 
 Mahometan under the instructions of Vanni Effendi, 
 preacher to the seraglio, to whom he \vas a most do- 
 cile pupil. Still, however, he continued to profess 
 himself a deliverer of the Jews ; but being extremely 
 cautious to avoid giving offence to the Turks, he 
 declared. " that unless his brethren would imitate 
 
 * Basnage, p. 104. Turkish History.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 315 
 
 his example, in renouncing the imperfect elements 
 of the Mosaical law, he never should be able to 
 prevail with God to restore them to the holy land." 
 This induced many Jews to repair to Constantinople 
 from Bagdat, Jerusalem, and other remote parts ; 
 and in the presence of the grand seignor, they 
 voluntarily professed themselves proselytes to the 
 Mahometan religion. By this means the impious 
 impostor ingratiated himself with the Turks, and 
 retained his influence over large numbers of his 
 infatuated nation. Tzevi was, however,, finally be- 
 headed by order of the sultan Mahomet.* 
 
 After the death of Tzevi, Daniel Israel, a Jew, 
 who had dwelt at Smyrna six or seven years, under- 
 took to persuade the Hebrew nation, that Zabathai 
 was yet alive and concealed, and that he would 
 re-appear after the space of forty-five years. f Some 
 prodigies which he pretended to perform astonished 
 many of the Jews, and induced them to credit his 
 assertions. His supposed miracles excited the admi- 
 ration of the credulous people ; and he was not only 
 followed by the populace, but he even imposed 
 upon several eminent rabbies. In particular Abra- 
 ham Michael, and Raphael Cordoso, a physician 
 who was famous among the Jews in Candia, openly 
 declared for him. However., part of the learned 
 men opposed Daniel Israel, and declared him to 
 be an impostor. In consequence of their remon- 
 strances, the cadi expelled him from the city, and 
 imposed a fine upon his adherents. Cordoso, who 
 
 ..'.,. , ..{ -,,.,! . :,,., -., ... 
 
 * Basnage, p. 702. 
 
 f Daniel Israel attempted to support this assertion, by a false in- 
 terpretation of the prophecy of Daniel xii. 11, 12.
 
 316 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 maintained the impostor, was killed by his son-in- 
 law ; and his death blasted all the hopes of the 
 Jews, and unveiled the deception.* The murderer 
 fled into a Turkish mosque, and was converted to 
 Mahometan ism ; but we are not told what became 
 of Daniel Israel. 
 
 The denomination of Zabathaites is given to the 
 followers of Zabathai Tzevi. The sect formed by 
 this impostor survived him ; and he actually has yet 
 at Salonichi partizans, who outwardly professing 
 Mahomefanism, observe in secret the Judaic rites, 
 marry among themselves, and live in the same 
 quarter of the city without communicating with the 
 Musselmans except for the purpose of commerce, 
 and in the mosques. They never enter the syna- 
 gogues, nor make known their schism. Hence it 
 appears, that ce the Turks pardon a secret observ- 
 ance of another religion in favour of a public pro- 
 fession of their own." 
 
 Zabathai Tzevi had many adherents among the 
 Jews of England, Holland, Germany, and Poland, 
 who have continued in small numbers to our days.f 
 One of the Jews, named Jonathan, born at Cra- 
 cow in 1690, and who in 1750 was elected grand 
 rabbin of the three towns of Hamburg, Altona, 
 and Wansbeck, was accused of being a follower 
 of Zabathai Tzevi, which occasioned a very ani- 
 mated dispute, and produced many pamphlets. 
 
 * Many of the infatuated Jews not only believed that Zabathai 
 was living, and would re-appear, but even celebrated the day of his 
 birth with great rejoicings, crying, " Long live sultan Tzevi." 
 Basnage, p. 756. 
 
 i Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses. Tome ii. p. 509. 
 Published at Paris, 1810.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 317 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Of the Jews in Ethiopia. The conformity which subsists between 
 their religion and that of the Christians in that country. Of the 
 Falasha in Abyssinia. Of the Jews in Egypt and other parts of 
 Africa. Of their state in Morocco. Tyrannical conduct of the 
 emperors of that kingdom. They are numerous at Fez, and 
 several learned Jews have appeared among them. 
 
 THE Jews have enjoyed more tranquillity in 
 Ethiopia than in most other countries, on account 
 of the conformity which subsisted between their re- 
 ligion and customs, and those of the Christian inha- 
 bitants, who are circumcised, abstain from swine's 
 flesh, and observe Saturday for their sabbath. 
 Their kings boast of having descended from the 
 Jewish monarchs, and bear for their arms a lion 
 holding a cross with this motto, " The Lion of 
 Judah has conquered."* 
 
 The Jewish hierarchy is still retained by the 
 Falasha in Abyssinia, who claim their descent from 
 a colony of Jews in the time of Solomon. About 
 the Christian era, they elected one Phinehas to be 
 their king, and from him their present sovereigns 
 pretend to be lineally descended. This family is 
 called by the Abyssinians Ben Israel, to distinguish 
 them from the house of Solomon, from whom the 
 sovereigns of the country derive their origin. About 
 the year 960, the Falasha attempted to seize the 
 throne of Abyssinia, and the wars with the nation 
 were long and distressing. At last they were so 
 weakened as to be obliged to leave the flat country 
 of Dembea and retire to the craggy mountains of 
 
 * Basnage, p. 714.
 
 #18 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Samen, where they maintained their independence. 
 Their capital is still called the Jews' rock.* In 1600 
 they were reduced to the brink of ruin ; and 
 Gideon and Judith, their king and queen, were both 
 slain in battle. Since that time they have paid 
 taxes to the state, but are allowed to enjoy their 
 own government. When Mr. Brucef was there, 
 about 1771, they were estimated to amount to an 
 hundred thousand effective men. Their king and 
 queen were then called Gideon and Judith ; and 
 these names seem to be preferred for the royal 
 family. According to the accounts of the Falasha 
 their sovereigns are of the tribe of Judah. J 
 
 Their Old Testament is in the Geez language, 
 written by Abyssinian Christians and sold to them. 
 No dispute has ever existed about the text of scrip- 
 ture. They have no table of various readings ; no 
 Talmud, Targum, or Cabbala ; no fringes or 
 ribbands upon their garments,, nor any scribe. 
 They have lost their Hebrew, and only speak the 
 language their ancestors learned in the country 
 where they settled. They acknowledge candidly, 
 that they have no Hebrew nor Samaritan copies, 
 and that they trust wholly to the translation. They 
 say the prophecy of Enoch is the first book of 
 scripture they ever received, after which they place 
 the book of Job. They maintained that the sceptre 
 has never departed from Judah, and apply the pro- 
 
 * Bruce's Travels, vol. ii. chap. vi. p. 114. 
 
 t Mr. Bruce observes, " that he did not spare the utmost pains in 
 inquiring into the history of this curious people, and that he lived in 
 habits of intimacy and friendship with several of the most learned 
 among them." Bruce, vol. ii. p. 406. 
 
 Bruce's Travels, vol. ii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 319 
 
 phecy of the gathering of the Gentiles to the future 
 appearance of the Messiah. 
 
 The Falasha have no knowledge of the New 
 Testament but from conversation ; they imagine it 
 very absurd to suppose the Messiah is already come, 
 who they appear to think is to be a temporal prince., 
 prophet, priest, and conqueror.* The Jewish law 
 is in full force among this people, and all the Le- 
 vitical observances, purifications, atonements, absti- 
 nences, and sacrifices. 
 
 The Jews for many ages have found an asylum in 
 Egypt; they were, however, in 1524, near the 
 precipice of destruction, Achmet, governor of Egypt 
 having revolted against Solomon II. At the com- 
 mencement of the rebellion, the soldiers plundered 
 their houses ; and Achmet imposed a tax upon them 
 of two hundred talents. They, however, pleaded 
 insolvency, and paid only fifteen talents into the 
 treasury. The governor, exasperated at this re- 
 fusal, commanded all the Israelites in the kingdom 
 to be arrested and imprisoned. This order was 
 annulled by a conspiracy against Achmet, in conse- 
 quence of which he was put to death ; and the Jews 
 celebrated a feast in memory of their deliverance.f 
 
 The liberty which this people have since enjoyed 
 in Egypt, has rendered them numerous and power- 
 ful, particularly at Cairo, where they possessed thirty 
 synagogues. J They have long farmed all the cus- 
 toms in that city, and have acquired influence, and 
 reputation by this employment. The bashaw of 
 Cairo every two years lets out the custom-house for 
 
 * Bruce's Travels, vol. ii. p. *13. -f Basnage, p 116. 
 
 t Pocock's Description of the East, vol. i. p. 177.
 
 320 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the benefit of the grand seignor. He adjudges it 
 to the best bidder, and it commonly falls to the lot 
 of the Jews, because they have the art of gaining 
 his favour either by presents or intrigues. The 
 greater part of the Jews in Cairo are Pharisees or 
 Talmudists. There are, however,, a number of 
 Caraites, who have a synagogue of their own. One 
 proof of the consequence which the Hebrew nation 
 enjoy under the aristocracy of Cairo is, that the 
 offices of the customs are shut upon their sabbath, 
 and no goods can pass upon that day although be- 
 longing to Mahometans and Christians.* 
 
 The Jews are also numerous in other parts of 
 Africa, and are the principal traders in the inland 
 provinces. Some of them were so affluent, that 
 Muley Archey, king of Taphilet, by seizing the 
 property of a rich Jew, was thereby enabled to 
 achieve the conquest of the province of Quiriana. 
 and to dispossess his brother of the kingdom of 
 Morocco and Fez. To recompence the people for 
 this act of oppression to an individual, he allowed 
 them to enjoy their former privileges, and appointed 
 Joshua Ben Hamosheth prince of that nation. His 
 brother Ishmael, who succeeded him, was a still 
 greater benefactor to the Jewish people. As an 
 acknowledgment for the services he had received 
 from Joseph de Toledo, he not only made him one 
 of the principal officers of his household, but con- 
 stituted him his envoy to the different courts of 
 Europe ; and in 1684 he concluded the peace with 
 the United Provinces. f 
 
 * Niebuhr's Travels, vol. i. p. 102. Published 1792. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 717. Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 383.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 321 
 
 The Jews had been a long time settled at Oran, 
 and were entrusted with some of the most honour- 
 able and lucrative offices in the city. Yet, notwith- 
 standing the ill treatment they had received from 
 the Spanish government, they, being it is said 
 bribed by cardinal Ximenes,* betrayed the town to 
 the Spanish soldiers. This, and other signal ser- 
 vices, did not., however, preserve them from being 
 expelled from the city in 1669 ; but it is not known 
 on what pretence they were banished. In the pro- 
 vince of Suz, they were also numerous and flou- 
 rishing ; in the capital of that principality they had 
 a superb synagogue, which was served by several 
 priests and officers. They had their judges and in- 
 terpreters of the law, who were maintained at the 
 expense of their brethren, who supported themselves 
 by labour and commerce. f 
 
 The Jews have beenj and still are very nume- 
 
 * The cardinal was a great persecutor of the Jewish nation, and, 
 it is said, that he used his influence to persuade queen Isabella to 
 expel them from Spain. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 717. 
 
 : It appears that the Hebrew nation were settled in Morocco as 
 early as the year 1062 ; for the Jewish rabbi Samuel, who lived at the 
 close of the eleventh century, received his surname from that city, 
 where he resided. Samuel, having passed into Spain, had conferences 
 with the Christians, who succeeded in convincing him of the truth of 
 their religion. Before his conversion was completed, he addressed a 
 letter to rabbi Isaac, a Jew in the same kingdom, in which he says, 
 " I would fain learn of thee, out of the testimonies of the law and 
 the prophets, and other scriptures, Why the Jews are thus smitten in 
 this captivity wherein we are ? which may be properly called, the 
 perpetual anger of God, because it hath no end ; for it is now above 
 a thousand years since we were carried captive by Titus. And yet 
 our fathers, who worshipped idols, killed the prophets, and cast the 
 law behind their back, were punished only with a seventy years' capti- 
 vity, and then brought home again. But now there is no end of our 
 
 Y
 
 322 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 rous in all parts of Morocco; after they were 
 expelled from Spain and Portugal, multitudes sought 
 an asylum in this empire. They are not confined 
 to towns, but have spread over the face of the 
 whole country. 
 
 They are not only tributary in these parts, but 
 upon every small disgust, in danger of being ex- 
 pelled ; and can never promise themselves any 
 permanent settlement or security. Though this 
 unhappy people, in almost every place where they 
 have resided, have been treated with cruelty and 
 contempt ; yet in no part of the world have they 
 suffered more severe and undeserved oppressions 
 than in Barbary, where the whole country depends 
 upon their industry and ingenuity, and could 
 scarcely subsist without their assistance.* 
 
 The lowest classes among the Moors imagine 
 they have a right to oppress and insult the Jews, 
 who suffer the greatest ill treatment with a patience 
 they have acquired by being daily abused. They 
 have not courage to defend themselves, because the 
 Koran and judge are always in favour of the Maho- 
 metans. Their superior knowledge and address 
 give them, however, many advantages over the 
 Moors ; and their skill in pecuniary negociations 
 enables them to act as agents and brokers. More 
 industrious as well as better informed than the Ma- 
 hometans, they are employed by the emperor in 
 farming the customs, coining the money, and in 
 
 calamities, uor do the prophets promise any." Dissertations pour 
 servir a Vliistoire des Juifs. Gisborne on the Christian religion. 
 
 * Lancelot Addison's Present State of the Jews. Lempriere's 
 Tour to Morocco.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 32S 
 
 *> 
 
 Conducting his intercourse with foreign merchants, , 
 and his negociations with foreign powers.* Thus. L 
 employed, they have great opportunities for benefit- \ 
 ting and injuring the state; and they have sufficient j 
 art to enrich themselves by every resource in their 
 power ; and find means to console themselves for 
 the indignities they are obliged to suffer. 
 
 The Jews, in most parts of the empire, live 
 separate from the Moors, and, though oppressed in 
 other respects, are allowed the exercise of their reli- 
 gion. Many of them, however, in order to avoid 
 the arbitrary treatment to which they are continually 
 exposed, have professed the Mahometan religion. 
 Upon their renouncing Judaism they are admitted 
 to all the privileges of the Moors. 
 
 There are great numbers of Jews in the moun- 
 tains of Morocco, f who are engaged in laborious 
 employments, to which the other inhabitants are 
 averse. This, however, does not deter others from 
 attempting to raise themselves to eminent stations at 
 court. One of their nation, named Pacheco, was 
 sent ambassador to the United Provinces. He died 
 at the Hague, 1604, and was interred with great 
 pomp. Some time after, in the same century, two 
 Jews were residents in Holland, from the courts of 
 Portugal and Spain. J 
 
 A. D. 1660.] The Jewish synagogues having 
 been demolished in the kingdom of Fez, Muley 
 Mahomet, when he ascended the throne, not only 
 
 * Chenier's Present State of Morocco, vol. i. p. 157. 
 \ It has been computed that there are nearly four hundred thou- 
 sand Jews in Morocco, Fez, and Algiers. Dissertations Critiques. 
 J Basnage, p. 717. Gregoire, p. 201.
 
 324 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 caused them to be rebuilt, but made one of that 
 nation his high treasurer and prime minister. This 
 people, however, have frequently suffered from the 
 tyranny and caprice of the arbitrary sovereigns of 
 Morocco. Sidi Mahomet, the emperor, having 
 imposed a heavy tax on his son Muley Ali, com- 
 manded him to raise the sum required., on the 
 Jewish community, "- who, not being, as he said, 
 in the road to salvation, merited no indulgence/' 
 The prince offered his father the revenues of his 
 government, but earnestly entreated him not to 
 oppress the Jews, and add to wretchedness, which 
 was already too great.* 
 
 A. D. 1672.] Muley Ishmael, ingenious in 
 finding pretences for plundering his subjects, as- 
 sembled the Jews, and thus addressed them : 
 <e Dogs as you are, I have sent for you to oblige 
 you to turn Mahometans. I have long been amused 
 with an idle tale respecting the coming of the Mes- 
 siah. For my part, I believe he is come already ; 
 therefore, if you do not fix the precise time in 
 which he is to appear, t will leave you neither pro- 
 perty nor life ; I will be trifled with no longer." 
 
 The Jews, terrified and astonished at this address, 
 represented the punctuality with which they had paid 
 the enormous taxes imposed upon them. After 
 they had, at their request, obtained a week to 
 prepare an answer, they collected a large sum of 
 money to present to the emperor, and informed him 
 that their doctors had concluded, that the Messiah 
 would appear in thirty years. " Yes," replied Ish- 
 mael, taking the money, (c I understand you, dogs 
 * Cbenier's Present State of Morocco, vol. i. p. 159.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. '325 
 
 and deceivers as you are ; you think to hush my 
 immediate wrath, in the hope that I shall not then 
 be alive ; but I will live to show the world that 
 you are impostors, and punish you as you de- 
 serve."* 
 
 The Jews were more .numerous in Fez than in 
 any city in Barbary. A traveller, who visited this 
 country in 1619, reckoned eighty thousand in this 
 province., some of whom were very affluent and 
 powerful. They have guards at the entrance of 
 their quarter to enable them to carry on commerce 
 without being molested ; and are permitted to exer- 
 cise their religion, f But though they have a chief 
 of their own nation,, they are exposed to all kinds of 
 oppressions from the Mahometans. 
 
 The Jews have schools at Fez, where they study 
 the law and Talmud. This city has produced a 
 number of learned rabbies, who have acquired 
 celebrity by their writings. Among others, Judah 
 Ching, Isaac Ben Jacob, Aaron Ben Chaim, and 
 Solomon Ben Melech. 
 
 No where in Barbary was the Hebrew nation less 
 molested than in Algiers about the year 1804. At 
 that time a rebellion took place in the neighbourhood 
 of that city, and the Jews were unjustly accused of 
 the crime. The traitors were, in fact, persons inti- 
 mately connected with the Dey himself, but as some 
 of them had borrowed money of a Jewish merchant, 
 
 * Chenier, vol. i. p. 150. 
 
 t Dissertations pour servir a 1'histoire des Juifs. At Fez a day is 
 appointed for the Jews to pay their tribute in public, and as soon as 
 each has put down his share he receives a blow with a stick on the 
 feet, and after making a profound bow retires amidst the insults of 
 the populace. Gregoire, p. 50.
 
 326 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the Jews, though not concerned in the rebellion, 
 were charged with treason, and cruelly racked and 
 tortured. Several hundreds lost their lives from 
 being suspended by long ropes, and hooked nails, 
 on the outside of the tower walls. Others were 
 punished by burning ; some by stripes ; and the 
 greater part, by confiscation of their property, were 
 reduced to a state of poverty. This extreme cru- 
 elty induced great numbers to leave Algiers and 
 establish themselves in other parts of Barbary, par- 
 ticularly at Tunis. Many of the more religious 
 among them, considering the persecution as a 
 warning from heaven to leave distant countries, 
 resorted to Palestine and to the neighbourhood of 
 Jerusalem, as if the time of their restoration was 
 at hand. There are still, however, about nine 
 thousand Jews at Algiers, who have eight public 
 synagogues; but many of the privileges which they 
 enjoyed before the year 1804, they no longer pos- 
 sess. The Jews of Algiers are allowed three wives 
 at a time, whom they may repudiate at pleasure. 
 They are, to a considerable extent, subject to a 
 person of their own nation, whose decisions are 
 despotic, and who is elected by the Dey himself. 
 The present chief of the Jews in that city is 
 Mr. Jacob Crav Bacri.* 
 
 Even in the heart of Africa this wretched people 
 meet their predicted fate. At Sansanding, eight 
 hundred miles eastward from the Atlantic, a recent 
 traveller discovered some of the descendants of 
 Israel. 4f These Jews," he observes, " in dress 
 and appearance very much resemble the Arabs. 
 * Jewish Expositor, February, 1817, p. 76 78.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 327 
 
 But though they so far conform to the religion of 
 Mahomet, as to recite public prayers from the 
 Koran, they are but little respected by the negroes ; 
 and even the Moors themselves allowed, that though 
 I was a Christian, I was a better man than a Jew." 
 The full import of these words will be best under- 
 stood by those who have learned from Mr. Park's 
 previous accounts, the extreme degree of contemp- 
 tuous malignity to which the Moors in that part of 
 Africa push their hatred of the Christians.* 
 * Park's Travels into the Interior of Africa, 1 790, p. 204, 205.
 
 328 HISTORY OF THE JEW*. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Of the Jews in Germany. The bishop of Cologne expels them from 
 his diocese. Victor a Carbe, abjures the Jewish religion, and 
 writes against his nation. Another deserter of the synagogue, 
 attempts to persuade the emperor to order the Jewish books to 
 be burnt. His plan defeated by Reuchlin. Of the effects of the 
 reformation upon the state of the Jews. Of their situation in 
 Mersburg, Bohemia, and Hungary. A false Messiah appears in 
 Germany in the seventeenth century. 
 
 IN the three last chapters an account has been 
 given of the Jews in Asia and Africa during three 
 centuries. It is now time to turn to those of 
 Europe, -where their sufferings in the middle ages 
 have been already briefly related. 
 
 At the commencement of the sixteenth century, 
 the bishop of Cologne expelled the Jews from his 
 diocese. Victor a Carbe, who had renounced Ju- 
 daism to obtain preferment in the clerical line, wrote 
 a vehement invective against his brethren, and 
 highly applauded the prelate for having, as he styled 
 it, " plucked the tares from the Lord's field." He 
 advised the Christians not to dispute with his 
 brethren, but to compel them to abjure their reli- 
 gion by coercive measures. 
 
 A few years after, another convert, named 
 Pfepfercorn, attempted to persuade the emperor 
 Maximilian that all the Jewish books ought to be 
 burned, because they were replete with fables, 
 false accounts, and blasphemies against Christ. 
 Some time before he had written upon the Jews 
 celebrating the passover, and charged them with 
 being apostates from the Old, as well as enemies to
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 329 
 
 the New Testament. In another publication he 
 painted in the strongest colours the usury of his 
 nation, and their malice against the Christians.* 
 
 Pfepfercorn's conversion and zeal were, however, 
 much suspecte,d ; and he was accused of having 
 formed the design of seizing the Jewish books,, in 
 order to oblige his countrymen to redeem them at 
 an extravagant price. f But he had the address to 
 engage so many learned divines to favour his plan, 
 that the emperor was inclined to grant his request. 
 As the affair had obtained great publicity, he 
 wished previously to hear what could be said on 
 both sides the question. Reuchlin, a man well 
 versed in Hebrew and other literature, strenuously 
 opposed the burning of the Jewish books in ge- 
 neral, and maintained that those only ought to be 
 destroyed which contained blasphemies against 
 Christ.^ He also pointed out the impossibility of 
 suppressing books by an imperial decree which 
 were dispersed in all parts of the world, and might 
 easily be reprinted in other places. 
 
 The moderation of Reuchlin exposed him to 
 severe persecutions from his bigoted opponents. 
 The affair was finally left by an appeal to the pope. 
 Hochstrat, an inquisitor, and a man fully qualified 
 for that cruel office, repaired to Rome, supported 
 with remonstrances from several princes to bias* 
 with money to bribe, and menaces to intimidate. 
 
 * Basnage, p. 730. 
 
 t Pfepfercorn, being arrested upon some suspicion, made a full 
 confession of his hypocrisy and iniquitous conduct. 
 
 i He consented to the burning of two Jewish works called Nizza- 
 chon and Toldos Jeschu. Basnage, p. 731.
 
 330 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 He even threatened the pope with rejecting his 
 authority, and separating from the church,, unless 
 Reuchlin, and the Jews he defended, were con- 
 demned. But all his efforts were vain, and he was 
 obliged to return mortified and disgraced. The 
 victory which his opponent had gained exposed 
 him to the enmity of the monkish party. But he 
 informed them, that " he was persuaded that 
 Martin Luther, who then began to make a figure 
 in Germany, would find them so much employment, 
 that they would permit him to end his days in 
 peace."* 
 
 The progress of the reformation in Germany 
 proved a powerful stimulus to mental exertion. 
 The protestant divines, more conversant with the 
 learned languages than the monks and clergy in 
 past ages, studied the writings of the rabbies in 
 order to confute them upon their own principles. 
 The Roman Catholic clergy paid more attention to 
 the languages than formerly, and pursued the same 
 method. Hence the Jewish publications were not 
 only spared, but perused more than ever. The 
 impulse was given to the European republic of 
 letters ; and even the Jews, awakened by the ge- 
 neral activity, published several grammars and 
 lexicons in the Hebrew language, and exerted 
 themselves in defending- their religion against their 
 learned opponents. 
 
 A. D. 1547.] The reformation, in a great mea- 
 sure, freed the Jews from the persecutions to which 
 they were continually exposed in the middle ages,f 
 
 * Basnage, p. 733. Villers on the Reformation, p. 107. 
 
 t David Levi observes ; " Thanks be to God and the reformation
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 331 
 
 founded upon the charges of crucifying Christian 
 children, and profaning consecrated wafers. They, 
 however, entertained an extreme aversion to Luther, 
 because he deterred some Christian princes from re- 
 ceiving them into their dominions. 
 
 It was determined by the theological and Lu- 
 theran faculties of Wirtemberg and Rostock, that 
 a Christian when sick cannot call in the assistance of 
 a Jewish physician, because they employ magical 
 remedies ; and since the curse of heaven has been 
 pronounced against this people, they ought not to 
 cure the Christians, who are the children of God.* 
 
 The disputes between the Christians and Jews 
 gave rise to a new sect among the latter, who were 
 styled in contempt, Demi-Jews. Seidelius, one of 
 these doctors, appeared in Transylvania, and main- 
 tained that the Messiah regarded only the Jewish 
 nation, to whom he had been peculiarly promised 
 in the same manner as the land of Canaan. He as- 
 serted, that the Pagan world had no more share in 
 the former, than in the latter ; and that the whole 
 of religion is contained in the decalogue, and 
 written in the hearts of men. Seidelius, not being 
 able to gain converts in Silesia, his native country, 
 removed to Poland, and there acquired a number of 
 folio wers.f 
 
 The Jews at Mersburg, who pretended to have 
 been there settled ever since the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, were banished from the city and diocese by the 
 
 we now enjoy several privileges and immunities in the several states 
 in which we are settled, which our ancestors were strangers to since 
 their dispersion." Levi's Letters to Priestley, p. 19. 
 
 * Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 46. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 733.
 
 33% HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 bishop Adolphus early in the sixteenth century. In 
 1559, the emperor Ferdinand I. not only protected 
 this oppressed people, but allowed them the privi- 
 lege of having princes of the captivity in Germany, 
 and ordered that a rabbi of Worms should be pre- 
 ferred before any of his nation. Among the chiefs, 
 the rabbi Jakock, a native of Worms,* was emi- 
 nently distinguished for his learning. He left four 
 sons, who all discharged important offices, and were 
 highly celebrated by their country men. f 
 
 The Jews in Bohemia, ever since the tenth cen- 
 tury, have been generally treated with more indul- 
 gence than in most other countries, on account of 
 some important services which they rendered the 
 Christians against the banditti. They had built a 
 superb synagogue, and erected an academy at 
 Prague, over which the celebrated rabbi Falk pre- 
 sided. J But in 1580, a conflagration having de- 
 stroyed some part of the kingdom, they were 
 accused of being accessaries to it, and were con- 
 demned. Those who escaped a cruel death were 
 
 * The Jews in Germany boasted, that their ancestors entered the 
 country before the destruction of their second temple. Those of 
 Worms pretended to have given good proof to the emperor and the 
 states of the empire, that their ancestors had no concern in our 
 Saviour's crucifixion, and that, from time immemorial they had been 
 settled in this city, which is the reason they have obtained privileges 
 of which others are deprived. With this view they have inserted in 
 the Toldos Jeschu the extract of a letter, which they pretend the 
 sanhedrim of Worms wrote to the king of Judea, to dissuade him 
 from putting Jesus Christ to death. Mr. Basnage supposes, that the 
 author of the Toldos Jeschu was a member of the synagogue of 
 Worms. Basnage, p. 505. Dissertations Critiques, Sfc. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 784. 
 
 i This rabbi introduced the Christian method of disputing, but he 
 soon found it disgusted his brethren.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 333 
 
 expelled the kingdom. But the incendiaries being 
 discovered before the end of the year, the Jews 
 were recalled, and again settled in the country.* 
 
 Several Jewish doctors have appeared in Bohe- 
 mia, whose abilities and erudition have been highly 
 celebrated by their brethren. Leo of Prague nou- 
 rished in 1553, and was chief of the Moravian aca- 
 demies, and judge of his nation in that country. 
 He wrote a number of learned works, one of which 
 is styled " The Redemption and Eternity of Israel." 
 In this production he assures his brethren, that the 
 Messiah will certainly appear, and settle them in a 
 state of permanent prosperity. f 
 
 The Jewish historian, David Gantz, was a native 
 Prague ; and in that city he composed his work, 
 entitled " The Stem of David." This publication is 
 a chronology from the creation to the year 1292 of 
 the Christian era. He gave it this title either be- 
 cause it was his first work, or to remind his suffering 
 nation of the branch, David or Messiah, who was 
 to redeem them from captivity, and to induce them 
 to pray more fervently for his appearance.^; 
 
 The Jews in Hungary had greatly decreased 
 towards the conclusion of the sixteenth century, at 
 which period the emperor Rodolphus imposed an 
 enormous tax upon them. He judged that they 
 would be unable to pay the sum required, and he 
 might find a pretence to compel them to quit his 
 
 * Basnage, p. 735. 
 
 t A late author observes, that David Gantz's Tzemack David, or 
 stem of David, though a meagre chronicle, is perhaps the best history 
 written by a Jew since the time of Josephus. Adams Religious 
 fVorld Displayed, vol. i. p. 8. 
 
 Basuage, p. 736.
 
 334 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 dominions. Those of Moravia suffered a severe 
 persecution in 1574, and many were put to a cruel 
 death before their friends were able to afford them 
 assistance. Those of Franconia were accused of 
 setting fire to several houses in the town of Bam- 
 berg, and were plundered of their effects. Not- 
 withstanding these misfortunes they obtained liberty 
 to settle in the duke of Brunswick's territories at the 
 end of the sixteenth century.* 
 
 Several learned rabbies appeared in Germany 
 during the seventeenth century ; among others a 
 famous cabbalist, named Nathan de Spira, from Spire, 
 the place of his birth. He published a work styled 
 the "Good of the Land," in order to celebrate 
 the country of Palestine ; and also a cabbalistical 
 commentary on some verses of Deuteronomy, in 
 which he pretended to find and resolve the deepest 
 mysteries.f 
 
 One of the most famous doctors which Germany 
 produced in this century was Isaac Loria, author of 
 a metaphysical introduction to the cabbala. In this 
 work he examines the reasons which induced God to 
 create the world. He also published several other 
 learned treatises. Towards the conclusion of his 
 life he retired to Palestine, and was buried at Sa- 
 pheta in Upper Galilee. 
 
 A. D. 1682.] At this period rabbi Mordecai, 
 a German Jew, who had acquired great celebrity 
 among his brethren for his learning and austere 
 manner of life, pretended to be the Messiah. 
 Many of the German and Italian Jews were se- 
 duced by the impostor, and acknowledged his divine 
 
 * Basnage, p. 736. t Ibid. p. 737.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 335 
 
 mission. It was not long, however, before they 
 were sensible of the folly of their blind credulity ; 
 and the false Messiah was obliged to provide for his 
 own safety by flight.* 
 
 * Jortiu's Remarks, vol. ii. p. 306.
 
 336 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 State of the Jews in Poland. They obtain extensive privileges from 
 Casimire the Great. They are also highly favoured by John Sobi- 
 eski. Of the literary Jews in Poland. Prosperous condition of 
 the nation at Hamburg. Of those in Hungary. A large council of 
 Jews are said to have convened on the plains of Ageda in this 
 country. Prosperous state of the Jews at Vienna. Of their con- 
 dition in other cities in Germany. An account of several learned 
 Jews, who, in the seventeenth century, were converted to the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 A. D. 1333.] THE flourishing state of the Jews 
 in Poland, under Casimire the Great, has been men- 
 tioned in a preceding chapter ; in consequence of 
 the extensive privileges which this monarch's affec- 
 tion for Esther, a beautiful Jewess, induced him to 
 grant them, they, in a manner, engrossed all the 
 commerce in the country, and thus acquired power 
 and affluence. The prosperous state of their affairs 
 in this kingdom was not, however, wholly owing to 
 the king's edicts in their favour, but may in part be 
 attributed to their own industry, the indolence of 
 the higher classes of society, and the oppressed 
 tate of the peasants.* 
 
 The religious zeal which caused the reformation 
 to be banished from Poland was so capricious, as to 
 allow the Jews an entire liberty of conscience. 
 They not only possessed superb synagogues and 
 academies, but were owners of land, and had at 
 Cracow a court of judicature, which was permitted 
 to judge of criminal, as well as civil concerns. But, 
 
 * Basnage, p. 735. Coxe's Travels to Poland, vol. i. p. 143.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 337 
 
 notwithstanding their privileges, they sometimes 
 suffered from popular tumults.* 
 
 Under John Sobieski the Hebrew nation were so 
 highly favoured, that his administration was invidi- 
 ously styled a Jewish junto. He farmed to them 
 the royal demesnes, and reposed such confidence in 
 them as raised general discontent among the nobi- 
 lity. After his death an ancient law of Sigismund 
 the First was revived, and inserted in the Pacta 
 Conventa of Augustus II. that no Jew, or person of 
 low birth, should be capable of farming the royal 
 revenues. Since that period they have enjoyed 
 their privileges rather by connivance than by legal 
 sanction. f 
 
 Poland has long been the principal seat of lite- 
 rary Jews, and the place where they have been 
 accustomed to send their children to study the 
 Talmud and rites of their religion. In the six- 
 teenth century a celebrated rabbi named Iserdes 
 taught at Cracow, and collected a vast number of 
 disciples, who repaired from all parts to attend his 
 lectures. He expounded the law during twenty 
 years. J 
 
 In 1658, a Jew in the kingdom of Poland, named 
 John Solomon, professed the Christian religion. 
 He had been bound for one of his brethren, and 
 committed to prison ; and, as he obtained his liberty 
 by abjuring his former belief, his conversion was at 
 first greatly suspected. He, however, after his 
 
 * Basnage, p. 735. 
 
 + Coxe's Travels, 1784, vol. i. p. 144. Burnet'i Present State of 
 Poland, 1807. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 735. 
 
 Z
 
 338 HISTORY OF THE JEVTS. 
 
 baptism, wrote thirty-seven demonstrations in order 
 to prove that the Messiah was come, and was a 
 divine person, distinct from God the Father. 
 
 Hamburg has been styled the " lesser Jerusalem/' 
 on account of the multitudes of Jews who have 
 long inhabited the city and carried on commerce. 
 Some of this people acquired wealth, and others 
 distinguished themselves by their knowledge in 
 various sciences, particularly that of physic. In 
 this city a learned rabbi, named Esdras Edgardus, 
 having embraced the Christian religion in 1690, as- 
 siduously laboured to convert his brethren, and his 
 efforts were in various instances crowned with 
 remarkable success.* 
 
 The emperor Ferdinand III. granted the Jews 
 great privileges at Prague on account of their emi- 
 nent services in defending the city, when it was be- 
 sieged by the Swedes in 1641. Rabbi Jehudah Leo 
 compiled a history of the transaction, in which he 
 highly extolled the fidelity and bravery of his 
 brethren on this occasion ; but more especially their 
 piety in assembling in their synagogues to offer 
 prayers for their success ; and appeared to ascribe 
 the preservation of the city to their petitions and 
 merit, f 
 
 In Hungary the Jews enjoyed the privilege of 
 farming the revenues till Ferdinand II. deprived 
 them of it by an edict in 1630. They notwith- 
 standing found means to elude this decree, since 
 
 * Bishop Kidder, who corresponded with him, says, that " he has 
 heen an instrument of converting more Jews, including many rabbins, 
 than have perhaps ever been converted by any one person in the world 
 since the age of miracles." 
 
 i Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 426.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 339 
 
 Ferdinand III. was obliged to issue a new edict, 
 which condemned those to the loss of their places, 
 who admitted this people to any of them. Still, 
 however, they retained their employment till the 
 emperor repeatedly sent commissioners to expel 
 them, the last of which arrived in 1655.* 
 
 Notwithstanding these oppressions, this kingdom, 
 if accounts are to be credited, soon became the 
 scene of a memorable event. It is related, that, in 
 the year 1650, the Jews, weaned and perplexed by 
 the miseries of a captivity protracted through six- 
 teen centuries, resolved to hold a national council 
 for the complete investigation of the great question, 
 whether the Messiah was< already come. The 
 plain of Ageda, about thirty leagues from Buda, 
 was selected for the assembly. This place was 
 chosen on account of the war between the Turks 
 and king of Hungary, both parties having given 
 the nation permission to convene in this part 
 of the country. Three hundred of the most emi- 
 nent rabbies, and a vast multitude of other Jews, 
 assisted at the council ; and Zechariah, of the tribe 
 of Levi, was chosen their president and speaker. f 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 427. 
 
 t A narrative of the great council of Jews on the plains of Ageda 
 in Hungary was published in the " Phoenix, or a collection of scarce 
 and valuable papers, in 1707." An account of this assembly is also 
 inserted in the thirteenth volume of the Modern Universal History ; 
 the authors of this work refer to Bret's narrative in the Phoenix, but 
 mention no other authority. This part of the Universal History is 
 supposed to have been written by Psalmanazar, and, as he was a 
 person of great learning, and very conversant in Hebrew literature, 
 and probably lived much with the Jews, his mentioning of it is a 
 circumstance in favour of its credibility. It is also considered as au- 
 thentic by Dr. Owen, in his " Essay on Image Worship ;" and by Mr.
 
 340 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 After the assembly had excluded all who could not 
 prove themselves of Jewish origin, the president 
 thus proposed the following question : et We have 
 convened in this place to examine whether the Mes- 
 siah is really come, or whether we must still expect 
 his appearance ?" Some professed themselves in- 
 clined to believe that he had already come, since the 
 calamities which their nation had suffered during a 
 series of ages could not be owing to their idolatry, 
 a crime which they had carefully avoided since their 
 return from the Babylonian captivity. But the 
 majority of the council agreed, that the Messiah 
 had not appeared, and that his delay was owing to 
 their sins and impenitence.* 
 
 They next debated in what manner their long 
 expected deliverer would manifest himself; and rea- 
 dily agreed, that he would appear as a mighty con- 
 queror, and deliver them from all foreign dominion. 
 After the session had continued six days, a learned 
 rabbi, named Abraham, strenuously urged upon the 
 council the necessity and propriety of strictly 
 examining into the pretensions of the Christian 
 Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. The Pharisees, who 
 overruled the assembly, answered, that he could 
 not be that distinguished personage, because he 
 
 Richards of Oxford, and lately by Mr. Whitakcr in his " Dissertation 
 on Prophecy." It is mentioned in Dr. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesias- 
 tical History, second volume, and second edition, and in other 
 learned works. On the other hand, the narrative is pronounced 
 fabulous by Menasses Ben Israel, and his authority has the greater 
 weight, because, at the very time of the publication in question, he 
 was negociating with Cromwell for the return of his brethren. The 
 English Jews also treat the account of this council as fabulous ; and 
 fiasuage does not mention it in his history. Butler's Horte Biblicte. 
 * Modern Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 429, 4SO.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 341 
 
 appeared in a humble and despised state ; but the 
 Messiah was to manifest himself in a glorious 
 and triumphant manner. Abraham, who was dis- 
 satisfied with the Pharisaic reasoning 1 , strongly 
 insisted upon Christ's miracles, and asked by 
 what power he could perform them ? Zebedee, 
 one of the chiefs of this sect, answered, that " he 
 wrought them by the magic art." Abraham replied, 
 that " no magic art could give sight, hearing, and 
 speech to those who were born blind, deaf, or 
 dumb."* 
 
 It appears, that, in consequence of the remon- 
 strances of this learned rabbi, some Christian priests 
 were admitted, and asked to explain the nature and 
 grounds of their faith. These priests were Roman 
 Catholics, who, not contented to prove that Jesus 
 Christ was the Messiah, began to extol the worship, 
 ceremonies, and authority of their church. The 
 council, highly irritated, exclaimed, in a tumultuous 
 manner, " No Christ! No God-man! No inter- 
 cession of saints ! No worship of images ! No 
 prayers to the virgin Mary !" They also rent their 
 clothes, and cast dust upon their heads, crying, 
 " Blasphemy ! blasphemy !" In this manner they 
 broke up the assembly, and refused to receive any 
 further information respecting Christ. f 
 
 The assembly met again only to agree upon 
 another council, which was to be held three years 
 after in Syria. It is said, that some of the Jewish 
 doctors acknowledged that what had passed had 
 rendered them wavering and unsettled in their 
 former belief; and that they expressed a desire to 
 
 * Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 431. t Ibid,
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 converse with some protestant divines. But the 
 presence of so many monks deterred them, and 
 made them apprehend some tragical conclusion to 
 the assembly.* 
 
 A. D. 1660.] About this period the Jews had 
 acquired such an ascendency at Vienna, that rabbi 
 Zechariah obtained permission to erect a superb 
 synagogue and academy, in order to revive religion 
 and learning among his brethren. He endowed the 
 latter with a sufficient pension to support twenty- 
 four rabbies, who were to read lectures on the 
 Talmud day and night. It was always to be open, 
 and the doctors alternately to relieve each other. 
 The academy, however, was scarcely completed 
 before the emperor expelled them from the capital, 
 and converted their synagogue into a church. After 
 the death of the empress, in 1673, who had super- 
 stitiously attributed a misfortune which she suffered 
 to the toleration of the Jews, they were recalled, 
 and admitted to several high offices and titles of 
 honour. But the populace, who envied the opu- 
 lence they acquired under the government, used 
 the most unjustifiable measures to deprive them of 
 their wealth. f 
 
 The emperor found a new subject of complaint 
 against the Jews, because, while he was engaged 
 in a war with the Turks, they assisted the Maho- 
 metans in maintaining the siege of Buda, and distin- 
 guished themselves by their valour. But though 
 their conduct was highly resented in Germany and 
 Italy, yet, as they were subjects of the Ottoman 
 
 Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 222. 
 t Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 431.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 343 
 
 empire, they could not justly be condemned for 
 their fidelity to their sovereign.* 
 
 During the seventeenth century the Jews were 
 numerous and flourishing in the provinces of Servia, 
 Croatia, Moldavia, Valencia, &c. as well as in most 
 of the large cities in the empire. They were, 
 however, expelled from Nuremburg, but settled in 
 most towns in the vicinityj and possessed a syna- 
 gogue at Pfurt. They were only permitted to enter 
 the city with a guide, who was obliged to remain 
 with them till the time of their departure. For- 
 merly they had a synagogue and academy at Augs- 
 burg, and their rabbies and pupils were supported 
 by the rich merchants of the place. But they have 
 since been expelled, and obliged to purchase the 
 liberty of entering the city at the price of a florin 
 for every hour they remained in it.f 
 
 The Jews of Worms were charged by one of 
 their brethren, who had renounced the religion of 
 his ancestors, with having the name of Jehovah in- 
 scribed on the top of their synagogue, from a 
 superstitious notion that it would be an effectual 
 mean of preserving the edifice. But the French 
 convinced them of the vanity of this idea, when 
 they took the city and demolished the building. J 
 
 The Jews were so numerous in Frankfort, 
 during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, 
 that they were computed to have amounted to thirty 
 thousand. But they were often plundered, exposed 
 to all manner of ridicule, and employed in the most 
 servile offices. A late traveller asserts, that " they 
 were confined to live in one street, which was long, 
 
 * Basnage, p. 736, t Ibid. + Ibid. p. 737.
 
 344 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 spacious, and irregular, while their houses were 
 separated back and front from the other citizens by 
 an high wall. Every evening, about ten or eleven, 
 both ends of the street were shut up, and no Jew, 
 without special permission, suffered to quit his prison 
 during the time of divine service among the Christians. 
 
 The intolerable hardships which this persecuted 
 people endured in former times would have been 
 abolished ; but the rich Jews, finding the assistance 
 of their poor brethren highly beneficial to them in- 
 carrying on commerce, made pressing remonstrances 
 against any change, even though it would be advan- 
 tageous to themselves."* 
 
 The Jews in Prague were so numerous in the 
 seventeenth century as to fill a third part of the 
 city. But, though allowed a toleration, they were 
 hated and despised by the Christians ; and remained 
 poor and miserable, often exposed to insults, and 
 obliged to submit to the most degrading employ- 
 ments, f Their condition was more favourable 
 in the following century ; for a late traveller asserts, 
 that in 1780 there were nine or ten thousand of the 
 Israelites in the city. They were remarkably indus- 
 trious, and in almost every inn there is a Jew who 
 performs the business of a servant. They are 
 allowed entire liberty of conscience, and have artists 
 and mechanics of their own religion, who reside in 
 the part of the town appropriated to them, which is 
 called the Jews' city.J 
 
 Several learned Jews in Poland and Germany- 
 have, at different periods, been converted to Christi- 
 
 * Stolberg's Travels, yol. ii. p. 366. + Basnage, p. 736. 
 
 * Ricsbeck's Travels, vol. i. p. 421.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 345 
 
 anity. Mordecai-Ben-Moses, a native of Germany,"^ 
 had distinguished himself by his zeal in writing / 
 against the New Testament. But after diligently / 
 studying, and carefully comparing it with the Old, he 
 became sensible of his error, renounced Judaism, 
 and, in 1701, was baptized. After his conversion 
 he published several valuable works. 
 
 Aaron Margalitha, a learned rabbi in Poland, 
 embraced the Christian religion, and was baptized 
 in Leyden. He was afterwards appointed pro- 
 fessor of Jewish antiquities in the university of j 
 Frankfort, where he published, in 1706, a treatise 
 on the sufferings of Christ.* 
 
 Johannes Christliel Hielbronner of Cracow, in 
 Poland, was baptized in 1709. He wrote a treatise, 
 in the German language, on the fifty-third of Isaiah ;f 
 and declared in his preface to the work, that this 
 chapter was the principal mean of inducing him to 
 embrace the Christian religion. This performance 
 was published in 1710. Five years after, he pub- 
 lished at Dresden, a small work concerning Jesus 
 Christ, the true Messiah, and Son of God ; with 
 an appendix, showing what are the characteristics 
 of the Messiah expected by his unconverted brethren. 
 In 1718 he published another work at Hamburg, in 
 answer to the Jewish exceptions against the genea- 
 logy of our Saviour recorded in the Gospels. 
 
 * Chapman's Eusebius, p. 331 334. 
 
 + It has been observed', that the Jews, in their selection of pas- 
 sages from the prophets to be read on their sabbaths and festivals, 
 omit those which speak most clearly of our Saviour. For instance, 
 it is said, that the fifty-second and fifty-fourth chapters of Isaiah are 
 appointed, and the fifty-third passed over. 
 
 ^ Chapman's Eusebius, p. 545.
 
 346 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Ernestus Maximilian Borg- was also convinced 
 of the truth of Christianity by reading the fifty-third 
 chapter of Isaiah, and baptized at Wratislaw. In 
 the year 1722, he published an extraordinary work 
 with this title, ee The Christian Doctrine built upon 
 Moses and the Prophets/' Another learned Ger- 
 man Jew, named Christian Meir, was baptized at 
 Breme. Among various other productions, in 
 1722, he published a tract, in order to evince, from 
 various prophecies of the Old Testament, that Jesus 
 Christ is the true Messiah.* 
 
 * Chapman's Eusebius, p. 545.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 State of the Jews in Italy during the sixteenth century. Julius III. 
 commands all the Gemaras to be burnt Of Joseph Tzarphanti and 
 Elias Levita. Paul IV. persecutes the Jews, but is prevented from 
 banishing them on a false accusation. Pius V. issues an edict 
 against them. Sixtus V. treats them with more indulgence, but 
 Clement VIII. confirms the edict of Pius. The Jews are tolerated 
 at Venice, and Hebrew books printed in that city. Learned 
 Rabbies appear in Venice and other parts of Italy. Of the Jews in 
 Padua. A number of Jews from Germany establish a printing 
 office in Soncini. Of those in Turin. They are favoured and 
 protected by pope Innocent XI. who attempts to convert them to 
 the Christian religion. They are numerous in the ecclesiastical 
 state in the eighteenth century. Charles, king of Naples, issues 
 an edict in their favour. 
 
 A. D. 1554.] IN a foregoing chapter* we have 
 seen the Jews in general favoured and protected by 
 the Roman pontiffs ; but in Italy as well as in other 
 countries, they have experienced various vicissitudes. 
 Julius III. being of opinion that the interpretations 
 of the Gemara had a dangerous tendency, com- 
 manded all the copies of the work throughout Italy 
 to be burnt, f 
 
 Under this pontificate Joseph Tzarphanti, a cele- 
 brated rabbi, embraced the Christian religion. He 
 was born in France, but, upon finding Jewish 
 learning in a more flourishing state at Rome, he 
 removed to this city and expounded the Talmud. 
 After his conversion he wrote a friendly letter to the 
 Jews, in which he proved, that the Messiah had 
 really appeared. Soon after he was appointed to 
 preach to his unconverted brethren, and to the new 
 
 * See Chap. XX. t Basnage, p. 735.
 
 348 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 proselytes. But his deserting the synagogue had 
 rendered him so odious to the former, that, upon 
 their remonstrance to cardinal Sirlet, the employ- 
 ment was taken from him. He wrote afterwards a 
 treatise, styled, " The Confusion of the Jews/' in 
 order to prove, that all the mysteries of Christianity 
 are found in the Old Testament.* 
 
 Among the learned Jews who appeared in the 
 sixteenth century, f Elias Levita claims the pre-emi- 
 nence, and was one of the most celebrated writers 
 which his nation ever produced. He was born in 
 Germany, but spent the greatest part of his life in 
 Italy. An ardent desire to acquire knowledge in- 
 duced him to study with intense application ; and he 
 was so happy as to live at a time when the learned 
 began to recur to the original fountain of the scrip- 
 tures, and revived the study of the Hebrew language. 
 Elias, having lost all he possessed in Padua, when 
 that city was taken and plundered, supported him- 
 self and family by teaching Hebrew. This rendered 
 him obnoxious to his nation, who censured him with 
 great asperity for exposing the divine oracles to the 
 Christians by teaching them the sacred language. 
 He, however, had the resolution to persevere in his 
 instructions. Some have supposed that he embraced 
 Christianity, on account of his living in habits of 
 great friendship and intimacy with those of that 
 religion. But, though his mind was free from that 
 
 * Basnage, p. 723. 
 
 t In the sixteenth century, a celebrated Jewish poetess, named 
 Deborah, flourished at Rome, and acquired celebrity by her poetic 
 and other works about the year 1560 ; she lived till the beginning of 
 the seventeenth century. Modern I'niver. Eit.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 349 
 
 enmity against Christians which many of his brethren 
 have exhibited, he never renounced the faith of his 
 ancestors.* 
 
 At the age of forty he went to Rome, and there 
 obtained the favour and protection of cardinal 
 Egidio. He resided with his eminence thirteen 
 years, and instructed him in the knowledge of the 
 Hebrew language. During this period he published 
 several learned works, and remained at Rome till 
 the city was sacked and plundered by the high con- 
 stable Bourbon. This event, having again reduced 
 him to extreme poverty, he retired to Venice, and 
 from thence to Germany. But, being unaccustomed 
 to the cold of the country, he returned to Italy, and 
 died at Venice, in 1549, in the eightieth year of his 
 age. This great man was humane, benevolent and 
 sincere, and the amiable traits in his character 
 caused him to be noticed and caressed by princes, 
 cardinals, and bishops. Among various other learned 
 productions he composed an Hebrew grammar and 
 rabbinic lexicon, and enjoyed the satisfaction of 
 seeing his works in high reputation, being translated 
 into other languages, and repeatedly published, f 
 
 In the infancy of the reformation, a celebrated 
 Jew, named Samuel Tremellius, of Ferrara, in Italy, 
 was converted to the Christian religion, and con- 
 stantly adhered to the protestant faith. In 1554, 
 he published a Hebrew catechism, containing the 
 grounds and principles of Christianity. His work 
 was prefaced with an affectionate address to his 
 brethren, for whose benefit he composed the tract. 
 He also, in conjunction with Franciscus Junius, 
 * Basnage, p. 784. t De Rossie's Hebrew Biography.
 
 350 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 translated into Latin from the Hebrew all the books 
 of the Old Testament, as well as those of the New 
 from the Syriac version.* 
 
 A. D 1555] Paul IV. was the avowed enemy 
 of the Jews, and issued several severe edicts against 
 them. By his decrees they were compelled to sell 
 all their lands ; to surrender many of their books to 
 the flames ; to wear a distinguishing dress ; to nearly 
 forego all intercourse with Christians ; and to have 
 that part of the city where they resided shut every 
 night. He also limited the number of their syna- 
 gogues, and allowed them only one in each city, on 
 which he imposed a tribute to be employed for the 
 instruction of Jewish catechumens, who were 
 willing to embrace Christianity. -j* 
 
 During this pontificate they were exposed to a 
 still more severe persecution. Eighty female con- 
 verts from Judaism pretended to be possessed, and, 
 upon being exorcised, accused their unbelieving 
 brethren with bewitching them in order to revenge 
 their apostacy. The credulous pontiff, who enter- 
 tained an extreme aversion against the Jews, re- 
 solved to expel them. But a Jesuit dissuaded him 
 from his design by painting in strong colours the 
 absurdity of the accusation, and strenuously enfor- 
 cing the duty and necessity of making a stricter 
 inquiry respecting the alleged crime. The pre- 
 tended demoniacs, being accordingly examined by 
 scourging, confessed that they had been persuaded 
 to act this part by some courtiers, who hoped to 
 have enriched themselves with the plunder of this 
 devoted race, whether they were banished or mas- 
 
 * Chapman's Eusebius, p. 537. t Basnagc, p. 723.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 351 
 
 sacred. Upon this discovery the courtiers were 
 condemned to death ; and the pontiff exclaimed, 
 " I might have suffered eternal punishment for un- 
 justly destroying the Jews, had not my good Jesuit 
 prevented it. I will pray to God to convert them as 
 long as I live ; but I never will hate and persecute 
 them as I have formerly done."* 
 
 A. D. 1569.] Pius V. issued an edict against the 
 Jews, in which he accused them of falsehood, of 
 treachery, atid of ruining the ecclesiastical state hy 
 their exorbitant usury and other crimes. By this 
 decree he expelled them from every part of his 
 dominions except the cities of Rome and Ancona. 
 The reasons he assigned for permitting them to 
 remain in his capital, were, that the people might 
 be reminded of Christ's sufferings, that a watchful 
 eye might be kept over them, and that the sanctity 
 of the place and example of the Christians might 
 encourage their conversion. But it has been sup- 
 posed, that his real motive was the promotion of 
 commerce in the eastern parts, and that he might by 
 this mean procure substantial advantage to the Holy 
 See. 
 
 A. D. 1587.] His successor Sixtus V. frankly 
 declared, that the profit he derived from the Jewish 
 merchants was his principal motive for tolerating 
 those of this nation. A certain rabbi named Meir, 
 of French extraction, came to Rome at this time, 
 and being a man of learning and address dedicated 
 a book to this pontiff, and presented to him a flat- 
 tering eulogy in verse, which was translated into 
 Italian. After he had thus conciliated the protection 
 
 * Basnage, p. 723. Modern Universal Hist. vol. xiii. p. 397.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 of the pope, he petitioned for the exclusive privilege 
 of establishing a silk manufacture at Rome. Sextus 
 not only granted his request, but revoked all the 
 bulls and edicts of his predecessors to the contrary, 
 though they had been confirmed with an oath 
 strengthened with a menace of excommunication.* 
 
 A. D. 1593.] Clement VIII. confirmed in sub- 
 stance the bull of Pius V. which expelled the Jews 
 from the ecclesiastical state. He, however, relaxed 
 so far as to add Avignon to the cities of refuge, 
 where they have been settled ever since with entire 
 liberty to exercise their religion. The reason he 
 assigned for this indulgence was, his ardent desire to 
 effect their conversion. f 
 
 The Jews were tolerated in all the Venetian terri- 
 tories, and had merited this indulgence by eminent 
 services which they performed in the wars against 
 the Turks, particularly at the siege of Candia. 
 They were numerous and flourishing in the capital. 
 In 1511, David Bomberg came from Antwerp to 
 Venice, and began for the first time to print 
 Hebrew Bibles. J In order to render them more 
 
 * Basnage, p. 724. + Ibid. 
 
 + Bomberg printed several Hebrew Bibles in folio and quarto at 
 Venice, most of which were esteemed both by the Jews and Christians. 
 The division of the Scriptures into chapters was invented by cardinal 
 Hugo in 1240. The subdivision of the chapters into verses had its 
 origin from a famous Jewish rabbi, named Mordecai Nathan, about 
 1445. This rabbi, in imitation of cardinal Hugo, composed a con- 
 cordance to the Hebrew Bible, for the use of his brethren. But 
 though he followed Hugo in the division of the books into chapters, 
 he refined upon his invention, and subdivided the chapters into verses. 
 And thus, as the Jews borrowed the division of the books of the 
 Holy Scriptures into chapters from the Christians, the Christians 
 borrowed that of the chapters into verses from the Jews. Buck's 
 Theological Dictionary, vol. i. p. 79.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 353 
 
 correct he employed one hundred Jews. He also 
 published many learned rabbinical works ; and was 
 hence esteemed and beloved by the nation. 
 
 Several learned rabbies nourished at Venice 
 during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 David, the son of Isaac de Pomis, was born in 1523. 
 He acquired celebrity by a work, styled, "The Branch 
 of David," and practised physic in various places 
 with great success. At length he retired to Venice 
 and composed a " treatise on the miseries of human 
 life," which was an Italian commentary on the book 
 of Ecclesiastes.* 
 
 Simeon Luzati, another famous rabbi, composed 
 a work styled, " Socrates," in order to prove, that 
 the greatest geniuses are inclined to err when not 
 guided by revelation. He published besides, a 
 treatise on the present state of his nation. Samuel 
 Nachmias, a native of Thessalonica, also settled 
 in this metropolis, and, with several others of his 
 family, was baptized in 1647. According to his 
 account he first received a favourable impression of 
 Christianity by being present at a public dispute in 
 Venice between two of his nation, one of whom 
 had renounced Judaism, respecting the accomplish- 
 ment of Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks. 
 In this dispute Simeon Luzati, the celebrated rabbi 
 above mentioned, was chosen arbitrator. The con- 
 dition agreed upon by the disputants was, that the 
 person who was vanquished in the argument should 
 embrace the religion of his opponent. The contest 
 was conducted with great spirit and ingenuity on 
 both sides ; but the Christian reasoned from the 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 401. 
 A A
 
 354 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Scriptures with so much energy and strength of 
 argument, that Luzati exclaimed, " I beseech you 
 to permit us to be silent, and shut up our books ; 
 for if we proceed to examine the prophecies any 
 further we shall all become Christians. It cannot 
 be denied, that, in the prophecy of Daniel, the 
 coming of the Messiah is so clearly manifested, that 
 the time of his appearance must be allowed to be 
 already past ; but whether Jesus of Nazareth be 
 the person I cannot determine." This speech 
 closed the debate, and made such a deep impres- 
 sion upon rabbi Samuel and his brother Joseph, 
 that they both formed the design of renouncing 
 Judaism. A few months after, upon reconsidering 
 the subject seriously and calmly, they embraced the 
 Christian religion. In 1683, Samuel published a 
 work in Italian, entitled, " The Way of Faith," in 
 order to prove to his brethren, that they were no 
 longer bound to observe the ceremonial law, but to 
 embrace the doctrines of the Gospel.* 
 
 Another celebrated rabbi, named Mordecai 
 Korkos, who was a native of Venice, and taught in 
 this city in 1687, rendered himself odious to his 
 nation by writing a treatise against the Cabbala. 
 The Jews so highly venerate this science, that they 
 regard every attempt to lesson its importance levelled 
 against the fundamentals of religion; and their 
 doctors prohibited the publication of this work.f 
 
 The synagogues of Modena, as well as those of 
 Venice, produced several learned men, among 
 
 * Chapman's fiusebius, p. 549. In a preface to this publication 
 rabbi Nacbmias gives the account of his conversion above related. 
 t Basnage, p. 735.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 355 
 
 \vhom rabbi Samuel, who was its chief, distinguished 
 himself. In 1599, he published a work in this city, 
 styled, "The Judgments of Samuel/' which is a col- 
 lection of Talmudic and Rabbinic decisions. Leo 
 de Modena was also a man of learning, but a pro- 
 fessed enemy to the Christians. He acquired great 
 celebrity by his writings ; his " Treatise on the 
 Ceremonies of the Jews," in particular, has been 
 highly celebrated by the learned of all nations. He 
 intended to have translated the Old Testament into 
 Italian, but the inquisitors prohibited his proceeding 
 in this work. He died at Venice in the year 1654, 
 being almost eighty years old.* 
 
 Pesarof was the native place of rabbi Jechiel, 
 who went from thence to Florence, where having 
 heard for some time the sermons of an inquisitor, 
 he repaired to Rome in order to renounce Judaism. 
 Pope Gregory XIII. assisted at the numerous 
 assembly where he made his recantation. Soon 
 after, he was baptized by this pontiff, and became 
 a public teacher. Some of the Italian sermons 
 which he preached against the Jews at Florence, 
 where they were very numerous,, were printed in 
 1585. 
 
 Jacob Tzaphalon was born at Rome 1630, and 
 had the degree of doctor of physic conferred upon 
 him by the university in this city. He taught at 
 Ferrara, and is ranked among the most eminent 
 rabbies in the 17th century. Among other learned 
 works he composed a book of prayers and medi- 
 tations, in which there is a petition for physicians 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 404, 
 + A small ancient city in Italy. 
 A A 2
 
 356 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 when they visit their patients. The authors of the 
 Universal History observe, that " it appears this 
 good Jew thought it necessary to implore the 
 blessing of heaven before he went to prescribe to 
 the sick ; and did not, like the generality of those 
 of his profession, depend wholly upon the natural 
 efficacy of the medicines."* 
 
 The Jews of Padua received the title of doctors 
 of physic, and were authorized to practise the 
 healing art in all parts of the republic of Venice. 
 Towards the close of the 16th century there were 
 eight hundred of this nation at Padua, who pos- 
 sessed three synagogues. They had a very hand- 
 some Ghetto, or quarter assigned them, with three 
 gates, which were shut every night. Their in- 
 scription over one of the gates begins with these 
 words, " that the people, heirs to the kingdom of 
 heaven, may have no communion with those who 
 are disinherited." There was also an academy in 
 this city, of which the celebrated rabbi Meir was 
 president. Menakim Rabba nourished in this semi- 
 nary, and composed sermons on the four seasons of 
 the year, which have since been published by his 
 son ; he died in the year 1605. Rabbi Judas 
 Azael was likewise a distinguished Jewish preacher ; 
 and rendered himself so popular by the discourses 
 which he delivered at Ferrara, that even the Chris- 
 tians attended his lectures. He was the author of a 
 cabbalistical work, entitled, " The Thrones of the 
 House of David." He died in this city 1677.f 
 
 About the same period that Bomberg set up a 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 402. 
 
 t Basnage, p. 725. Modern Uoiverwl History, vol. xiii. p. 40C.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 35? 
 
 press in Venice, a number of Jews, who came from 
 Spire in Germany, established another in Soncino, 
 a small town in the duchy of Milan. These printers 
 became celebrated under the name of Soncinates ; 
 and were principally engaged in publishing Hebrew 
 books. By their exertions many manuscripts were 
 preserved which had become scarcely legible. As 
 they were almost the first who had rendered their 
 nation such an essential benefit, they acquired repu- 
 tation and opulence. 
 
 The Jews have long been settled at Turin, the 
 capital of Piedmont, by an edict which secured to 
 them plenary liberty of conscience. They were, 
 however, sometimes insulted by the bigoted popu- 
 lace ; yet they enjoyed more tranquillity than in 
 most other parts of Italy.* 
 
 A. D. 1685.] In the seventeenth century the 
 affairs of the Jews in Italy assumed a favourable 
 aspect. Pope Innocent XI. treated them with great 
 kindness and indulgence. When the Venetian 
 general Morosini returned victorious from the Morea, 
 and brought with him a large number of Christian 
 and Jewish captives, he gave liberty to the former, 
 but would have retained the latter in slavery had not 
 this pontiff used vigorous exertions to obtain their 
 release. He also made great efforts to effect their 
 conversion, and built seminaries and hospitals for 
 the new converts. Gregory XIII. had previously 
 ordered a sermon to be preached every week for 
 their instruction. An ingenious Clergyman was 
 chosen to prove in these discourses, that the Mes- 
 siah was come, and that Jesus of Nazareth was the 
 
 * Basnage, p. 72C.
 
 358 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Messiah. He was ordered particularly to enlarge 
 on the miseries the nation had suffered seventeen 
 hundred years. One third of the Israelites in 
 Rome were obliged to be present in their turn, and 
 the children who had attained the age of twelve 
 
 ~ 
 
 years were registered among the auditors. But 
 little benefit was derived from the institution, for 
 the Jews either absented themselves, or attended in 
 order to ridicule the discourses. Pope Innocent 
 endeavoured to remedy this abuse. He prohibited 
 the sermons* from being preached in a consecrated 
 church, lest it should be profaned byHheir indecent 
 behaviour,, and appointed inspectoss to impose 
 silence upon them. But, notwithstanding all his 
 exertions., the Jews generally persisted in their 
 unbelief; and cardinal Barberini, who took an 
 active part in their instruction, acknowledged that 
 most of the pretended conversions were hypocritical 
 and interested, f 
 
 The Jews have long been numerous in the eccle- 
 siastical state, where, as late as the middle of the 
 eighteenth century, they are said to have possessed 
 nearly an hundred synagogues, nine of which were 
 
 * This pontiff obliged the preacher to make a prayer to God, but 
 ordered it to be pronounced softly lest the names of Jesus and Mary 
 should alarm the Jews. Basnage, p. 727. 
 
 + It is said, that, in order to encourage new converts, some car- 
 dinal, or great personage, was their godfather, and made them some 
 handsome present after baptism. They were dressed in white satin, 
 and carried about the city in a fine coach, during a fortnight, to be 
 seen and congratulated by the spectators ; after which they appeared 
 in a common dress, and, to prevent their apostatizing, all who were 
 found guilty of it were condemned to the flames. Modern Universal 
 IJislory, vol. xiii. p. 407.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 in Rome.* They had also an academy in this city, 
 and appeared to assume a kind of superiority over 
 those in other parts of Italy, who consulted them 
 in doubtful cases, and paid great deference to their 
 decisions.f 
 
 A. D. 1740.] At this period, Charles, king of 
 Naples, published an edict in favour of the Jews, 
 permitting them to return, and reside in the 
 kingdom fifty years. They were allowed to enjoy 
 the full exercise of their religion, and settle in what 
 parts they pleased ; and those who had studied the 
 healing art, were promoted to the degree of doctors 
 in that science. These concessions excited great 
 uneasiness among the zealous Catholics ; yet the 
 king pursued his measures, and many of the nation, 
 from various parts of Italy, repaired to this kingdom. 
 Soon, however, the licentiousness of the Jews 
 caused laws, so honourable to those who framed 
 them, and so consoling to the Hebrew people, to be 
 revoked.^ 
 
 * Gisborne on the Christian Religion. 
 
 f Modern Univer. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 408. 
 
 Gregoire'g Essay on the Reformation of the Jewf, p. lift.
 
 360 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 i >o ^tniii > ju,, 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Jews apply to the emperor Charles V. for the liberty of retumfng 
 to Spain. Cardinal Ximenes persuades him to reject their request. 
 
 Of the conspiracy of the Portuguese Jews against the house of 
 Braganza. Vast numbers of concealed Jews remain in Spain and 
 Portugal. Account of Orobio, a celebrated Spanish Jew. Of the 
 severity of the Spanish government. The Spanish and Portuguese 
 Jews claim their descent from the tribe of Judah, and refuse to 
 connect themselves by marriage with those of other nations. 
 
 A law is enacted in Portugal which prohibits the inhabitants to 
 call any person a Jew. 
 
 THOUGH the Jews had suffered severe perse- 
 cution in Spain, and towards the conclusion of the 
 fifteenth century were cruelly expelled from this 
 kingdom ;* yet upon the accession of Charles V. the 
 fugitives petitioned for liberty to return. They 
 represented to this monarch, that " they had con- 
 ducted with honour the whole commerce of the 
 nation, and were the most useful, and perhaps 
 faithful subjects in the kingdom ; that, therefore, 
 the confidence they reposed in his justice and good- 
 ness induced them to hope he would allow them the 
 free exercise of their religion." On this condition 
 they engaged to present him eight hundred thou- 
 sand crowns of gold.f 
 
 Charles was at first disposed to return a favourable 
 answer to their petition, but cardinal Ximenes ex- 
 erted all his influence to dissuade the king from per- 
 mitting their return. He reminded him, that Fer- 
 dinand had refused six hundred thousand crowns 
 which the Jews offered him, for the liberty of con- 
 * See Chapter xviii. t Basnage.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 361 
 
 tinuing peaceably in his dominions ; arid asserted, 
 that " those who rejected Christ from reigning over 
 them, were unworthy of the protection of Christian 
 princes." Charles, who entertained an extreme 
 aversion* against this people, preferred the counsel 
 of the cardinal to the advice of his ministers, and 
 peremptorily rejected their request. 
 
 A. D. 1640.] After the Portuguese had freed 
 themselves from the tyrannical government of 
 Spain, f in the reign of Philip IV. the archbishop 
 of Braga, who was wholly devoted to the Spanish 
 monarch, conspired against his sovereign, the king 
 of Portugal, and engaged avast number of JewsJ 
 to assist in the design. They had long resided at 
 Lisbon in the external profession of the Christian 
 faith, and had lately offered the king a large sum of 
 money if he would free them from the inquisition, 
 and permit them to possess synagogues in Lisbon. 
 
 * Charles hated the Jews on account of their being so frequently 
 duped by the impostors who appeared among them. One of them 
 was so impudent as to affirm, that he was the Messiah, even in hi? 
 presence, upon which he was apprehended and suffered a cruel death, 
 1534. Modern Vniver. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 392. 
 
 + After Philip II. extended his dominion over Portugal, he enacted 
 that those of his subjects who were descended from Jews or Moors 
 should be excluded from all ecclesiastical and civil employments. 
 This mark of infamy, with which the new converts to Christianity 
 were stigmatised, caused many of the wealthy Jews to emigrate to 
 Bourdeaux, Hamburg, and other places. Raynafs History of the 
 Indies, vol. iv. 
 
 i Men of superior talents were formerly found among the Portu- 
 guese Jews. Duarte Nonnez, oue of this nation who was banished 
 from Portugal, his native country, in the sixteenth century, was pre- 
 ferred by the Catholic king to be a privy counsellor, on account of 
 his great abilities, though all of that persuasion were formerly 
 banished from Spain. Murphy's Travels in Portugal, p. 223.
 
 362 HKTORY OF THE JEW'S. 
 
 The rejection of this offer filled them with re- 
 sentment and consternation, as their appearing 
 in this petition,, had exposed them to the tortures of 
 the merciless inquisition.* 
 
 The archbishop of Braga promised them, in the 
 name of the king of Spain, that, if they would 
 be instrumental to his restoration, they should be 
 allowed liberty of conscience, and be permitted to 
 profess their religion openly without incurring any 
 penalty. The part assigned them was to set fire to 
 the palace, and several houses in the city and 
 suburbs, in order that while the people were 
 engaged in extinguishing the flames, the conspi- 
 rators might fly to the palace and assassinate the 
 king. The grand inquisitor was also engaged 
 in this plot against the government, and this was, 
 perhaps, the first time that the inquisition and syna- 
 gogue acted in concert. The meditated revolution, 
 however, was not effected. Baeze, a rich Jewish 
 merchant, being put to the rack, confessed the 
 treacherous design formed against the house of 
 Braganza, and the intended perpetrators of the 
 crime were severely punished.f 
 
 * Vertot's Revolutions of Portugal, p. 82. 
 
 t Though the Jews have been accused of treason, and some other 
 instances similar to that of the conspiracy against the house of Bra- 
 ganza have been proved, the greater part of these accusations were, 
 says a late anthor, the children of imposture; and there are other 
 anecdotes of a contrary nature. In 1749, Malta was saved by a Jew 
 from a formidable conspiracy. The Turkish slaves had combined to 
 destroy the whole order of knights in the island; and every slave had 
 taken a solemn oath to put his roaster to death. This treacherous 
 design was discovered by a Jew who kept the coffee-house. He under- 
 stood the Turkish language, and having overheard discourses which 
 he thought suspicious, went immediately and informed the grand
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 363 
 
 V 
 
 The Jews, finding themselves baffled in all their 
 legal and illegal attempts to obtain a toleration 
 in Spain and Portugal, continued under the spe- 
 cious veil of Christianity to perform the Mosaic 
 rites in secret.* Their aversion to a religion, which \? 
 
 they were compelled to profess externally, became 
 more implacable. The law of Moses was still 
 privately transmitted from father to son ; and the 
 vigilance of the inquisition, and murder of so many 
 of their brethren, which has caused them to be 
 more circumspect, must, at the same time, have 
 rendered them more bigoted. Many, who could no 
 longer submit to wear the mask of Christianity, 
 quitted their country. The greatest part of the 
 fugitives have settled in England and Holland, and, 
 among the Jews who reside in these countries, 
 those of Portugal have the reputation of main- 
 taining the most respectable characters.f 
 
 Large numbers of the Israelites have, however, 
 remained in the dominions of Spain and Portugal, 
 who have availed themselves of the liberty of dissi- 
 mulation permitted by the Talmud. Outwardly 
 .good Catholics, but inwardly Jews ; they have 
 abounded in varioue ranks and professions, and 
 have not hesitated to fill the most sacred departments 
 
 master. The suspected persons were instantly put to the torture, 
 confessed the whole plot, and were executed. We also read of a Jew, 
 who, during the siege of Tunis by Charles V. saved the lives of 
 several thousand Christian slaves, whom Barbarossa intended to have 
 put to death. Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 41. 
 Brydone's Tour, p. 163. 
 
 * Vertot's Revolutions in Portugal. 
 
 t Southey's Letters from Spain and Portugal, vol. i. p. 112. Mur- 
 phy's Travels in Portugal.
 
 HISTORY OP TriE JEWS. 
 
 of the Romish priesthood. By pretending to an 
 uncommon zeal for a religion which they detest, 
 they have generally passed unobserved, if not un- 
 suspected. Hence it has been said, that when 
 a house is found to be remarkably decked with 
 images, relics, and lamps, and the owner celebrated 
 for being the most enthusiastic devotee in the parish; 
 there is reason to believe the family are Israelites at 
 heart.* 
 
 These facts rest on the unquestionable authority 
 of Jews who themselves have practised dissimulation, 
 and are particularly recorded on the testimony of 
 Balthasar Orobio, a celebrated Spanish Jew, who 
 was carefully educated in the religion of his an- 
 cestors by his parents, who assumed the mask of 
 Christianity, and outwardly conformed to the Roman 
 Catholic worship, and abstained from the practice 
 of Judaism in every thing except the observation of 
 the fast of expiation. Our author was distin- 
 guished for his talents and learning; and, having 
 studied the scholastic philosophy as it was taught in 
 Spain, acquired such celebrity, that he was made 
 professor of metaphysics in the university of Sala- 
 manca. But afterwards, applying himself to the 
 study of physic, he practised the healing art at 
 Seville with reputation and success. f 
 
 In process of time Orobio, being suspected of 
 Judaism, was suddenly seized and thrown into 
 the inquisition, where he suffered such exquisite 
 
 * Swinburn's Travels to Spain, vol. i. p. 104. Those Jews who, 
 in Spain and Portugal, have been compelled to profess Christianity, 
 are styled " new Christians." 
 
 + Biographical Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 34$.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 365 
 
 torments, that he began to be deranged. Sometimes 
 he imagined that his past life was only a dream, and 
 that the dungeon in which he was confined., was his 
 true birth place, and would also prove the place of 
 his death. At other times, as he had a very meta- 
 physical turn, he first formed arguments of that 
 kind, and then resolved them, acting thus the three 
 different parts, of opponent, respondent, and mode- 
 rator, at the same time. In this way he diverted 
 himself from time to time, and, notwithstanding 
 the cruel tortures which he endured, had the for- 
 titude constantly to deny that he was a Jew. At 
 last, after three years' confinement, the inquisitors, 
 finding themselves baffled by his perseverance, or- 
 dered his wounds to be cured, and discharged him 
 from the inquisition.* 
 
 As soon as Orobio obtained his liberty, he re- 
 solved to quit the Spanish dominions; and going to 
 France was made professor of physic at Toulouse. 
 He continued in this city some time, still outwardly 
 professing the Roman Catholic religion. Averse, at 
 length, to further dissimulation, he repaired to 
 Amsterdam, vrhere he was circumcised, took the 
 name of Isaac, and professed Judaism. He conti- 
 nued to practise physic, and was highly esteemed in 
 his profession. In Holland, he held his famous 
 dispute with Philip Limborch, a celebrated Pro- 
 testant clergyman, concerning the truth of the 
 Christian religion. f This dispute was conducted 
 
 with great moderation on both sides. But the 
 
 tic ;., 'ixflfy.T T- ' 
 
 * Biographical Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 344. 
 
 t Limborch published a very interesting account of this conference, 
 under the title of " Amica Collatio cum erudito Judaeo."
 
 366 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 learned divine was not able to conquer the pre- 
 judices of Orobio, who declared, at the end of the 
 conference, that he was of opinion, " that every 
 man ought to continue in the religion in which he 
 was educated, since it is much easier to attack the 
 opinions of others, than to defend our own." He 
 continued in Holland till the time of his death, 
 which took place 1687.* 
 
 The great number of the dissemblers, and their 
 existence even among the grandees and clergy in 
 Spain, Orobio attests in the strongest terms, and 
 relates, that many of those who assumed the mask 
 of Christianity, even Franciscan monks, Domi- 
 nicans, and Jesuits, came annually to the synagogue 
 at Amsterdam to confess and expiate their dissimu- 
 lation, f 
 
 A late author informs us, that a Catholic clergy- 
 man, who had recently quitted Spain, after a resi- 
 dence there of twelve years, spontaneously related 
 to him the following circumstances : " That the 
 Spaniards universally believe, there are among them 
 very great numbers of concealed Jews, chiefly 
 in the trading classes, and some among the clergy ; 
 and that the captain of a pacquet, with whom he 
 was windbound at Corunna, informed him, he had 
 met with many persons in France, South America, 
 and elsewhere, who had freely confessed to him they 
 were Jews, though they had lived long in Spain as 
 Catholics ; and that one of these persons had been 
 
 * Bio. Diet vol. ii. p. 345. 
 
 t The Jews are said to have been numerous in the Spanish and 
 Portuguese monasteries and nunneries ; and that many of the priests, 
 inquisitors, and even bishops, are of Hebrew origin. Modern Uni- 
 vtrsal History, vol. xiii. p. 357.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 367 
 
 outwardly a Catholic clergyman, and really in orders 
 as such."* 
 
 Even as late as the close of the eighteenth 
 century, any person believed to be a Jew, whether 
 he had previously appeared as a Catholic or not, 
 would still be seized in Spain, if discovered by the 
 inquisition, f The following is an extract from 
 a decree of the Spanish government, promulgated 
 against the Jews, July 22, 1800. "His majesty 
 ordered his ministers to deliver no passports to Jews 
 intending to enter Spain, whatever might be the 
 motive of their journey ; and whether they be desi- 
 rous or not of making any stay in the kingdom. 
 He enjoined the governors of the frontiers to pre- 
 vent their entrance into the Spanish territories, 
 and to expel all who may be discovered in it. For 
 a long time the laws of this monarchy have for- 
 bidden all the Jews to attempt a transit, or an esta- 
 blishment in the dominions of his majesty ; a late 
 transgression calls for a rigorous reinforcement of 
 these laws." 
 
 The Spanish and Portuguese JewsJ claim their 
 descent from the tribe of Judah ; and found these 
 pretensions on a supposition which prevails among 
 them, that many of their ancestors removed, or 
 
 * Gisborne on the Christian Religion, p. 110. 
 
 t It is said, that in about 1755, when a terrible earthquake in 
 Lisbon destroyed thirty thousand of the inhabitants, the Portuguese 
 believed that the mercy of God might be obtained by burning some 
 Jews, and other heretics, in what they call the Auto da Fe, or act of 
 faith. foltaire's Age of Levels XI f. 
 
 + It appears that the Jews have no accurate deduction of their 
 descent or genealogy ; they suppose that they are in general of the 
 tribe of Judah and Benjamin, with some among them of the tribe of 
 Levi. Butler's Horee Biblicae, p. 85. 
 
 _
 
 368 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 were sent into Spain, at the time of the Babylonian 
 captivity. In consequence of this supposed supe- 
 riority, they, till very lately, would not by marriage 
 or otherwise, incorporate with their brethren of 
 other nations. They had separate synagogues ; 
 and if a Portuguese Jew, even in England or 
 Holland, married a German Jewess, he was imme- 
 diately expelled from the synagogue, deprived of 
 every civil and ecclesiastical rite, and ejected from 
 the body of the nation. A late instance has 
 occurred of a Jew in Berlin, who having married 
 the daughter of a Portuguese physician, the parents 
 of the girl went in mourning, as for the death of 
 a relation.* 
 
 The manners of the Portuguese Jews differ from 
 the> rest of the nation, and are more polished. 
 They have nothing peculiar in their dress. The 
 opulent among them vie with the other nations 
 of Europe in refinement, elegance, and show ; and 
 differ from them in worship only.f 
 
 In Portugal, the name of a Jew is a term of such 
 high reproach, that the government found it neces- 
 sary to enact a law, which forbade any person to 
 call another by that appellation. If a man who is 
 styled a Jew to his face stabs the offender, the law 
 does not condemn him ; and trifling as this regu- 
 lation may appear, it has produced beneficial 
 effects.^ 
 
 * Gregoire, who mentions this fact, informs us, that it was com- 
 municated to him by a learned German Jew. Essay on the Refor- 
 mation of the Jews, p. 86. 
 
 t Letters of certain Jews to Voltaire, p, 23. 
 
 t Southey's Letters, vol. i. p. 118. Review of the Naturalization 
 of the Jews, p. 52.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 369 
 
 The Jews in Portugal remain separated from the 
 Germans., and retain their ritual usages ; but go- 
 vernment has destroyed the obstacles which the 
 institutions of Portugal opposed to their marriage 
 with the Germans.* 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses. 
 
 B B
 
 370 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX VI II. 
 
 Account of the Jews in Holland. One of the German Jews deludes 
 his brethren with the promise of a Messiah. They erect academies 
 and synagogues at Amsterdam. An account of Meuasses Ben Israel, 
 and several other learned rabbies, who flourished in Holland, during 
 the seventeenth century. Of their state at a later period. 
 
 HOLLAND has long afforded the Jews a fa- 
 vourite asylum ; and the lenity of the government, 
 by giving free scope to their commercial genius, has 
 enabled them to accumulate wealth. 
 
 Basnage, who closes his history of this people 
 with the seventeenth century, has asserted, that 
 they enjoyed more liberty in this country, and have 
 been more rich and flourishing there, than in any 
 other part of the world.* Part of the Jews emi- 
 grated from Germany, the others from Spain and 
 Portugal ; and, on account of some difference in 
 their religious ceremonies, a violent animosity has 
 subsisted between them.f 
 
 Zeighler, a distinguished personage among the 
 German Jews, came to Amsterdam, in order to 
 delude his brethren, who were recently settled in 
 the city, with the hopes of a Messiah, whom he 
 pretended to have seen at Strasburg when he was 
 only fourteen years old. He affirmed him to be 
 lineally descended from king David, and that his 
 ancestors had resided a thousand years in the king- 
 dom of Tunis, whence they passed into Grenada in 
 Spain, but, upon being expelled by king Ferdinand 
 
 * Basnage, p. 738. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 739. Modern Universal History.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 3? I 
 
 the Catholic, they settled in Germany. Zeighler 
 asserted, that he reserved a diadem and sword to 
 present to the Messiah, when he should be of age 
 to assert his dignity and appear in arms. He was 
 then to exhibit himself as a mighty conqueror, to 
 destroy Antichrist and the Ottoman empire, and 
 extend his dominion over the whole world. The 
 Messiah was also to assemble a council at Constance 
 which was to last twelve years, and decide all reli- 
 gious controversies. Those who gave credit to the 
 assertions of this impostor, regretted too late their 
 blind credulity and infatuation. 
 
 The first assembly of Jews in Amsterdam, excited 
 great jealousy among the citizens, who supposed 
 them to be Roman Catholics in disguise. But in 
 searching their houses, especially those in which 
 they performed divine worship, they found nothing 
 but Hebrew books, and a copy of the Mosaic law. 
 After this discovery, they were only enjoined to 
 pray for the preservation of the city, which they 
 readily promised.* 
 
 Soon after, they obtained permission to build 
 their first synagogue in this city, which they called 
 " The House of Jacob," because a rich Jew of that 
 name was its founder. Not long after, they erected 
 another synagogue, which they styled, <( Neve 
 Shalom/' the dwelling of peace ; and committed it 
 to the care of a celebrated rabbi named Joseph 
 Vega, who composed a history of bis nation down 
 to the destruction of Jerusalem. He was succeeded 
 by rabbi Uziel, who incurred the resentment of his 
 brethren, by his severe animadversions on their 
 
 * Basnage, p. 189. 
 BBS
 
 372 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 conduct. This induced them to build a new syna- 
 gogue called " Ben Israel/' to which the dissenters 
 retired. This schism lasted about twenty years, 
 and the disputes between the two parties were con- 
 ducted with great animosity. But, in 1639, these 
 divisions were terminated, and the three synagogues 
 united in one.* 
 
 The Jews of Amsterdam founded academies as 
 well as synagogues, and one of them, called, The 
 Crown of the Law, which was built in 1643, was 
 governed by some of the most learned men of the 
 nation. Their flourishing state in Holland during 
 the seventeenth century, was exhibited by a superb 
 synagogue, begun 1671, and consecrated in the 
 year 1673.f 
 
 Many celebrated rabbies have flourished in Hol- 
 land, among whom Menasses Ben Israel was emi- 
 nently distinguished. This great man was born in 
 Portugal 1604 ; but his father Joseph, being perse- 
 cuted on account of his religion, retired with his 
 family to Holland. Menasses was instructed in the 
 Hebrew language by rabbi Uziel, and made such 
 rapid progress in this and other branches of know- 
 ledge, that after his tutor's death, he was chosen to 
 succeed him in the rabbinical chair at Amsterdam, 
 when he was only eighteen years old. At the age 
 of fifteen he began to preach., and his discourses at 
 that early period were highly applauded by his 
 brethren. He pursued his studies so assiduously 
 that, when only twenty, he published the first 
 part of his Conciliator]; on the Pentateuch, in 
 
 * Basnnge, p. 789. + Ibid. 
 
 t This work when completed was divided into four parls, and 
 comprehended the remainder of the Old Testament.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 which he endeavoured to reconcile the sacred books. 
 By this work, which he afterwards completed, he 
 acquired the esteem and admiration of the learned, 
 both among Jews and Christians.* 
 
 Menasses married Rachel, of the family of Abar- 
 banel, and boasted of his connection with one of 
 the descendants of king David, f He was cele- 
 brated by his nation for his skill in physic, as well as 
 for his knowledge in theology. In order to improve 
 his fortune, he established a well furnished printing 
 office for Hebrew books, which produced many 
 beautiful and rare editions. He afterwards visited 
 his brother Ephraim, a rich merchant at Basil, by 
 whose advice he engaged in commerce. The hopes 
 of rendering important services to his nation, in- 
 duced him to repair to England, under the protec- 
 torship of Cromwell, who gave him a favourable 
 reception, and entertained him at dinner with several 
 learned divines. He, however., soon returned to 
 Zealand, and died at Middleburgh in 1657, aged 
 fifty three, and was interred with great respect at 
 the public expense.^ 
 
 Menasses was the author of various learned 
 works, too numerous to be particularly mentioned, 
 which were printed by his son. In some of his 
 writings, he directly or indirectly attacked Christi- 
 anity, and defended Judaism. But, being modest, 
 
 ,; 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 435. De Rossie's He- 
 brew Biography. 
 
 t Menasses adopted the tradition of Abarbanel, that two Jewish 
 families of the race of David came to Spain, but differed from him 
 in supposing that they did not arrive till after the ruin of the second 
 temple. De BoissVs dissertations pour servir'juVhisloire des Juifs. 
 
 * De Rossie's Hebrew Biography.
 
 374 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 affable, and polite,, he conciliated the affection and 
 esteem of the Christians ; and some of the greatest 
 men of the age, as Grotius, Episcopius, and others, 
 were his intimate friends.* His great object ap- 
 pears to have been to promote the welfare of his 
 nation both by his life and writings. One of his 
 publications is entitled " Vindicae Judeorum," or 
 a letter in answer to certain questions respecting 
 the Jews, in which he exploded all the calumnies 
 raised against his persecuted nation. In another of 
 his productions, styled, " The Hope of Israel," he 
 attempted to prove, that the American natives are 
 the descendants of the ten tribes. His works were 
 published in Hebrew, Latin, Spanish, Portuguese, 
 and English ; and part of them in Dutch and 
 German. 
 
 Rabbi Zacutus, an eminent Jewish physician, 
 and friend and panegyrist of Menasses, was born at 
 Lisbon in the year 1575. His parents, who assumed 
 the mask of Christianity, sent him to study philo- 
 sophy and medicine at Salamanca and Coimbra. 
 After having taken his degree of doctor at Mor- 
 vedro, a famous university in Spain, he practised 
 physic at Lisbon till 1624. He acquired great cele- 
 brity by his knowledge of the healing art, and was 
 
 * Bishop Huet, a learned Roman Catholic divine, observes, " Du- 
 ring my stay in Holland I was induced to visit Menasses Ben Israel, 
 a very learned Jew, known to me by his reputation and his writings, 
 for the purpose of becoming better acquainted with him, and making 
 inquiries of him respecting several circumstances connected with the 
 Jewish rites, and the Christian religion. His answers appeared to me 
 acute, yet candid, and to show that he was not far distant from 
 a knowledge of the truth, were he treated with reason and moderation, 
 and not with that contumely and harshness commonly displayed to his 
 nation." dikins Memoirs of the Life of Huet, vol. i. p. 208.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 375 
 
 distinguished for his benevolent attention to the 
 poor. After having dissembled about thirty years 
 he retired to Amsterdam,, and died, in the profession 
 of the religion of his ancestors, 1642. He was the 
 author of a history of the principal physicians and 
 various medical works.* 
 
 Joseph Athias, a Spaniard by birth, was first 
 a teacher of the Talmud at Hamburg, but re- 
 moved from thence to Amsterdam, and purchased 
 a printing-office. In 1661, he published an elegant 
 edition of the Hebrew Bible, which was reprinted 
 six years after with additions, and is remarkable for 
 being the first edition in Hebrew in which the verses 
 are numbered. The states of Holland rewarded 
 Athias with a present of a golden chain and medal- 
 lion. f 
 
 Uriel Acosta was born in Portugal, towards the 
 close of the sixteenth century. His parents were of 
 the nobility, but originally descended from those 
 Jews who had been compelled to profess the Roman 
 Catholic religion. His father, however, was really 
 a Christian, and carefully instilled the principles of 
 religion into the mind of his son. It appears, by 
 Acosta's account of his life, that he received 
 a liberal education, and, having been instructed in 
 various sciences, applied himself to the study of the 
 law, and afterward had an ecclesiastical benefice. 
 The activity and zeal he exhibited in the service of 
 the church, his assiduity in explaining the evange- 
 lists and other parts of the sacred scriptures, his re- 
 gular and exemplary conduct, procured him, at the 
 age of twenty-five, the dignity of treasurer in a col- 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. xiii. p. 437. t Ibid. p. 438.
 
 376 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 legiate church. But the anxiety of mind which he 
 then began to feel respecting religion disturbed all 
 his happiness. Being terrified with the idea of 
 suffering eternal death, he sought relief by con- 
 forming to all the precepts of the church, by assidu- 
 ously studying the Scriptures, and consulting the 
 creed of the confessors. But still his distress in- 
 creased ; and at length, being reduced to a state of 
 despair, he experienced the most terrible mental 
 agonies.* 
 
 After Acosta had decided that he could not be 
 saved by the religion he had imbibed in his infancy, 
 he began to inquire into the grounds and reasons of 
 his faith. These inquiries rendered him more and 
 more wavering and undecided; and his dissatis- 
 faction with the Roman Catholic church induced 
 him to study Jewish authors until, at length, he 
 became a convert to the religion of his ancestors. 
 But as he could not profess Judaism in Portugal, he 
 gave up an honourable and profitable employment, 
 left an elegant house which his father had built 
 in the most delightful part of Lisbon, and embarked 
 for Amsterdam with his mother and brothers, whom 
 he had ventured to instruct in the principles of the 
 Jewish religion, even when in Portugal. Soon 
 after their arrival in this city they became members 
 of the synagogue, were circumcised according to 
 custom, and he changed his name of Gabriel for that 
 of Uriel.f 
 
 It was not long, however, before he discovered, 
 to use his own words, " that the modern Jewish 
 
 * Biographical Diet. vol. i. p. (53. Acosta's Account of his Life, 
 t De Rossie's Hebrew Biography.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 377 
 
 rabbies were an obstinate and perverse race of men, 
 strenuous advocates for the odious sect of the Pha- 
 risees and their institutions." He declared that they 
 did not conform to the law of Moses either in their 
 rites, or morals, and censured . their conduct with 
 the utmost asperity. The chiefs of the synagogue., 
 however, gave him to understand, that he must 
 exactly observe their tenets and customs ; and that 
 his deviation from them, even in the minutest points, 
 would expose him to excommunication. But this 
 threat did not intimidate him ; and, having left an 
 elegant situation in his native country purely to 
 enjoy the liberty of professing his sentiments with 
 freedom, he thought it would show both want of 
 courage and piety to submit to a set of rabbies 
 without any proper jurisdiction. He, therefore, 
 persisted in his invectives, and was excommunicated. 
 In consequence of this sentence, his own brothers 
 dared not to speak to him, nor salute him when they 
 met him in the streets. 
 
 Acosta wrote a book in his justification, wherein 
 he endeavoured to shew, that the rites and traditions 
 of the Pharisees were contrary to the writings of 
 Moses ; and soon after adopted the opinion of 
 the Sadducees. His adversaries were overjoyed at 
 this change in his sentiments, which they foresaw 
 would tend greatly to justify in the sight of the 
 Christians, the proceedings of the synagogue 
 against him. They, therefore, made application to 
 the magistrates of Amsterdam, and represented him 
 as a person who endeavoured to undermine the foun- 
 dation both of the Jewish and Christian religions. 
 Upon this information he was thrown into prison,
 
 378 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 but bailed out in about ten days after. However, 
 all the copies of his works were seized, and he him- 
 self fined three hundred florins. Yet he was not 
 deterred from proceeding still farther in his scep- 
 ticism, and, at length, he not only denied the autho- 
 rity of the Mosaic law, but the truth of all revealed 
 religion. * 
 
 After he became a deist, as his patience was ex- 
 hausted by the insults and indignities to which the 
 avowal of his sentiments had exposed him* he 
 thought it best to dissemble for the sake of peace, 
 and returned to the Jewish church after he had 
 been excommunicated fifteen years. He made a re- 
 cantation of what he had written, and subscribed 
 every thing as they directed. It was, however, 
 soon discovered that he did not live after the 
 Hebrew manner, and that he had dissuaded two 
 Christians who came from London to Amsterdam 
 from professing Judaism. He was summoned be- 
 fore the grand council of the synagogue, and, upon 
 his refusing to make a public confession, was sen- 
 tenced to a second excommunication. f After re- 
 maining seven years in a most wretched condition, 
 being exposed to a series of persecutions, he de- 
 clared himself willing to submit to the sentence of 
 the synagogue. This concession was made in con- 
 
 * Acosta's Account of his Life. 
 
 + There are two degrees of excommunication among the Jews ; 
 the lesser which only excludes a person from some particular society, 
 or congregation, till he repents, which he is allowed to do in thirty 
 days ; and if he does not, then the greater is pronounced, which con- 
 fiscates his property to sacred uses ; and deprives him of any dealings 
 with or support from his nearest relations, as well as subjects him to 
 many other grievous penalties. Abendenda's Jewish Polity.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 379 
 
 sequence of his receiving intimations that the 
 judges,* being satisfied with his submission, would 
 soften the severity of the discipline. Acosta, how- 
 ever, found with astonishment and indignation, that 
 the sentence pronounced against him was executed 
 with the utmost rigour. He was compelled to enter 
 a synagogue full of people, assembled to see his 
 humiliation, being dressed in mourning with a black 
 torch in his hand. After reading a recantation of 
 his errors, and confessing that he deserved a thou- 
 sand deaths, he was subjected to a severe and dis- 
 graceful corporal punishment. 
 
 Acosta was so highly exasperated at the public 
 infamy which he suffered, that he formed the horrid 
 resolution of putting a period to his own life ; but 
 determined previously, to be revenged on a relation 
 to whom he attributed the cruel treatment he had 
 experienced. But finding himself baffled in his at- 
 tempt to kill his principal enemy, and that his design 
 was discovered, he immediately destroyed himself, 
 (1647) leaving a manuscriptf which gave an ac- 
 count of his life and sentiments. 
 
 Benedict Spinoza, another extraordinary Jew, 
 was born in Amsterdam, 1632 ; but his father was 
 
 * It appears surprising that Acosta did not implore the protection 
 of the magistrates of Amsterdam to guard him from the violence of 
 his nation. But he was apprehensive that the Christians would not be 
 more favourable to him than the Jews, and relied upon the promise 
 which the Parnassiraor administrators of the synagogue made to him, 
 and threw himself upon their mercy. Boissfs Dissertations pour ser- 
 vir a Fhisloire des Juifs. 
 
 t The above mentioned particulars relating to the life of Acosta 
 are taken from his piece entitled, ' Exemplar Humanae Vita?," 
 which contains a severe invective against the Jews, interspersed with 
 objections against all revealed religion. It was published and refuted 
 by Limborch.
 
 380 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 originally a native of Portugal, and by profession 
 a merchant. After having learnt Latin of a scep- 
 tical physician, Spinoza applied himself for many 
 years to the study of theology, but began very early 
 to be dissatisfied with the Jewish religion ; and, as 
 his temper was naturally open, he did not attempt 
 to conceal his doubts from the synagogue. The 
 Jews, it is said, offered to tolerate his infidelity, and 
 even promised him a pension of one thousand dollars 
 per annum, if he would continue externally to practise 
 their ceremonies. If this proposal was really made, 
 and he rejected it, his refusal was owing to his dis- 
 like of hypocrisy, or rather from a fear of the 
 restraint it would impose upon him. He also refused 
 a very considerable fortune to the prejudice of the 
 natural heirs, and learnt the art of polishing glass 
 for spectacles, that he might subsist independently.* 
 Spinoza would probably have continued in the 
 synagogue some time longer, had he not been trea- 
 cherously attacked and wounded by a Jew, as he was 
 coming from the theatre. The wound was slight ; 
 but he believed the assassin designed to murder him. 
 From that time he separated from his brethren, which 
 was the reason of his excommunication. After leaving 
 the synagogue he professed to be a Christian, and 
 not only went himself to the Churches of the 
 Lutherans and Calvinists, but frequently exhorted 
 others to attend, and highly recommended some par- 
 ticular preachers. But that he was only outwardly 
 a Christian, appears not only from his writings, but 
 from many anecdotes which are preserved of his 
 life. The Jews, finding all their attempts against 
 
 * Basnage, p. 741. Encyclopedia, vol. xvii. p. 6a^.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 381 
 
 him ineffectual, accused him of apostacy and blas- 
 phemy before the magistrates of Amsterdam, and he 
 was expelled from the city. 
 
 In his exile he studied mathematics and natural 
 philosophy. His nation pursued him, however, 
 with the grand excommunication ; but he wrote 
 a protest against the sentence, directed to the rabbies 
 of the synagogue. In 1664, he published "the 
 principles of the Cartesian philosophy, demonstrated 
 geometrically," with an appendix, in which he 
 advanced metaphysical opinions wholly inconsistent 
 with ^he doctrine of Des Cartes. In 1670, one of 
 his works was printed at Amsterdam, which con- 
 tained all the seeds of that atheism which was more 
 fully developed in his " Opera Posthuma." He, 
 however, lived in retirement at the Hague, with 
 great sobriety and decency of manners, till the year 
 1677, when a consumption put a period to his 
 life, at the age of fifty three.* 
 
 " Spinoza was a Jew by birth, a Christian 
 through policy, and an atheist by principle." His 
 attachment to certain philosophic opinions had ac- 
 quired such an ascendancy over his mind, that he 
 secluded himself from the world, and renounced its 
 pleasures in order to devote himself to abstruse me- 
 ditations. He was, it is said, the first who reduced 
 atheism into a system, and formed it into a regular 
 body of doctrines. f 
 
 * Acosta's Life, published by Limborch. 
 
 + Spinoza taught, that the whole universe is but one substance, 
 which is extended, infinite, and indivisible. That substance he calls 
 God; but labours to prove that it is corporeal, and that there is 
 no difference between mind and matter ; that both are attributes of 
 the Deity variously considered ; that the human soul is part of the
 
 382 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 In later times many learned men have appeared 
 among the Jews in Holland,, and by a decree passed 
 in 1769, the nation in this country acquired certain 
 political rites. The Portuguese Jews are more 
 numerous and affluent than the German, their man- 
 ners more polished, their morals generally more 
 correct, and they are considered as the most en- 
 lightened part of the community. They excited the 
 industry of the other inhabitants ; and Amsterdam 
 is much indebted to them for its flourishing con- 
 dition.* There are a large number of Jews in 
 Rotterdam, many of whom are as much distinguished 
 for their integrity as for their industry and opu- 
 lence, f 
 
 intellect of God ; that the same soul is nothing but the idea of an 
 human body; that this idea of the body and the body itself are one 
 and the same thing; that God could not exist, or be conceived, 
 were the visible universe. annihilated ; and therefore that the visible 
 universe is either the same substance, or at least an essential attribute 
 and modification of that substance. Bayle's Dictionary. 
 
 * Monthly Magazine, 1809. + Carr's Tour to Holland, 1806.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 383 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 The Jews remain exiled from England three hundred and fifty years. 
 Cromwell resolves to attempt their return. Menasses Beu Israel 
 repairs to England in order to solicit him in behalf of his brethren. 
 The protector summons a convention of divines to deliberate 
 respecting the Jews, but is afraid of openly favouring them. 
 A number of this people, however, return to England and are 
 tolerated. Charles II. connives at their admission. James II. was 
 inclined to favour them. A law enacted in the reign of queen 
 Anne, to oblige them to provide for their children if they should 
 embrace Christianity. Of Moses Marcus, a converted Jew. A bill 
 is passed in the reign of George II. for their naturalization ; but 
 soon repealed, in consequence of the popular clamour. State of 
 the Jews in England since that period. 
 
 A. D. 1656.] THE Jews had continued exiled 
 from England about three hundred and fifty years. 
 But after the English government was changed to 
 a republic, Holland became a respectable object of 
 emulation. The advantages that country had de- 
 rived from tolerating a people so skilful in pecuniary 
 negotiations were too obvious to escape observation; 
 and the policy of Oliver Cromwell induced him to 
 attempt to restore their industry and wealth to Great 
 Britain.* 
 
 The first intercourse between the protector and 
 the .Jews was managed by one Henry Martin, upon 
 whose intimation a deputation of this people waited 
 on the English ambassador residing in that city, and 
 entertained him with concerts of music in the syna- 
 gogue. By his intercession they obtained per- 
 
 * Life of Cromwell.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 mission from the instrument parliament * to send 
 a public envoy to England with proposals for their 
 admission into the kingdom. The celebrated Me- 
 nasses Ben Israel, who was deservedly held in high 
 estimation by his brethren, was chosen to conduct 
 the negotiation. 
 
 This venerable rabbi, after his arrival in England, 
 presented an address to Cromwell, recognizing his 
 authority, and soliciting his protection. " For our 
 people," said he, " presage that the monarchical 
 government being now changed into that of a com- 
 monwealth, the ancient hatred towards them would 
 also be converted into good will ; and that the rigo- 
 rous laws, if any were yet extant, made against so 
 innocent a people, would happily be repealed." 
 He also printed and dispersed a declaration to the 
 commonwealth, and a treatise, containing several 
 arguments for toleration, addressed to the justice of 
 the principled, the prudence of the reflecting, and 
 the prejudices of the multitude. f 
 
 Cromwell was inclined to recal the Jews; but, 
 being apprised of the unpopularity of the measure, 
 and desirous of conciliating the favourable opinion of 
 the clergy, he summoned a convention of divines 
 and other influential men to debate whether it would 
 be advisable to readmit them to settle in the kingdom. 
 He declared to the assembly, " that since there was 
 a promise of the conversion of this people, and the 
 gospel in its primitive purity was preached in Eng- 
 
 * A name given to a parliament convened by Cromwell, according 
 to a form which he had prescribed in a paper styled, " the instrument 
 of government." 
 
 t Monthly Mag. and British Reg. 1796. Life of Cromwell, p. 346.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 385 
 
 land, their recal might be a mean to induce them to 
 embrace Christianity." Dr. Goodwin and a fevr 
 other ministers exerted all their eloquence in favour 
 of re-admitting the Jews, and allowing them equal 
 privileges with other sects. But the majority of the 
 clergy strenuously opposed their return, and alleged, 
 that there was danger of their seducing others to 
 their religion ; that their customs and practices 
 would set an evil example ; and that their possessing 
 synagogues was not only an evil in itself, but 
 a scandal to all Christian churches. The intolerant 
 sentiments advanced in this assembly convinced the 
 protector that the measure could not be introduced 
 into the pulpit in such a way as to assist its popu- 
 larity. He, therefore, dismissed the assembly, saying, 
 that, ci instead of elucidating, their discussions had 
 rendered the subject more perplexing than ever."* 
 The project of recalling the Jews appears to 
 have been very unpopular among the lower classes 
 of society, and was so vehemently opposed not 
 only by them, but by some persons of abilities and 
 learning, f that Cromwell took leave of Menasses 
 with a polite, but evasive answer. Some of his 
 nation, however, ventured to return to England ; 
 but though they were permitted to reside in the 
 kingdom, J and exercise their religion, and had 
 a part of London near Aldgate assigned for their 
 
 * Monthly Magazine. ThurJow's State Papers, vol. i. p. 387. 
 
 + William Prynne, who suffered for the boldness of his publications, 
 during the reigu of Charles I. was extremely zealous against per- 
 mitting the Jews to return to England, and published a work in two 
 parts on this subject. 
 
 A late author has asserted, that they were permitted to return 
 upon three express conditions; first, that they should make no 
 proselytes; secondly, that they should bury their own dead; and, 
 
 C C
 
 386 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 residence, not a single act of the British legislature 
 was passed to settle them in the country. Not even 
 so much as a single proclamation was made in their 
 favour, though they were ready to advance immense 
 ^ sums for an establishment. It is even said, that they 
 offered to prove Cromwell the Messiah,* but that 
 he was ashamed of the proposal, and rejected it 
 with contempt. 
 
 About the same time that Menasses Ben Israel 
 came to England to solicit the re-admission of his 
 brethren, a deputation of Asiatic Jews arrived with 
 the celebrated rabbi Jacob Ben Azabel at their head. 
 It is asserted, that it was their object to make private 
 inquiries in order to ascertain whether Cromwell 
 was not their expected Messiah ! These deputies, 
 pretending other business, were several times in- 
 dulged by the protector with a private audience. 
 They offered to purchase all the Hebrew books and 
 manuscripts belonging to the university of Cam- 
 bridge, but he rejected the proposal with contempt. 
 They afterwards, it is said, embraced an opportunity 
 to inquire among his relations where he was born, 
 and whether any of his ancestors in the male line 
 could not be proved of Jewish origin. These in- 
 quiries, however, were not conducted with all the 
 secrecy such a scheme required, and the real motive 
 of their coming to England soon transpired at 
 
 thirdly, that they should maintain their own poor. fPithcrby't f in- 
 dication of the Jews, p. 4. 
 
 * Gregoire adduces the life of Cromwell by Gregorio Leti as 
 a proof of this fact. " We find there," says he, " an account of the 
 deputation of the Jews to the protector, who, instead of assuming the 
 quality of Messias, was very angry at their request." Gregoirt'g 
 Etsay on the Reformation of the Jewt, p. 244.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 387 
 
 London ; and, on account of the scandal they had 
 occasioned, they were expelled the kingdom. 
 
 Soon after, another deputation, with Menasses 
 Ben Israel again at their head, arrived in England. 
 But still Cromwell did not dare to give them a li- 
 cence to settle in the kingdom. He only connived 
 at their admittance, and granted them a toleration.* 
 
 Charles II. gained by bribes, and indifferent to 
 all religious professions, connived at their settlement ; 
 and, as he introduced the sale of patents of deni- 
 zation, their number increased. But the parliament 
 of England has never abrogated the decree which 
 expelled them, and they are considered as aliens in 
 the eye of the law.f They were not permitted to 
 purchase houses, nor practise professions which 
 might ennoble their genius and dignify their nation.^ 
 
 James II. whose disposition to tolerate Dissenters 
 exasperated his subjects, remitted the alien duty 
 upon all goods exported in favour of the Jews. 
 This was universally resented by the English mer- 
 chants, who were apprehensive that the same duties 
 would also be remitted upon imported goods. Pe- 
 titions from various mercantile companies were 
 offered against this regulation, which to the great 
 joy of the Christian merchants, was superseded 
 after the revolution. 
 
 During the reign of queen Anne^ a bill was 
 
 \ * Gentleman's Magazine, 1810. t Blackstone, vol. iv. p. 372. 
 J Gentleman's Magazine, 1810. 
 
 ^ When William, prince of Orange, was preparing to dethrone 
 
 James II. his father-in-law, Schwartzau, a Jew of Amsterdam, lent 
 
 him above eighty thousand pounds sterling, telling him, " If you are 
 
 successful, pay me; if not, I shall lose my money with pleasure."- 
 
 - Gregoire's Essay, tyc. p. 42. 
 
 cc2
 
 388 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 , passed obliging the Jews to provide for their Pro- 
 testant children. 
 
 It appears, that in 1723, the church of England 
 was deeply iuterested iu the conversion of this extra- 
 ordinary people ; for we find a Jewish proselyte 
 patronized, and his work, exposing the absurdities 
 of the Talmud, sanctioned by a primate of the 
 day.* This convert, named Moses Marcus, was 
 descended from a respectable family in the city of 
 Hamburg, and born in London 1701. His parents, 
 who resided in this city, and were in affluent cir- 
 cumstances, endeavoured to procure him every ad- 
 vantage in their power ; and he was carefully 
 instructed in Hebrew, Chaldaic, and Rabbinical 
 learning. Being sent to Hamburg to complete his 
 education, he formed an acquaintance with several 
 German Protestant clergymen, with whom he con- 
 versed upon the difference between the Jewish and 
 Christian faith. He then applied himself to study- 
 ing the New Testament, and became convinced, 
 that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah. In 1721, his 
 father, who had been on a voyage to India, returned 
 with immense riches, and sent for his son from 
 Hamburg. Marcus soon informed him of the 
 change which had taken place in his religious 
 sentiments. His father threatened him with being 
 totally disinherited, and even with the loss of life, 
 if he embraced Christianity. On the other hand, 
 he made him the most alluring and magnificent 
 offers to induce him not to desert the synagogue. 
 But, his faith being confirmed by further conver- 
 
 * Dr. Wilkin, Archbishop of Canterbury, to whom Marcus dedi- 
 cated his work.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 389 
 
 ation with some English divines, all these threatening^ 
 and promises were ineffectual. He was baptized in 
 1723, and soon after published a work, which 
 explained his motives for embracing the Christian 
 religion, pointed out the fulfilment of the pro- 
 phecies concerning Christ, and exposed the absur- 
 dities and contradictions of the Talmud.* 
 
 A. D. 1753.] At this time, during the reign of 
 George II. a bill was brought into parliament 
 for naturalizing all persons professing the Jewish 
 religion, who had resided in Britain or Ireland three 
 years, without being absent more than three months 
 at a time during this period. This favour wa to be 
 obtained upon application, without receiving the 
 Lord's supper, f They were, however, to be disabled 
 from obtaining any civil or ecclesiastical promotion. 
 The bill was supported by petitions from a number 
 of merchants and manufacturers, who, upon exami- 
 nation, appeared to be Jews, and their dependants.^ 
 But it has been asserted, that many respectable mem- 
 bers of their community opposed the passing this 
 act, from an apprehension that it had a tendency 
 to annihilate their existence as a distinct people. 
 
 The British ministry countenanced and encou- 
 raged the bill, and enumerated the advantages 
 which would result to the nation from favouring the 
 Jews. They asserted in particular, that by admit- 
 
 * Jewish Tracts. 
 
 t The church of England, in the reign of James I. obtained an act, 
 which prevented all persons from heing naturalized unless they first 
 received the sacrament of the Lord's supper, according to its own 
 peculiar mode of commemoration. 
 
 + Monthly Magazine, &c. 1796. 
 
 > Smollet's Continuation of Hume, vol. iii.
 
 390 HISTORY OF THE JEWS; 
 
 ting them to a participation of the civil rights of 
 British subjects, they would contract a warm attach- 
 ment to the English constitution and country, and 
 diminish the public burdens ; that a great portion of 
 the funds belonging to foreign Jews, it was our 
 obvious interest to induce them to follow their 
 property, and spend their income in the kingdom ; 
 and that, connected as they were with the great 
 bankers and monied interest in Europe, their resi- 
 dence in the country would, in case of future wars, 
 give the inhabitants a great command of capital, 
 and facilitate their loans. They supposed that 
 passing the act would encourage the most affluent of 
 the nation to emigrate from foreign parts to Great 
 Britain, increase the commerce and credit of the 
 kingdom, and set a laudable example of industry, 
 temperance, and frugality.* 
 
 On the other hand, those who opposed the 
 passing of the bill argued, that the peculiar rites of 
 the Jews were formidable obstacles to their incorpo- 
 ration with other nations ; and that if they were 
 admitted to the rank of citizens, they would engross 
 the whole commerce of the kingdom, gain pos- 
 session of the landed estates, and dispossess the 
 Christian owners. They also asserted, that it 
 was impious to gather a people whose dispersion 
 was foretold in the sacred Scriptures, and who, 
 according to the prophecies, were to remain without 
 country or habitation, until they should be converted 
 and collected together in the land of their ancestors; 
 and that an attempt to incorporate them, previous 
 to their renouncing their religious tenets, directly 
 
 * London Mag. 1754, p. 538.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 391 
 
 opposed the will of heaven ; by endeavouring to 
 procure for them a civil condition while Jews, 
 which, it is predicted, they should not enjoy till 
 they became Christians.* 
 
 The lord mayor, aldermen, and commons of the 
 city of London, presented a petition to parliament, 
 which expressed their apprehension, that the bill, 
 if passed into a law, would tend greatly to dis- 
 honour the Christian religion, and endanger the 
 excellent constitution. Another petition to the 
 same purpose was presented to the house, subscribed 
 by the merchants and traders in London. But not- 
 withstanding the general opposition, the bill passed 
 the ordeal of both houses, and his majesty vouch- 
 safed to give it the royal sanction. f 
 
 This act, which during the last session had tri- 
 umphed over the most obstinate opposition, soon 
 became an object of national horror and execration. 
 Every part of the kingdom resounded with re- 
 proaches of the ministry, who had enforced such an 
 odious measure. It was vehemently opposed from 
 the pulpits,J by the corporations, and by the popu- 
 lace. In consequence of which, by the next session 
 of parliament, instructions were sent to almost all the 
 members to solicit the repeal of this obnoxious bill. 
 
 * Smollet's Continuation of Hume. + Ibid. 
 
 Among the clergy, however, Dean Tucker took a decided part 
 in favour of the naturalization of the Jews, and wrote ably in defence 
 of this measure. The opponents of the bill, treated him with great 
 rudeness and virulence on this occasion. He was not only severely 
 attacked in pamphlets, newspapers, and magazines ; but the people 
 of Bristol burnt his effigy dressed in canonicals, together with hi* 
 letters on behalf of naturalization. Public Character!, vol. i. 
 p. 140. 
 
 ^ London Magazine.
 
 392 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The British minister did not attempt to resist the 
 torrent ; but was amongst the foremost who spoke 
 in favour of the repeal. He was answered with 
 much force of reasoning by Thomas Potter, Esq. 
 Sir George Lyttleton made an elegant speech in 
 favour of toleration, in which he asserted, that 
 " the greatest mischief which can be done to reli- 
 gion is to pervert it to the purposes of faction ; and 
 that heaven and hell are not more distant, than the 
 benevolent spirit of the Gospel, and the malignant 
 spirit of party." The bill was, however, repealed 
 by an act, which received the royal assent the same 
 session. The bishops had generally appeared 
 satisfied with the indulgence granted to the Jews, 
 and they acquiesced also in the repeal of the bill.* 
 But, though the nobility in general concurred in the 
 expediency of the latter measure, a few among 
 them viewed it as too great a sacrifice to the bigotry 
 of the populace. f 
 
 The parliamentary leaders of the people, endea- 
 voured, (but their attempts were successfully op- 
 posed by Mr. Pelham and Mr. Pitt,) to repeal so 
 much of an act for naturalizing foreigners in Ame- 
 rica, as did not exclude the Jews. It has been 
 asserted, that the spirit of intolerance was excited 
 by those who resented the zeal and loyalty with 
 which they were known to oppose the late rebellion. 
 Among many instances are the following. Two 
 Jewish merchants had some armed ships in a river, 
 loaded with goods for foreign markets. But upon 
 being apprized that they were wanted by the go- 
 
 * Smollet's Continuation of Hume. 
 
 t Belsham's History of Great Britain, vol. ii. p. 386.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 393 
 
 vernment to prevent the enemy from landing forces 
 on the British coasts, they tendered the ships to the 
 service of the public., without expecting any other 
 advantage than what they should enjoy with other 
 subjects under the British government.* 
 
 After this attempt in favour of the Jews was de- 
 feated, their legal condition in England was not 
 altered ; but they are no longer the objects of that 
 contempt, and of those debasing injuries, to which 
 formerly they were perpetually subject. They are 
 indulged in the free exercise of their religious 
 worship, and admitted to an equal participation of 
 every civil right, which is essential to the acquisition, 
 or the secure enjoyment of property ; and, though 
 their religion keeps them from taking the test oaths, 
 and consequently from public offices, they appear 
 to be contented with the privileges they enjoy. An 
 English Israelite, in a letter to the sanhedrim of 
 Paris, 1808, observes, " that the liberal policy of 
 the British government, has already conceded to 
 them every immunity and indulgence granted to 
 others, who are not of the established church. "f 
 
 Another Jewish writer asserts, that " his brethren 
 in England were never so well versed in foreign and 
 domestic literature as at this time ; that many 
 among them of both sexes possess talents and infor- 
 
 * Gentleman's Magazine, p. 447. 
 
 t A late author observes, that " the change of public sentiment in 
 England, with respect to the Jews is evident, iu their now being al- 
 lowed to hold lands, and in the public exhibition of their character 
 on the stage. Shakespeare's Jew is represented as cruel and avari- 
 cious, and endowed with all the strong prejudices of his nation ; " / 
 hate him, for he is a Christian ,-" whereas Cumberland's Jew is 
 humane and benevolent; characteristic indeed in his manners, but 
 honest, liberal, and friendly, to persons of all denominations." 
 Adand Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 15, published 1809.
 
 394 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 mation, and that they could not at any period boast 
 of more learned and enlightened rabbles, than Dr. 
 Hirschel* and Dr. Mendola."f Among the learned 
 Jews who have appeared in England, David LeviJ 
 and D'Israeli are eminently distinguished. 
 
 The Jews in London, are divided into those of 
 the Portuguese and German synagogue, each of 
 which has separate regulations for its own internal 
 government. The brokers, and most respectable 
 merchants among them, are chiefly of the former. 
 But those of the German are far the most nu- 
 merous, and, with the exception of a few wealthy 
 individuals, who carry on trade with probity and 
 honour, it is said, they are generally poor, and 
 frequently dishonest, and that some of them conduct 
 their fraudulent designs, by circulating counterfeit 
 money, and by receiving, and selling stolen goods. 
 The reproach arising from their iniquitous practices, 
 has engaged the attention of the respectable part of 
 both synagogues ; but attempts to remedy the evil, 
 have generally proved ineffectual. || 
 
 * Dr. Hirschel, the presiding rabbi of the German synagogue, frag 
 born in London, 1762, at the house of his father Hirsch Levin, who 
 was at that period chief rabbi in the city. Some time after, he 
 removed to Berlin, and his son was called to officiate in London, 
 1802. 
 
 t Dr. Mendola, the presiding rabbi of the Portuguese synagogue, 
 is a native of Leghorn. 
 
 + The celebrated author of the Dissertations on the Prophecies, 
 Account of the Ceremonies of the Jews, Translation of the Penta- 
 teuch, Letters to Dr. Priestley, and other learned works. 
 
 ^ M. D'Israeli, who is said to be of Jewish origin, in early lifedis. 
 covered a taste for polite literature, and is the author of a number of 
 elegant poems, besides the Curiosities of Literature, Vaurien, a phi- 
 losophical novel, and other works. See Public Ctoracten, J7&9, 
 vol. i. p. 462. 
 
 | Colquhoun's London Police, p. 20, 91.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 395 
 
 The Jews in all their synagogues, on their 
 sabbath days, and solemn festivals, exhibit their 
 loyalty, by using a form of prayer for the pros- 
 perity of the royal family in Great Britain. And it 
 must be considered as highly creditable to this 
 people, that the heads of the different synagogues 
 in London, and other distinguished men among' 
 them, have lately addressed to their brethren 
 a strong exhortation, " to obey the laws; not to carry 
 on an}' trade on the Christian sabbath ; not to keep 
 houses of ill fame, nor to commit other irregu- 
 larities, under their high censure, and forfeiture of 
 the privileges attached to them, as belonging to*/ 
 their community."* 
 
 The Jews in England, contribute towards the 
 poor's rates, equally with the other inhabitants. 
 The Jewish population in London, and of course 
 the number of their poor, having much increased 
 of late years, some means for ameliorating their 
 condition were found expedient ; and certain pro- 
 positions with that view, were suggested by J. Van 
 Oven, Esq. a learned and distinguished member of 
 their community, in two letters addressed, in 1801, 
 to Mr. Colquhoun, author of the Police of the 
 Metropolis ; and the consequence has been the 
 erection of a Jews' hospital at Mile End, entitled, 
 N'vy Tsedek, or the Charity Workhouse, which 
 was opened in June, 1808, " for the reception and 
 support of aged men and women, as well as the 
 education and industrious employment of youth of 
 both sexes." They are chiefly indebted for the 
 accumulation of a fund which laid the foundation of 
 
 * Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 44.
 
 396 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 this establishment, to the liberal and philanthropic 
 exertions of Benjamin and Abraham Goldsmid,* 
 Esqrs. two eminent Jewish merchants. 
 
 Different calculations have been made respecting 
 the number of the Jews in England. According to 
 Mr. Colquhoun they amount to twenty six thou- 
 sand, f Others have supposed,, that their total 
 number does not exceed sixteen thousand. They 
 have now five synagogues in London, viz. one 
 called Portuguese Jews', three called German Jews', 
 and one which is a kind of chapel of ease at West- 
 minster, or in the Strand. Of these, the chief is 
 the great synagogue in Dukes' Place, in and near 
 to which street, most of the Jews in London now 
 reside, as formerly in the Old Jewry.J 
 
 * Both these gentlemen have recently perished by suicide. They 
 were eminently distinguished as the lovers and patrons of literature, 
 for the honour and promptitude of their commercial transactions, 
 and their active benevolence, which was not confined within the 
 boundaries of their own peculiar people. The Marine Society, the 
 Royal Humane Society, and other charitable institutions, have 
 publicly expressed their gratitude to them. Abraham Goldsmid, in 
 particular, has been described by Van Oven, as " a man who is an 
 honour to his species in general, and to his nation in particular." 
 He was born in 1757, and early initiated into the mercantile life. 
 This man, who was reckoned the greatest commercial character of the 
 age in which he lived, was remarkably successful in the acquisition of 
 wealth, and celebrated for his munificence to charitable institutions. 
 But, after a series of prosperity, he experienced a severe reverse of 
 fortune, which exposed him to bankruptcy; in consequence of which 
 he became melancholy and deranged ; and finally put a period to 
 his life, Sept. 23, 1810, aged fifty three years. Commercial Maga- 
 zine, November, 1810. 
 
 t London Police, p. 21. 
 
 t Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 72.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 397 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Of an Institution formed at Halle in Germany for the conversion of 
 the Jews. Of the edicts of Joseph II. and his successor Leopold, 
 in favour of the Jews. The regulations against them in Prussia 
 are abolished. An account of Mendelsohn, and several other 
 learned Jews in Berlin. The Jews establish a literary journal in 
 that city. Of their efforts to improve education. They establish 
 schools in several parts of Germany, They are oppressed in Frank- 
 fort upon the Maine, but restored to the complete enjoyment of 
 their civil rights in Westphalia. They have also obtained privi- 
 leges in Russia, Sweden and Denmark. 
 
 IN the preceding chapter a sketch has been 
 given of the favourable change which has taken 
 place in the situation of the Jews in England. 
 The present, will contain a brief account of the 
 measures which have been pursued to ameliorate 
 their condition in Germany, the progress which 
 some eminent men of their nation have made in 
 literary pursuits, and their successful attempts to 
 reform the mode of education. 
 i About the year 1728, some zealous Christians in 
 \ Germany, formed a plan for the conversion of the 
 yi'Jews to Christianity, not in the highly censurable 
 tnanner in which such attempts had been made in 
 / Spain and Portugal, but in a manner consonant 
 with the mild spirit of the Gospel. This Institution 
 was established at Halle, principally under the ma- 
 ; nagement of Dr. John Henry Callenberg, and ac- 
 \ quired the name of the Callenberg Institution. 
 I Works were printed, with a view to state to the 
 \Jews the evidences of the divine origin of the 
 ^Gospel, and the importance of receiving it as
 
 398 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 a revelation from God. The success that attended 
 this benevolent attempt, does not appear, however, 
 to have been considerable.* 
 
 Joseph II. emperor of Germany, by a memorable 
 edict (1781) conferred many privileges upon the 
 Jewish people. He granted them the right of 
 exercising all the arts and trades ; of following agri- 
 culture, and freely pursuing their studies at the 
 schools and universities, f This monarch also called 
 them to military services, and had a large number of 
 Jews enrolled among his troops. There was a be- 
 nediction printed, which was given by a rabbi in 
 Prague to twenty-five Bohemian Jews enrolled as 
 common soldiers, in which he exhorted them to 
 conciliate, as much as possible, the practice of their 
 religion with their service. He gratified each of 
 them with a cord of silk named Zizim, and a pair 
 of tephilim, or a kind of leather band, to which is 
 attached a parchment, on which the decalogue is 
 inscribed. In the course of the war which was 
 terminated by the division of unhappy Poland, 
 one army had about six Jewish battalions. J 
 
 The emperor Leopold, the successor of Joseph 
 the Second, granted to the Israelites dispersed 
 through his hereditary dominions, the privilege of 
 being admitted, if properly qualified and educated, 
 to academical degrees in the lay faculties, and also 
 the liberty of acting as advocates, and pleading 
 as such, either for their brethren, or for Christians. 
 
 * Jewish Repository, vol. i. p. 1. 
 
 t Core's History of the House of Austria, vol. iii. p. 677. 
 
 i Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 38.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 399 
 
 In 1791, a Jew was admitted to the degree of 
 doctor of civil law in the university of Prague.* 
 
 In the states of the king of Prussia, the Jews at 
 a recent epoch were vexed by certain regulations. 
 The father of a Jewish family could marry but one 
 of his sons, rarely could he obtain permission to 
 marry a second, and all the others were condemned 
 to celibacy. Each Jew who took a wife, was also 
 obliged to purchase a certain quantity of porcelain, 
 the refuse of the royal manufactory. These regu- 
 lations were abolished in 1809 ; and the Jews in the 
 Prussian dominions, are now assimilated in many 
 respects to the Christians.f 
 
 It is but justice to the Jews to acknowledge, that 
 the learning and liberality of mind exhibited by 
 several of their nation upon the continent, have 
 probably paved the way for the steps which have 
 been taken in their favour. Among those who 
 have promoted the literary improvement, and raised 
 the reputation of their brethren, Moses Mendolsohn 
 is eminently distinguished. 
 
 This illustrious philosopher was born at Dessau, 
 a city of Anhalt in Upper Saxony, in 1729. He 
 received the rudiments of his education from his / 
 father, who was a Jewish school-master. In these 
 schools, which were formed merely for the children 
 of the Hebrews, the summit of their education 
 terminated with an introduction to the Talmud, and 
 the student wasted the season of youth, in studying 
 this vast collection of fabulous legends and super- 
 stitions. J 
 
 * Coxe's History, &c. p. 577. t Gregoire's HUtoire, &c. 
 
 J Monthly Magazine, 1798.
 
 400 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Mendelsohn, who possessed a vigorous and ori- 
 ginal genius^ united with an ardent desire to acquire 
 knowledge, soon selected from the mass of rabbi- 
 nical writings, the superior works of Maimonides. 
 But such was his intense application, and the irrita- 
 bility of his frame, that, at the early age of ten 
 years, he was attacked with a nervous disorder of 
 a very peculiar nature. In addition to this mis- 
 fortune, he suffered all the embarrassments of 
 poverty, being obliged to travel on foot to Berlin to 
 find employment for subsistence. He lived in the 
 city several years, indigent, unknown, and often 
 destitute of the necessaries of life. This houseless 
 wanderer was, at length, invited by a rabbi to 
 transcribe his manuscripts ; and this man initiated 
 him into the mysteries of the theology, the juris- 
 prudence, and the scholastic philosophy of the 
 Jews.* 
 
 A Polish Jew named Israel Moses, who was dis- 
 tinguished for the freedom of his inquiries and his 
 love of philosophy, taught him Euclid's Elements 
 from the Hebrew version. After the premature 
 death of his beloved friend, Dr. Kisch, a Jewish 
 physician, supplied him with books, and devoted 
 some part of his time to the instruction of a student, 
 whose strength of intellect he had the discernment 
 to perceive, and the affection to aid. Under the 
 instruction of this valuable friend, he was soon ena- 
 bled to read Locke in a Latin version. 
 
 In 1748, Mendelsohn formed an acquaintance 
 with Dr. Samuel Gumpertz, another learned Jew, 
 who to his professional studies added a knowledge 
 
 * Monthly Magazine, 1793.
 
 HISTOUY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 401 
 
 of the mathematics, and was well acquainted with 
 the modern languages. He introduced him to a lite- 
 rary circle, and this intercourse enlarged his mind. 
 He now applied himself to the living languages, 
 chiefly to the English, that he might read his 
 favourite Locke in his own idiom. His literary 
 friends soon became numerous, among whom was 
 the celebrated Lessing,* who encouraged and as- 
 sisted him in his studious labours. 
 
 In 1751, he published some philosophical dia- 
 logues ; a translation of Rousseau's Essay on the 
 Inequality of Man ; and a dissertation on the Sen- 
 sation of the Beautiful. The German language 
 was then in a neglected and unpolished state, and 
 the clearness, precision, and dignity of the style of 
 the Hebrew philosopher was exhibited to great 
 advantage. He next associated himself with Les- 
 sing, Ramler, and Nicolai, in writing a journal, 
 composed in the form of letters, on German lite- 
 rature ; and this work obtained great celebrity. In 
 1767, he published his " Phaedon, or discourse on 
 the immortality of the soul." This work was con- 
 sidered as a most curious disquisition on a subject so 
 abstract and sublime, and diffused the fame of Men- 
 dolsohn through literary Germany. He was styled, 
 " The Jewish Socrates" for the strength of his 
 reasoning, and fc The Jewish Plato" for the ame- 
 nity of his diction. This work has been translated 
 and published in French and English. In 1794, 
 
 * A German dramatic writer who has been celebrated in hU native 
 country. By his philosophical plays, " Nathan the Wise," and the 
 " Monk of Lebanon," he attempted to lessen the prejudice against 
 the Jews, and ameliorate their condition. Monthly Magazine, 
 1796. 
 
 D D
 
 402 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 he gained the prize from the Berlin academy, for his 
 essay on the evidence of the metaphysical science. 
 
 After these publications, amidst the daily occupa- 
 tions of commerce, he still retired to his studies, 
 and composed elementary books for the children of 
 his neglected nation. To raise the degraded cha- 
 racter of his brethren was the favourite object, 
 which he always had in view. One of his publi- 
 cations, styled, " The Ritual of the Jews/' was 
 formed under the direction of the chief rabbi Hirsch 
 Levin.* 
 
 The tranquillity of Mendelsohn's life was at 
 length disturbed, by his publishing a work, entitled, 
 "Jerusalem/* in which heVpretends, that the Jews 
 have a law, and not a revealed religion ; that dogmas 
 can never be revealed ; and that the only doctrine 
 of his nation is the religion of nature. His ad- 
 vancing these opinions .gave rise to a controversy, 
 which agitated his feeble and sensitive frame to such 
 a degree, that it is supposed to have occasioned his 
 death. Zimmerman, who was personally acquainted 
 with him, informs us, " that his nervous system was 
 deranged, in an almost inconceivable manner."f 
 His whole character was a too subtle composition of 
 
 * Monthly Magazine, 1796. In Prussia, the rabbi was ex-officio 
 the chancellor of orphans, and could claim this right from the ordi- 
 nary channel of the government. He was the adjudicator of disputed 
 testimonial property, and responsible for the just performance of hit 
 office. The important charge thus devolving upon the chief rabbi in 
 Prussia, occasioned a demand on the part of Frederick II. for the 
 translation of the code of laws on that subject, which was effected by 
 Hirsch Levin, father of the present presiding rabbi of the German 
 synagogue in London, in conjunction with Mendolsohn. European 
 
 March, 1811. 
 Zimmerman on Solitude.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 403 
 
 genius and sensibility, and his whole life a ma- 
 lady. He died of an apoplexy, 1785, aged fifty 
 three years. It has been said of Mendelsohn, that 
 " he instructed his fellow citizens as a father, and 
 his rivals he cherished as a brother." His soft, 
 modest, and obliging disposition, procured him the 
 esteem of the superstitious and incredulous, and at 
 his death, he received from his nation the honours 
 which are usually paid to the first rabbies. 
 
 Beside the works above mentioned, he published 
 letters to Lavater, a version of the Pentateuch in 
 German for his countrymen, general principles of 
 the Belles lettres and fine arts, and several other 
 ingenious productions. 
 
 <f The renown of Mendolsohn was the electric 
 spark which awakened the genius of the Hebrews ; 
 and he had for his cotemporaries and successors 
 distinguished men." Mark Eleazer Bloch, a Jewish 
 physician, who was born in Anspach and settled in 
 Berlin, was said to be the first naturalist of his age. 
 His splendid work, on fishes, and aquatic animals, 
 was esteemed superior to any preceding publication 
 on that subject. He died in the year 1800. So- 
 lomon Maimon,* a great metaphysician, whom 
 some have considered more profound and philo- 
 sophical than Mendolsohn, but not equal in elegance 
 of diction. Mark Hertz, a professor of natural 
 philosophy, who had four hundred auditors of the 
 first rank and genius in Berlin. He spent his life in 
 this city, and published works on philosophy and 
 
 * Maimon was attached to the philosophy of Kant, to whom he 
 dedicated one of his works. He published memoirs of his life in. 
 1792, and the following year a work on the progress of philosophy. 
 
 D J>2
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 medicine. Leon Gamparte, who distinguished him- 
 self hy a work on literary subjects and the drama. 
 Ben David, president of the society of the friends 
 of humanity at Berlin, and author of several pro- 
 found works, who has endeavoured to apply algebra 
 itself to the theory of taste in the arts.* 
 
 There has been of late a literary journal in 
 Berlin, composed in Hebrew by several intelligent 
 Jews, in which the reveries of the Talmud are 
 attacked with argument and ridicule. Under a new 
 form, with the title of Soulamith, the journal is 
 / renewed at Dessau, and published in the German 
 / language. It is edited by Mr. Frankel and Wolf, 
 men of ability and learning ; the former of whom is 
 counsellor of the Israelitish consistory at Cassel. 
 
 Many intelligent Jews do not approve of having 
 / separate schools, exclusively appropriated to the 
 } children of their own nation. But the prejudices 
 fa of the Christians by rejecting them, or at least 
 attaching a kind of stigma to Judaism, induced 
 them to establish particular schools in different 
 cities in Germany ; as in Nuremberg, Furth, 
 Breslau, Koningsberg, &c. They have also such 
 schools at Berlin, Frankfort on the Maine, Dessau, 
 and Seezen, particularly for poor children. They 
 have been almost all established and supported by 
 voluntary contributions. These schools, which are 
 now in exercise, have their regulations printed with 
 several elementary works written for their benefit, f 
 In 1796, a society of Jews, chiefly young men, 
 founded some particular schools at Dessau for the 
 
 * Gregoire's Observations nouvelles sur les Juifs. 
 
 + Gregoire's Histoire des Secies Religicuses, torn. ii. p. 584. 
 

 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 405 
 
 children of their nation. They were obliged to 
 encounter various obstacles ; but the protection of 
 the government, which approved of the statutes of 
 the school, the success attending the mode of in- 
 struction, and the applause which was acquired by 
 their public and solemn examinations, caused the 
 establishment to prosper. The founders, who were 
 chargeable with the expense, had recourse to the 
 benevolence of those in easy circumstances, and 
 received abundant assistance, which enabled them to 
 enlarge their plan. They have accordingly in- 
 creased the number of preceptors, and are preparing 
 a proper place for a library. The pupils, whose 
 number amounts to about one hundred, are under 
 the direction of Mr. Frankel,* who is eminently 
 qualified to discharge the duties of his station. He 
 was assisted by professors worthy of him, among 
 others, by the modest Tillich, recently dead.f 
 
 Seezen is a town situated between Brunswick and 
 Gottingen. Here, in 1801, by the modest name of 
 school, a college was founded for the Jews, by the 
 generosity of Jacobson, who has filled an high office 
 in the service of the late duke of Brunswick, and 
 enjoys the esteem of all ranks. He confided the 
 direction of it to a man of learning and zeal, Schott- 
 laender, counsellor to the landgrave of Hesse Darm- 
 stadt. In 1804, there were ten professors, though 
 the number of students did not then amount to more 
 
 * Editor of the Soulamith, which has been mentioned. It appears 
 from intelligence received, 1810, that the school for the children of 
 the Jews, is in a flourishing condition. Among an hundred pupils 
 who are taught in this school, thirty-four poor children receiv 
 instruction gratis. 
 
 t Gregoire's Histoire, &c. torn. ii. p. 536.
 
 406 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 than fifty ; but they are daily increasing. The 
 arrangement of the building and the adminis- 
 \jf tration of the establishment may serve as models. 
 
 There, as well as at Dessau, the children are distin- 
 guished by neatness, good order, and an air of 
 health and content. The poor are admitted gratis, 
 and the others pay according to their abilities. 
 They are taught the Hebrew, Latin, French, and 
 German languages ; geography, history, oratory, 
 natural history, mathematics, technology, &c.* 
 
 At Seezen, they add to the above the Greek 
 
 * 
 
 language and music. It is also intended to establish 
 
 a school of industry. Each student is to have a small 
 plot of ground allotted to him, which he is to culti- 
 y> vate with his own hands. It is one object of the 
 
 school to detach the Jews from commerce, the spirit 
 of which is so deeply rooted among them. 
 
 In these schools, the pupils are taught the ele- 
 ments of such knowledge as is necessary in every 
 station in life, the acquisition of which prepares the 
 way for the developement of the greatest talents 
 with which they are endowed. The pupils, when 
 very young, are able to converse with facility in the 
 French and Latin languages, as well as on various 
 subjects of instruction, and solve very complicated 
 arithmetical problems, and make mathematical de- 
 monstrations. ^ These details attest the capacity and 
 diligence of the pupils, who are all Jews, and the 
 well directed efforts of the preceptors, some of 
 whom are Jews and some Christians, who reside 
 together in the most perfect harmony. f A 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, tom.^i. p, 386. 
 t Gregoire's Histoire, &c. torn. ii. p. 387.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Beside the ascetical books with which they are 
 provided, Schottlaender has compiled for the stu- 
 dents a collection of poems and moral precepts, 
 selected from various authors. He has inserted the 
 thirteen fundamental articles of the Jewish faith by 
 Maimonides ; an abridged history of the Hebrew 
 language ; the second canto of the Moysiade, an 
 epic poem by Hartig Vezelize, a rabbi who lately 
 died at Hamburg ; and other instructive and inter- 
 esting works.* 
 
 The Jews of Frankfort upon the Maine cite with 
 applause Wolf Heidenheim, a learned orientalist 
 from Rodelheim, a borough near the city ; Lipman 
 Buschental, a young poet ; Heidelsheim, deputy 
 from his co-religionists to the sanhedrim at Paris ; 
 and Geisenheimer, who is gone to study the method 
 of Pestalozzi at Yverdun with one of the institutors 
 of their Philanthropin, or school for the poor. 
 Geisenheimer, associating music with poetry, and 
 restoring the two arts to their true destination, 
 has compiled for the pupils a collection of poetry. 
 This establishment, to which the prince primate 
 gives six hundred florins annually, prospers, and 
 makes sensible progress, f 
 
 The Jews laboured without ceasing to obtain 
 their political restoration to a city, where they have 
 been for several centuries oppressed. A proverb 
 said formerly, that at Frankfort the Catholics had 
 the churches, the Calvinists the riches, the Lu- 
 therans the places. What then had the Jews? 
 Outrages and persecution on the part of the 
 Christians. Opinion stigmatized them in such 
 
 * Gregoire's Hiitoire, &c. t Ibid.
 
 408 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 a manner, that, confined in the narrow paths of 
 the ramparts, they dared not, under penalty of 
 being insulted, enter into the large alleys which 
 served for walks to the Christians. The Jews, 
 
 shackled in their commerce, were victims to rejnila- 
 
 o 
 
 tions which raised a wall of separation between 
 them and the Christians.* 
 
 An infamous toll placed the Jews on the level of 
 cloven-footed animals. By the efforts of Jacobson 
 and Breinteinbach, between twenty and thirty 
 German princes have repaired this outrage done to 
 the human race, by abolishing these tolls. The 
 primate of Germany set the example, Frankfort 
 being part of his territories. The Jews hoped, 
 that under this prince all their grievances would be 
 redressed. But a regulation was forced from him 
 in 1807, which limited the number of Jews to five 
 hundred families. The community gives twenty 
 two thousand florins for the liberty of residing in 
 the city. Their street is a kind of Ghetto out of 
 which they cannot establish themselves. An Isra- 
 elite in proportion to his means, pays more contri- 
 butions than a Christian ; he pays for the right of 
 protection for himself and each of his sons. The 
 women, if unmarried at the age of twenty-five, are 
 subject to the same imposition. The Jews are 
 obliged to make presents to various functionaries on 
 new year's days, fairs, and other times, which are 
 to continue till the death of those who receive them. 
 If they establish a manufacture, or hire a farm, they 
 can employ only Jewish labourers. Those who are 
 merchants can only sell in two streets except their 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire, &c.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 409 
 
 own quarter, and that only at the time of the 
 fair ; and a particular account is given of the 
 articles which they are allowed to buy and sell. 
 
 The Jews of Westphalia were lately placed in 
 more favourable circumstances than those of Frank- 
 fort. A decree passed in January 1808, breaks all 
 the barriers between the Jews and Christians. In 
 effecting this change in the condition of the Jews, 
 the celebrated Muller seconded the efforts of Dohm.* 
 In these events we every where recognize Jacobson, 
 who pursued with ardour his projects to ameliorate 
 the character, the manners, and condition, of his 
 co-religionists.f This eminent man, president of 
 the Jewish consistory in Cassel, employed his wealth 
 to accelerate the civilization of the Jews. A medal 
 was stamped, in memory of the privileges they 
 obtained in Westphalia.J 
 
 * A Prussian officer who, in 1781, offered to the German public, 
 remarks on the means of improving the civil condition of the Jews. 
 
 + Gregoire's Histoire, torn. ii. p 390. 
 
 + M. Jacobson, in a letter to the senator Gregoire, dated De- 
 cember, 1810, with a copy of which the latter had the goodness to 
 favour the compiler of this history, observes : 
 
 " It must be confessed, thanks be given to providence! several of 
 my establishments flourish, and afford me moments dear to my heart. 
 The sun of light and truth dissipates many a cloud in the house of 
 Jacob. 
 
 "Westphalia reckons already many Jewish soldiers of different 
 grades, who fight with courage under their beneficent king, and for 
 their new country. A part of the Israelites devote themselves much 
 more than in past times to the arts and sciences. The youths detach 
 themselves more and more from commerce, they apply themselves to 
 trades, and exercise them with success. 
 
 " Since all these metamorphoses have been produced within a few 
 years, the future presents to us an interesting prospect, such as every 
 friend of humanity would desire. 
 
 " We see the singular phenomenon, that the military service
 
 410 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 In other parts of Europe as well as Germany and 
 Prussia, the Jews appear to be making improve- 
 ments in literature ; and their exertions have been 
 encouraged, and their condition ameliorated in 
 
 numbers several Israelites who have enlisted of their own accord. 
 Others march from pure patriotism, after haying furnished their sub- 
 stitutes, and others serve also as substitutes. 
 
 " As President of the Israelitish consistory, I labour incessantly in 
 clearing as far as possible the chaos of our interior constitution. 
 Some enlightened rabbies and secular members of the college, exert 
 themselves in the same pious work. We already see the country 
 towns adopt more simple and better regulated courses. We may also 
 hope from that quarter for a more happy and consoling futurity. 
 
 " A new regulation relative to the synagogues puts an end to dif- 
 ferent abuses that are found in our divine service, and renders it 
 more worthy of its object. 
 
 " Better schools, particularly religious schools, have been esta- 
 blished in different parts of Westphalia. As for my institute at 
 Seezen, I particularly apply myself to educate in it artizans and 
 artists. 
 
 " I have caused to be raised in the inclosure, a temple of a beau- 
 tiful style, and regular architecture. I have caused to be built in it 
 an organ ; it is surmounted by a tower and bell. 
 
 " On the seventeenth of July, 1810, I celebrated the dedication of 
 the Temple. The ceremony was august and solemn, notwithstanding 
 every thing breathed in it the most open gaiety. There were present 
 several hundreds of all religious denominations, particularly Catholic, 
 Lutheran, and Reformed clergymen, besides the Israelites." 
 
 The inscriptions upon the new synagogue, which is styled by the 
 Jews, " The Temple of Jacob," are as follows : 
 
 On the eastern part of the edifice : 
 
 " Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord." 
 On the south side : 
 
 " Have we not all one father ? Are we not all children of the 
 
 same Creator " 
 
 On the western part : 
 
 " Hearken also to a stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, bnt 
 shall come from a distant country for the love of thy name." 
 
 The north portico is decorated with two hands joined together, 
 inscribed with these words ; 
 " My house shall be called an house of prayer for all people." 
 
 Ste Dedicace du tempi* de Jacob, a Senen.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 several kingdoms. They were formerly excluded 
 from Russia, but there are now probably two mil- 
 lions of Jews in that empire, of which number, 
 about four hundred thousand inhabit the Russian 
 provinces of Poland. In 1805, Alexander, emperor 
 of Russia, published an Ukase, which, among other 
 privileges, granted them the liberty of educating 
 their children in any of the schools and universities 
 in the empire ; or they were allowed to establish 
 schools at their own expense.* In 1817, another 
 Ukase, published by the same emperor, offered 
 portions of land, with peculiar privileges annexed, 
 to such Jews in his dominions, as would embrace 
 the Christian religion. 
 
 A colony of Caraite Jews reside in a fortress 
 in the Crimea, and enjoy the free exercise of their 
 ancient customs and peculiar rites. These Caraites 
 deem it an act of piety to copy the Bible, or 
 pious commentaries upon the text, once in their 
 lives. All their manuscript copies of the Old Tes- 
 tament begin with Joshua, and even the most 
 ancient did not contain the Pentateuch. That part 
 of the Bible was kept apart, but only in a printed 
 version, for the use of schools. In the synagogues, 
 with the exception of the books of Moses, every 
 thing was in manuscript. The difference between 
 them and the other Jews consists in a rejection of 
 the Talmud, a disregard to every kind of traditions, 
 to all rabbinical writings or opinions, all marginal 
 interpolations of the text of scripture, and in 
 a measure of their rule of faith by the pure letter of 
 the law. They pretend to have the text of the Old 
 * Repertory, June 88, 1805.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Testament in its most genuine state. The character 
 of the Caraite Jews is directly opposite to that 
 which is generally attributed to their brethren, being 
 altogether without reproach. Their honesty is 
 proverbial in the Crimea ; and the word of a Ca- 
 raite is considered equal to a bond. Almost all of 
 them are engaged in trade or manufacture. They 
 pay great attention to the education of their children, 
 who are taught publicly in the synagogues.* 
 
 The Jews have also obtained privileges in Sweden. 
 In Denmark, where they have enjoyed sufficient 
 liberty, we find many distinguished characters, even 
 some painters. Their mode of education is daily 
 improving, and the exertions of Jewish parents are 
 seconded by the Christians ; among others, by the 
 celebrated Munter. In 1803, an establishment was 
 formed in Copenhagen, for the instruction of Jewish 
 youth. It is a species of free school, and well 
 endowed. At the end of the year 1805, the number 
 of pupils was forty. A public examination was 
 held in 1806, and it appeared that they had made 
 great progress in the Hebrew, French, and German 
 languages, in geography, and in natural history ; 
 and, in short, that this establishment was in a very 
 flourishing condition. f 
 
 ' . j ; ;< . ;. , . . , 
 
 * Dr. Clark, a late traveller, entered this fortress, and conversed 
 with a rabbi, who, he says, " was highly esteemed and exceedingly 
 well informed, and had passed a public examination with distin- 
 guished honour at Petersburg, after having been sent for expressly 
 by the empress Catherine." Clark's Travels in Russia, Tartary, and 
 Turkey, p. 387. 
 
 + Transactions of the Parisian Sanhedrim, p. 124.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 413 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Of the Jews in France after their expulsion by Charles VI. An ac- 
 count of those who were established at Metz. Letters patent 
 granted them by Henry IV. and hi* son Lewis XIII. In 1718, their 
 number is limited to four hundred and eighty families. These pay 
 an annual tribute to the king. A house was established for those 
 who professed the Christian religion. Of the Jews in several parts 
 of France. Their condition in, the kingdom during the seventeeth 
 and eighteenth centuries. A plan 'is concerted for their reformation. 
 The academy of Metz offer a premium upon the subject, and 
 three works are crowned. They present petitions to the Consti- 
 tuent Assembly soon after the French revolution. And at length 
 obtain the rights of citizens. Usurious practices of the Jews in the 
 northern departments. Edict of- Buonaparte. An assembly of 
 Jewish deputies is convened at Paris. Sketch of their answers to 
 the queries proposed to them. A grand sanhedrim is convened at 
 Paris to give a religious sanction to the principles contained in their 
 answers. They organize the Jewish worship. Of the literary Jews 
 in France. Last decree of Buonaparte concerning the Jews. 
 
 THE cruel treatment the Jews received in France 
 during the middle ages has been briefly related in 
 a preceding part of this history ;* and that after 
 their final banishment from the kingdom by Charles 
 the Sixth, (in 1394) they preserved their privileges 
 and synagogues at Metz, a city where they were 
 very anciently established. About 1566, they were 
 expelled; but in the following year four families 
 obtained the right of naturalization by the interest 
 of Marshal Vielleville, governor of the city. In 
 1603, when they had increased to twenty four fa- 
 milies, they obtained from Henry IV.f letters patent, 
 
 * See Chapter XVII; 
 
 f Mary de Medicis, wife of Henry IV. sent for Montalto, a Jew, 
 who was skilled in the healing art, to Paris, to be her physician, and
 
 414 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 which gave them liberty to reside and carry on trade 
 in the city, according to their ancient privileges. In 
 1632, Lewis XIII. by new letters patent, confirmed 
 those of his predecessor ; and, though this monarch 
 had, in 1615, expelled the Jews from France, they 
 still were permitted to reside and trade in Metz and 
 Bourdeaux.* In 1644, the city of Metz contained 
 seven hundred and ninety five of Hebrew extraction, 
 who, seventeen years after, obtained new letters pa- 
 tent, with the additional liberty of trading in all 
 kinds of goods. The merchants opposed the ex- 
 tension of their privileges ; but their attempts were 
 repeatedly defeated, and the parliament of Metz 
 inflexibly maintained the rights of the Jewish com- 
 munity.f 
 
 In 1718, the different bodies of merchants in Metz 
 united to demand of the king, that the number of 
 Jews should be reduced, as they were a public 
 charge, and that they should not be allowed to have 
 any other commerce but that of lawful interest. In 
 consequence of this request, his majesty ordained, 
 that the letters patent of his predecessors should be 
 executed according to their form and tenor, and 
 therefore permitted only four hundred and eighty 
 families to continue in the city. Even this indulg- 
 ence was granted them upon condition that they 
 should reside in the quarter assigned them, and be 
 
 obtained from the king absolute liberty of conscience for him and his 
 family. Basnage, p. 676. 
 
 * The legal existence of the Jews in Bourdeaux is traced from the 
 year 1G50. They obtained at that epoch, under the denomination of 
 merchants in Portugal, called " new Christians," letters patent by 
 which they were permitted to acquire real estates in France. 
 
 t Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. S83.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 415 
 
 prohibited, under penalty of a heavy fine, from having 
 houses in any other part of the city. The disputes 
 between them and Christians were to be referred to 
 the judges and consuls of Metz; and there was an 
 appeal to parliament in cases subject to it. But they 
 were permitted to bring before the rabbies or chiefs 
 of their community, disputes with their co-religionists 
 respecting their police, religion, customs, ceremo- 
 nies, and impositions. They paid the king an 
 annual tribute of twenty thousand livres.* 
 
 " From time to time the Jews of both sexes have 
 been converted at Metz ; there was even a house 
 with some funds attached to it for those who had 
 been baptized." 
 
 fe The Jews had in Lorrain several synagogues, 
 of which two were at Nanci. That of Luneville 
 has been built about twenty-five years. But Alsace 
 was the province in which they were the most nu- 
 merous ; they had there fifty-two synagogues, but 
 none at Strasburg, where they had not even the 
 right to sojourn. Since the French revolution the 
 number of them in that city is computed from five 
 to six thousand ; other cities in France contain a 
 small number of them, but they are more numerous 
 in Paris than in any part of the kingdom, "f 
 
 * French Encyclopedia. This tribute was paid by the Jews of 
 Metz, and of the Messin country, under the denomination of duty 
 of habitation, protection, and toleration. After they obtained the 
 rights of citizens, these duties were suppressed and abolished, without 
 any indemnity to the owner of and contractor for the said tribute. 
 Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 6. 
 
 t The paragraphs which are marked with inverted commas, are 
 translated from a letter which the compiler was favoured with (Sep- 
 tember 1810) from M. M. Gregoire, formerly bishop of Blois, member 
 of the conservative senate, &c.
 
 t 
 416 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 " At Bourdeaux, Bayonne, and some neighbour- 
 ing cities, there were many thousands of Spanish 
 and Portuguese Jews, thus named from the countries 
 from which their ancestors have been expelled. They 
 had more extensive privileges than the German Jews, 
 that is, those of Alsace, Lorrain, &c." 
 
 " Avignon, formerly subject to the popes, and 
 Nice to the king of Sardinia, had also, and still 
 have colonies of Israelites, become French by the 
 union of the countries." The celebrated Gregoire 
 having been appointed member of the convention 
 to organize the department of the maritime Alps, 
 took care at Nice to secure to them the enjoyment 
 of the rights of citizens which the law allowed them. 
 " In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the 
 history of the Jews in France offers a very few 
 anecdotes to collect, which proves, that they were 
 generally tranquil during these periods, and had not 
 to experience those bloody catastrophes which de- 
 solated them in preceding ages. But the public 
 contempt was exhibited by avoiding their society, 
 and sometimes an ignorant populace insulted them. 
 In various places they were obliged to wear a dis- 
 tinctive mark in their dress ; those of Metz had 
 a black mantle and a white band. This singularity 
 of costume made them known, and the bad effect 
 which it produced was to designate them in a more 
 special manner for insults. However, the progress 
 of knowledge has insensibly attenuated the preju- 
 dices against them."* 
 
 In 1767, six mercantile societies in Paris printed 
 a remonstrance against the admission of the Jews 
 
 * Letter from Gregoire.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 417 
 
 among them. This virulent piece was reprinted 
 in 1790. In 1784, the corporal toll required of them 
 was abolished. The following year Malesherbes 
 united with several intelligent Israelites, Furtado, 
 Gradix, Cerf, Berr, &c. to concert a plan for the 
 reformation of the Jews. The academy of Metz 
 had offered a premium on this subject.* Three 
 works, written by Zalkind Hourwitz, a Polish Jew, 
 M. Thiery, counsellor of Nanci, and Gregoire, who 
 was then a member of the academy, were crowned 
 at Metz, and gave a favourable impulse to the public 
 opinion. That of the last named author has, in 
 particular, obtained the most impressive publicity.f 
 
 The learned author of this excellent work has 
 victoriously refuted the absurd calumnies at different 
 times charged upon the Jews, pointed out the event- 
 ful causes of the vices with which they were re- 
 proached, and proved, that they were qualified for 
 the pursuit of every profession, and of every science.^ 
 
 " Soon after the French revolution commenced, 
 the Jews from all parts presented memorials to the 
 Constituent Assembly, requesting admission to equal 
 rights with the other members of the community." 
 Among those who exerted themselves to obtain a 
 legal improvement of their condition in France, the 
 first assembly has numbered Mirabeau, Tonnere, 
 and Rabaud. " The subject was discussed with 
 animation, and finally justice triumphant granted 
 to the children of Moses a legal existence, and the 
 enjoyment of the rights of citizens." 
 
 * Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 392. 
 t Monthly Magazine, &c. 1789. 
 Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 330. 
 E E
 
 418 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The decree, however, which was passed in 1790, 
 acknowledged as active citizens those Jews only, 
 who, previously to 1789, had obtained letters of 
 naturalization. In order to remove those limitations, 
 the national assembly, in 1791, ordained, that all of 
 the Jewish persuasion who would take the civic 
 oath, and unite the other qualities required by the 
 constitution to enable them to be active citizens, 
 should be considered as such. All the Jews in 
 France hastened to take the oath, which constituted 
 them citizens.* 
 
 At the time of that famous decree which, in 1791, 
 gave the Jews a country, many, in congratulating 
 their brethren on the greatness of the boon, ad- 
 dressed to them instructions on the full extent of 
 their duties, and proved the necessity of altering in 
 their habits and manners whatever might tend to 
 perpetuate prepossessions and prejudices against 
 them. 
 
 A moral revolution must, however, be the result 
 of time and experience. And, notwithstanding the 
 improvements made by a number of intelligent 
 Jews, the usurious practices of some in the depart- 
 ments in the north of France, caused several French 
 writers to propose annulling the act, which granted 
 them the privileges of citizens. The complaints 
 made against the Jewish community gave rise to the 
 decree of May 30, 1806, by which it was enacted, 
 that " an assembly of the principal Jews shall 
 
 * It was on the report of Gregoire, then bishop of Blois, who bad 
 eminently distinguished himself by his exertions in favour of the 
 Jews, that the national assembly passed the decree, which put them 
 on a level with the rest of the citizens. Transactions of the San- 
 hedrim, p. 330.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 419 
 
 be convened in Paris, and that commissioners shall 
 be appointed to make known to them the royal 
 intentions, who shall, at the same time, collect their 
 opinions as to the means they deem the fittest to 
 re-establish among their brethren the exercise of 
 mechanical arts and useful professions, in order 
 to replace by an honest industry the shameful 
 resources to which many of them have resorted 
 from generation to generation these many cen- 
 turies/'* 
 
 It was also enacted, that " there shall be a sus- 
 pension for a year from the date of the present 
 decree of all executions of judgment and bond obli- 
 gations, except so far as to prevent limitation ob- 
 tained against husbandmen not traders, of the 
 departments of La Sarre, La Roer, Mont Terrible, 
 Upper and Lower Rhine, Rhine and Moselle, and 
 Vosges, whenever the bonds entered into by these 
 husbandmen are in favour of Jews." 
 
 Respecting the formation of an assembly pro- 
 fessing the Jewish religion, it was decreed, that 
 ee they should be convened in Paris, on the fifteenth 
 of July next ; that in all the departments of the 
 empire where there were five hundred of them, 
 a deputy should be named, and five deputies for 
 a thousand." They were f( to be nominated by the 
 prefects, from among the rabbies, the land-holders, 
 and other Jews, the most distinguished for their in- 
 tegrity and knowledge."*}- 
 
 In compliance with the mandate, the Jewish 
 deputies arrived in Paris in the July following ; on 
 the twenty-sixth of the month they assembled, and 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 105. i Ibid. p. 106. 
 
 EE2
 
 420 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 were met by Buonaparte's commissioners. Abraham 
 Furtado, a merchant from Bourdeaux, who had 
 acquired a distinguished reputation both for his 
 talents and virtues, was chosen president. At the 
 second sitting, the commissioners put twelve ques- 
 tions to them, relating to the internal economy of 
 the Jewish nation, and the allegiance due by them 
 to the French government.* 
 
 A declaration preceded the answers of the Jewish 
 deputies, which declared, in the name of all the 
 Frenchmen professing the religion of Moses, that 
 their religion makes it their duty to consider the 
 law of the prince as the supreme law in civil and 
 political matters ; that, consequently, should their 
 religious code, or its various interpretations, contain 
 civil or political commands,, at variance with those 
 of the French code, these commands would of 
 course cease to influence and govern them, since 
 they must, above all, acknowledge and obey the 
 law of the prince ; that in consequence of this 
 principle the Jews have, at all times, considered it 
 their duty to obey the laws of the state ; and that, 
 since the revolution, they, like all Frenchmen, have 
 acknowledged no other."f 
 
 The questions proposed to the assembly of Isra- 
 elites were generally answered in a manner agreeable 
 to Buonaparte. The epitome of their answers is 
 as follows : they declared in the first place, that in 
 all European countries they conformed to the ge- 
 neral practice of marrying only one wife. But that, 
 as several individuals in some preceding ages in- 
 dulged in the practice of polygamy, a synod was 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim. t Ibid. p. 150.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 421 
 
 convened at Worms in the eleventh century, com- 
 posed of one hundred rabbies, with Guerson at 
 their head ; and this assembly pronounced an ana- 
 thema against every Jew who should in future take 
 more than one wife. Since this prohibition, the 
 influence of European manners has universally 
 prevailed.* 
 
 In answer to the second query, concerning di- 
 vorces, the Jewish deputies affirmed, that though 
 they were allowed by the law of Moses, they were 
 not valid if not previously pronounced by the 
 French code ; that, though before they were ad- 
 mitted to the rights of French citizens, their reli- 
 gion allowed them the liberty of repudiating their 
 wives, yet it was extremely rare to see it put in 
 practice ; and since the revolution, that they have 
 acknowledged no other laws on this head, but those 
 of the empire. At the epoch, when they were 
 admitted to the rank of citizens, the rabbies and the 
 principal Jews appeared before the municipalities of 
 their respective places of abode, and took an oath 
 to conform in every thing to the laws, and to 
 acknowledge no other rules in all civil matters. 
 Consequently, since the Jews have begun to enter 
 into engagements before a civil officer, no one 
 attached to religion can repudiate his wife but by 
 a double divorce, that pronounced by the law of 
 the state, and that prescribed by the law of Moses ; 
 so that in this point of view it may be justly affirmed, 
 that the Jewish religion agrees vyith the civil code.f 
 
 With respect to the marriages between Jews and 
 Christians, the assembly declared, that the pro- 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 151. t Ibid. p. 152, 153.
 
 422 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 hibition in the Mosaic law in general, applies only 
 to nations in idolatry. The Talmud declares, that, 
 modern nations are not to be considered as such, 
 since they worship, like us, the God of heaven and 
 earth. And accordingly there have been, at several 
 periods, intermarriages between Jews and Chris- 
 tians, in France, in Spain, and in Germany ; these 
 marriages were sometimes tolerated, and sometimes 
 forbidden by the laws of those sovereigns who had 
 received Jews into their dominions. Unions of 
 this kind are still found in France ; but the opinion 
 of the rabbies is against these marriages. They 
 asserted, that although the religion of Moses has 
 not forbidden the Jews to intermarry with nations 
 not of their religion, yet as marriage, according to 
 the Talmud, requires religious ceremonies called 
 Kiduschim, with the benediction used in such cases, 
 no marriage can be religiously valid unless these 
 ceremonies have been performed. The rabbies 
 being therefore unwilling to bless marriages between 
 Jews and Christians, they were declared valid in 
 a civil, but not in a religious sense.* 
 
 In the answers of the deputies to the three ques- 
 tions concerning the relations and conduct of the 
 Jews towards Frenchmen, and the duties which they 
 owed the nation since they were admitted to the 
 privileges of citizens, the assembly declared, that 
 the descendants of Israel considered Frenchmen as 
 their brethren, and not as strangers ; that the true 
 spirit of the law of Moses is consonant with this 
 mode of regarding them, since, when they formed 
 a settled and independent nation, their lawgiver 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 152, 153.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. <6 
 
 commanded them to love the strange rs, for, says he 
 to the Israelites., ye were strangers in the land of 
 Egypt. They declare, that they are bound to love 
 all as their brethren who observe the precepts of the 
 Noachides,* whatever their religious opinions may 
 otherwise be ; that it is their incumbent duty to visit 
 their sick, bury their dead, assist their poor, and 
 perform every act of humanity towards them, as 
 well as the Israelites ; and, in short, that all the 
 principles of their religion, as well as gratitude for 
 the recent favours they have received from the 
 government, induce them to consider France as 
 their country, and Frenchmen as their brethren ; 
 that, consequently, the duty prescribed towards 
 Frenchmen not of their religion is the same as that 
 between Jews themselves ; and that they do not 
 admit of any other difference but that of worshipping 
 the Supreme Being, every one in his own way. At 
 the present time especially, when they are incorpo- 
 rated with the great nation, they declare, that it is 
 impossible for a Jew to treat a Frenchman not of his 
 religion in any other manner than he would treat 
 his Israelitish brethren, and that they consider the 
 duty of defending their country as equally sacred and 
 honourable. As a proof of this, during the last 
 wars French Jews have been seen fighting despe- 
 rately against their brethren, the subjects of coun- 
 tries then at war with France. f 
 
 * These precepts are, to abstain from idolatry, from blasphemy, 
 from adultery, and not to kill or hurt our neighbours, neither to rob, 
 steal, nor deceive, to eat only the flesh of animals killed, and, in 
 short, to observe the rules of justice; and take care that it be inipar- 
 1 tally administered to all. 
 
 t Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 178 180 1S>2.
 
 424 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 In answer to the questions concerning the nomi- 
 nation and jurisdiction of the rabbies, it was asserted, 
 that since the revolution, the majority of the heads 
 of families name the rabbies whenever there is 
 a sufficient number of Jews to maintain one, after 
 previous inquiries into the morality and learning of 
 the candidate. This mode of election is not, how- 
 ever, uniform ; it varies in different places ; and to 
 this day, whatever concerns the election of rabbies 
 is in a state of uncertainty.* 
 
 The assembly declared, that the rabbies exercise 
 no kind of police jurisdiction among the Jews ; that 
 the qualification of rabbi is no where to be found in 
 the law of Moses, nor did exist in the days of the 
 first temple, but is only mentioned towards the end 
 of those of the second ; yet that after the Israelites 
 were totally dispersed, and had formed small com- 
 munities in different places, a rabbi and two other 
 doctors constituted a kind of tribunal, called 
 " a house of justice ;" the rabbi being judge, atfd 
 the other two his assessors. The attributes, how- 
 ever, and even the existence of these tribunals, 
 have, to this day, always depended on the will 
 of the governments under which the Jews have 
 lived, and on the degree of toleration they have 
 enjoyed. Since the revolution, these rabbinical 
 tribunals are totally suppressed in France and Italy. 
 The Jews, raised to the rank of citizens, have 
 conformed in every thing to the laws of the state ; 
 and accordingly the functions of rabbies, wherever 
 any are established, are limited to preaching morality 
 in the temples, blessing marriages, and pronouncing 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 425 
 
 divorces. As to judicial powers they absolutely 
 possess none; for there is among them neither 
 a settled ecclesiastical hierarchy, nor any subordi- 
 nation in the exercise of their religious functions. 
 
 The Jewish deputies asserted, that there were no 
 professions which their law forbids them from exer- 
 cising ; but, on the contrary, the Talmud expressly 
 declares., that the father who does not teach a pro- 
 fession to his child educates him to be a villain. 
 
 In reply to the queries respecting usury, the 
 assembly asserted., that the Hebrew word which has 
 been improperly translated by the term usury 
 means interest of any kind, and not usurious in- 
 terest. It is, say they, even impossible that it ever 
 could have had this acceptation ; for usury is an 
 expression relative to, and compared with another 
 and a lawful interest : and the text contains nothing 
 which alludes to the other term of comparison. By 
 usury we understand an interest above the rate fixed 
 by law ; and, if the law of Moses has not fixed the 
 rate, can it be said that the Hebrew word means an 
 unlawful interest?* 
 
 " The aim of the lawgiver in forbidding the 
 Hebrews to lend upon interest to one another was to 
 draw closer between them the bonds of fraternity, 
 to give them a lesson of reciprocal benevolence, 
 and to engage them to assist each other with disin- 
 terestedness. The intention of Moses was to make 
 of his people a nation of husbandmen for a long 
 time after him, and all his regulations seemed de- 
 signed to divert their attention from commerce. 
 His prohibition must therefore be considered as 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 107.
 
 426 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 a principle of charity, and not as a commercial 
 regulation. According to the Talmud it is to be 
 considered as made to a man in want ; for in case 
 of a loan to a merchant, even a Jew, profit ade- 
 quate to the risk should be considered as lawful. 
 The Mosaic law forbids all manner of interest on 
 loan, not only between Jews, but between a Jew 
 and his countrymen, without distinction of religion. 
 The loan must be gratuitous when it is not intended 
 for commercial speculations. These humane laws, 
 however, were made for a people who then formed 
 a state, and held a rank among nations. 
 
 " If the remnants of this people, now scattered 
 among all nations, are attentively considered, it will 
 be seen that, since they have been driven from 
 Palestine, they no longer have had a common 
 country, they no longer have had to maintain among 
 them the primeval equality of property. Although 
 filled with the spirit of their legislation, they have 
 been sensible that the letter of the law could no 
 longer be obeyed when its principle was done away ; 
 and they have, therefore, without any scruple, lent 
 money on interest to trading Jews, as well as to 
 men of different persuasions.* 
 
 " It is an incontrovertible point according to the 
 Talmud, that interest, even among Israelites, is 
 lawful in commercial transactions, where the lender, 
 running some of the risk of the borrower, becomes 
 a sharer in his profits." This is the opinion of all 
 the Jewish doctors, f 
 
 The birth day of the French emperor, was ob- 
 served by the Jewish deputies on August 15th, 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim, p. 200, 201. + Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 427 
 
 1806, as a day of thanksgiving. On this occasion 
 the grand synagogue was superbly illuminated and 
 ornamented. The imperial eagle was placed above 
 the altar; vocal and instrumental music was per- 
 formed ; sermons and animated orations delivered ; 
 and a collection made for the poor of all religious 
 denominations.* 
 
 On the eighteenth of September the deputies 
 were again convened, and assured, by a discourse 
 read to them by one of the emperor's commissioners, 
 of the satisfaction their answers had given his 
 imperial majesty. At the time it was declared ee to 
 be the emperor's intention to secure to them the 
 free exercise of their religious worship, and the full 
 enjoyment of their political rights. But that, in 
 return for his gracious protection, his majesty re- 
 quired a religious pledge for their strict adherence to 
 the principles contained in the replies to the queries 
 proposed to them, and that the answers of the 
 Jewish deputies, converted into decisions by another 
 assembly, of a nature still more dignified and reli- 
 gious, might find a place near the Talmud, and 
 thus acquire, in the eyes of the Jews of all coun- 
 tries, and all ages, the greatest possible authority. 
 For this purpose it was deemed requisite to convene 
 the grand sanhedrim, which, according to ancient 
 custom, will be composed of seventy members 
 exclusive of the president. The duties of this 
 venerable assembly shall be to convert into religious 
 doctrines the answers which have been given by the 
 Jewish deputies, and also those which may result 
 from the continuance of their sittings. "f 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim. t Ibid.
 
 4-28 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The momentous event of convening a grand san- 
 hedrim was announced to the dispersed remnants of 
 the descendants of Abraham, in a grateful and pa- 
 thetic address to the synagogues of Europe, signed 
 by the president and two leading members. This 
 address was soon after answered by one of concur- 
 rence and congratulation from the Jews of Frankfort 
 upon the Maine.* 
 
 The grand sanhedrim assembled in Paris, 1807, 
 and the number and distinction of the spectators 
 greatly increased the solemnity and grandeur of the 
 scene. Numerous addresses were read, and ani- 
 mated orations delivered. This venerable assembly 
 passed and agreed to various articles respecting the 
 Mosaic worship, and sanctioned the answers pre- 
 viously given by the Jewish deputies. A decree 
 was enacted, consisting of seventeen articles, esta- 
 blishing a synagogue and a consistory in every 
 department which contains two thousand individuals 
 professing the religion of Moses. 
 
 The seats of the synagogues were to be in the 
 most populous cities ; and each of them was to be 
 superintended by a rabbi and two elders. No one 
 can be a member of the consistory who has addicted 
 himself to usurious practices. Among other func- 
 tions which are to be exercised by the consistory, 
 they are to see that the rabbies do not, in public or 
 private, give any instructions or explanations of the 
 law, in contradiction to the answers of the assembly 
 confirmed by the decisions of the grand sanhedrim. 
 They are also directed to do all in their power to 
 encourage the Israelites to follow agriculture and 
 
 o o 
 
 * Transactions of the Sanhedrim.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 429 
 
 useful professions ; and to report to government the 
 names of those who cannot give a satisfactory ac- 
 count of their means of subsistence. The grand san- 
 hedrim invited the Jews to acquire landed property ; 
 passed a law for the condemnation of usury ; and 
 declared,, that the profession of military services was 
 equally incumbent upon them as upon other citizens.* 
 
 The Jews have at present ,in Paris a consistory 
 composed of three grand rabbies, &c. &c. In most 
 parts of France where they are found they are 
 making exertions to place themselves in the rank 
 of citizens. Some have become farmers ; and one 
 Jew in the department of Vosges has received a 
 medal from the society of agriculture in Paris. Others 
 devote themselves to the arts and trades of every 
 kind ; others to the sciences, particularly medicine 
 and mathematics. Recently among the three hun- 
 dred pupils in the Polytechnic school are found six 
 Jews. Furtado, Rodriguez, Eli-Levi, Zinstheimer, 
 Cologna, Bing. lately dead, Berr-Isaac-Berr and his 
 son Michael Berr, Zalkind Hourvitz, Einsheim, 
 Luzzati, Lipman-Moses, Terquem, Anschel, &c. 
 all of France, are distinguished by their talents and 
 their works. Anschel, lately become a Christian, 
 is professor of physic and chemistry, and Terquem 
 of the highest branches of mathematics in the Ly- 
 ceum of Mayence.f 
 
 Among the Italian Jews convoked at the sanhedrim 
 are also found men of distinguished talents. There 
 are two Jewish poets in Leghorn ; Florentini, who 
 shines in one kind of elegy, and Michael Bolassi, 
 
 * Nicholson's British Encyclopedia. 
 
 t Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p- 386.
 
 430 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 who translated from Hebrew into Italian verse a 
 work of rabbi Ghevirol, on the " wonders of cre- 
 ation/'* 
 
 Notwithstanding the great improvements which 
 have been made by a number of literary Jews, the 
 French emperor appears to be dissatisfied with the 
 manner of life which is still pursued by some of the 
 nation. The last decree which was issued con- 
 cerning them, in March 17, 1808, {f forbids them, 
 indiscriminately to pursue their speculations, and 
 excuse themselves from honest labour. In order to 
 partake of the fruits of the earth in his large do- 
 minions, they must till the ground. The rich are 
 enjoined to purchase rural property, and to abandon 
 the low pursuits of sordid avarice. This decree 
 also annuls all obligations for loans made by Jews 
 to minors without the sanction of their guardians ; 
 to married women without the consent of their hus- 
 bands ; or to military men without the authority of 
 their superior officers. Bills granted by French 
 subjects to Jews must be demanded, unless their 
 holders prove that the full value was given without 
 fraud. All debts accumulated by interest above five 
 per cent, are to be reduced by the courts of law ; 
 if the interest growing on the capital exceed twenty 
 three per cent, the contract is to be declared usurious. 
 No Jew is to be allowed to trade without a patent, 
 which patent is to be granted to such individuals 
 only, as produce a certificate to the prefects that 
 they are no usurers. These regulations are to be 
 
 * Similar improvements with those in France and Italy have been 
 made by the Jews in Germany and Holland. See the preceding and 
 following chapters.
 
 431 
 
 continued during ten years, in the hope, that after 
 that period there will be no difference between the 
 moral character of the Jews and the other citizens 
 of the empire; if the contrary should appear, the 
 law will still be continued in force."* 
 
 An English Israelite, in a letter addressed to the 
 sanhedrim of Paris, highly reprimands the conduct 
 of this assembly, and charges many of the members 
 with having little estimation, not only for the law of 
 Moses, but for every species of revealed religion. 
 The author asks them, tf what suffrages they have 
 received from the Jewish societies who are not sub- 
 jects of France? Have," says he, "any of our 
 brethren of Constantinople, of Aleppo, of Bagdat, 
 or Cochin ; or have any of our congregations, not 
 under the dominion of France, sent deputies to join 
 you ? or have they demonstrated any approval of 
 your proceedings? In England they would hold no 
 communion with you either on religious or political 
 subjects, especially as the local welfare of the coun- 
 try so imperiously forbids it."f 
 
 As the Jews in Holland united with those of France 
 and sent deputies to the sanhedrim, an account of 
 their state in that country previous to this period, 
 and the events which gave rise to their union with 
 France, will be given in the following chapter. 
 
 * Nicholson's British Encyclopedia, published 1809, vol. iii. 
 t Letter to the Sanhedrim, 1808, p. 32.
 
 342 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Of the Jews in Holland. Thej are prohibited from the exercise of 
 the arts and professions. Conduct of the Syndics. The intelligent 
 Jews in Amsterdam concert a plan, and present it to government. 
 They are opposed by the Syndics, and form a new community. 
 Of their altercations with the Syndics. Regulations of the new 
 community. An account of the literary Jews in Holland. Three 
 deputies from the schismatical community in Holland are sent to 
 the grand sanhedrim at Paris, and agree to the decisions of that 
 assembly. 
 
 *SIXTY thousand Portuguese and German 
 Jews inhabit Holland. Amsterdam contains nearly 
 two thirds of this number. The toleration which 
 their ancestors found in this country was happiness, 
 compared with the cruelties that were exercised 
 towards them in other parts of the world, f Yet in 
 Holland as elsewhere some lucrative and honourable 
 employments were shut upon them, and they were 
 forbidden the exercise of the arts and professions. 
 The burgomasters of Amsterdam enacted an eccle- 
 siastical law, by which they were placed under the 
 control of the Syndics. These Syndics or Par- 
 nassim, constituted absolute masters of their co- 
 religionists, had authority to excommunicate them. 
 A fine of one thousand florins was the penalty 
 of him who dared to complain of the proceedings of 
 the Syndics. A sentence to be ignominiously 
 scourged was pronounced against him who pur- 
 chased meat of any butcher but that of the commu- 
 
 * The whole of this chapter is an abridged translation from Gre- 
 goire's Histoire de Sectes Religieuses. 
 t See chapter xxviii.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 433 
 
 nity. Whence it would appear, that the Syndics 
 exercised imperiously the power conferred upon 
 them by the law. 
 
 Literature has long since been advancing among 
 the Batavian Jews, who have produced a large 
 number of writers, many of whose names will 
 descend with honour to posterity. The education 
 of their children became more an object of their 
 attention ; they began to frequent the society of 
 the Christians, and gradually to conform to their 
 habits. On the late entrance of the French troops 
 into Holland, many of the Jews of Amsterdam as- 
 sembled, and concerted a plan which should secure 
 to their sect the enjoyment of certain civil advan- 
 tages, and presented it to the government. But the 
 difficulties they encountered were very considerable : 
 for their wishes were opposed by the Syndics, who 
 endeavoured to render their remonstrances in effectual. 
 The discussions in the national assembly of Bata- 
 via, in 1796, attest these facts. At length, the 
 privileges of the city were decreed to them by the 
 supreme authority. Four or five were admitted 
 into judicial, municipal, and legislative offices ; all 
 of whom, with one exception, have become members 
 of the schismatical synagogue which we are about 
 to describe, and which was almost entirely composed 
 of Germans. As soon as the law which has been 
 mentioned was abolished, they solicited the enaction 
 of another, but being repulsed by the Syndics, 
 towards the end of 1796, they resolved to effect 
 a separation, and to erect a new community, styled, 
 Adath Jesurum. The Syndics, in consequence, 
 forbade all marriage alliances with the schismatics. 
 
 F F
 
 434 HISTORY OF THE JEWS; 
 
 The Syndics instituted twenty-three suits against 
 twenty-three members of the new community, in 
 order to subject them to the fine of one hundred 
 florins, by virtue of an article in the law before 
 cited,, which had been repealed. The defendants, 
 confident that the issue of the suit must be in their 
 favour, waited the decision with impatience ; and 
 earnestly entreated that it might be pronounced by 
 the tribunal. But the Syndics obtained a continu- 
 ation of the cause, and the defendants were sub- 
 jected to the payment of considerable sums for 
 costs. 
 
 The new community have discarded from their 
 liturgy, those prayers which contain imprecations 
 against other sects. 
 
 In general, among the Jews, the ceremony of 
 interment is performed with great precipitation ; 
 sometimes in twenty-four and sometimes even in 
 twelve hours after the decease. This abuse, which 
 every wise police should prevent, is not permitted 
 in the new community, which prohibits the in- 
 terment within forty-eight hours, unless for urgent 
 reasons, attested by the physicians appointed to act 
 on such occasions. 
 
 This community has never found effectual sup- 
 port from the intermedial governors of Holland ; 
 except the grand pensioner Schimmelpennink. 
 But, in general, the professors of the predominant 
 religion have succeeded in keeping* the Jews and 
 Catholics from places of trust. 
 
 Amsterdam and the Hague have witnessed soci- 
 eties, the express design of whose formation was, 
 \to render Jewish children more easily admissible to
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 435 
 
 the apprenticeship of trades. Yet, scarce a Chris- 
 tian in Amsterdam would admit them to his shop. 
 At the Hague, not one of them would be received. 
 After this, it is not surprising, that of three hundred 
 Jewish families in this city, but four or five indi- 
 viduals are artizans. A Jew of Amsterdam, who 
 supported by his exertions a superannuated mother, 
 could not, till after difficulties and delays, obtain 
 permission to pursue the business of a locksmith. 
 
 A society whose views embrace all Holland, and 
 that has published the most interesting works on 
 various branches of popular instruction, and adopted 
 for its motto, Pro bono publico, has, in the first 
 article of its regulations, excluded the Jews. 
 
 The same remark applies to another society, the 
 Felix Mentis. They too had resolved to admit , 
 only Christians ; and therefore excluded Vanlann, 
 a Jew, a physician and mechanic, and the inventor 
 of many astronomical instruments, one of which 
 has been named Tellurium Laniene by M. Van 
 Swinden, who himself in the same society has read 
 three memoirs in praise of the discovery. 
 
 This exclusion falls upon many others ; for an 
 academy might be formed of the literary Jews that 
 now honour Holland with their residence ; among 
 whom are Belinfante, Desolla, Cappadoce, and 
 Asser. The catalogue would be incomplete without 
 adding the names of the physicians at the Hague ; 
 Heyman, Polak, and Stein, professor of botany, 
 who has published a dissertation de Hydrope 
 Pinto the younger, author of a work on the efficacy 
 of the principle of oxigene in the animal body, &c. 
 Heilbron, physician of Amsterdam, who has been 
 
 FF2
 
 436 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 six times crowned by the academy of sciences at 
 Rotterdam Salomon, physician of Ley den, author 
 of various works, who could never obtain employ- 
 ment in that city till he joined the sect of the 
 Remonstrants David, a physician, who came at 
 his own expense to Paris to obtain information con- 
 cerning vaccination, which he first introduced into 
 Holland., and which has since been promoted by 
 societies, one at Amsterdam for the Jews, and the 
 other at Rotterdam for the poor Almeida, captain 
 of a ship of war, who, in a naval action in 1781, 
 distinguished himself against the English, and re- 
 ceived a medal of honour Asser the elder, one 
 of the first counsellors of his age in maritime laws 
 and insurances Lemon and Bromet, whose writings 
 have greatly contributed to the reformation of the 
 Jews in Holland. Three persons among the Isra- 
 elites have been representatives of the people; the 
 two last mentioned, and Acosta Athias, who pre- 
 sided at the national assembly. At the bar of 
 Amsterdam are three Jewish advocates, Charles 
 Asser, Mendez, and Meyer. The last named was 
 received at the bar when only sixteen years of age, 
 being a pupil of professor Cras, who was acquainted 
 with every language in Europe. Meyer, in 1804, 
 published a treatise proposed by the academy of 
 Berlin, " Whether the moral tendency of an action 
 should be taken into consideration in the formation 
 and application of penal laws ?" The work arrived 
 after the decision of the academy, otherwise it 
 would, probably, have received the prize. 
 
 The Syndics refused the invitation to unite 
 with the sanhedrim of Paris without consulting the
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 437 
 
 community; part of which has protested against 
 them. They exerted themselves to the utmost to 
 prevent the deputation from the new community. 
 But the government of Holland, who had manifested 
 a desire that the Jews should be treated as the 
 Christians, authorized the departure of three depu- 
 ties from the schismatical community Asser, jun. 
 a counsellor ; Lemon, formerly legislator and phy- 
 sician ; and Littwak, a mathematician. They ar- 
 rived at Paris, and in the name of their constituents 
 agreed to the decisions of the grand sanhedrim. 
 
 With regard to the new community, a regu- 
 lation, digested by themselves and adopted by the 
 government, organized their consistory. Many of 
 its members received marks of public consideration. 
 The physician Cappadoce was named chevalier of 
 the order of the union ; Meyer, member of the 
 institute ; Asser the elder, one of the compilers of 
 the code of commerce ; and his son was nominated 
 minister of worship, chief of the division charged 
 with the affairs of their co-religionists.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Of the Jews in the Ottoman empire. They are numerous in Constan- 
 tinople and Salonichi. Some particulars respecting those of 
 Aleppo and Palestine. Of the independent Jewish tribes in the 
 high lands of Hedjas in Arabia. An account of their emigration 
 into China and India. 
 
 AFTER having in the preceding chapters sur- 
 veyed the favourable change which has taken place 
 in the condition of the Jews in Europe during the 
 eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we follow them 
 to the east, where they have experienced fewer 
 vicissitudes. It appears, from the acconnts of late 
 travellers, that there has been little alteration in 
 their fate in the eastern countries since the seven- 
 teenth century, when Basnage closed his history. 
 He has computed that there were, at that epoch, 
 one million in the grand seignior's empire, above 
 eighty thousand of whom resided at Constantinople 
 and Salonichi ; and that there were thirty syna- 
 gogues, and an hundred and five thousand families 
 in the former of these cities.* 
 
 Though the Jews in the Turkish empire are held 
 in detestation, and exposed to undistinguishing 
 contempt, they have rendered their services indis- 
 pensible in conducting traffic, almost every species 
 of which, through the supineness and indolence of 
 the Turks, has fallen into their hands. 
 
 It is said, te that the Jews in Constantinople are 
 less affluent and more ignorant than those in Europe. 
 A few among them are physicians, but none 
 
 * Basuage, p. 718.
 
 J1I8TORY OF THE JEWS. 439 
 
 farmers. They are chiefly brokers, bankers, or 
 traders, and devote themselves to every kind of 
 traffic, even the lowest."* 
 
 The Jews in the Ottoman empire pay a heavy 
 tax to the Porte for the right of exercising their 
 religious worship ; and they are subject to a chief of 
 their own nation, called Cochan Pascha, whose 
 power over them is said to be even greater than 
 that which the patriarch exercises over the Greek 
 Christians, f 
 
 The Jews at Aleppo are computed at about five 
 thousand. They possess a synagogue, in which 
 they have a manuscript of the Old Testament, said 
 to be very ancient. They are distinguished by the 
 colour of their babooge, and the form of their 
 turban ; the former of which is orange, and the 
 'latter blue. They all wear beards, even foreign Jews 
 are obliged by the priest to submit to this custom. J 
 
 They speak more corrupt Arabic than the Chris- 
 tians. Their morning salutation on the sabbath is 
 frequently Hebrew, and extends only to a few 
 words, none of them speaking it familiarly, though 
 many read it. In writing Arabic they often use 
 Hebrew letters, as they are said to do in other 
 places with the language of the country. Their 
 children are sent to the reading school, but seldom 
 get beyond their psalter. Their books are chiefly 
 supplied from Venice. 
 
 Few of them are either manufacturers or me- 
 chanics. The principal part are either merchants 
 
 * Olivier' s Travels to the Ottoman Empire, published 1S02. 
 + Zimmerman's Political Survey of Europe, 
 i Russell's Account of Aleppo, vol. ii.
 
 440 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 J 
 
 or bankers ; the others are chiefly brokers, grocers, 
 or pedlars. The established bankers of the seraglio 
 are Jews, and, by being employed to act in that 
 capacity by most of the great men, they acquire an 
 extensive influence over those who despise and 
 contemn their religion. They are generally more 
 sober than the Christians. 
 
 Their chief priest is called Khakhan, or great 
 Khakhan ; but the title is also extended to priests 
 in general. They are much respected by their own 
 people, over whom they exercise both temporal and 
 spiritual power ; but the latter is always subject to 
 an appeal to the Turkish authority. The scrip- 
 tures are read by them in Hebrew, and explained 
 according to the traditions of former times. Their 
 schools are kept by inferior priests.* 
 
 They so strictly observe the sabbath, that they do 
 no business on that day, and allow no fires to be 
 made in their houses, except in case of sickness, and 
 even then it is generally done by a Christian servant. 
 The poor people on such occasions are assisted by 
 Arabian women, who cry along the streets, " Fire to 
 sell." This is done every sabbath. On the sabbath 
 they remain long at table, drinking wine and 
 singing psalms, but their music does not conform to 
 European modes.f 
 
 The Jews, more frequently than the other inha- 
 bitants of Aleppo, believe in the existence of evil 
 spirits, and their agency in the production of epi- 
 lepsy, madness, and certain other maladies. In 
 such cases they not only call in their own rabbies, 
 but the Mahometan scheiks to exorcise them. 
 
 Russell's Acconnt of Aleppo, TO!, ii. 
 
 Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 441 
 
 They generally marry at an earlier age than the 
 Turks ; and chiefly form connexions with relations 
 who are previously acquainted with each other. 
 The nuptial feast lasts seven days, and is celebrated 
 with music, dancing, and festivity. Both Turkish 
 and Christian women are frequently spectators. 
 Polygamy, being considered as scandalous, is seldom 
 practised among them, and then only in some parti- 
 cular cases.* 
 
 Besides the festivals and feasts which are observed 
 by the Jews in general, those of Aleppo keep 
 a voluntary fast of six entire days, in which they 
 abstain from all nourishment, even water. The 
 two first days they attend business at the Bazar, but 
 afterwards employ themselves at home in reading 
 the Bible and in prayer. In the evening of the 
 sixth day, at the end of the fast, they moisten their 
 throat with liquids ; and afterwards return by slow 
 degrees, to the use of solid food. It is a long time 
 before they recover their former appetite. Few, 
 however, attempt to keep this fast ; not more than 
 twenty-five in a year. Sometimes they are obliged 
 to renounce it before it is finished ; and it is never 
 observed by the same person more than once in his 
 life. They have also occasional fasts for public cala- 
 mities ; and individuals observe private devotional 
 fasts. From their extensive commercial connections 
 these fasts cause a stagnation of trade at the time, 
 and occasion great delays in the departure and 
 march of caravans. 
 
 The Jews, except such as are under the protec- 
 tion of some foreign prince, are subject to a capita- 
 
 * Russell's Account of Aleppo, vol. ii.
 
 442 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 tion levied on the able bodied men, ten crowns 
 a year on the rich, six on the middling, and three 
 on the lower classes.* 
 
 In Palestine, where the Turks and Arabs unite in 
 
 oppressing them, .few comparatively are to be found. 
 
 /Yet a learned inquirer, who passed some time at 
 
 C Jerusalem during the spring of 1800, supposes that 
 
 / the city, at that period, contained three thousand 
 
 ( Jews.f 
 
 * Russell's Account of Aleppo. 
 
 + Mr. de Chateaubriand, a celebrated French author, who visited 
 Palestine in the year 1807, has given the following account of the 
 miserable condition of the Jews who still reside in Jerusalem. 
 
 After a striking description of the piety and humanity of the 
 Christian monks who constantly perform their devotions at the tomb 
 i of our Saviour, he observes, " While the New Jerusalem is seen 
 shining in the midst of the desert, you may observe between Mount 
 Zion and the temple, another spectacle of almost equal interest ; it is 
 that of the remnants of another people, distinct from the rest of the 
 inhabitants ; a people individually the objects of universal contempt ; 
 who suffer the most wanton outrages without a murmur ; who endure 
 wounds and blows without a sigh; who, when the sacrifice of their 
 life is demanded, unhesitatingly stretch forth their necks to the sabre. 
 If a member of the community thus cruelly proscribed and abused 
 happens to die, his companion buries him clandestinely during the 
 night in the valley of Josaphat, within the purlieus of the temple of 
 Solomon. Enter their habitation and you find them in the most 
 abject squalid misery, and for the most part occupied in reading 
 a mysterious book to their children, with whom again it becomes 
 a manual for the instruction of succeeding generations. What these 
 wretched outlaws from the justice and compassion of the rest of 
 mankind did in past ages, they do still. Six times they have 
 witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem, and are not yet discouraged ; 
 nothing can operate to divert their looks from Zion. We are sur- 
 prised, no doubt, when we observe the Jews scattered over the face 
 of the earth; but to experience an astonishment more lively, we have 
 but to seek them in Jerusalem. The legitimate masters of Judea 
 should be seen as they are in their own land, slaves and strangers ; 
 they should be seen awaiting, under the most cruel and oppressive of 
 all despotisms, a ting who is to work their deliverance. Near the
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 443 
 
 The Jews in Arabia are regarded with extreme 
 contempt ; and., as in Turkey, despised alike by 
 Mahometans and Christians. They abound in 
 Yemen, the region anciently known by the deno- 
 mination of Arabia Felix. Yet they are not per- 
 mitted to reside in cities, but dwell as in other parts 
 of Arabia, in a separate quarter without the gates. 
 Their quarter adjoining to Sana, the capital, 
 contains two thousand. They carry on a great 
 trade, and are the best artists in Arabia. One of their 
 merchants, named Oraeki, had been during twenty- 
 eight years, under two successive imans of Yemen, 
 comptroller of the customs, and of the royal 
 buildings and gardens. But in 1760, he fell into 
 disgrace, and was imprisoned and fined fifty thou- 
 sand crowns. At the same time fourteen synagogues 
 in the Jewish quarter at Sana were demolished by 
 order of government, together with all private 
 houses above a certain height, beyond which none 
 were afterwards to be raised.* 
 
 The highlands of Hedjas are possessed by 
 a number of independent sovereign scheiks. The 
 most numerous and the best kown of these commu- 
 nities is that which the Jews have formed upon the 
 mountains lying to the north east of Medina. That 
 tract of country is called Kheibar, and the Jewish 
 inhabitants are known in Arabia by the name of 
 Beni Khiebar. They are governed by their own 
 
 temple, of which there does not remain " one stone upon another," 
 they still continue to dwell ; and with the cross as it were planted 
 upon their heads, and bending them to the -earth, still cling to their 
 errors, and labour under the same deplorable infatuation." Ame- 
 rican Review, JVo. 1, January, 1811. 
 * Niebuhr's Travels.
 
 444 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 independent scheiks, and are divided into three 
 tribes. Their settlement appears to have subsisted 
 for more than twelve centuries ; they are surrounded 
 with deserts, and the natural advantages of their situ- 
 ation have enabled them to preserve their freedom.* 
 
 The Jews in this district do not maintain any 
 intercourse with their brethren in Asia, and are 
 therefore supposed to belong to the sect of the 
 Caraites, who are few in number, much dispersed, 
 and detested by the sect of the Pharisees. 
 
 The Jews settled themselves in China under the 
 dynasty of the Han, which began in the year 206 
 before Christ, and ended 220 years after his birth ; 
 but it is not known at what part of the period they 
 appeared in the empire. They not only increased 
 in number and wealth, but were distinguished for 
 literature and raised to offices, being governors of 
 provinces, and mandarins. The principal places of 
 their abode were Ham-tehen, Peking, and Cai- 
 fong fou. By degrees their affairs began to decline, 
 and many embraced the Mahometan religion. After 
 this change took place among the Jews in Peking 
 and other parts, they were only found in Cai- 
 fong-fou, the capital of the province of Honan, 
 which is an hundred and fifty leagues from Peking. 
 Those in this city were, at length, involved in 
 various calamities ; their synagogue was inundated, 
 in 1446, by the river Hoango. They also suffered 
 by fire during the administration of Ouanhi, who 
 reigned from 1573 to 1620 ; and another desolating 
 inundation took place in 1642.f 
 
 * Niebuhr's Travels. 
 
 + Brotier's Notes to Tacitus, vol. iii. p. 578.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 445 
 
 In 1704,, father Gozani, a Jesuit missionary,, had 
 the curiosity to investigate the state of the Jews 
 in the empire. To effect this purpose he contracted 
 an acquaintance with some of their learned chiefs, 
 who introduced him into their synagogues. Ac- 
 cording to his account he succeeded so well in 
 ingratiating himself with this people, that they 
 even suffered him to enter into the most secret 
 part of their synagogue, to which they have no 
 access themselves, it being reserved for the chief of 
 the synagogues, who never approaches it but with 
 profound respect.* They showed him one of their 
 volumes, or parchment rolls of the Pentateuch, 
 written in Hebrew in fair and legible characters, 
 and also other parts of the Old Testament, namely, 
 Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, part of the Pro- 
 phets, and some other books containing their liturgy 
 and commentaries, written likewise in Hebrew. 
 They acknowledged they had lost part of their 
 sacred books, and some of their Targums, para- 
 phrases, expositions, &c. by the overflowing of 
 the river Whamho, which had greatly damaged 
 their roll of the Pentateuch. To remedy this mis- 
 fortune they ordered twelve fair copies to be taken 
 of it, which are still carefully preserved in the taber- 
 nacles that are placed in the synagogue. f 
 
 They informed Gozani that they divided the five 
 books of Moses into fifty-two lessons, one for every 
 sabbath throughout the year, which division is sup- 
 posed to have been instituted by Ezra. Our author, 
 being ignorant of the Hebrew language, was not 
 
 * Leltres Edifiantes, torn. ii. 
 
 t Modern Universal History, vol. viii. p. 137.
 
 446 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 able to investigate their usages in such an accurate 
 manner as could have been wished. But from their 
 blending 1 fictitious tales with the facts recorded in 
 scripture, and even in the five books of Moses, he 
 concluded these Jews were of the Talmudic sect. 
 He observes, however, that this can only be deter- 
 mined by one versed in the scriptures, and well 
 acquainted with the Hebrew language.* 
 
 Their synagogue fronts the west, and when they 
 address their prayers to God they turn towards that 
 quarter. In the middle of the synagogue stands 
 a magnificent chair raised very high, and richly 
 adorned with crimson velvet, gold fringe, tassels, &c. 
 This they style the chair of Moses, on which every 
 sabbath, and on days of great solemnity, the law 
 and other parts of the Old Testament are read. 
 The synagogue is also furnished with a table of 
 incense, magnificent candlesticks, large candles, 
 a censer, perfumes, and a painting, on which the 
 names and titles of the emperor are superbly en- 
 graved. There were also thirteen tabernacles placed 
 upon tables, and surrounded with rich curtains, in 
 each of which the Pentateuch, or sacred roll of the 
 law, is shut up. Twelve of these tabernacles repre- 
 sent the twelve tribes of Israel, the thirteenth Moses. f 
 r The Chinese Jews strictly observe the sabbath, 
 and do not kindle any fire, or dress any food on .that 
 day. They also observe circumcision, and several 
 other ceremonies mentioned in the Old Testament ; 
 in particular the passover, feast of unleavened bread 9 
 the week of Pentecost, of tabernacles, and other 
 
 * Modern Universal History, vol. viii. p. 137. 
 
 + Winterbothara's History of China, vol. i. p. Ill, 112.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 447 
 
 occasional festivals and fasts. They pray and read 
 the law with the thaled or veil over their faces, in 
 remembrance of Moses. They also abstain from / 
 blood, and retain the Jewish manner of killing / 
 their animals and preparing their food. 
 
 In some cases, however, they readily comply 
 with the Chinese customs, and address the Supreme ^ 
 Being by the appellation which is made use of in 
 this country; which is, " Lord of Heaven," "Creator 
 of all things/' &c. They also honour Confucius, and 
 imitate the solemn rites which the Chinese pay to 
 their ancestors. Contiguous to their synagogue is 
 a large hall, in which they burn perfumes in honour 
 of their Chimgins, or great men of their law. But 
 instead of such pictures as are used by the Chinese, 
 and forbidden by their religion, they have a number 
 of censers. The largest of these, which is intended 
 for the patriarch Abraham, stands in the centre of 
 the hall. The next were those of Moses, Joshua, 
 Esdras, and several other illustrious persons of both 
 sexes. The mandarin who is over them is also 
 entitled to have his tablet set up in the hall, inscribed 
 with his own name, and all his titles.* 
 
 The Jews informed father Gozani, that their 
 ancestors came from the west, from the kingdom of 
 Judah, which Joshua conquered after they left 
 Egypt, had crossed the Red Sea, traversed the 
 desert, and that the number of Jews who left 
 Egypt amounted to six hundred thousand. They 
 also gave him to understand, that they had formerly 
 been numerous in the empire, but were then reduced 
 to only seven families. They form alliances with each 
 
 * Winterbotham's History.
 
 448 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 other, and never connect themselves with the other 
 inhabitants of China. 
 
 When father Gozani spoke to them of the Mes- 
 siah, promised and announced in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, they exhibited great astonishment. But when 
 the missionary informed them, that the Messiah had 
 already appeared, and was called Jesus Christ, they 
 replied, that they had heard of a holy man named 
 Jesus, who was the son of Sirach, but that they 
 were entirely ignorant of the new Jesus of whom he 
 discoursed.* They had not any knowledge of some 
 of the books of the Old Testament, and had lost 
 others in the inundation which took place October 
 29, 1642. f 
 
 Dr. Buchanan, while he resided in India, was 
 assiduously engaged in investigating the state of the 
 inhabitants. ff The Jews/' says he, " are numerous 
 in India, and reside in a town, about a mile distant 
 from Cochin, called Jews' Town. It is almost 
 wholly inhabited by this people, who have two 
 respectable synagogues. Among them are some very 
 intelligent men, who are not ignorant of the present 
 history of nations. There are also Jews here from 
 remote parts of Asia, so that this is the fountain of 
 intelligence concerning that people in the east, there 
 
 * A modern traveller observes, that " if this be really the fact, 
 their ancestors could not have been any part of the tea tribes who 
 were carried into captivity, but may rather be supposed to be among 
 the followers of Alexander's army, which agrees with their own 
 account of the time they first settled in China. Barrow's Travels in 
 China, 1805. 
 
 + Modern Univer. Hist. vol. viii. p. 139. 
 
 + Dr. Buchanan's first tour to Cochin was in November, 1806, and 
 he remained in the country till February, 1807. He again visited it 
 in January, 1808.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 449 
 
 being constant communication by ships with the Red 
 Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the mouth of the Indus. 
 The resident Jews are divided into two classes, 
 called the Jerusalem or White Jews, and the an- 
 cient or Black Jews. The White Jews reside 
 at this place. The black Jews have also a syna- 
 gogue here ; but the great body of that tribe inhabit 
 towns in the interior of that province." 
 
 This learned author thus proceeds in his inter- 
 esting relation : " On my inquiry into the antiquity 
 of the White Jews, they first delivered to me 
 a narrative in the Hebrew language of their arrival 
 in India, which has been handed down to them 
 from (heir fathers ; and then exhibited their ancient 
 brass plate, containing their charter and freedom of 
 residence, given by a king of Malabar. The 
 following is the narrative of the events relating 
 to their first arrival. 
 
 " After the second temple was destroyed (which 
 may God speedily rebuild !) our fathers, dreading 
 the conqueror's wrath, departed from Jerusalem, 
 a numerous body of men, women, priests, and 
 Levites, and came into this land. There were among 
 them men of repute for learning and wisdom ; and 
 God gave the people favour in the sight of the king 
 who at that time reigned here, and he granted them 
 a place to dwell in, called Cranganor. He allowed 
 them a patriarchal jurisdiction within the district, 
 with certain privileges of nobility ; and the royal 
 grant was engraved, according to the custom of 
 those days, on a plate of brass.* This was done 
 
 * Dr. Buchanan requested the Jews to shew him their brass plate. 
 Having been given by a native king, it is written of course in the 
 
 GG
 
 450 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 in the year from the creation of the world four 
 thousand two hundred and fifty, (A. D. four hundred 
 and ninety ;) and this plate of brass we still have in 
 possession. 
 
 " Our forefathers continued at Cranganor for 
 ahout a thousand years, and the number of heads 
 who governed were seventy -two. Soon after our 
 settlement, other Jews followed us from Judea; 
 and among these came that man of great wisdom, 
 rabbi Samuel, a Levite of Jerusalem, with his son, 
 
 Malabaric language and character, and is now so old that it cannot 
 be well understood. The Jews preserve a Hebrew translation of it 
 which they presented to the learned author. This ancient document 
 begins in the following manner according to the Hebrew translation : 
 
 " In the peace of God the king, which has made the earth ac- 
 cording to his pleasure. To this God I, Airvi Brahmin, have lifted 
 up my hand, and have granted by this deed, which many hundred 
 thousand years shall run. I, dwelling at Cranganor, have granted, in 
 the thirty-sixth year of my reign, in the strength of power I have 
 granted, in the strength of power I have given in inheritance to 
 Joseph Rabban." 
 
 Then follow the privileges of nobility, such as permission to ride 
 on an elephant ; to have a herald to go before to announce the name 
 and dignity; to have the lamp of the day; to walk upon carpets 
 spread upon the earth ; and to have trumpets and cymbals sounded 
 before him. King Airvi then appoints Joseph Rabban to be " chief 
 and governor of the houses of congregation, (the synagogues) and of 
 certain districts, and of the sojourners in them. What proves the 
 importance of the Jews at the period when this grant was made is, 
 that it is signed by seven kings as witnesses. There is no date in this 
 document, further than what may be collected from the reign of the 
 prince, and the names of the royal witnesses. Dates are not usual in 
 old Malabaric writings; One fact is evident, that the Jews must have 
 existed a considerable time in the country before they could have ob- 
 tained such a grant. The tradition before mentioned assigns for the 
 date of the transaction, the year of the creation 4250, which is in 
 Jewish computation, A. D. 490. It is well known, that the famous 
 Malabaric king, Cerani Perumal, made grants to the Jews, Christians, 
 and Mahometans, during his reign ; but that prince flourished in the 
 eighth or niath century. Christian Researchet, p. 220, 21.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 451 
 
 rabbi Jehuda Levita. They brought with them 
 the silver trumpets, made use of at the time of the 
 jubilee, which were saved when the second temple 
 was destroyed ; and we have heard from our fathers, 
 that there were engraven upon those trumpets the 
 letters of the ineffable name.* There joined us also 
 from Spain and other places, from time to time, 
 certain tribes of Jews who had heard of our pros- 
 perity. But, at last, discord arising among our- 
 selves, one of our chiefs called to his assistance an 
 Indian king, who came upon us with a great army, 
 destroyed our houses, palaces, and strong holds, 
 dispossessed us of Cranganor, killed part of us, 
 and carried part into captivity. By these massacres 
 we were reduced to a small number. Some of the 
 exiles came and dwelt at Cochin, where we have 
 remained ever since, suffering great changes from 
 time to time. There are amongst us some of the 
 
 O 
 
 children of Israel, (Beni Israel) who came from the 
 country of Ashkenaz, from Egypt, from Isoba, and 
 other places, besides those who formerly inhabited 
 this country. f 
 
 " The native annals of Malabar confirm the fore- 
 going account in the principal circumstances,^; as 
 
 * This circtim stance of the Jubilee trumpets is to be found in a si- 
 milar account of the Jews of Malabar, published in the " history of 
 the works of the learned" for March, 1699. It is not necessary to 
 suppose that these trumpets belonged to the temple, for it is well 
 known, that in every considerable town in Judea there were jubilee 
 trumpets. Buchanan's Christian Researches. 
 
 t Buchanan's Christian Researches, p. 218 220. 
 
 J The above account is also confirmed in the principal circum- 
 stances by the testimony of Moses de Paiva, a Portuguese Jew of 
 Amsterdam, who, having visited Cochin in 1686, published on hie 
 
 G G2
 
 452 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 do the Mahometan histories of the later ages, for 
 the Mahometans have been settled here in great 
 numbers since the eighth century. 
 
 f< The desolation of Cranganor the Jews describe 
 as being like the desolation of Jerusalem in mini- 
 ature. They were first received into the country 
 with some favour and confidence, agreeably to the 
 tenor of the general prophecy concerning the Jews, 
 for no country was to reject them ; and after they 
 
 return to Europe an account of his tour, which is now become very 
 rare, and contains what follows : 
 
 " In the year four thousand one hundred and thirty of the creation 
 of the world, after the destruction of the second temple by Titus, 
 seventy or eighty thousand Israelites penetrated as far as the coast of 
 Malabar. The king Che ram Iberimal assembled, and gave them the 
 city of Cranganor, with a certain extent of territory and divers privi- 
 leges, which were engraven on tables of brass. These Israelites 
 brought two trumpets of which the Levites in the temple made use. 
 Cranganor having at length been taken from them, they took refuge 
 in Cochin. 
 
 " The Jews of Cochin," says our author, " loaded him with civi- 
 lities, and gave him a number of entertainments. Though the 
 climate had rendered them so swarthy that they were almost raulat- 
 toes, they would have considered themselves dishonoured, if they 
 had eaten, drank, or prayed with the black or negro Jews of Ma- 
 labar, because the last were descended from the slaves in the service 
 of the Jews at Cranganor, who were afterwards emancipated. The 
 negro Jews had nine synagogues, three in Cochin, and the others in 
 the vicinity. In the French translation of the travels of P. Paulin 
 de St. Barthelemy it is said they formed four hundred and sixty 
 families." This account is copied verbatim from the relation of 
 Paiva ; and the elements of which his calculation is composed give as 
 a total number four hundred and sixty-five. The other Jews ground 
 their aversion towards them on the pretence, that the Malabar Jews 
 have been mixed with the Canaanites and the Ishmaelites. But 
 though they have separate synagogues their worship is the same. 
 Thus we see a diversity of colour, but none of sect. Gregoire't 
 Histolre des Secies Religieu$es t torn. ii.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 453 
 
 had attained some wealth, and attracted the notice 
 of men, they are precipitated to the lowest abyss 
 of human suffering and reproach. The recital 
 of the sufferings of the Jews at Cranganor resembles 
 much that of the Jews at Jerusalem, as given 
 by Josephus." 
 
 The Black Jews retain the tradition that they 
 arrived in India soon after the Babylonian capti- 
 vity. " Their Hindoo complexion, and their very 
 imperfect resemblance to the European Jews, 
 indicate that they have been detached from the 
 parent stock in Judea many ages before the Jews in 
 the west, and that there have been intermarriages 
 with families not Israelitish. The White Jews 
 look upon the Black Jews as an inferior race, and 
 not of a pure cast ; which plainly demonstrates that 
 they do not spring from a common stock in 
 India."* 
 
 Dr. Buchanan observes, that <e the Black Jews 
 communicated to him much interesting intelligence 
 concerning their brethren, the ancient Israelites 
 in the east ; traditional indeed in its nature, but 
 in general illustrative of true history. They re- 
 counted the names of many other small colonies 
 resident in Northern India, Tartary, and China, 
 and gave him a written list of sixty-five places. 
 He conversed with those who have lately visited 
 many of these stations, and were about to return 
 again. The Jews have a never ceasing commu- 
 nication with each other in the east. Their fami- 
 lies indeed are generally stationary, being subject 
 
 * Buchanan's Researches in Asia ; and Memoir of the Expediency 
 of an Ecclesiastical Establishment in British India.
 
 454 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to despotic princes ; but the men move much about 
 in a commercial capacity ; and the same individual 
 will pass through many extensive countries. So 
 that when any thing interesting to the nation of the 
 Jews takes place, the rumour will pass rapidly 
 throughout all Asia."* 
 
 * Buchanan's Researches in Asia, p. 221, 222. 

 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 455 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Of the Jews in America. Of their settlement in Surinam and Ja- 
 maica. But few have settled in New England. Of Judah Monis. 
 State of the Jews in New York, Philadelphia, Charleston, Virgi- 
 nia, aud Georgia. 
 
 THE exact time in which the Jews first entered 
 America, cannot be ascertained. But it appears, 
 that there were some of the nation in the Spanish 
 colonies, at the time when they were expelled the 
 parent country hy Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 The inhabitants of the colonies which belonged 
 to France, in their severity to the Jews imitated the 
 conduct of the parent country. The first article in 
 the edict of March, 1605, enjoined the French officers 
 to expel them from their American colonies ; and 
 commanded them to depart within three months, 
 under the penalty of the confiscation of their goods.* 
 
 The history of the Jews in Surinam, who emi- 
 grated from Holland, has been compiled by a society 
 of Portuguese Jews, who resided in that country. 
 It appears from this work, that, in the year 1639, 
 David Nasci, a Portuguese Jew and a native of 
 Brazil, obtained permission from the West India 
 company in Holland to form a colony in the island 
 of Cayenne. His countrymen who accompanied 
 him were to be allowed the full enjoyment of every 
 civil and religious privilege, on condition that they 
 should grant the same without reserve to all who 
 might choose to be their fellow colonists. On the 
 conquest of this island by the French in 1664, 
 
 * French Encyclopedia.
 
 456 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Nasci and his followers retired to Surinam, which 
 then belonged to the English, who not only allowed 
 them the free exercise of their religion, together 
 with every civil privilege and all the immunities 
 which the peculiar rites of their law rendered neces- 
 sary, but also permitted them to erect a court of 
 judicature in which all civil cases beneath a certain 
 amount between individuals of their community 
 should be determined by their agents. All these 
 privileges were confirmed to them by the Dutch, 
 who took possession of the settlement 1667.* 
 
 Thus secured in the enjoyment of their liberties, 
 the Jews soon became a numerous and flourishing 
 society. In 1689, they possessed forty plantations, 
 and a large number of slaves. According to their 
 account they have always been useful citizens, who 
 were disposed to make every exertion for the welfare 
 of the community, and have often sustained more than 
 their share of the public burdens. They complain 
 of having frequently suffered injustice and oppres- 
 sion in consequence of the arbitrary spirit of 
 some of the governors, and the jealousy of some 
 of their fellow colonists. However, notwith- 
 standing these disadvantages, and the invidious 
 partiality and contemptuous treatment which they 
 often experienced, they increased in numbers and 
 wealth. In 1760, no less than one hundred sugar 
 plantations were possessed by the individuals of the 
 community. The year 1799 appears to have been 
 the most prosperous era of the colony. 
 
 In Paramaribo, the capital of the colony, the 
 Dutch Calvinists, Lutherans, and Moravians, had 
 * Moulbly Review, 1792.
 
 \ 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 457 
 
 their several churches and chapels ; and the Portu- 
 guese and German Jews their respective syna- 
 gogues. The Roman Catholics were long ex- 
 empted from the toleration so liberally extended 
 to those of every other religious persuasion. But 
 at length, in the year 1785, they were allowed to 
 erect a place of public worship, towards the building 
 of which all the inhabitants, both protestants and 
 Jews, generously contributed. No where is the 
 peace of society less disturbed by religious opinions 
 than in Surinam. Persons of the most opposite 
 persuasions, live in the most intimate connexion 
 and unreserved friendship. 
 
 The great check to the prosperity of Surinam 
 has arisen from the inhabitants being exposed to the 
 invasion and depredation of the Maroons, or run- 
 away negroes, who have formed several communities 
 in the inaccessible parts of the woods, and are the 
 most implacable and cruel enemies of the colonists. 
 The Jewish militia have often signalized themselves 
 against them, and have been of great use to the 
 colony ; one third of whom are of this nation. 
 Under the patronage of the Germans, two societies 
 have been instituted to improve education ; one for 
 the cultivation of natural history ; the other for 
 literature and moral philosophy. Jews as well as 
 Christians may be members of these institutions.* 
 
 Malouet, the French commissioner, gives the 
 following account of a town, or village of Jews on 
 the river Surinam. " It is fifteen leagues," says he, 
 " above Paramaribo, and to render our visit more 
 interesting, the children of Israel were induced 
 * Monthly Review, 1792.
 
 458 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to pay us the honours of the New Jerusalem. For 
 this purpose they were at much expence, and their 
 attentions merit my gratitude. I became acquainted 
 with two Jews, whose erudition and powers are 
 astonishing. The one is named Joseph Barious, 
 and the other Isaac Nasci. The last is an extra- 
 ordinary man, if we consider that he never has 
 been out of Surinam, where he was born ; received 
 no aid but from his own genius ; and has risen 
 above the errors of his sect. His knowledge of his- 
 tory is profound ; and he has studied methodically 
 Arabic, Chaldean, and rabbinical Hebrew. Yet 
 this man, who passes eight hours every day in his 
 study, and has a correspondence with the most 
 celebrated men in Europe, employs himself as the 
 meanest of his countrymen, in buying and selling 
 old clothes. He has composed a Dictionary in the 
 Indian Calibi language, and thinks he finds the 
 'themes in it to be Hebrew."* 
 
 The Jews were early settled in Jamaica, being 
 attracted by the gold and silver brought into circu- 
 lation, and the mild disposition of the government 
 towards them. In the reign of William III. of 
 England, the council of the island addressed the 
 crown to expel them from the British dominions, 
 because they were descended from those who had 
 crucified our Saviour ; but the king refused to 
 comply with their request. In these days they were 
 not taxed as other subjects, but obliged to raise 
 a certain annual tribute which the assembly varied 
 at pleasure. Though the government was compa- 
 
 * The compiler of this History was favoured with the abovt 
 account from the Rev. Mr. Bentley of Salem.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 459 
 
 ratively mild, they suffered some oppression. At 
 length, however, they began to make a consider- 
 able figure, and were permitted to erect synagogues 
 and perform divine worship according to their own 
 ritual. Their knowledge of several languages, and 
 acquaintance with their brethren dispersed over the 
 Spanish and other West India colonies, contributed 
 greatly to extend the trade and increase the wealth 
 of the island. Though they are excluded from 
 filling any post in the government, they are re- 
 quired to bear arms in the militia, and have shown 
 themselves useful subjects on many occasions. 
 They are not, as in many other parts, loaded with 
 unequal and oppressive taxations, and have the pri- 
 vilege of purchasing landed property, and in the 
 possession and enjoyment of it they are protected 
 equally with other subjects.* 
 
 The tranquillity this people enjoy under the go- 
 vernment is, however, disturbed by their own reli- 
 gious schisms. They are divided into two parties, 
 one of which is called the Smouse Jews, which is an 
 epithet of contempt. Their brethren regard them 
 as heretics, because they have relaxed in the ob- 
 servance of some of their rituals, and formed 
 alliances by marriage with Christians. They have, 
 therefore, a distinct meeting at a private house, 
 where they vociferate to the great disturbance of 
 the neighbourhood.f 
 
 * Long's History of Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 293. They enjoy almost 
 every privilege possessed by the Christian whites, excepting only the 
 right of voting at elections, of being returned to serve in the as- 
 sembly, and of holding any office of magistracy. Edward's History 
 of the West Indies. 
 
 + Long's History of Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 296. Gregoire's Histoire 
 des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 360.
 
 460 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 The chief men among the Jews in Jamaica are 
 worthy characters, who strive to gain an honest 
 living and assist their indigent brethren. There 
 are no common beggars of this nation,, the elders 
 having an established fund for the relief of the 
 poor. There are among this people several very 
 opulent planters and capital merchants ; and it is said, 
 that those in this island are not such rigid observers 
 of the Mosaical ritual as in other countries. Being 
 allowed the public exercise of their religion, they 
 have erected two or more synagogues.* 
 
 The Jews have never been numerous in New 
 England ; but among those who settled in the 
 colonies some have been distinguished for the re- 
 spectability of their characters. Judah Monis, 
 a Jewish convert to the Christian religion, was 
 admitted a public teacher at Harvard University. 
 He is stated to have been a native of Algiers, who 
 probably received his education in Italy, though we 
 know nothing of him till his arrival in this country. 
 But after he came to Boston he seems to have been 
 soon invited to fill the office of Hebrew instructor 
 in the university, where he was settled March 27th, 
 1722. Before he could be admitted, it was ren- 
 dered necessary by the statutes, that he should 
 change his religion, which he professes to have 
 done with perfect disinterestedness, though he 
 continued till his death to observe the seventh day 
 as the sabbath. From the address delivered upon 
 the occasion by the Rev. Dr. Coleman of Boston, 
 it may be suspected that doubts were entertained of 
 the sincerity of his declaration. The expressions, 
 
 * Long's History.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 461 
 
 " Is your heart right with God ?" f< We cannot be 
 content with good professions/' &c. &c. shew no 
 very strong confidence in his integrity. However, 
 it is certain he always sustained an unblemished 
 character, and was well contented with his con- 
 dition. He married at Cambridge ; and when death 
 deprived him at a very advanced age of the society 
 of his wife, he resigned his office, and retired 
 to Northborough, where he resided with her rela- 
 tions. He died,* in 1764, at the age of eighty-one 
 years, forty of which he spent in his office, f 
 
 Monis bequeathed a small sum to be distributed 
 among seven clergymen then living in the vicinity ; 
 and left a fund, the interest of which was to be 
 divided among ministers in indigent circumstances ; 
 and the remainder of his estate, which was con- 
 siderable, he gave to the relations of his wife. His 
 printed works are, a discourse delivered at his 
 baptism ; one entitled " the truth/' another, " the 
 whole truth," and a third, " nothing but the truth," 
 and a Hebrew gram mar. J 
 
 Previous to the American revolution, while the 
 Jews convened at their synagogue in Rhode Island, 
 the late president Stiles commenced an acquaint- 
 ance with Haijim Carigal, a rabbi who had lately 
 arrived in the city. " Having travelled very exten- 
 sively in the eastern world, and being a man of 
 
 * It is said, that at the time of his death he was attended by se- 
 veral clergymen, to whom he professed his firm belief in the Christian 
 religion, and his assured hope of salvation by Christ. One of the 
 divines observed to him, " Now, good father, you will go to Abraham's 
 bosom." " No," he replied, he was but a Jew, I will go to Christ, 
 for he is my only hope." 
 
 i Monthly Anthology, 1810, p, 59. 
 
 Whitney's History of Worcester, p. 872.
 
 462 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 observation, learning and intelligence, his conver- 
 sation was highly entertaining and instructive. He 
 was born at Hebron, and educated there and at 
 Jerusalem. He had travelled all over the Holy 
 Land, and visited many cities in Asia and Europe. 
 The doctor was greatly delighted with his society, 
 and had frequent intercourse with him for the 
 purpose of acquiring the* pronunciation of the 
 Hebrew ; of ascertaining: the meaning; of ambi- 
 
 ^ O 
 
 guous expressions in the original of the Old Testa- 
 ment ; of learning the usages of the modern Jews ; 
 of conversing on past events relating to this extra- 
 ordinary nation, as recorded in sacred history ; and 
 of tracing its future destiny by the light of pro- 
 phecy. They cultivated a mutual friendship when 
 together, and corresponded in Hebrew when 
 apart."* 
 
 The rabbi, not long after his arrival, attended 
 his worship by agreement, and heard him discourse 
 in an affectionate manner on the past dispensations of 
 God's providence towards his chosen people ; on his 
 promised design of rendering them an exalted 
 nation in the latter day glory of the Messiah's 
 kingdom ; and on the duty of Christians, and of 
 all nations, to desire a participation in their future 
 glorious state. f 
 
 " So catholic was the intercourse between this 
 learned Jew and learned Christian, that they often 
 spent hours together in conversation ; and the 
 information which the extensive travels of the Jew 
 enabled him to give, especially concerning the 
 Holy Land, was a rich entertainment to his Christ 
 
 * Dr. Holmei's Life of President Stiles. t Ibid.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 463 
 
 tian friend. The civilities of the rabbi were more 
 than repaid. The doctor very frequently attended 
 the worship of the synagogue at Newport, not only 
 when rabbi Carigal officiated, but at the ordinary 
 service before his arrival, and after his departure." 
 
 With six other rabbies of less eminence he became 
 acquainted, and shewed them every civility, while 
 he maintained a friendly communication with the 
 Jews in general in Newport. Such rare and unex- 
 pected attentions from a Christian minister of dis- 
 tinction could not but afford peculiar gratification to 
 a people, conscious of being a proverb and bye 
 word among all nations. To him they accordingly 
 paid every attention in return, and expressed pecu- 
 liar pleasure in admitting him into their families, 
 and into their synagogues. 
 
 Dr. Holmes in concluding this account judiciously 
 remarks, that " this civility and Catholicism towards 
 the Jews is worthy of imitation. It is to be feared 
 that Christians do not what ought to be done to- 
 wards the conversion of this devoted people. While 
 admitted into most countries for the purposes of 
 trade and commerce, instead of being treated with 
 that humanity and tenderness which Christianity 
 should inspire, they are often persecuted and con- 
 demned as unworthy ,of notice or regard. Such 
 treatment tends to prejudice them against our holy 
 religion, and to establish them in their infidelity."* 
 
 A respectable rabbif of New York has given 
 the follo\$Jng account of his brethren in the United 
 States. 
 
 * Hohnes's Life of President Stiles. 
 
 t Rev. Gershom Seixas, the presiding rabbi.
 
 464 BISTORT OF THE JEWS. 
 
 " There are about fifty families of Jews in New 
 York, which, with a number of unmarried men, 
 make from seventy to eighty subscribing members to 
 the congregation Sherith Israel, which is incorpo- 
 rated by an act of the legislature of the state, 
 empowering all religious societies to hold their pro- 
 perty by charter, under the direction of trustees 
 chosen annually by the communicants of the society, 
 according to certain rules prescribed in the act.* 
 
 " The trustees have the management of all the 
 temporalities, as is customary in other societies. 
 They have one synagogue established conformably 
 to the customs and forms of prayer used among the 
 Portuguese Jews in Europe. Their public service 
 is altogether in the Hebrew language, excepting in 
 particular cases provided for in the constitution of 
 the society. There were some Jewish families in 
 the city when it was owned by the Dutch ; but the 
 documents which are among the archives of the 
 congregation, do not extend farther back than 
 about one hundred and fifty years. 
 
 (f Some of the Jews who settled in New York 
 were of Portuguese, others of German extraction, 
 besides Hollanders. There are also the descendants 
 of those who arrived after New York became an 
 English colony. The Jews had the right of soil 
 under the Dutch government, and the English 
 never attempted to deprive them of it ; on the con- 
 trary, they granted letters patent to several Jewish 
 families in the time of queen Anne, who had arrived 
 in London from France among the Huguenots, to 
 settle in North America. 
 
 * See laws of New York.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 465 
 
 " In Philadelphia there may be about thirty fami- 
 lies of Jews. They have two synagogues, one for 
 those who observe the Portuguese customs and 
 forms of prayer, and the other for those who 
 adhere to the German rules, customs, &c. ; neither 
 of them are incorporated. There may be about 
 from eighty to one hundred men, in the whole state 
 of Pennsylvania, who all occasionally attend the 
 synagogues in Philadelphia. 
 
 " There is in Charleston (South Carolina) a large 
 society incorporated, (with their laws.) They have 
 an elegant synagogue established on the Portuguese 
 customs, &c. They also have different institution! 
 with appropriate funds for benevolent and chari- 
 table purposes likewise incorporated." 
 
 A more particular account of the Jews in South 
 Carolina has been given by one of the principal 
 members of their congregation in the capital of the 
 state, the substance of which is as follows. 
 
 " The first emigration of- the Jews to Charleston 
 took place long before the revolution. The spirit 
 of commerce can never be extinct in them ; and 
 their wealth increased with their numbers, which 
 were augmented from time to time, both by mar- 
 riages, and acquisitions from Europe. The present 
 number of Jews may be estimated at about a thou- 
 sand. Charleston alone contains about six or seven 
 hundred individuals. 
 
 " The present number of Hebrews in the city 
 are chiefly Carolinians, the descendants of German, 
 English, and Portuguese emigrants. 
 
 " The religious rites, customs, and festivalg of 
 the Jews are all strictly observed by those of this 
 
 H ii
 
 466 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 nation in Charleston. The seats in the Jewish 
 synagogue are often crowded with visitors of every 
 denomination. The episcopal functions are now 
 discharged by the Rev. Cavalho, late professor of 
 the Hebrew language in the college of New York. 
 
 " The Jews in Charleston enjoy equal literary 
 advantages with the other members of the commu- 
 nity. Most of the parents being rich, the prejudice 
 is here despised,, which confines the important 
 object of education to the tenets of religion ; and 
 the Hebrews can boast of several men of talents 
 and learning among them. Those Jewish children 
 who are intended for professions, receive a handsome 
 classical education. There is now in the city an 
 academy, where the French, Italian, Latin, and 
 Greek languages are taught, together with other 
 branches of learning. The Rev. Cavalho, men- 
 tioned above, also teaches the Hebrew and Spanish 
 languages. 
 
 t( The dress and habits of the Jews in Charleston 
 do not distinguish them from the other citizens. 
 Open and hospitable, as Carolinians generally are, 
 they unite, with considerable industry and know- 
 ledge of commercial affairs, rather too much of 
 that love of ease and pleasure, which climate, as 
 well as national character, tends to nourish. Indi- 
 viduals, however, among those in this country, 
 for their enterprize and judgment, have been en- 
 trusted with municipal offices ; and one has held 
 a seat with honour to himself and his constituents 
 among the representatives of the state. 
 
 " The institutions which the Jews have esta- 
 blished in Charleston, are chiefly religious and
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 467 
 
 charitable. They have built an elegant synagogue. 
 They have also societies for the relief of strangers, 
 for attending the sick, and for administering the 
 rites of humanity and burial to the dying and the 
 dead. The most modern institution is a society for 
 the relief of orphans. The capital is already consi- 
 derable, and it is yearly increasing. The children 
 receive every advantage which is necessary to enable 
 them to be well informed and honourable citizens of 
 their country."* 
 
 In Richmond, (Virginia) there are about thirty 
 Jewish families, who are now building a syna- 
 gogue ; but they are not as yet incorporated. The 
 number of unmarried men is unknown, though 
 there may be about an hundred scattered throughout 
 the state, who are and will become members of t T ie 
 congregation. At Savannah in Georgia there are 
 but few Jewish families, who assemble at times, 
 and commune with each other in public prayers. 
 The United States is, perhaps, the only place 
 where the Jews have not suffered persecution, but 
 have, on the contrary, been encouraged, and in- 
 dulged in every right of citizens, f 
 
 The Jews in all the United States, except Mas- 
 sachusetts,]; are eligible to offices of trust and 
 honour ; and some of them in the southern states 
 are in office. They are generally commercial men, 
 and a number of them considerable merchants 
 
 ~ C 
 
 \^ The above account is an abridgment of a letter written Jan. 1811, 
 by !Mr. Philip Cohen, a repectable Jewish merchant in Charleston. 
 \ Extract of a letter from Rev. Gershom Seixas. 
 i According to the Constitution of Massachusetts, those who are 
 chosen to fill important offices, must declare their belief of the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 HE 2
 
 468 HISTORY OF THE JEWS/ 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Of the rites and ceremonies of the Jews. Of their synagogue wor- 
 ship. Method of observing the sabbath. Of their celebration of 
 the festivals of the new moon ; the passover ; days of Pentecost ; 
 feast of trumpets; of tabernacles; and of Purim. Of the feast at 
 the dedication of the temple. Of the Jewish feasts on the great 
 day of expiation, on the destruction of the temple, and other 
 occasions. Government and discipline of the Jewish church. 
 
 THE Jews, since the destruction of their temple, 
 have not offered any sacrifices ; and several religious 
 rites, which were enjoined upon their ancestors, 
 cannot be observed by the nation in modern times, 
 on account of their being local, and confined to the 
 promised land. Such, for instance, as the offering 
 of the sheaf of the first fruits of barley harvest on the 
 morrow of the passover ; the two wave loaves made 
 of fine flour, which were the first of the wheat 
 harvest, and offered on the morning of the feast of 
 Pentecost ; the basket of all the first fruits of the 
 earth, with the offering of him who brings it ;* the 
 cities of refuge ;f the tythes to the priests and 
 Levites, and to the poor ; the sabbatical year J for 
 the land to rest ; and also the year of jubilee, when 
 there was to be a general release of lands, servants, 
 pledges, &c. the cleansing of the leper ; with 
 various other local ceremonies too numerous to be 
 mentioned. 
 
 There are other directions respecting their poli- 
 tical state and government, contained in their code 
 
 * Eeuteronomy xxvi. 2. t Numbers xxvi. 6 11. 
 
 ^ Leviticus xxv. 2, 3. 
 
 ^ David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 221.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 469 
 
 of laws in the 21st and 23d chapters of Exodus, 
 which concerned both their civil and criminal juris- 
 prudence, that cannot be observed By the Jews 
 since their dispersion. .Not having any jurisdiction 
 either civil or criminal, they are obliged to be 
 governed by the laws and policy of the countries 
 under which they live.* 
 
 The modern Jews, however, still adhere as 
 closely to the Mosaic dispensation as their dispersed 
 condition will permit them. Their religious worship 
 consists chiefly in reading the lawf and prophecies 
 in their synagogues, together with a variety of 
 prayers. J They repeat blessings and particular 
 praises to God, not only in their prayers, but 
 in all accidental occasions, and in almost all their 
 actions. It is a rule among them that no day must 
 be passed without reading a portion of the law at 
 home, nor any affair undertaken till they have im- 
 plored the divine blessing. They are strictly pro- 
 hibited from all vain swearing, and pronouncing 
 any of the names of God without necessity. They 
 abstain from meats forbidden by the Levitical law ; 
 for which reason whatever they eat must be dressed 
 by those of their own nation, in a manner peculiar 
 to themselves. 
 
 At the east end of every synagogue is an ark, or 
 
 * David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 221. 
 
 + They divide the law into fifty-two parts, and read one of these 
 sections every sabbath, so as to go through the whole every year. 
 
 As formerly, while they enjoyed an established religion, they 
 still have liturgies, in which are all the prescribed forms of their 
 synagogue worship ; " and those who have not time to go to the 
 synagogue must say their prayers at home three times every day, 
 i. e. in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night." Levfs Cere- 
 monies of the Jews, p. 178. 
 
 Ficart's Religions Ceremonies.
 
 470 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 press, in commemoration of the ark of the covenant, 
 which was in the temple. Here the Pentateuch is 
 deposited, written on a volume or roll of parchment 
 with the utmost exactness, and wrapped up in silk 
 curiously embroidered. When the Jews say their 
 prayers in the morning they put on a talith or vail 
 over their other clothes,, and a robe with fringes at 
 the four corners, with tassels, called Tzitzith ; and 
 also the Tephilin or Phylacteries.* 
 
 All the rites, precepts, and ceremonies of the 
 Jews, which are not contained in the Pentateuch, 
 are founded upon and derive their authority from 
 the Talmud. There is, however, some variation 
 in their customs and ceremonies, and in the liturgies 
 which the nation have made use of at different 
 times, and in various countries. The German, 
 Polish, and Russian Jews follow the same ritual. 
 But the Spanish and Portuguese have another, 
 which still varies from that of the Italian and Levan- 
 tine Jews, those of Jerusalem, China, and some 
 other places. But in the principal points of belief 
 and observance they all agree, f 
 
 * It is an article of faith among us," says David Levi, " that 
 every Jew raust every morning, during the time of reading the Shema, 
 and saying the nineteen prayers at least, have on the Phylacteries, 
 because it is a sign of our acknowledging the Almighty to be the 
 Creator of all things, and that he has power to do as he pleases ; and 
 therefore on the sabbath, and other festivals, we do not put on the 
 Phylacteries, because the duly observing of them is a sufficient sign 
 of itself, as expressed in Exodus xxxi. 12." Ceremonies of the Jews, 
 p. 190. 
 
 t Ockley's translation of Leo Modena's Ceremonies of the Jews, 
 p. 4. There are three divisions or classes of modem Jews, who are 
 variously denominated from the countries where the arrangements of 
 their liturgies took place, and are known by the designations of 
 German, Portuguese, and Avignon, or Italian Jews.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 471 
 
 In the synagogue worship, the Cohen or priest 
 leads the devotional exercises by chanting prayers ; 
 but laymen are admitted to read the book of the 
 law to the people ; the precedence is, however, 
 given to the priest. After prayers, the rabbies fre- 
 quently deliver a sermon ; but their discourses are 
 not composed in Hebrew, which few of the Jews at 
 present perfectly understand, but in the language of 
 the country where they reside. The passages of 
 scripture and sentences from the doctors are, how- 
 ever, quoted in the Hebrew, and explained.* 
 
 The Jews venerate the sabbath above all other 
 festivals, and observe it with the utmost strictness 
 on account of its being enjoined in various parts of 
 scripture, particularly in the decalogue. On this 
 day they are forbidden to kindle or extinguish any 
 fire ; the food is, therefore, prepared on Friday. 
 They are also prohibited from discoursing on any 
 kind of business, f from carrying any burden, from 
 riding on horseback, in a carriage, going by water, 
 or walking above a mile from the city or place where 
 they reside, or playing upon any musical in- 
 strument.]; They are likewise forbidden to inter 
 their dead, or mourn, or fast on the sabbath ; but 
 are sometimes permitted to circumcise a child, be- 
 
 * Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews. 
 
 t David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 7, 8 17. The rabbies 
 have reduced the several works forbidden on the sabbath under thirty- 
 nine heads, and enumerated the species under these generals. 
 
 + Vocal music is very common in their synagogues, but instru- 
 mental music is seldom used ; yet not because it is deemed improper, 
 for the synagogue in Prague had an organ ; but because it cannot be 
 performed on the sabbath or holidays. Adam's Religious World Dis- 
 played.
 
 472 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 cause that ceremony must oe performed exactly on 
 the eighth day. 
 
 The sabbath begins on Friday, an hour before 
 sun-set both summer and winter, for they suppose 
 the day commences from the preceding evening, 
 according to Genesis i. 5. and " the evening and 
 the morning were the first day/' As soon as the 
 time arrives they leave all manner of work, and, 
 having cleansed and decorated themselves in honour 
 of the holy day, repair to the evening service. 
 The women are bound to light a lamp with seven 
 cotton wicks, in remembrance of the days of the 
 week, saying, t{ Blessed art thou, O Lord, our 
 God ! king of the universe, who has sanctified us 
 with his commandments, and commanded us to 
 light the lamp of the sabbath." The reason why 
 this ceremony is invariably assigned to the women 
 is, that as their original mother, by her crime in 
 eating the forbidden fruit, first extinguished the 
 lamp of righteousness, they are to make an atone- 
 ment for that sin by rekindling it, in lighting the 
 lamp of the sabbath.* 
 
 They then spread a clean cloth upon their table, 
 and set two loaves of bread upon it, baked on 
 Friday, and covered with a napkin, in memory of 
 the manna which fell with dew under and above it, 
 yet descended not (for on the Friday they had 
 a double portion) on the sabbath. When they are 
 placed at table, the master of the family takes 
 a cup of wine repeating the three first verses in the 
 2i>d chapter of Genesis, and after giving God 
 thanks, and enjoining them to observe the sabbath, 
 
 * Lcvi's Ceremonies, &c.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS/ 473 
 
 he blesses the wine, drinks, and gives some to the 
 rest of the family. He then blesses and distributes 
 the bread. They repeat the usual grace after 
 supper, with the addition of making mention of the 
 sabbath.* 
 
 In the morning they repair to the synagogue 
 later than usual on the week days, where, after the 
 accustomed prayers, besides others which are appro- 
 priate to the day, they read a lesson from the law, 
 and afterwards a corresponding portion from the 
 prophets, f When the reading is concluded they 
 pray for the peace and prosperity of the govern- 
 ment under which they live, in observance of the 
 direction in Jeremiah xxix. 7. Then the law is 
 put into the ark. They then pray that God would 
 be pleased to deliver them from captivity, and bring 
 them to the holy land, where they should be able 
 to perform the offerings of the sabbath according to 
 the law. After some other prayers the morning 
 service is concluded. 
 
 The religious rites observed at dinner are similar 
 to those used at supper. They frequently have 
 sermons either in the morning or afternoon, the 
 subject of which is taken from the lesson read that 
 day in the Pentateuch. They make three meals on 
 the sabbath, one on Friday evening and two the 
 
 * David Levi's Ceremonies, &c. 
 
 + The custom of reading portions from the prophets on the sabbath 
 has obtained since th ; time of Antiochus Epiphanes. He having 
 prohibited the Jews from reading the law, they substituted passages 
 from the prophets. When the law was restored by the Maccabees, 
 they retained this custom in remembrance of their severe affliction 
 and great deliverance, and it is observed at this day. JVole to David 
 Levi's Translation of the Pentateuch, vol. i.
 
 474 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 next day in honour of the festival. On this holy 
 day they beseech God to be merciful,, and grant 
 them an inheritance in that day, which is all sabbath, 
 and eternal rest.* In the evening, as soon as the 
 stars appear, they suppose the sabbath is ended, 
 and that it is lawful to do any work after they have 
 attended the evening prayers at the synagogue. 
 
 The Jewish year is either civil, or ecclesiastical. 
 The civil year commences in the month Tishri, or 
 September. The Jews have a tradition that the 
 world was created on the first day of this month, 
 and from this epoch they compute the age of the 
 world, and make use of this date in all their civil 
 acts, The ecclesiastical year commences about the 
 vernal equinox, in the month Nisan, which answers 
 to part of March and April. All the religious rites 
 and ceremonies are regulated by the ecclesiastical 
 year.f On the first of every month they celebrate 
 the feast of the new moon, praying God to restore 
 them to the holy city, and erect the temple at Jeru- 
 salem, where they could render the offering for the 
 feast according to the law, Numbers xxviii. 11. J 
 
 On the fourteenth day of the month Nisan, the 
 celebration of the passover commences, and imme- 
 
 * Meaning the kingdom of the Messiah ; for they suppose that the 
 world is to continue six thousand years, (according to the six days of 
 the creation) and tke seventh to be that of the Messiah. It is that 
 which is here alluded to, as heing the day which is all an entire sab- 
 bath. David Levfs Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 20f>. 
 
 + The Jews call the seventh month of the civil, the first of the 
 ecclesiastical year, because at the departure of the children of Israel 
 from Esjypt, it is enjoined, that " this month shall be unto them the 
 beginning of months, and the first month in the year." Exodus 
 xii. 2. 
 
 ^ David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 475 
 
 diately after the feast of unleavened bread ; the 
 whole includes eight days. On the evening* pre- 
 ceding the festival, the first born of every family 
 observes a fast, in remembrance of God's mercy in 
 protecting the nation. During the whole of this 
 feast the Jews are obliged to eat only unleavened 
 bread,* and refrain from servile labour. The two 
 first and two last days are kept as strictly as the 
 sabbath, only they permit fires to be kindled, and 
 prepare food. As they cannot now offer the paschal 
 sacrifice, the passover cakes are placed on the table 
 with some bitter herbs, and they eat a piece of un- 
 leavened bread instead of the paschal lamb. The 
 festival concludes with psalms and thanksgivings to 
 God for their great deliverance, and petitions that 
 he would put a period to their captivity and bring 
 them to Jerusalem. 
 
 The feast of Pentecost commences seven weeks 
 after the passover, hence it is called the feast of 
 weeks. It is also styled in scripture, the day of 
 the first fruits, because on that day they offered the 
 first of their fruits in the temple. At present this 
 festival is observed two days, during which time all 
 servile labour is prohibited. As it was instituted to 
 recall the remembrance of the law's being given at 
 Sinai, that part of scripture, which declares the 
 delivery of the decalogue, is solemnly read in the 
 synagogue, and all those passages from the prophets 
 which correspond with the subject. They gene- 
 rally have a sermon delivered in praise of the law. 
 Their prayers are suitable to the occasion, con- 
 
 * They begin the passover with carefully searching the house, and 
 removing every thing which has had leaven in it.
 
 476 
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 eluding with petitions for their deliverance from 
 captivity, and for the welfare of the government 
 under which they dwell.* 
 
 The feast of trumpets is observed on the first and 
 second of Tishri, or September, the seventh of the 
 ecclesiastical and first of the civil year ; hence the 
 first of this month is called new year's day. On 
 this festival, besides a portion from the law and 
 prophets, part of the two first chapters of the first 
 of Samuel are read. They then pray for the pro- 
 tection of the government under which they reside, 
 and blow the trumpet, which is made of a ram's 
 horn,f saying, " Blessed be thou, O Lord, our God ! 
 king of the universe, who has sanctified us with his 
 commandments, and commanded us to hear the 
 sound of the trumpet." After this ceremony, they 
 repeat with a loud voice the following verse, 
 " Happy are the people who hear the joyful sound, 
 they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy coun- 
 tenance." 
 
 On the morning of the second day they repair to 
 the synagogue, and repeat nearly the same prayers 
 as on the preceding day. They then read the 22nd 
 chapter of Genesis, which gives an account of 
 Abraham's offering his son Isaac, and God's blessing 
 him and his seed for ever. For, according to their 
 received tradition, that great event took place on 
 that day. They, therefore, beseech the Almighty 
 through the merits of this memorable event to bless 
 
 * David Levi's Ceremonies, &c. p. 78. 
 
 + The trumpet is made of a ram's horn in remembrance of Abra- 
 ham's seeing a ram caught by the horns in a thicket, which he took 
 and ofiered for a burnt offering to the Lord, instead of his son. 
 t-encsis xx'ti. 12 15.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 477 
 
 them. After reading the law and prophets, they 
 blow the trumpet, and pray as usual, that God would 
 gather them from their dispersion, and conduct 
 them to Jerusalem.* 
 
 The Feast of Tabernacles is observed on the 
 fifteenth of the month Tishri, and lasts nine days. 
 Each person at the commencement of the festival, 
 erects an arbour, f which is covered with green 
 boughs, and decked with a variety of ornaments in 
 remembrance of their miraculous preservation in 
 the wilderness. The two first and two last days are 
 kept with great solemnity ; but the intermediate 
 time is not observed with equal strictness. On the 
 first day they take branches of palm, myrtle, willow, 
 and citron bound together, and go round the altar, 
 or pulpit,;}; singing psalms, because formerly they 
 used to perform this ceremony in the temple. 
 
 The Jews chiefly reside in their respective taber- 
 nacles during the feast, both night and day, if the 
 weather will permit. At every meal, during seven 
 days, they are obliged to repeat the following 
 grace : " Blessed art thou, O Lord, our God, king 
 of the universe, who hast sanctified us with his com- 
 mandments, and commanded us to dwell in taber- 
 nacles." During the feast they beseech the Lord to 
 be merciful, and erect for them the tabernacle of 
 David which is fallen ; and portions of the law and 
 prophets are read in their synagogues. 
 
 On the seventh day of the festival, they take 
 
 * David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 100. 
 t Levit. xxiii. 39. 
 
 J In the midst or at the upper end of the synagogues, there i 
 a kind of altar or pulpit. 
 
 ^ David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. J 25.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 seven of the laws from out of the ark and carry 
 them to the altar, and those who are possessed of 
 the palm branch, &c. with the reader at their head, 
 go seven times round the altar, in remembrance of 
 the sabbatical years, singing the 29th Psalm. On 
 the evening of this day the feast of solemn assembly 
 commences, which being a time of rejoicing, they 
 assemble and entertain their friends ; but are strictly 
 enjoined not to do any servile labour. They read 
 passages from the law and prophets, and entreat the 
 Lord to be propitious to them, and deliver them 
 from captivity. On the ninth day they repeat 
 several prayers in honour of the law, and bless 
 God for his mercy and goodness in giving it to 
 them by his servant Moses, and read that part of 
 scripture which makes mention of his death. After 
 going to the synagogue in the evening, and saying 
 the usual prayers, the festival is concluded.* 
 
 On the fourteenth of Adar, or March, the Jews 
 celebrate the feast of Purim, in commemoration of 
 their deliverance from the destruction designed by 
 Haman. This festival is observed two days, and 
 derives its name from Esther ix. tf Therefore they 
 called these days Purim." Previous to the feast, 
 a solemn fast is observed in remembrance of Esther's 
 fasting. The whole book of Esther written on 
 parchment is repeatedly read during the feast, and 
 as often as the name of Hamanf is mentioned it is 
 
 * David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews, p. 125. 
 
 + In some places the reading is concluded with curses upon Haman 
 and his wife, and blessings upon Esther and Mordecai. They had 
 a custom in some countries of erecting a gibbet, and hanging up 
 a man in effigy to represent Hainan's punishment. But this custom 
 has been for a considerable time disused, because it was insinuated, in
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 479 
 
 customary for the children (who have little wooden 
 hammers) to knock against the wall,, as a memorial 
 that they should endeavour to destroy the race of 
 Amalek. Part of the first day is spent in feasting 
 and rejoicing, sending presents to each other, 
 giving liberally to the poor, in visiting their friends, 
 and entertaining them by all kinds of diversions. 
 
 The Jews, at the present day, observe many 
 festivals which were not appointed by Moses. In 
 particular they celebrate the dedication of the altar, 
 which was instituted by the Maccabees, in remem- 
 brance of the victory they obtained over Antiochus 
 Epiphanes. This tyrant, having profaned the 
 temple, reduced them to the necessity of cleansing 
 and dedicating it anew. The festival is observed in 
 a splendid manner, and lasts eight days ; and is ap- 
 pointed to be kept by lighting lamps. The reason 
 they assign for this ceremony is, that, after they 
 had purified and dedicated the temple, there was 
 only enough of pure oil left to burn one night, 
 which miraculously lasted eight nights, till they 
 were able to obtain a fresh supply. 
 
 The great day of expiation is observed by the 
 Jews, though they have no high priest to officiate, 
 nor temple wherein to offer the sacrifice. Before 
 the fast commences, they think it a duty incumbent 
 upon them to ask pardon of those they have of- 
 fended ; to make restitution to those whom they 
 have defrauded of any property ; to forgive those 
 who have offended them ; and, in short, to do every 
 
 the dark ages, that they did it in contempt of Christ. Basnage, 
 p. 45J.
 
 480 HISTORY OF THE JEWS; 
 
 thing which may serve to evince the sincerity of 
 their repentance.* This great fast is observed on 
 the tenth day of the month Tishri, or September. 
 In the preceding eveningf they repair to the syna- 
 gogue,, where they remain saying prayers upwards 
 of three hours ; and when they return from the 
 synagogue they may not taste any kind of suste- 
 nance, and are even prohibited from taking one 
 drop of water. They are also forbidden to do any 
 kind of labour, even to kindle a fire, and observe 
 this day as strictly as the sabbath. 
 
 At six in the morning they attend the synagogue, 
 and offer those prayers and supplications for the 
 pardon of their sins, which are peculiar to the occa- 
 sion. In the course of the service, various portions 
 of scripture are read, particularly part of Leviticus 
 xxvi. Numbers xxix. and Isaiah Ivii. They mention 
 in their prayers the additional sacrifice of the day, 
 and entreat God to rebuild their sanctuary, to 
 gather their dispersions among the Gentiles, and 
 conduct them to Jerusalem, where they may offer 
 the sacrifice of atonement, agreeably to the Mosaic 
 law. In the afternoon service, besides portions 
 from the law and prophets, the greatest part of the 
 book of Jonah is read in the synagogues. They 
 beseech God to be propitious, and forgive their sins. 
 
 * Maimoaides affirms that the goat Azael expiated both great and 
 small sins which were repented of, and that repentance, supplying the 
 place of sacrifice, has at present the same effect, provided it is accom- 
 panied with renunciation of sin. Basnage, p. 450. 
 
 t All the commanded ordinary fasts of the Jews begin in the even- 
 ing, and they neither eat nor drink till they can see the stars the fol- 
 lowing evening.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 481 
 
 The fast continues from morning to night,* for up- 
 wards of twelve hours, without intermission. 
 
 In Awb, which answers to July or August, in the 
 fifth month of the ecclesiastical year, the Jews 
 observe a strict fast, occasioned by the destruction 
 of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar. On this 
 day also the second temple was burnt by the Romans. 
 During this fast they not only abstain from all food, 
 but do not even taste a drop of water. In the 
 evening they go to the synagogue, and, after their 
 usual prayers, the book of Jeremiah is read in 
 a low mournful voice. In the morning they attend 
 the synagogue early, and read a portion of the law, 
 and part of the 8th and 9th chapters of Jeremiah. 
 They go to the synagogue again in the afternoon, 
 and read passages from the law and the prophets 
 suitable to the occasion. All their prayers on this 
 day tend to remind them of their captivity ; and the 
 destruction of their temple, which deprived them of 
 offering the daily sacrifice by which an atonement 
 was made for their sins.f 
 
 Besides the public fasts, which the Jews are com- 
 manded to observe, there are some others peculiar 
 to the nation in different countries. The German 
 Jews for instance, both after the passover, and the 
 feast of tabernacles, keep three fasts, viz. on 
 Monday, Tuesday, and the following Monday. 
 The reason assigned for this practice is, that they 
 might, during the preceding feasts,^ have committed 
 
 * Some remain in the synagogue all night, to say prayers and 
 penitential psalms. 
 
 t David Levi's Ceremonies of the Jews. 
 
 J This custom appears to be founded upon the practice of Job, who 
 offered sacrifices for his children after they had feasted, for fear they 
 should have sinned against God. Job i. 4, 5. 
 
 I I
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 some offence against God. They fast also on the 
 vigil of the new year, and some on that of every 
 new month. Several other fasts and festivals have 
 been instituted, but not generally received, and are 
 not observed at present.* 
 
 The Jewish church is, at present, governed by 
 a presiding rabbi in the city or town where they 
 may be settled, who attaches to himself two other 
 rabbies, and these three combined form a kind of 
 tribunal in sacred or religious cases, and frequently 
 determine private disputes. This tribunal is termed 
 Beth Din, or the house of justice. As the priest- 
 hood is at present totally abrogated, having ceased 
 with the temple, the term high priest is an exploded 
 one, no presiding rabbi now exercising the func- 
 tions of this pontiff, which were only applicable to 
 the temple. Hence the choice of rabbi is not con- 
 fined to the tribe of Levi ; although that tribe be 
 the only one that they conceive can now be at all 
 distinguished. Its members are all at present con- 
 sidered as laymen. They have notwithstanding 
 some trifling distinctions paid them in the synagogue 
 service ; for those among them that are descended 
 from the priests, who are called Cohen, or in the 
 plural Cohenim, perform the benediction, and are 
 called first to the law. They also personate the 
 priest in the ceremony of redeeming the first born, 
 and have some other complimentary precedencies 
 paid them. The Levites, i. e. those who are de- 
 scendants from the singers in the temple, are 
 second in rank, and are called next to the law, and 
 wash the hands of the Cohenim before they go to 
 the benediction, &c. With all this the rabbi has 
 
 * Leo Modena'0 Customs, &c. of the Jews, p. 137.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 nothing to do, unless he be of this tribe. The 
 ministry of a presiding rabbi, elected for that 
 purpose from the general mass of learned rabbies 
 in the congregation, whose head he is, consists 
 of nothing more than that, as a spiritual director, 
 he solves questions which arise in the ceremonial 
 observances ; occasionally preaches, marries, super- 
 intends divorces, and the ceremony of throwing the 
 shoe, called Chalitza,* &c. He is generally allowed 
 a competent salary, which, together with per- 
 quisites, renders it unnecessary for him to engage 
 in any secular business, nor is it thought honour- 
 able ; although it is said, that, in a few instances, 
 some presiding rabbies in Germany and Italy, have 
 been engaged in trade, through the medium of 
 some intervening friend. f 
 
 Other rabbies may follow any worldly occupation, 
 as the title of rabbi is merely honorary, and does 
 not confer any priestly ordination, or sacred cha- 
 racter. J 
 
 * Marriage, in all regular societies, is always performed by the 
 presiding rabbi, or by some one deputed by him : but a marriage so- 
 lemnized with the due ceremonies by any other orthodox Jew is 
 valid. The ceremony of throwing the shoe takes place when a Jew 
 refuses to marry his brother's widow, and is grounded on Deuter- 
 onomy xxv. 9. 
 
 + Adam's Religioui World Displayed, (published 1809,) vol. i. 
 p. 48, 49. 
 Ibid. 
 
 K K 2
 
 484 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Of the religious tenets of the Jews. Articles of faith which were 
 drawn up by Maimonides in the eleventh century. Explanation of 
 their belief respecting several articles. Prevalence of infidelity 
 among them. Of the ancient sects which remain at present among 
 the Jews. 
 
 THE religious tenets maintained by the modern 
 Jews coincide with the confession of faith which the 
 celebrated Maimonides drew up at the close of the 
 eleventh century, which is as follows : 
 
 1st. " I believe, with a true and perfect faith, 
 that God is the Creator, (whose name be blessed) 
 governor and maker of all creatures, and that he 
 has wrought all things, worketh, and shall work 
 for ever. 
 
 2nd. " I believe, with perfect faith, that the Cre- 
 ator, (whose name be blessed) is one ; and that 
 such a unity as is in him can be found in none other, 
 and that he alone has been our God, is, and for ever 
 shall be. 
 
 3d. "I believe, with perfect faith, that the Cre- 
 ator, (whose name be blessed) is not corporeal, nor 
 to be comprehended with any bodily properties ; 
 and that there is no bodily essence which can be 
 likened unto him. 
 
 4th. " I believe, with perfect faith, the Creator, 
 (whose name be blessed) to be the first and last, and 
 that nothing was before him, and he shall abide 
 the last for ever. 
 
 5th. " I believe, with a perfect faith, that the Cre-
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 485 
 
 ator, (whose name be blessed) is to be worshipped, 
 and none else. 
 
 6th. ee I believe, with perfect faith, that all the 
 words of the prophets are true. 
 
 7th. " I believe, with perfect faith, that the pro- 
 phecies of Moses our master, (may he rest in peace) 
 are true ; that he was the father and chief of all 
 wise men who lived before him, or ever shall live 
 after him. 
 
 8th. " I believe, with perfect faith, that all the 
 law, which at this day is found in our hands, was 
 delivered by God himself to our master Moses, 
 (God's peace be with him.) 
 
 9th. " I believe, with a perfect faith, that the 
 same law is never to be changed, nor any other to be 
 given us of God, (whose name be blessed for ever.) 
 
 10th. " I believe, with a perfect faith, that God, 
 (whose name be blessed) understandeth all the 
 thoughts and words of men, as it is written in the 
 prophets, " He fashioneth their hearts alike, he un- 
 derstandeth all their works," 
 
 llth. I believe, with a perfect faith, that God 
 will recompence good to those who keep his com- 
 mandments, and will punish those who transgress 
 them. 
 
 12th. " I believe, with a perfect faith, that the 
 Messiah is yet to come ; and though he retard his 
 coming, yet will I wait for him till he appears. 
 
 13th, " I believe, with a perfect faith, that the 
 
 dead shall be restored to life when it shall seem fit to 
 
 God the Creator, (whose name be blessed, and 
 
 memory celebrated, world without end. Amen.)"* 
 
 * Butler's Horse Biblica?, p. 95.
 
 486 HISTORY OF THE JEWS, 
 
 The Jews consider the unity of God as one of 
 the most essential of the above articles. " The 
 Christians and Jews/' says Basnage, " separate at 
 the second step in religion, for after they have 
 united in the adoration of one God, absolutely 
 perfect, they find immediately after the abyss of the 
 trinity,* which entirely separates them/' The 
 Jewish nation, ever since their dispersion, have 
 been vehemently opposed to the Christian doctrine 
 of the trinity, which, they suppose, destroys the 
 unity of the Supreme Being. 
 
 The twelfth article of the creed of Maimonides, 
 or the expectation of the promised Messiah, is the 
 leading tenet and distinguishing feature in the reli- 
 gion of the modern Jews. Infatuated, however, with 
 the idea of a temporal Messiah and Deliverer, who 
 is to subdue the world, and reinstate them in their 
 own land, the Jews still wait for his appearance. 
 But they have fixed neither the place whence, nor 
 the time when he is to come, for though many have 
 endeavoured to calculate upon the seventy weeks of 
 Daniel, they discourage all attempts this way,f and 
 deem them improper, since a miscalculation may 
 
 * Some learned Christian writers, however, find the doctrine of the 
 trinity in the Jewish Cabbala, and suppose, that the three principal 
 Sephira?, are meant for the three persons in one essence, and the other 
 seven, the seven spirits, or seven orders of angels that stand before 
 God. But Basnage, who assiduously applied himself to studying the 
 history and opinions of the Jews, supposes, that all the ten Sephirae 
 are alike to be considered as the attributes of God, and explodes the 
 idea of finding the doctrine of the trinity in the Cabbala. Maurice's 
 Indian Antiquities, vol. iv. p. 454. Horae. Solitarite, vol. i. p. 358, 
 and Basnage's History of the Jews, p. 200. 
 
 t The rabbies have denounced the most dreadful anathemas against 
 all who shall attempt to calculate the time of the Messiah's ap- 
 pearance.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 487 
 
 tend to shake the faith of the ignorant ; and Mai- 
 monides had an eye to this in the composition of 
 this same article, tf and although he retard his 
 coming," &c. 
 
 Finding it difficult to evade the force of those 
 texts in Isaiah, &c. which speak of a suffering Mes- 
 siah, some have had recourse to the idea of two 
 Messiahs, who are to succeed each other, one Ben 
 Joseph of the tribe of Ephraim, in a state of humi- 
 liation and suffering ; the other, Ben David, of the 
 tribe of Judah, in a state of glory, magnificence, 
 and power. This, however, is said not to be 
 a settled belief, but an opinion exhibited in a book 
 of Medrash, or commentary. And yet something 
 very like it seems to have been the tenet of the 
 rabbies ; for Abarbanel observes, that " although 
 when they first go up from the captivity, they will 
 " appoint themselves one head/' (Hosea i. 11.) who 
 he says is the person called by the Rabbins,* Mes- 
 siah Ben Joseph, as he will be slain in battle ; 
 Israel will then seek David their king, a rod from 
 the stem of Jesse, whom God will make choice of 
 for to reign over them/'f 
 
 As to the character and mission of their Messiah, 
 " he is to be of the tribe of Judah, the lineal de- 
 
 * Rabbies is the modern title, but when we are speaking of the 
 ancient Mishnical and Talmudical doctors, the term rabbins is then 
 more properly used. Adam's Religious World Displayed. 
 
 t (Abarbanel on Hosea iii. 5.) Mr. Levi says, that " this opinion of 
 the rabbins, concerning the death of this personage, was what gave 
 rise to the Christian system of a suffering Messiah, as the prophecies 
 of the Old Testament do not inculcate any such principle whatever." 
 Dissertation on the Prophecies, p. 100, quoted in Adam'i Religious 
 World Displayed.
 
 488 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 scendant of David, and called by his name. He is 
 to be endowed with the spirit of prophecy, and his 
 special mission is to restore the dispersed sheep of 
 Israel, plant them safely in their own land, and 
 subdue their enemies, and thereby bring the whole 
 world to the knowledge of the one true God." 
 
 His coming and their restoration have not yet 
 taken place, " because they are still unworthy of 
 being redeemed, and have not repented, or have 
 not yet received the full measure of their punish- 
 ment." At the same time they insist that their re- 
 demption is not conditional, but will take place at 
 the appointed time, though they should not repent ; 
 that God will not restore and redeem them for any 
 merit of theirs, (for there will doubtless, even then, 
 be many wicked and unbelieving among them) but 
 for his name sake, " for the sake of the few right- 
 eous, and also in consideration of what they will be 
 after their redemption, when they will all be good 
 and righteous.* Those therefore, who are righteous 
 in captivity, will happily attain to the redemption. 
 But those that are wicked will be destroyed in the 
 wars and troubles which will take place before their 
 final restoration. "f 
 
 They believe, that " Judea will finally be the 
 seat of those wars which will precede their redemp- 
 
 * " They will," says a celebrated Jewish writer, " no more follow 
 their irregular desires, and their cupidity, for the great and stupen- 
 dous miracles, that will then be performed in their sight, will make 
 such a lasting impression on them, as entirely to destroy their evil 
 imagination, and incline them to all good; so that they will then be 
 in the same state that Adam was in before his fall." Thus David Levi 
 interprets Ezekiel xxxvi. 26. 
 
 + Adam's Religious World Displayed.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 489 
 
 tion, and that after due vengeance is taken on the 
 nations for the cruelties exercised on the people of 
 God, during this long and deplorable captivity, 
 they will terminate in the complete subjection of all 
 nations to the power of the Messiah, and in the 
 introduction of universal peace and happiness that 
 shall fcever more be interrupted.* 
 
 " Although they profess to know nothing certain, 
 as to the real place of abode, or the present state of 
 the ten tribes, yet they believe that they are lost 
 only in name, and that they shall be restored to- 
 gether with Judah and Benjamin, and likewise that 
 all those Jews that have embraced Christianity or 
 Mahommedism, shall then return to the religion 
 of their fathers ; that their nation thus restored and 
 united shall never again go into captivity, nor ever 
 be subjected to any power ; but on the contrary 
 they suppose, that all the nations of the world shall 
 thenceforward be under their dominion. Judea will 
 then become fruitful as formerly, Jerusalem will be 
 built on its ancient ground plot, and the real de- 
 scendantsf of the priests and Levites will be rein- 
 stated into their respective offices, although they 
 may have been forced to apostatize. Then likewise 
 will be restored the spirit of prophecy, the ark and 
 
 * Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 22. 
 
 t Should it be asked, how it shall be known that they are thus 
 descended ? Mr. Levi answers, " By means of the spirit of prophecy, 
 which will then be restored to the nation ; for then the tribe of Levi 
 will be distinguished in a particular manner, as the prophet Malachi 
 said, chapter iii. 3." Dissertations on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p. 87. 
 
 It is generally admitted, that the distinction of tribes is lost, yet 
 some Jews seem to be of opinion, that the tribe of Levi can be now 
 in some measure distinguished, however incorrect such distinction 
 may prove to be intrinsically. Adam's Religious World Displayed,
 
 490 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 i 
 
 cherubim, fire from heaven, &c. the same as their 
 fathers enjoyed in the tabernacle in the wilderness, 
 and in Solomon's temple. And, in fine, then will 
 idolatry " wholly cease in the earth, and all men 
 acknowledge the unity of God and his kingdom, 
 agreeable to what Zechariah said, chap. xiv. 9."* 
 Such are the expectations of the Jews in regard to 
 the Messiah and his kingdom, which they still avow 
 to be not of a spiritual, but of a temporal nature." 
 
 The Jews believe that two great ends are to be 
 effected by the resurrection, the one particular, and 
 the other general. Accordingly David Levi ob- 
 serves, "that which is particular is for his brethren; 
 and the other which is general, is for them and all 
 the other nations. "f 
 
 Several other doctrines are maintained by the 
 Jews, which are not contained in the thirteen ar- 
 
 * Levi's Dissertation on the Prophecies, vol. iii. p. 228, quoted in 
 Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 24. According to this 
 author, " All those that shall be restored shall serve God together in 
 unity ; for then there shall be no separation of the tribes, no division 
 of the kingdom, and no calves in Dan and Bethel ; and on account of 
 the great and stupendous miracles which will then be wrought by God 
 for the deliverance of the nation, all nations will sanctify him as 
 a great and holy God." Levi's Dissertations, fyc. 
 
 f " The first great end," says David Levi, " which I call a parti- 
 cular one, as it is for the Jewish nation only, is to effect, that those 
 who have been persecuted and slain, during this long and dreadful 
 captivity, for adhering to the true faith, may enjoy the salvation of 
 the Lord, according to what the prophet says, (Isaiah xxvi. 19, and 
 Ixvi. 10.) The second great end, which I call a general one, because 
 it affects all mankind, whether Jews, Gentiles, or Christians, is to 
 bring all nations to the knowledge of the true God, and to effect that 
 the firm belief of his unity may be so unalterably fixed in their 
 hearts, as that they may attain the end for which they were created, 
 to honour and glorify God, as the prophet observes, Isaiah xliii. 7.'' 
 Levfs Dissertations, fyc.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 491 
 
 tides. The rabbies acknowledged, that there is in 
 man a fund of corruption ; and the Talmud speaks 
 of original sin thus : " We ought not to be sur- 
 prized that the sin of Adam and Eve was so deeply 
 engraven, and that it was sealed as it were with the 
 king's signet, that it might be thereby transmitted 
 to all their posterity ; it was because all things were 
 finished the day that Adam was created, and he was 
 the perfection and consummation of the world, so 
 that when he sinned, all the world sinned with him. 
 We partake of his sin, and share in the punishment 
 of it, but not in the sins of his descendants."* 
 
 The rabbies teach, that the evils in which men 
 were involved by sin will be removed by the Mes- 
 siah. They do not, however, entertain the idea 
 that this illustrious personage will make an atone- 
 ment for sin ; this they suppose is done by the 
 fulfilling of the law, and circumcision. f 
 
 The Jews maintain, that the souls of the right- 
 eous enjoy the beatific vision of God in paradise,]; 
 and that the souls of the wicked are tormented in 
 hell with fire and other punishments. They sup- 
 pose, that the sufferings of the most atrocious 
 criminals are of eternal duration, while others 
 
 * Fleury's Ancient Israelites, p. 341. 
 
 + Basnage, p. 371. They pray God to remember unto them the 
 merits of their ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. 
 Levt's Ceremonies, 6fc. p. 78 115. 
 
 One party of Jews, with Maimonides at their head, suppose that 
 the souls of the righteous after death are to inhabit the garden of 
 Eden till the appearance of the Messiah, at which epoch their souls 
 are to be united to their bodies, and enjoy the delights prepared for 
 them by the Messiah during a thousand years. This opinion is sup- 
 ported by Menasses Ben Israel and Abarbanel. Basnage, p. 391.
 
 492 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 remain only for a limited time in purgatory, which 
 does not differ from hell with respect to the place, 
 but to the duration. They pray for the souls of the 
 dead, and imagine that many are delivered from 
 purgatory on the great day of expiation. 
 
 They suppose that no Jew, unless guilty of he- 
 resy or certain crimes specified by the rabbies, shall 
 continue in purgatory above a year ; and that 
 there are but few who suffer eternal punishment. 
 Maimonides, Abarbanel, and other celebrated Jew- 
 ish writers maintain the annihilation of the wicked. 
 Others suppose, that the sufferings of hell have the 
 power of purifying souls and expiating sin.* 
 
 Some eminent Jewish writers assert, that it is 
 a mistake to suppose that their nation are intolerant. 
 " They hold indeed, that all men are obliged to 
 observe what are called the Noachides, or seven 
 precepts of the sons of Noah ; but it is the unani- 
 mous opinion of their rabbies, that the Sinaite co- 
 venant, or law of Moses, is obligatory on those of 
 their nation only." They say, " It was a covenant 
 between God and the Jews, that they therefore are 
 bound to the observance of it ; but that it is not 
 binding to the rest of mankind ; for if they do but 
 keep the law of nature, that is, the precepts of the 
 Noachides, they maintain that they thereby perform 
 all that God requires of them, and will certainly by 
 this service render themselves acceptable to him, and 
 be partakers of eternal life/'f 
 
 * Basnage, p. 390. Picart's Religious Ceremonies of the Jews. 
 
 t Levi's Letters to Dr. Priestley, p. 16, 17, and Maimonides on 
 Repentance, chap. iii. quoted in Adam's Religious World Displayed. 
 
 Mr. Schott, director of the institute at Seezen, pronounced a dis- 
 course at the dedication of the temple in that place, July 17tb, 1810,
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 493 
 
 It appears from authentic accounts, that many 
 Jews at the present day have imbibed the principles 
 of infidelity,* and no longer receive the writings of 
 the Old Testament as divinely inspired, or expect 
 the coming of the Messiah. A modern author, 
 who has deeply investigated their history, and is 
 well versed in their opinions, observes, that tc many 
 of the Israelites are disgusted with the follies of the 
 Talmud; but not distinguishing between the absurd 
 tales which good sense reproves, and the truths 
 which enlightened reason reveres, they have in* 
 volved the absurdities of the rabbins and the reve- 
 lation from heaven in one common proscription. "f 
 
 " The spirit of infidelity is exhibited among the 
 Jews of Leghorn, of Holland, and Germany, and 
 especially of Berlin, J where the greatest part do 
 not attend the synagogues." 
 
 in which he declares, " Our religion is not the only one which 
 conducts to eternal happiness ; those who profess another are neither 
 heretics, nor reprobates. We are far from entertaining this horrid 
 idea.". Dedicace du Temple de Jacob. 
 
 * The learned author, whose authority is so frequently referred to 
 in this work, observes, that " indifference to religion has passed as 
 a contagion from the Christians to the Jews," and gives a recent in- 
 stance, " in the 21st of Brumaire, an 1 1, when the assassins attempted 
 to despoil the temples, those Israelites in the street of the Boucheries 
 of Paris offered the spoils of their temple to the convention, ruled by 
 the faction called la Montagne, saying to them, the Israelites always 
 receive good from the wise laws emanating from the mountain. Others 
 have imitated the scandal of pretended Christians, and thrown their 
 sacred books on a pile, as a light for impiety. Gregoire's Hisloirede* 
 Sectes Religiettses, torn. ii. p. 398. 
 
 t Gregoire's Histoire, &c. 
 
 ^ lu 1 798, a large number of Jews in this city, heads of families of 
 respectable character, subscribed and published a letter to Dr. Teller, 
 provost of the upper consistory, (the department which has the super- 
 intendence of ecclesiastical affairs) in which they declare, that being
 
 494 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 This statement is confirmed by a distinguished 
 Jewish writer ; David Levi complains, that there 
 are two different parties in the nation who slight the ' 
 prophecies which speak of their future restoration., 
 and ridicule the idea of a Messiah coming to redeem 
 them. The one consists of such as call themselves 
 philosophers, enlightened men, who, says he, tf are 
 perfect deists,* not believing a syllable of revelation, 
 
 convin - ed the laws of Moses are no longer binding upon them, as not 
 being adapted to their circumstances at this day, they are willing and 
 ready to become Christians as far as relates to the moral doctrines of 
 Christianity, provided they shall not be required to believe the mira- 
 culous part of the Christian creed, and above all, the divinity of 
 Jesus Christ ; and provided they may be admitted to enjoy all the 
 rights and privileges enjoyed by the members of the established reli- 
 gion. 
 
 They ask Dr. Teller's advice on this plan, and whether he thinks it 
 practicable ? This gentleman has published an answer, in which he 
 informs them, that they do well to believe as much of Christianity as 
 they can, and that if they cannot in conscience believe more, they 
 do well to profess it ; but as to the question whether their fragment 
 of faith ought to entitle them to share the civil and political privi- 
 leges enjoyed exclusively by entire Christians, it is not in his province, 
 but belongs to the civil authority of the country to decide. 
 
 Mr. de Luc, a celebrated chemist and theologian, has published 
 a letter to these Jews, in which he boldly advances to meet them on 
 the ground Dr. Teller eludes ; he tells them that " far from scrupling 
 points of Christian doctrine, they ought not even to abandon the 
 standard of Moses ; that the history of the earth and its present ap- 
 pearance are the strongest of all possible testimonies to the truth of 
 the Mosaic history, and that if they would only take the pains to be 
 better natural philosophers, they will not be so ready to renounce 
 their faith as Jews." There have been numerous pamphlets more 
 written and published upon this subject, which made, as the French 
 term it, a great sensation in the north of Germany. Letters from an 
 American resident abroad on various tepfcs of foreign literature, pub- 
 lished in the Port Folio, 1801, Monthly Magazine, vol. x. 1800, and 
 Gregoire't Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. 
 
 * Levi's Dissertations on the Prophecies, vol. ii. Mr. Levi seems 
 ty view it a one reason why infidelity gains so much ground among
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 495 
 
 and not ascribing our sufferings to the immediate 
 providence of God, but to a concatenation of causes 
 in a political light." The other party are such, as 
 either through the length of the captivity, or the 
 A easy circumstances that they are in, and the splendid 
 and voluptuous manner in which they live, neither 
 \look for nor desire a restoration."* 
 
 The same author remarks, that " both these par- 
 ties, nevertheless, adhere to the body of the nation, 
 and outwardly conform to the Jewish rites ; they 
 thus remain Jews ; are denominated God's people, 
 the same as the true believers of the nation ; and in 
 like manner bear God's covenant in the flesh." 
 " Even those of the nation that have not the least 
 spark of religion in them, would yet be highly 
 offended at being called Christians, Gentiles, or 
 apostates, "f 
 
 An ancient Jewish writer numbers among the 
 children of Israel four sects, viz. the rabbinists, 
 
 his nation, that " many wish not to be shackled with the burden of 
 the ceremonial law." 
 
 * Dr. Adam Clarke informs us, that a Jewish rabbi, a man of ex- 
 tensive information and considerable learning, lately observed to him, 
 " that as Moses had to do with a grossly ignorant, stupid, and head- 
 strong people, he was obliged to have recourse to a pious fraud, and 
 pretend that the laws he gave them were delivered to him by the 
 Creator of all things, and that the time was not far distant when all 
 the civilized world would be of one religion, that is, deism. When 
 our author expressed his surprise at hearing a Jew talk thus, and 
 asked him if any of his brethren were of the same mind, he answered, 
 *' Yes, every intelligent Jew in Europe, who reflects upon the subject, 
 entertains the same sentiments," Clarke's Translation of Pleury's An- 
 cient Israelites, English edition. 
 
 t " This," says Mr. Adam, " is no doubt wonderful, and may be 
 adduced as a proof of the truth of prophecy, and that the Jews are 
 held together by an invisible and Almighty hand." Religious World 
 Displayed, vol. i. p. 25.
 
 496 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 the Caraites, the Samaritans, and the disciples of 
 Anan ; but the account which he gives of the last, 
 contains no particulars ; they appear to hold the 
 middle rank between the Caraites and Talmudists.* 
 
 The Rabbinists, or modern Pharisees, form the 
 bulk of this nation. The two branches of Portu- 
 guese and German Jews are of this denomination, 
 which includes all who admit traditions, &c. They, 
 however, differ in practice from the ancient Pha- 
 risees, as they are far from affecting such an extra- 
 ordinary sanctity. f 
 
 The Caraites reject the Talmudic traditions, and 
 for that reason they are detested by those who admit 
 them. In the last age a Caraite was at Frankfort 
 on the Maine, and narrowly escaped being assassi- 
 nated by the Jews of that city. A few of this de- 
 nomination may be found in Turkey, in Europe, 
 in cidevant Poland, and in the Ukraine, where they 
 cultivate the land. There is a very ancient and 
 interesting body of Caraites, in a fortress called 
 Dschoufait Kale, near Bahchisaray in the Crimea, 
 who possess and often use a translation of the Old 
 Testament in Jagatai Tartar. An approximate 
 calculation, made about the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century, gives only four thousand four hun- 
 dred and thirty for their total number. 
 
 The sect of the Sadducees have made but little 
 figure since the destruction of Jerusalem. A few 
 indeed are said still to subsist in Africa, and some 
 other places ; but they are rarely found, at least 
 there are but few that declare themselves of these 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 308. 
 t Picart's Religious Ceremonies.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 497" 
 
 , * 
 
 opinions, and they are held by the other Jews as 
 heretics. 
 
 A brief account of the ancient Samaritans, whose 
 history is closely connected with that of the Jews, 
 has been inserted in the introduction to this work. 
 A sketch of the history of this singular people in 
 later periods, and a detail of the religious tenets 
 which are maintained by them at the present day, 
 will be given in the following chapter.
 
 498 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 An account of the Samaritans. After the destruction of Samaria, 
 the principal place of their residence has been Naplouse, the 
 ancient Sichem. Their history was investigated by Joseph Sca- 
 liger, by Ludolph, and Huntington, and in the present century by 
 the Senator Gregoire. Recent account which was received from 
 the Samaritans respecting their condition, belief, and customs. 
 
 *THE Samaritans were scattered in small num- 
 bers over several countries of the east ; they had 
 synagogues at Cairo, in Damascus, Jaffa, Gaza, 
 Ascalon, and Cesarea. But after the destruction of 
 Samaria, their chief place has always been Naples, 
 or Naplouse, the ancient Sichem, the birth place of 
 Justin Martyr, at some distance from Samaria, with 
 which it has been improperly confounded by Her- 
 belot, founded no doubt on the testimony of Stephen 
 of Byzance, while he might have kept to that of 
 St. Jerome, who lived in Palestine. Maundrell, and 
 with him all the modern geographers, place Nap- 
 louse or Sichem between the Ebal, or Mount of 
 Curses, and the Gerizim, or Mount of Blessings, 
 which is held sacred by the Samaritans. They 
 pretend, that Gerizim is understood in that passage 
 of Deuteronomy, which enjoins all males to present 
 themselves three times a year before the Lord. 
 
 Benjamin of Tudela asserts, that he found only 
 one hundred Samaritans, poor and miserable, at 
 Sichem, where they continued to offer sacrifices. 
 
 * The whole of the account of the Samaritans is translated from 
 a late work of the senator Gregoire's, entitled, Histoire des Sectej 
 Religieuses.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 499 
 
 This author is discredited ; but his account is con- 
 firmed by those travellers who followed him. Beau- 
 veau pretends, that the whole number of Samaritans 
 at Naplouse, when he visited the city, did not 
 exceed one hundred and fifty individuals. 
 
 The Chronicles of the Samaritans report, that, in 
 the time of Adrian, they placed the figure of 
 a pigeon on the summit of Gerizim, which made 
 itself heard when a Samaritan came to pray on this 
 mountain ; and that on this pretext, the Jews 
 accused them of worshipping a dove. 
 
 Joseph Scaliger, having written to the Samaritans 
 of Cairo and Naplouse, received, in the year 1590, 
 an answer in Hebrew, which the learned Sylvester 
 de Sacy translated into Latin from the autographs 
 deposited in the national library, and which have 
 been inserted in a journal of biblical and oriental 
 literature. " We are ignorant," say they to Joseph 
 Sullami, which is the name they give to Scaliger, 
 e{ what is thy faith ? thou declarest that from thy 
 youth thou hast loved our law ; we cannot transmit 
 to thee, by the hands of the uncircumcised, the 
 copy which thou demandest. Send us two worthy, 
 pious, prudent, and learned men, if thou wouldst 
 know our law ; send us also alms for the treasury of 
 Israel." On the part of their high priest, they 
 demand a present of stuffs forsacerdotal vestments. 
 They consider themselves of the tribe of Joseph by 
 Ephraim, and boast of having a grand pontiff of 
 the race of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron. 
 He is, according to them, the two hundred and 
 twentieth from Aaron ; like him he has a son named 
 
 K&2
 
 500 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Phinehas, and these pontiffs never leave the inside of 
 the temple. The Samaritans offer sacrifices ; they 
 give the shoulder and some other parts to the priest. 
 They celebrate seven feasts ; they are monogamists, 
 and practise the legal ablutions. They reproach 
 the Jews with not observing continency ; with 
 going out of the city and lighting fires on the 
 sabbath, and not obliging children to fast on the 
 days prescribed by the law until they are seven 
 years old, whilst among the Samaritans they except 
 from this obligation only children at the breast. 
 
 A Jew of Palestine, being at Frankfort on the 
 Maine, in 1684, Ludolph sent by him a letter to 
 the Samaritans. He received answers, which are 
 inserted by Morin in his Antiquitates Ecclesiae 
 Orientalis. The last reply, which was made in 
 1689, did not reach him till 1691. They asked 
 whether there were any Samaritans in his country ? 
 We have here, say they, a small number, who are 
 very poor. They thanked him for the present of 
 money which he had sent them, and requested new 
 assistance to repair their holy place. 
 
 Ludolph, who inherited from Scaliger an ardent 
 desire of renewing the correspondence with the 
 Samaritans, wrote once more on the subject io 
 Robert Huntington. This man, who was born in 
 1636, and died in 1 70 1, was agent of the English 
 factory at Aleppo. While travelling in Palestine, 
 he visited Naplouse, where he found thirty Sama- 
 ritan families, the remains of the Cutheans. There 
 are, he asserts, perhaps as many at Gaza. It 
 appears by a letter which they wrote to Joseph
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 501 
 
 Scaliger, that there were some of them at Cairo ; 
 but Huntington found there only one poor old man 
 and his wife. 
 
 The Samaritans at Naplousej says Huntington, 
 call themselves the only Hebrews and Israelites. 
 They despise, hate, and fly from the Jews for fear 
 of being contaminated by them. They religiously 
 regard the sabbath. A young Samaritan to whom 
 it was proposed to come to England, and who 
 desired to make the voyage, dared not undertake it, 
 because it would have been necessary to have sailed 
 on the sabbath. They have two calendars, the 
 Hegira, and the Grecian computation. They ap- 
 pear not to have any determinate ideas respecting 
 the Messiah, though, in their Chronicle, like to 
 Josephus, they make honourable mention of the 
 Saviour. In their little obscure synagogue Hun- 
 tington found two copies of their law, which ap- 
 peared to be about five hundred years old. They 
 asserted to him, that the original of one of these 
 was written by Abisha, the grandson of Aaron, 
 and that this fact is mentioned at the end of the 
 work. Huntington, having proved to them the 
 falsity of this assertion, they persisted in saying, 
 that the last leaves had been unfortunately torn off 
 formerly. 
 
 These Samaritans, whom he had occasion to visit 
 twice in an interval of five years, were at Naplouse, 
 at Joppa, and Gaza, scribes to the Pacha and his 
 agents for levying imposts, like the Cophts in 
 Egypt, and the Jews in different parts of the 
 Ottoman empire ; they were habited as decently as 
 their extreme misery would permit. They de-
 
 502 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 manded of Huntington if there were any Hebrews 
 in his country, he replied affirmatively, and added; 
 that in England they were called Jews. But as he 
 informed them he read Samaritan with facility, they 
 pretended that a Samaritan alone could have taught 
 him, and that the Hebrews in England were their 
 brothers. (f It is not true," says Huntington, " that 
 I persuaded them that they had brethren in my 
 country ; I supported the contrary opinion, but 
 they would not believe me/' 
 
 In this persuasion, the Samaritans, in 1672, sent 
 to him at Jerusalem a copy of their law for their 
 brethren in Great Britain, with a letter in the 
 Hebrew language, (Samaritan characters) written 
 by Merchib-Ben-Jacob, the most distinguished per- 
 sonage among them ; it is written from Naplouse, 
 near to Gerizim, the habitation of God, and ad- 
 dressed to their brethren in the city of England. 
 They demand of them if they are Samaritans, if 
 they believe in the holy mountain Gerizim ; they 
 solicit presents, as both Jews and Christians had 
 sent presents to their holy places. 
 
 Huntington enclosed and transmitted the whole to 
 Thomas Marshal, a learned Oxonian, who replied, 
 and kept up a correspondence with them until the 
 time of his death, which happened in 1685. Mar- 
 shal spoke of the disobedience of the first man, 
 which had rendered us all children of Belial, and 
 brought death and a malediction upon all his de- 
 scendants. He questioned them concerning the 
 Shiloh, recalled to their remembrance the promise 
 of a deliverer, and insensibly led them to recognize 
 Jesus Christ. On the other side, the Samaritans
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 exhibited their doctrines, declaring that they had no 
 images, repelled the charge of idolatry, and the 
 accusation of adoring a dove, (an article which 
 they never could forget) and requested alms. Their 
 letters were translated into German by Schnurrer, 
 professor of Tubingen. The care with which they 
 have preserved the Samaritan Pentateuch attests its 
 authenticity. Huntington here acknowledges the 
 hand of divine providence in preserving this further 
 proof of religion, and additional argument against 
 incredulity, before the extinction of this feeble colony. 
 Huntington believed that this epoch was at no great 
 distance ; but the following details prove, that he 
 was deceived in this particular. 
 
 While Gregoire, bishop and senator, was occu- 
 pied with his researches concerning the Hebrew 
 nation, upon finding nothing in modern history re- 
 specting the Samaritans, since their letters to Joseph 
 Scaliger, Huntington, Marshal, and Ludolph, and 
 an age having elapsed since the latest of these 
 accounts have been received, he, being eager to 
 collect information, digested a series of questions, 
 which the minister of foreign relations had the 
 kindness to transmit to the French consuls at St. 
 Jean d' Acre, Tripoli, Syria, and Aleppo. Their 
 responses, which arrived in 1808, attest a zeal at 
 once enlightened and courteous. 
 
 " The Samaritans," (said the consul of St. Jean 
 d' Acre) " persist in believing that the English Jews 
 are of their sect. They live in the most abject 
 poverty. Those whose condition is most tolerable 
 are in the service of the chief of the country. 
 This employment just affords them bread. The
 
 504 HISTORY OP TH JEWS. 
 
 others endeavour to gain it by industry ; they in- 
 habit deserted old houses in a bad quarter of Nap- 
 louse. 
 
 " The desk on which they place the holy scriptures 
 is surmounted by the figure of a bird, which they 
 call Achima, a word peculiar to their sect. When 
 they invoke the Supreme Being, they do not say 
 Adonai, like others, but Achima. From this they 
 are supposed to adore the divinity, under the 
 symbol of this bird which has the form of a dove. 
 
 " If they are forced in their employment to touch 
 a stranger, or his garment, they purify themselves 
 as soon as possible. They marry only among them- 
 selves. The dead are considered impure ; they 
 cause them to be buried by the Turks and Chris- 
 tians. The men have the manners of the wretched 
 of all countries, being intemperate. A few of their 
 women have disordered manners, but without pub- 
 licity. 
 
 " At their passover they go annually upon Ge- 
 rizim to offer a sheep for a sacrifice. Formerly 
 each family, at least the most considerable, sacri- 
 ficed a sheep and a lamb ; but their means being 
 straitened, they content themselves at present with 
 a general offering." 
 
 The reply of the consul of Tripoli proves that 
 the taste for ancient literature is hereditary to the 
 family of Guys. He examined the accusation 
 levelled by the Jews against the Samaritans relating 
 to their pretended adoration of a dove, and saw in 
 it only a commemorative symbol of the bird which 
 brought to Noah the sign of peace. He was led to 
 examine an accusation too visibly marked by calumny
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 505 
 
 not to induce scepticism, because it had been often 
 repeated to him by a Jewish rabbi of Tripoli, who 
 called the Samaritans Cutheans, a name which they 
 abominated. This rabbi exhibited the measure of 
 his charity by praising the harshness with which 
 the Sarrat, (a Jew) who accompanies the Pacha of 
 Damascus in his annual tour through Palestine in 
 order to levy contributions, treated the unhappy 
 Samaritans. 
 
 The consul of Aleppo observes, that the Sama- 
 ritans inhabit a distinct part of Naplouse, which 
 bears their name. This quarter is a large khan^ 
 composed of ten or twelve houses communicating 
 with each other, in one of which is a synagogue 
 containing: two or three chambers. In the largest 
 
 o o 
 
 of these is a level space on which they place their 
 Bible, concealed by a curtain, which the kakhan 
 alone has a right to draw. The whole assembly 
 rise at the sight of the Bible, on which is sculptured 
 the image of a dove. 
 
 The first day of the passover the Samaritans cele- 
 brate at midnight the feast of the sacrifice. The 
 kakhan kills a sheep in the synagogue. They then 
 light a fire in the place prepared for the purpose. 
 The whole victim is roasted, and divided among the 
 assistants, who eat it in the synagogue. 
 
 The Samaritans, like the Jews of the east, eat 
 only of the flesh of animals killed by one of their 
 own sect, and with certain formalities. They are 
 separated from the Jews, Turks, and Christians, 
 and form no alliances with them. They are poor 
 and inconsiderable ; many of them keep shop, and 
 live by petty commerce.
 
 506 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 There are among them some Serafs, (brokers) 
 particularly the Seraf-el-Beled, or Seraf of the 
 governor. The Turks in Naplouse leave them in 
 quiet ; Gezar Pacha, however, would have molested 
 them, but they escaped by pretending they were 
 Jews. The Samaritans speak Arabic and corrupt 
 Hebrew. 
 
 To this information the consul of Aleppo, wishing 
 to add some more particulars, transmitted directly to 
 the Samaritans of Naplouse, the questions of Gre- 
 goire amplified, and obtained from the chief of 
 their synagogue an answer in Arabic, which was 
 translated into French* by Corances, jun. 
 
 " To Mr. Corances, senior consul of France at 
 Aleppo. 
 
 " We have received your kind letter in which you 
 propose thirty questions concerning the religious 
 doctrines of the Samaritan nation. You demand 
 a circumstantial reply, and we will grant your 
 request. 
 
 " We beseech you to continue the correspon- 
 dence, for your letter gave us extreme pleasure. 
 
 " You desire to know in what places the Sama- 
 ritans are now found ? You will find an answer to 
 this question among the others ; but we desire you 
 to examine the letter which you have received from 
 Paris, and see if any mention is there made of those 
 who are at Genoa, for we have received two letters 
 from them which inform us, that our nation is much 
 more scattered over Europe than Turkey, and 
 that their number amounts to one hundred and 
 
 * The 2)st article will appear undoubtedly very obscure, and even 
 unintelligible.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 507 
 
 twenty-seven thousand, nine hundred and sixty 
 souls. Do us the favour to enquire of the senator 
 Gregoire, whether he has any knowledge of these 
 Samaritans; and request him to establish through 
 your medium, a correspondence with them, with us, 
 and with those who are in Russia. 
 
 " The 14th of July according to the Grecian 
 calendar ; the year 6246 of the Hebrew era, since 
 Adam ; the year 3256, since the departure of the 
 Israelites from Egypt ; Tuesday 3d of Jumaelhi, 
 1223, (of the Hegira.) 
 
 " Signed Salame Kahenm Kahenm, of the Sama- 
 ritan nation at Naplouse. 
 
 " P. S. We request a speedy reply." 
 
 " I Salame, Son of Tobias, Levite, priest at 
 Sichem, praise the Lord. Amen. 
 
 " Article 1st. There are no Samaritans to be 
 found in our eastern countries excepting at Naplouse 
 and Jaffa ; but it is now a hundred years since we 
 received letters from Genoa, brought by a European, 
 who was going to Jerusalem, and had a Hebrew 
 Bible, written in a character similar to ours. 
 
 " Art. 2d. It is now a hundred years since there 
 have been any Samaritans in Egypt. 
 
 st Art. 3d. The Samaritans at Jaffa and Naplouse 
 amount to two hundred persons, men, women, and 
 children. 
 
 ' f Art. 4th. They consist of about thirty families, 
 and dwell in the quarter of Rhadera, which was 
 named by our lord Jacob, the king of the Sama- 
 ritans, and where he resided, as is written in our 
 holy Bible. 
 
 le Art, 5th. The origin of the Samaritans is de-
 
 508 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 rived from the true Israelites. We are really de- 
 scended from our lord Jacob, called Israel, from 
 whom sprang 1 the twelve tribes, who entered into 
 Egypt, amounting to seventy persons, and went out 
 again by the number of six hundred thousand. 
 After the miracles performed by their minister in 
 Egypt, and in the desert by our lord Moses, son 
 of Amram ; and who entered into the land of 
 Canaan, where we, the descendants of the first 
 settlers, still continue, after all the migrations which 
 have happened to us. We are of the tribe of 
 Joseph, son of our lord Jacob the Israelite. 
 
 " Art. 6th. This is the difference between the 
 Jews and ourselves ; the law is one, and consists of 
 six hundred and thirteen precepts according to both. 
 The only difference between us concerns the puri- 
 fication, which we observe, but which they cannot, 
 because they are no longer masters of Jerusalem. 
 
 " Art. ?th. Their law is exactly the same as ours 
 from the beginning to the end, but we pronounce it 
 differently from them. 
 
 " Art. 8th. Our law is written in the true Hebrew 
 language, the same which was found written on the 
 tables of precious stone containing the ten com- 
 mandments given by God to Moses. Some rabbies 
 from Jerusalem, having examined the writing of 
 our law, acknowledged it for the ancient Assyrian, 
 handed down on the tables of precious stone. ' 
 
 fe From this we shall never deviate, and conform- 
 ably to the word of God, " neither add nor diminish." 
 
 " Art. 9th. There is then no difference between 
 our law, and that of the Jews/ except in the 
 characters.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 509 
 
 " Art. 10th. The adoration of the golden image 
 of a turtle dove is the greatest disobedience to the 
 law ; for God has said in the ten commandments, 
 " I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other 
 God but me ; make not to thyself any graven 
 image, nor the likeness of any thing which is in 
 heaven, or earth, nor in the waters under the earth, 
 for I the Lord am a jealous God/' 
 
 ee After these prohibitions how can we adore the 
 image of a dove ? 
 
 "Art. llth. Our worship is that of God alone, 
 as it is written in our law, " Adore the Lord thy 
 God." 
 
 f< Art. 12th. As to what regards other animals, 
 and golden birds, far, very far, be it from us to 
 worship them, God forbid, that we should act con- 
 trary to our law ! God has said, " Thou shalt not 
 make gods of silver and gold/' 
 
 ** How can we adore a dove or any other animal 
 when God has so strictly forbidden us ? We worship 
 God alone, the eternal being, who has no beginning 
 or end. We know that God created birds, men, 
 brutes, and all things. 
 
 " God says in his law, God is your God, the 
 God of gods, the most excellent, the powerful, the 
 great, the majestic, who makes no distinction of 
 persons, and cannot be tempted by presents. 
 
 l< God also says, each Israelite ought to repeat 
 the law of God at all times, on entering the house, 
 on the way, in lying down, in rising up. It should 
 be always in his hands, between his eyes, and on 
 the door of his house. For this is the sacred
 
 510 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 precept there meant, (c Hear, O Israel, God is our 
 God, he is one, &c." 
 
 " After all these prohibitions, how can we adore 
 images of gold in an apartment, and pervert the 
 worship of the true God to that of a turtle dove, or 
 other animals wrought by men's hands ? 
 
 " God says again, Thou shalt fear and adore the 
 Lord thy God, and continue in his religion ; thou 
 shalt swear by him. How then can we worship 
 images, and forget his commands ? There are many 
 similar precepts. God is our God, and we adore 
 him at all times. 
 
 " Art. 13th. The sacrifice of sheep and lambs is 
 the foundation of our law, and at the epoch of the 
 tabernacle established by Moses, there were in the 
 interior of it many altars for sacrifice, each for 
 a certain era. One was an altar of expiatory 
 sacrifice, the other for peace offerings. Moses 
 ordained, that every day the chief of the tribes of 
 Israel should offer a sacrifice morning and evening. 
 This took place while the tabernacle stood. After 
 the end of the time of grace, and the destruction of 
 the tabernacle, our chief priests, of the family of 
 Aaron, ordered us in place of the sacrifices, to 
 make a prayer for a testimony of our fear of God, 
 and to solicit from him pardon and indulgence. 
 
 ef Art. 14th. The feast of the passover, which 
 God commanded all Israel to observe, is in a fixed 
 and invariable time, which is the first month of the 
 year, as it is said, This is a law for all ages, on the 
 first month, the fifteenth day, at the setting of the 
 sun, it is to be observed in the chosen place, which is
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 511 
 
 Mount Gerizim. We eat it at midnight., according 
 to the rites prescribed by the law, and that once 
 a 3'ear. 
 
 " Art. 15th. We offer our victims with the rites 
 which are commanded, as it is said, te You shall 
 take a lamb of the first year, without blemish, from 
 the goats or from the sheep, and keep it until the 
 fourteenth day of the month ; you shall roast it 
 in the fire, and eat it in haste rejoicing." This sa- 
 crifice is accompanied by other ceremonies, too long 
 to be detailed. 
 
 " Art. 16th. These sacrifices ought to be offered 
 on Mount Gerizim ; but for the last twenty years 
 we have made them in the city, as we cannot now 
 repair to the mountain. 
 
 " Art. 17th. We offer our sacrifices in the open 
 air, because God said to our lord Moses, Say to 
 Pharaoh, Let us go three days* journey (from the 
 city) and sacrifice to the Lord our God. 
 
 " It was at first commanded that these sacrifices 
 should be offered in the country. After the entrance 
 of the people of Israel into Canaan, Mount Gerizim 
 was chosen for this purpose, as God has declared in 
 his law. The sacrifice of the passover must not be 
 made in any of the inhabited places which the Lord 
 has given you, but only in the spot which God has 
 designated for this purpose. This place is the 
 mountain above mentioned ; this renders it evident, 
 that it can be offered but once a year. Those 
 who are not present at this solemnity ought to cele- 
 brate it in the second month. 
 
 " Art 18th. To the question when, and why 
 sacrifices have ceased ? we reply ; that God forbid
 
 512 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 that we should omit them, while it is in our power 
 to perform them ; but only for twenty years past, 
 instead of Mount Gerizim, we offer them in the 
 city, because it is comprised in the chosen place. 
 Therefore we exactly observe the prescribed rites. 
 
 " Art. 19th. We have a Levite priest of the race 
 of Levi, but no Iman, or grand pontiff. In this 
 country, we have had no priests of Aaron for one 
 hundred and fifty years past. 
 
 " Art. 20th. The grand pontiff is called in the 
 law in Hebrew Hakchem Haggadol, and in Arabic 
 illustrious chief, (raies et djalil). His functions, and 
 those of all the tribe of Levi, are prescribed by the 
 law. He may take the tithe of our sacrifices and 
 property ; he is to judge according to what is 
 written in the law. He has also other privileges 
 which would be too long to detail. 
 
 " Art. 21 st. You inquire whether the Samaritans 
 are divided into different classes, and what are these 
 divisions ? There exists among us some known and 
 observed divisions. These are the engagements 
 which God entered into with our fathers Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, and before these with Noah, and 
 also with Phinehas, by which he established him 
 Pontiff. We have likewise the divisions of heaven, 
 and three engagements with Moses; and the Hebrew 
 sea, which appears in the eclipses of the sun and 
 moon, and the conjunctions by which we know on 
 what day of the week the first of the month com- 
 mences. We also know by this means the day of 
 the feast which we celebrate, and on what day of 
 the week it will take place. We have many other 
 divisions ; but these are all whose names it is neces-
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 513 
 
 sary to mention. Such are the divisions among 
 us. 
 
 f{ Art. 22d. There are no Caraites among us, 
 nor have we any intercourse with this sect. 
 
 " Art. 23d. The Khassams, called Rabbinists in 
 France, a sect which, you say, is found in Egypt, 
 are totally unknown to us. There are none in our 
 country ; we have no relation with them ; we know 
 not what is said of them, nor have we ever even 
 heard their names pronounced. 
 
 " Art. 24th. We are separated from all nations, 
 even the Jewish ; we have houses and temples apart. 
 We have already said, that the character of our 
 writing differs from theirs ; we add, that they do 
 not read the former, nor we the latter. Such is the 
 difference which exists between them and us. 
 
 " There are besides some articles of their law 
 which they cannot observe out of Jerusalem. 
 
 " Art. ^5th. Our customs in our houses are, to 
 adore and praise God at all times, to observe the 
 rules of the law, and to abstain from every usage 
 which is contrary to the words of God in the law. 
 ee Do not cause evil to enter into your houses ;" 
 the meaning of which is, not to admit any worship 
 but that of God. 
 
 " We do not therefore admit any images ; our 
 sole occupation is to read the law during our whole 
 life. 
 
 " As to the relations between parents and children, 
 husbands and wives : the father is obliged to teach 
 his offspring the rules of justice, and to teach them 
 to read. They are bound to honour their father 
 and mother, as is enjoined in the decalogue. 
 
 L L
 
 514 HISTORY OP THE JEWg. 
 
 " We cannot marry, but conformably to the rules, 
 and in the degrees permitted by the law. 
 
 " Art. 26th. Our dress is different from that of 
 all other nations. We always wear a turban ; but 
 on sabbaths and festivals, when we go to the temple, 
 we dress wholly in white. 
 
 (f Art. 2?th. Our population was scattered over 
 Egypt, Damascus, Ascalon, and Cesarea. But six 
 hundred years have elapsed, since these were carried 
 away by the Franks, and are now found in their 
 country. This is the cause of our diminished popu- 
 lation. We have been reduced by the migrations 
 which have taken place in past ages, according to 
 the will of God. 
 
 " Art. 28th. Our usages are, the observation of 
 the commandments concerning holy days, and the 
 sabbaths ; the observation of the degrees permitted 
 and prohibited in marriage. The prayers which 
 were ordained by God, and enjoined by the priests 
 of Aaron, in place of the daily sacrifices which were 
 abolished after the destruction of the tabernacle of 
 Moses. Since that epoch, prayers were instituted 
 for every festival, with particular ceremonies. There 
 are three prayers for the sabbath, and each holy day 
 has appropriate ones, as the prayers peculiar to the 
 passover ; the feast of seven days, when we eat 
 unleavened bread ; the pilgrimage to Mount Ge- 
 rizim ; the feast of Pentecost, which is observed 
 a certain number of days, and is terminated by 
 a solemn festival in which we present ourselves 
 before God. At that time we do not sleep, and 
 employ ourselves without ceasing, day and night, in 
 reading the law, and praising God. The fifteenth
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 515 
 
 is the feast of tabernacles, which has its own appro- 
 priate ceremonies, and we are also to appear before 
 God. 
 
 " Finally, the twenty-second is the festival of 
 the closing of all the holy days, with ceremonies 
 conformable to the orders of our high priests. All 
 the above mentioned festivals are performed ac- 
 cording to the commands of God. 
 
 " Art. 29th. By an express order, given by God 
 to Abraham, we observe circumcision,, which is per- 
 formed on the eighth day at sun-rise, and we observe 
 all the ceremonies commanded on that occasion ; we 
 cannot alter or disobey a single article. 
 
 " Art. 30th. We say our prayers turned towards 
 Mount Gerizim, which is the house of God, and of 
 his angels, and where the Deity exhibits his majesty, 
 and the place for the sacrifices, enjoined in the law. 
 Our faces are therefore turned towards this place 
 during prayer. According to the order of our 
 pontiffs, prayers are now substituted for the sacri- 
 fices of sheep, which were offered morning and 
 evening. 
 
 " The 15th of July, according to the Greeks, in 
 the year 1808, of Jesus Christ." J 
 
 The learned author to whom we are indebted for 
 this recent account of the Samaritans observes, 
 (e that during one hundred and nineteen years the 
 communication between this sect and the Europeans 
 had entirely ceased. The answer which I obtained 
 to my queries, preserves a traditional chain of docu- 
 ments concerning them. Conformably to the pro- 
 mise which they exacted, I wrote to undeceive them 
 respecting the opinion they had formed, that persons 
 
 LL2
 
 516 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 
 
 of their sect were to be found in Russia and Genoa. 
 They are not known in any part of Europe, and 
 every circumstance concurs to induce us to believe, 
 that those of Jaffa and Naplouse are the only Sama- 
 ritans in existence. What they say of the transmi- 
 gration of their brethren, who were carried to 
 Europe by the Franks, appears to be totally des- 
 titute of proof. My researches into the history of 
 the Crusades has afforded me no information to 
 confirm their assertion. 
 
 "Under the name of the Palestine Association, 
 a society has recently been formed in England, the 
 object of whose labours is every thing relating to the 
 holy land, and the adjacent countries. The amiable 
 and learned Hamilton of the academy of Calcutta is 
 the president. The barriers interposed by war and 
 politics between different parts of the globe deprives 
 me of the means of corresponding with him ; but if 
 some happy circumstance should place this account 
 before his eyes, he will find in it the expression of my 
 esteem, and my desire that he and his worthy coad- 
 jutors should second my researches concerning the 
 Samaritans."
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 517 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 An account of the Chasidim. Of a Society of Jews in Podolia. Of 
 the followers of Zabathai Tzevi. 
 
 AFTER having in the two preceding chapters 
 given an account of the ancient Jewish sects, notice 
 will be taken of those which appeared in the last 
 century, and continue to exist at the present time.* 
 
 The following details concerning the sect of the 
 Chasidim are extracted from notice published in 
 1799, at Frankfort on the Oder, by Israel Loebel, 
 second rabbin from Novogroduk ^ in Lithuania. 
 This account was reprinted in 1807, in the Su- 
 lam ith, an interesting journal published at Dessau, 
 by Frankel and Wolf, which has for its object the 
 diffusion of useful knowledge among the Jews, and 
 their co-religionists. The following account is an 
 abridgment from Loebel's own words. 
 
 A rabbi, named Israel, rendered himself very 
 famous at Miedzyvorz, in the Ukraine, between the 
 years 1760 and 1765. He was an ambitious man, 
 who, being destitute of Talmudic knowledge, and 
 not able to gain reputation by his learning, sought 
 other means to acquire influence, and became an 
 exorcist. My spirit, said he, frequently detaches 
 itself from my body to explore the novelties of the 
 intellectual world ; it reveals to me whatever passes 
 there, and averts many evils with which the world 
 of spirits threatens our earth. 
 
 * This chapter is translated from Gregoire'i Histoire des Sectes 
 Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 337, &c.
 
 518 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 In order to realize his designs, Israel assumed the 
 mask of exemplary piety, and joined to his name 
 that of Balschem, or possessor of the name of God. 
 The propensity of ignorant and credulous men 
 towards the occult sciences procured him, in less 
 than ten years, more than ten thousand followers, 
 whom he called Chasidim. This name designated 
 those men, who not content to follow the ritual laws 
 of Moses, laboured to unite themselves more inti- 
 mately to the Deity by their sanctity. But it was 
 soon discovered, that the connexion between rabbi 
 Israel and his disciples did not conduce to the end 
 he had announced, and that their intentions and 
 their actions were hostile to the principles of piety 
 and morality. It was this which induced the Tal- 
 mudist Elias, grand rabbin in Wilna, in concert 
 with the elders of the synagogue of Brod, to write 
 a work against the new sect, in order to prove, that 
 it was injurious to the Jewish religion, and to the 
 state. Elias, being near his death, enjoined all who 
 visited him, to proclaim, that whoever loved God 
 and man, ought carefully to shun all communication 
 with the Chasidim, who, under the mantle of hypo- 
 crisy, concealed the most profound immorality. 
 
 The artful Israel Balschem, seeing it was neces- 
 sary to strengthen his party to oppose the orthodox, 
 exerted himself to gain the most opulent people, and 
 published a work, which is the code of his doctrine, 
 and which contains abominable principles. He 
 prohibits his adherents, under the most severe spiri- 
 tual penalties, to cultivate their minds. Those who 
 possess information ought to suppress it; for it is 
 dangerous, said he, to permit reason to interfere in
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 519 
 
 matters of religion. He is not willing that those 
 who pray to God should melt into tears ; for the 
 father beholds with more pleasure his children 
 cheerful and happy, than discontented and sorrowful. 
 
 Israel Loebel, the writer of this narrative, ob- 
 serves, that " these ideas are contrary to the Jewish 
 law ; for Moses commands us to study the laws of 
 religion and the state. For why should God have 
 given us reason, if we do not apply it to enlarge our 
 religious knowledge ? Is it not our special destiny 
 on earth to endeavour to approach the divinity ? 
 The successors of Moses in the dignity of prophets 
 have thought and taught like him. 
 
 " If prayer is not accompanied with a fervent 
 elevation of the heart to God, what is it, but an 
 assemblage of insignificant words ? Are not the 
 tears shed in prayer often signs of true devotion ? 
 Do not the Talmudists teach, that in order to 
 increase it, it is necessary to pray slowly, and 
 without clamour ? Many of our nation, indeed, 
 maintain that a large part of the ceremonies joined to 
 prayer are superfluous ; yet they serve to strengthen 
 our recollection." 
 
 The following is a specimen of the maxims of 
 this sect : If any one has committed, or wishes to 
 commit sin, he can promise himself absolution from 
 his leader, without subjecting himself to a change of 
 conduct, and leading a regular life. This detestable 
 principle, especially among those who have received 
 but little instruction, increased the number of Bals- 
 chem's partizans to such a degree, that they 
 amounted to forty thousand at the time of his death,
 
 520 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 which took place fifteen years after the sect was 
 founded. 
 
 At that time, his plan, both interior and exterior, 
 assumed a new form. To a single leader they sub- 
 stituted many directors., who, to defend their doctrine, 
 printed various works, after having- published two 
 posthumous ones attributed to their founder. 
 
 One of these productions, called Kesser Schemtow 
 appeared at Korstchik and Zulkiew, in two parts. 
 In the first part, he gives to his followers a general 
 absolution for the sins which they have committed, 
 and shall commit, on condition that they educate 
 their sons Talmudists. He asserted, that his soul, 
 being transported in an extacy to heaven, the 
 archangel Michael, the protector of the Jews, de- 
 clared to him, that on this condition every sinner 
 should not only obtain remission, but even a reward 
 for his crimes. In the second part, he invites his 
 adherents to pray to Abraham, the father of the 
 Jews, who has conducted so many of his unhappy 
 race to the true belief, and who has preserved it in 
 the souls of many disposed to quit it. He condemns 
 all connection between their children and those who 
 do not belong to the Hebrew nation, especially his 
 sect. 
 
 The second posthumous work of Balschem, under 
 the title Likute Amomir, has been printed at Lem- 
 burg, and in the two other cities before mentioned. 
 He teaches, that in order to be united to the divinity 
 it is necessary to commit sin upon sin ; and that the 
 more horrible they are, the more agreeable are they 
 to him. For God -being the first in the scale of
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 521 
 
 beings, and the greatest sinner being in the last 
 grade, there is between them a species of contiguity 
 by representing to ourselves, that the scale is of 
 a circular form. 
 
 Baer Medsersitz, rabbin of Kortschik, and one 
 of the directors of this sect, has commented upon 
 the principles of the founder in a work in which he 
 proscribes every exercise of virtue. But the most 
 abominable book, entitled Noam Hamelech, has for 
 its author Melech, another of the directors, and 
 grand rabbin of Lezanst. Balschem had granted 
 a general absolution upon conditions which could 
 not always be performed. Melech goes much further ; 
 he teaches, that each of the directors can absolve 
 the greatest crimes, past and future, if one of the 
 directors wishes to commit them ; and, at the same 
 time, encourages men to abandon themselves to 
 vicious practices, by assuring the guilty, that, 
 having no terrestrial power to fear, they will controul 
 nature by their prayers, provided, however, that 
 the sect will remain faithful to their engagements. 
 In this work he prohibits the use of medicine to the 
 sick, seeing that he who can give them eternal life, 
 may at his pleasure prolong their temporal life. 
 
 From these specimens, drawn from the books of 
 this sect, we see how pernicious it is to the state, 
 and apprehend, that it must have found many adver- 
 saries. But -the Hebrew works published against 
 these sectarians, are less of the polemic kind, than 
 exhortations to preserve themselves from the conta- 
 gious principles of the Cbasidim. In combating 
 them in this manner they hoped to restore the- lost 
 sheep to the fold of Israel. Unhappily these expec-
 
 522 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 tat ions have failed, and while we render justice to 
 the talents and integrity of the authors, we regret 
 that most of them, having their residence out of 
 the country ravaged by tb,e sect, attain their know- 
 ledge only from the relation of others. 
 
 When I, says Loebel, was rabbin at Moholyw, 
 I had an opportunity to look about me and observe 
 the progress of this sect, which obliged me to make 
 exertions to preserve the community committed to 
 my care from these pernicious sentiments. The 
 Chasidim, having circumvented by their art, and 
 entrapped in their errors, my only brother, an 
 intelligent, and in other respects a good young 
 man, I wrote many letters to him to open his eyes, 
 by the contrast between his actual immorality, and 
 the estimable conduct he had before maintained. 
 I wrote also to the principal director of this sect, 
 the famous rabbin Solomon Witeyst, and proved to 
 him his errors by invincible arguments, with a menace 
 of combating him publicly, if I could not recover 
 my brother. My letters were unsuccessful, as was 
 also a journey I made with the same views. But 
 my journey having procured me an opportunity of 
 disputing with the director, as I thought our confe- 
 rence would be interesting to many people, I printed 
 it in Hebrew at Warsaw, under the title of Bituach. 
 Emboldened by the success of this pamphlet, I pub- 
 lished, in the same city, my work Kiwroth Hataywa, 
 which is a severe, but impartial criticism upon the 
 writings of the Chasidim. It obtained the flattering 
 approbation of the wise Talmudists, whether na- 
 tional or foreigners. I am now about to give 
 a succinct account of my conference with the rabbin
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 523 
 
 Solomon Witeyst, who being very urgent to see me, 
 began the debate by addressing me in this despotic 
 manner. 
 
 Solomon Witeyst. Who has ordered you to 
 attack us ? Are you more wise than many others, 
 who have failed in the enterprize ? If you have any 
 thing to object to us, at least it was not necessary to 
 divulge it to discredit our nation, already too much 
 humbled. 
 
 Israel Loebel. It is necessary to correct our 
 erring brethren. I might turn the question against 
 you, for you know it is not permitted to any indi- 
 vidual, ecclesiastical or civil, to found or patronize 
 a new sect. It is said. in holy writ, the laws are 
 binding upon your descendants. Jeremiah says, 
 Has any man ever changed his God and his faith ? 
 Why from the commencement of your sect have 
 you affected a clandestine progress ? If you only 
 aspire to the title of separatists, live as a considerable 
 part of our nation, who, though they do not strictly 
 follow the Talmud, at least do not hate those who 
 reject their opinions ; but you abhor all who are 
 not of your sect. As to what you say respecting 
 the contempt which oppresses our nation, let us 
 discuss this article. The Christians no longer 
 revenge the death of Jesus Christ upon the descend- 
 ants of the Jews. They do not believe that the 
 Jews should be obliged to detest all who are not of 
 their religion. They do not believe that our religion 
 is contrary to morality and the state. Let us hope 
 that from henceforth they will respect all the rites of 
 humanity. 
 
 They reproach the Jews with their dishonesty.
 
 524 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 But many of the Christians will not see that this 
 accusation is only a pretence invented by hatred 
 against our nation. They have left us no other 
 profession than traffic, in which deception is more 
 easily remarked than in any other calling. They 
 have extremely restricted the faculty of commerce 
 granted to the Jews, and they are loaded with 
 taxes. But it is known that very honest merchants 
 are found among them ; and that there are some 
 very dishonest Christian merchants. The Chris- 
 tians do not hate the Jews as such ; and, in ex- 
 posing your maxims as contrary to religion and the 
 state, I have done no injury to our nation. I think 
 we ought to free ourselves from contempt by re- 
 vealing the crimes of our co-rcligionists. 
 
 Solomon Witeyst. All that you allege is without 
 foundation ; it is an attempt to oppress our sect. 
 But you will fall into the pit which you have dug for 
 us. 
 
 Israel Loebel. I abhor the maxims of your 
 sect ; for all your books contain invitations to liber- 
 tinism. In that which is entitled, Kesser Schemtow, 
 do we not read, that " sins committed upon certain 
 conditions will be rewarded." The nocturnal revels 
 are, according to your system, the means of salva- 
 tion. You intimidate the simple by false prophecies; 
 you forbid the sick to consult a physician ; and, 
 levying a contribution on credulity and misfortune, 
 you take money from the unhappy, and persuade 
 them you can avert from them the wrath of heaven. 
 By your dishonesty and rapine you have made 
 thousands of men to perish ; you have caused di- 
 vorces, and given trouble to society, &c. &c.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 525 
 
 This frank declaration irritated my adversary so 
 much the more, as he saw that I was acquainted 
 with the intrigues of the directors ; and, from that 
 moment, he swore implacable vengeance against 
 me. 
 
 Encouraged by the good cause which I had de- 
 fended, in 1797 I set out to visit the countries 
 where this sect had the most adherents, and un- 
 masked the hypocrites, who usurped the reputation 
 of saints. In my journey I carried two hundred 
 and fifty copies of my two works. In the course of 
 my travels I had the satisfaction of recovering a few 
 of the sectarians into the right path by my sermons. 
 On my arrival at Cracow, I applied to the adminis- 
 tration called the Revision, or Revision office, to 
 examine my writings, that I might obtain a certi- 
 ficate of approbation, which was granted me. I then 
 directed my way to Lemburg, to continue every 
 where my exhortations. But upon my arrival at 
 Stsechow, where the sect were powerful, they im- 
 puted to me the project of endeavouring to bring 
 evils upon my co-religionists, and reproached me 
 with having introduced books from the Prussian 
 territories into the country subject to Austria. In 
 consequence of this denunciation they came in the 
 night to seize my works ; but I obtained restitution 
 by showing to the regency of this city the certificate 
 which I had obtained at Cracow. 
 
 I arrived at last at Lemburg in September, 1798 ; 
 and dreading new oppressions, I confined myself in 
 my first sermons to treat of moral subjects, without 
 making mention of the sect. But soon after, two 
 emissaries arrived from the cantons through which
 
 526 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 I had passed, who pointed me out to the rabbins of 
 Lemburg as an enemy to the Chasidim. They 
 repeated their accusations against me, and robbed 
 me of my certificate of approbation, which the 
 governor of the city caused to be restored to me ; 
 I returned to Cracow, where they showed me a decree 
 from the chancery of Gallicia, sitting at Vienna, 
 which commanded the seizure of my books, until 
 a new order, considering that some members of the 
 sect of pious Jews, (die fromen juden) had made 
 remonstrances against them. 
 
 I perceived then the necessity of a journey to 
 Vienna; and, in Jan. 1799, I presented my petition 
 to the emperor, with a copy of my pamphlets, and 
 supplicated him to order them to be translated by the 
 rabbles of Moravia and Hungary. The consequence 
 of my request was, that the Chasidim were prohi- 
 bited from assembling in public, under severe pe- 
 nalties, in Austrian and Russian Poland. 
 
 Many chiefs of this sect emigrated into other 
 parts. They established themselves in another part 
 of Poland, especially at Grodzisk, at Bielsk, and at 
 Strikow. 
 
 The learned author of the work,* from which the 
 above account is translated, observes, " Thus ends 
 the narrative of Israel Loebel. He promises the 
 public further details of what he can collect con- 
 cerning the Chasidim, who arc a most abominable 
 sect, if all the facts which have been mentioned 
 against them are true. Many of them have, how- 
 ever, been contradicted by a Polish Jew, well in- 
 formed and disinterested respecting the subject in 
 
 * Qregoire's Histoire de Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 848-
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 527 
 
 question. For example, he denies that the Chasidim 
 are forbidden when sick to consult physicians, and 
 medicine. He even cites one of the richest par- 
 tizans of this sect, who had recourse to all the 
 succours of art to heal his daughter, and expended 
 more than five thousand ducats. Some of the 
 crimes imputed to the Chasidim are so enormous, 
 that they surpass credibility ; and how can we judge 
 a cause of this kind upon the exclusive evidence of 
 one advocate ?"* 
 
 In 1756, a small society of Jews in Podolia, being 
 disgusted with the Talmud, made a profession of 
 faith almost Christian, which is as follows : " We 
 believe all that God has taught and ordained in the 
 Old Testament. The grace of God is indispensable 
 in order to understand the sacred writings. The 
 Talmud ought to be rejected, because it contains 
 blasphemies against God. God is the Creator of 
 all that exists ; God is one in essence, and triple in 
 person. It is possible that God became incarnate, 
 and submitted to human infirmities, in order to 
 expiate human sins. According to the prophecies, 
 it is certain that Jerusalem will never be rebuilt. 
 The Messiah promised in the scriptures is no longer 
 to come. God himself will abolish the malediction 
 pronounced on our ancestors and their posterity, 
 and he is the true incarnate Messiah. f 
 
 These Anti-Talmudists held assemblies at Lan- 
 koron in Podolia, for the purpose of reading the 
 Bible, and performing other religious exercises. 
 They were accused by the Talmudists of giving 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire de Sectes Religieusei, torn. ii. p. 348. 
 t Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii.
 
 528 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 themselves up to dissipation, and being associated 
 with the sect of Zabathai Tzevi,* under the direc- 
 tion of a Jew from the frontiers of Turkey. The 
 accused proved that these imputations were false ; 
 and as they were incessantly insulted by the more 
 numerous Talmudists, who caused them to be ex- 
 communicated and proscribed, they demanded an 
 official safeguard from the bishop of Caminiek ; 
 when they were declared innocent, their enemies 
 were condemned to pay them a fine, and also to 
 give one hundred and fifty-two Hungarian crowns of 
 gold towards repairing the towers of the cathedral of 
 Caminiek. The bishop declared himself the pro- 
 tector of the Anti-Talmudists, and exhorted the two 
 parties to live in peace, and to search truth in the 
 holy scriptures. Some time after, the Anti-Talmu- 
 dists wrote to Augustus III. king of Poland, and to 
 the primate, who answered them affectionately, and 
 to the archbishop of Lemburg, declaring to him that 
 they recognized Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and 
 desired baptism. f 
 
 Towards the conclusion of the last century, there 
 were at Prague Jews who were, or who were said 
 to be, disciples of Zabathai Tzevi. The rabbi 
 excommunicated them even from the other world, 
 and interdicted them from entering the synagogue, 
 from whence they were driven with great fury. 
 The magistrate, obliged to interpose his authority, 
 caused several of the principal persecutors to be 
 imprisoned, and condemned them to bread and 
 
 * That the followers of this impostor have continued till the 
 present time has been mentioned in chapter 22nd. 
 
 t Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieusws, torn. ii. p. 312.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 529 
 
 water for some time ; he even inflicted punishment 
 on some children, who, in imitation of their parents, 
 had manifested too great zeal for Judaical ortho- 
 doxy. 
 
 About sixty years since, a rabbi <at Mayence was 
 supposed to be of the sect of Zabbathai Tzevi ; 
 these suspicions were fortified by his not appearing 
 in the synagogue on the anniversary of the destruc- 
 tion of the temple, which is not observed as a fast 
 by the Zabathaites. They had watched him for 
 some time ; and seized this opportunity of ascer- 
 taining his sentiments. The Jews ran to his house, 
 which they found shut up ; they broke open his 
 doors, and found him at table, and instantly carried 
 him to the synagogue, covered with ti napkin, where 
 he was derided and insulted. 
 
 In 1808, a musician of the sect of Zabathai 
 Tzevi came to Paris. He is perhaps the only one 
 of this denomination, who has for a long time 
 appeared in France.* 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire des Sectes Religieuses, torn. ii. p. 313. 
 
 M M
 
 530 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Of the dissimulation of many Jews who have professed the Christian 
 religion. An account of several distinguished converts. Account 
 of a Society formed in London for the express purpose of converting 
 the Jews. Of their success. A large extract from a speech made 
 by Dr. Buchanan at the first anniversary meeting of the London 
 Society. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the long protracted 
 calamities the Jews have suffered since their disper- 
 sion, the most violent persecutions have never pre- 
 vailed upon the general mass of this people to abjure 
 their religion. David Levi, speaking of those 
 among his brethren, who, in all ages have professed 
 Christianity, observes, that " they have not acted 
 voluntarily, but by compulsion, as in Spain and 
 Portugal, or from interested motives, as there, and 
 elsewhere ; that notwithstanding they seemed to 
 apostatize, and pretended to embrace Christianity, 
 yet in their hearts they secretly adhered to the true 
 faith and law of Moses ; and such are at this day 
 called among us, the compelled, because they act by 
 compulsion ; for, as soon as they can by any means 
 escape from the popish countries, they instantly 
 return to Judaism." " I am free to assert/' says he, 
 " that there is scarcely an instance of a Jew ever 
 having embraced Christianity on the pure principles 
 of religion, but merely from interested motives."* 
 
 It is an acknowledged fact that there have been 
 multitudes of dissembling Jews, particularly in 
 Spain and Portugal. But still there has been, 
 
 * Levi's Dissertations, &c. vol. ii. p. 15.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 531 
 
 doubtless, a number in every age, who have pro- 
 fessed the Christian religion from a real conviction 
 of its truth ; some of whom have written and 
 preached in defence of the faith they once denied. 
 Several instances, apparently of this kind, have been 
 mentioned in the preceding parts of this work, to 
 which may be added a few others at a later period.* 
 
 About the year 1762, Solomon Duitch, a learned 
 rabbi and teacher of several synagogues in Germany, 
 renounced Judaism. During seven years his mind 
 had been perplexed with doubts respecting religion ; 
 but, at length, the difficulties which had embarrassed 
 him were removed, and he openly professed himself 
 a disciple of Christ. After he was fully convinced 
 of the truth and excellence of the Christian religion, 
 he published a narrative of his conversion, and 
 became a zealous preacher of the Gospel. He lived 
 and died in Holland.f 
 
 In 1797, Juan Joseph Heydeck, a learned Jewish 
 convert in Spain, published at Madrid, a work 
 entitled, " A defence of the Christian Religion/' 
 in four volumes quarto. He was chosen professor 
 of oriental languages in that country. J 
 
 Mr. Lapidoth, a wealthy and respectable Jew in 
 Holland, in early life entertained doubts respecting 
 the Jewish religion ; and having secretly procured 
 a New Testament, and continued his researches, 
 
 * In Chapman's Eusebius we have an account from Wolfius, J. Sca- 
 liger, Kidder, Bayle, &c. of twenty-nine Jews of talents and credit 
 converted to Christianity by an accurate investigation of the prophe- 
 cies. Some of these have been mentioned in chapter xxv. and other 
 parts of this work. 
 
 t Christian Observer, 189. 
 
 : Gregoire's Histoire, &c. 
 
 M M 2
 
 632 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 * 
 
 after various perplexities, he and his wife and adult 
 children became firmly convinced of the truth of the 
 Christian religion. In 1805, he and his family 
 were publicly baptized.* 
 
 The Missionary Society in London were engaged, 
 about the year 1800, in attempting the conversion of 
 the Jews, but without any encouraging success. 
 In 1809, however, a Society was formed for the 
 exclusive object of converting the Jews, and called 
 the " London Society for promoting Christianity 
 amongst the Jews." Lectures were accordingly 
 preached in order to convince the Jews that Jesus 
 of Nazareth was the true Messiah ; and Schools 
 were opened to receive the children of such Jewish 
 parents, as would allow them to be instructed in the 
 principles of Christianity. Tracts were also printed 
 containing evidences of the divine origin of the 
 Gospel. This Society was at first composed of 
 Christians of various denominations. At length, 
 however, the pecuniary affairs of the Society became 
 embarrassed, and other inconveniences were fore- 
 seen ; it was therefore agreed, in the year 1815, 
 that the affairs of the Society should be entrusted 
 to a Committee of Members of the Established 
 Church of England, and that it should be from that 
 time forward a Society regularly conducted on the 
 principles of that Church. It ought to be recorded 
 in a history of the Jews, that to the munificence of 
 a benevolent individual, is the Society indebted for 
 relief from its pecuniary difficulties. The Right 
 Rev. the Lords Bishops of St. David's and Glou- 
 cester, are Patrons of this Institution, and Sir 
 
 * Evangelical Magazine, 1806.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 533 
 
 Thomas Baring, Bart. President. Divine worship 
 is regularly performed at an Episcopal Chapel, at 
 which the Jewish children in the schools attend. 
 Tracts continue to be printed at the Society's office, 
 for the purpose of distribution amongst the Jews. 
 
 A monthly publication, styled, "The Jewish 
 Expositor and Friend of Israel/' issues from the 
 press; where works in defence of Christianity, in 
 answer to rabbi Crooll, have been also published, by 
 the Rev. T. Scott, and William Cuninghame, Esq. 
 
 At the first Anniversary of the Society (in 1810) 
 the Rev. Dr. Buchanan gave a most interesting 
 account of the state of the Jews in India, and the. 
 nation of the Aflfghans, supposed by the late Sir 
 William Jones to be descended from the ten tribes. 
 The greatest part of this speech is as follows, given 
 in the learned author's own words.* 
 
 ls During my residence in the east, my mind was 
 much occupied with the present state and circum- 
 stances of the Jews. I visited them in different 
 provinces, .examined their books, and discoursed 
 with them on the subject of the prophecies ; and 
 I found that no where do they despair of being 
 restored to Jerusalem ; no where do they despair of 
 beholding their Messiah. It is with great satis- 
 faction then, that, on my return to England, I con- 
 template the establishment of your Society. It is, 
 indeed, with much surprise I behold three hundred 
 gentlemen assembled on the present occasion, under 
 the patronage of noblemen of our country, to 
 promote this noble design. The sudden elevation 
 of your institution, and the interest which it has 
 
 * Edinburgh Christian Instructor, 1810, vol. i. p. 205.
 
 534 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 almost instantaneously created in the public mind, 
 are sure prognostics of its perpetuity. It is one of 
 those institutions, which, like the Bible Society, 
 needs only to be proposed, to recommend itself to 
 the minds of men, by its perfect reasonableness and 
 propriety ; and 1 may add, by (he divine obligation it 
 involves. I entertain a confident hope, that this 
 Society, or some institution analogous to it, will be 
 perpetual in the church of Christ ; and that it will 
 endure, to use an oriental expression, as long as 
 sun and moon endure ; or, at least, as long as there 
 is a Jew in the world, who is not a Christian. 
 
 " There is a measure I would propose to the 
 consideration of your Society, which I think will 
 contribute to its celebrity and success. I would 
 suggest to you to open a correspondence with the 
 Jews in the east. . 
 
 " Perhaps it may not be known to some, that, by 
 the events of the late war in India, a colony of 
 Jews have become subjects to Great Britain. This 
 is the colony of the White and Black Jews of 
 Cochin. The number is calculated to be about 
 sixteen thousand. I am informed, that the number of 
 Jews in the United Kingdom is not computed to be 
 greater than fourteen thousand. So that our Jewish 
 subjects in the east are yet more numerous than 
 those in the west ; and they are equally entitled to 
 the regard and attention of your Society. 
 
 " I visited Cochin soon after the conquest of the 
 province. The Jews received me hospitably, and 
 permitted me to examine their libraries and their 
 synagogues ; and they presented to me many valu- 
 able manuscripts, which are deposited in the library
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 535 
 
 of the university of Cambridge. One of these is 
 a roll of the Pentateuch, on goats' skins dyed red ; 
 one of the most ancient perhaps which the east can 
 produce. The White Jews live on the sea coast, 
 and have commerce with foreign nations ; the Black 
 Jews live chiefly in the interior of the country. 
 The Hindoos call them Israeli ; they call themselves 
 Beni- Israel, and not Jews ; for their ancestors did 
 not belong to Judah, but to the kingdom of Israel. 
 They consider themselves to be descended from those 
 tribes which were carried away at the first captivity. 
 In some parts of the east, the Beni-Israel never 
 heard of the second temple ; they never heard of the 
 Christian account of the coming of the Messiah. 
 Some of them possess only the Pentateuch, the Psalms, 
 and Book of Job ; others have no portion of scrip- 
 ture left. But their countenance, and their observ- 
 ance of the sabbath, and of peculiar rites, demon- 
 strate that they are Jews. The White Jews of 
 Cochin despise the Black Jews, as being of an 
 inferior cast, and do not approve of intermarriages 
 with them, because they do not belong to the second 
 temple. Both among White and Black Jews I found 
 that there was a general impression that there would 
 soon be a rumour of wars, and a commotion among 
 the peoples on their account. The White Jews 
 expect a second Cyrus from the West, who shall 
 build their temple the third and last time.* 
 
 * Dr. Buchanan, in bis Researches in Asia, observes, "I have had 
 many interesting conferences with the Jews on the subject of their 
 present state ; and have been much struck with two circumstances ; 
 their constant reference to the desolation of Jerusalem, and their 
 confident hope that it will be one day rebuilt. The desolation of the
 
 536 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 " You may address the Jews of Cochin with 
 great advantage on the subject of the Christian 
 religion ; for they have the evidence of the Syrian 
 Christians before them. These ancient Christians 
 live in the vicinity, and are your witnesses. At one 
 place in the interior of the country, which I visited, 
 there is a Jewish synagogue and a Christian church 
 in the same Hindoo village. They stand opposite 
 to each other, as it were the law and the gospel ; 
 bearing testimony to the truth, in the presence of 
 the heathen world. 
 
 " I was informed, that many years ago one of 
 the Jews translated the New Testament into Hebrew 
 for the purpose of confuting it, and of repelling 
 the arguments of his neighbours, the Syrian Chris- 
 tians. The manuscript fell into my hands, and is 
 now in the library of the university of Cambridge. 
 
 M| 
 
 holy city is ever present to the minds of the Jews, when the subject is 
 concerning themselves as a nation ; for though without a king, and 
 without a country, they constantly speak of the unity of their nation. 
 Distance of time and place seems to have no effect in obliterating the 
 remembrance of the desolation. I often thought of the verse in the 
 Psalms, " If I forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her 
 cunning." They speak of Palestine as being close at hand, and 
 easily accessible. It is become an ordinance of their rabbins in some 
 places, that, when a man builds a new house, he shall leave a small 
 part of it unfinished, as an emblem of ruin, and write on it these 
 words, Zecher Lachorchan, i. e. in memory of desolation. 
 
 " Their hopes of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, the third aiid 
 last time, under the auspices of the Messiah, or of a second Cyrus, 
 before his coming, are always expressed with great confidence. They 
 have a general impression, that the period of their liberation from 
 the heathen is not very remote ; and they consider the present com- 
 motions in the earth as gradually loosening their bonds. * It is,' say 
 they, ' a sure sign of our approaching restoration, that in almost all 
 countries there is a general relaxation of the persecutions against us.' " 
 Researches in Asia, p. 226. 

 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 537 
 
 It is in his own hand writing, with the first interli- 
 neations and erasures ; and will be of great use in 
 preparing a version of the New Testament in the 
 Hebrew language. It appears to be a faithful trans- 
 lation as far as it has been examined ; but about the 
 end, when he came to the epistles of St. Paul, he 
 seems to have lost his temper, being moved perhaps 
 by the acute arguments of the learned Benjamite, 
 as he calls the apostle ; and he has written here and 
 there a note of execration on his memory. But 
 behold the providence of God ! The translator 
 became himself a convert to Christianity. His own 
 works subdued his unbelief. " In the lion he found 
 sweetness ;" and he lived and died in the faith 
 of Christ. And now it is a common superstition 
 among the vulgar in that place, that if any Jew 
 should write the whole of the New Testament with 
 his own hand, he will become a Christian by the 
 influence of the evil spirit. 
 
 f( This event occurred in the south of India ; but 
 a conversion no less remarkable took place, some 
 time afterwards, in the north. Jacob Levi, a Jew 
 from Smyrna, travelled over land to Calcutta, and 
 heard the Gospel from one of the Lutheran preachers, 
 belonging to the Society for promoting Christian 
 knowledge, and became a convert to the truth. He 
 delivered a testimony to the Jews, Hindoos, Maho- 
 medans, and Christians ; for he was acquainted 
 with various languages, and spoke eloquently, like 
 Apollos. But his course was short. He was or- 
 dained,, like many witnesses of the Christian faith, to 
 abide but for a moment. These solitary instances 
 of the power of the Gospel seem to occur, in almost
 
 538 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 every nation, previous to the general illumination. 
 The conversion of Jacob Levi is recorded in the 
 proceedings of the Society, in Bartlett's Buildings, 
 London. 
 
 " But there is another body of Jews, not a colony, 
 but a kingdom of Jews, to which this Society may 
 also address itself ; and that is the ten tribes ; for 
 the ten tribes, so long lost, have, at length, been 
 found. It has been sufficiently ascertained by the 
 investigation of the learned in India, that the 
 Affghan and Pyran nations consist of the descendants 
 of the Jewish tribes of the first dispersion. 
 
 " When I was in the south of India, I asked the 
 Black Jews where their brethren, the great body of 
 the ten tribes, were to be found ? They answered 
 promptly, that they were to be found in the north, 
 in the regions adjacent to Chaldea, the very country 
 whither they were first carried into captivity. On 
 my return to Calcutta, I prosecuted the inquiry, 
 under the advantages which my superintendance of 
 the College of Fort William afforded me. Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones* had recorded it as his opinion, that the 
 Affghans were Jews ; and referred to various autho- 
 
 * This great raau strongly recommended an inquiry into the lan- 
 guage, literature, and history of the Affghans. " We learn," says he, 
 "from Esdras, that the ten tribes, after a wandering journey, came to 
 a country called Arsareth, where we may suppose they settled. Now 
 the best Persian historians affirm, that the Affghans are descended 
 from the Jews; and they have among themselves traditions of the 
 same import. It is even asserted, that their families are distinguished 
 by the names of Jewish tribes, though since their conversion to 
 Islamism they have studiously concealed their origin. The language 
 they use has a manifest resemblance to the Chaldaic, and a consider- 
 able district under their dominions is called Hazareth, which might 
 easily have been changed into Arsareth." Asiatic Researches, vol. H. 
 p. 7fi, and Works of Sir William Jones, vol. i. p. 33fi.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 539 
 
 rities. A further investigation confirmed the judg- 
 ment of this illustrious scholar. There were Aff- 
 ghan Jews in Calcutta at the time : one of my 
 own servants was an Affghan. The Affghans are 
 generally reputed by us to be Mahomedans. I asked 
 my servant if he was a Mahomedan ? " No," said 
 he, " I am a Mahomedan Jew." I plainly dis- 
 cerned in his countenance the features of the 
 London Jew. The general account of the Affghans 
 is this ; that their ancestors were Jews ; that their 
 common histories record the names of \David, Saul, 
 and other kings of Israel ; that the Mahomedans 
 came upon them with an invading army,, and said 
 unto them, We are Jews as well as you ; we observe 
 circumcision, and keep the sabbath ; let us incor- 
 porate our nations, and be one people, and unite 
 against the infidels, that they made a show of 
 yielding to Mahomedanism (as the Jews of Spain 
 and Portugal pretended to yield to Christianity); but 
 in process of time the ascendancy of the new reli- 
 gion corrupted their ancient institutions ; their sacred 
 books began to diminish in number ; and it came to 
 pass at last, that in many places they could be only 
 recognized to be Jews by their countenance, by 
 tradition, by peculiar rites, and the observance of 
 the sabbath ; which are the only marks which 
 distinguish some of the Beni-Israel of the south of 
 India. Let us therefore address the ten tribes, and 
 receive them in the state in which, by the providence 
 of God, they are to be found. Some of the Jews 
 of London are as ignorant, and as little entitled to 
 the name, as the Affghans of India. 
 
 " But there is a third body of Jews to whom you
 
 540 HISTORY Of THE JEWS. 
 
 ought to write ; I mean the Samaritan Jews. They 
 are not far from the shores of the Mediterranean, 
 and are easily accessible. They possess only the 
 Pentateuch. They are few in number, and will 
 receive with much deference, any communication 
 which you will be pleased to make to them, relating 
 to their religion, and to the present state of the 
 Jewish nation. 
 
 " Let letters then be addressed to these three 
 bodies of Israelites ; not in the name of Christians, 
 but in the name of the converted Jews, who compose 
 a part of this Society : but not in the rabbinical 
 Hebrew, (for there are upwards of twenty dialects 
 of rabbinical, or commercial Hebrew in the world) 
 but in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, which all 
 understand ; let them be informed of the great events 
 that have taken place in the west, namely, that 
 Jews have become Christians ; that the Christians 
 are sending forth preachers to teach all nations ; that 
 the Messiah is surely come ; and that the signs of 
 the times encourage the belief, that Israel is about 
 to be restored in a spiritual sense." 
 
 The doctor expresses his surprise, that " the 
 Society have not as yet obtained a version of the 
 New Testament in the Hebrew language for the 
 use of the Jews. How strange," says he, " it 
 appears, that, during a period of eighteen hundred 
 years, the Christians should never have given the 
 Jews the New Testament in their own language ! 
 By a kind of infatuation, they have reprobated the 
 unbelief of the Jews, and have never at the same 
 time told them what they ought to believe."* 
 
 * Since this important suggestion from Dr. Buchanan, a translation
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 541 
 
 Dr. Buchanan concludes with observing, that " the 
 chief difficulties which this Society will probably 
 meet with, will be from the opposing Jews at 
 home. But when they see that your converts mul- 
 tiply, and when they hear that you are writing to 
 other nations, regardless of their ignorance and 
 opposition at home ; when they learn that you have 
 discovered the ten tribes; that you have sent to 
 them the New Testament in the holy language ; 
 that you are discussing with them the subjects of the 
 prophecies ; and that converted Jews are going 
 forth as " ambassadors in light ships, to carry the 
 tidings of gladness to a nation scattered and peeled, 
 terrible from their beginning hitherto/' (Isaiah xviii.) 
 the hostile Jews will be alarmed, their spirits will 
 sink within them, and they will begin to think, that 
 a great day in Zion is indeed at hand. 
 
 " Every time you meet here, in this public 
 manner, in the presence of the Israelites, your 
 cause acquires strength. Every time that these 
 annual sermons are preached, and the voice of 
 prayer and supplication for the outcasts of Israel 
 ascends to heaven, it is like the blasts of the rams' 
 horns before the wall of Jericho ; and so the enemy 
 will soon begin to consider it ; and I doubt not that 
 before you have encompassed the wall seven times, 
 an impression will be made."* 
 
 of the New Testament into Biblical Hebrew has been completed by 
 the Society, and the whole of the first edition has been circulated 
 amongst the Jews at home and abroad, who have generally received 
 it with a readiness and candour which is truly encouraging. 
 
 * For a further account of the proceedings and success of the 
 London Society our readers are referred to their two last Reports, to 
 the Jewish Expositor for the two last years, and to " A Letter, addressed
 
 542 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 to the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of St. David's, dated Moscow, 
 February 1818, by the Rev. Lewis Way, of Stansted Park, Sussex," 
 who, in company with the Rev. Nehemiah Solomon, a converted Jew, 
 recently ordained to the ministry in the church of England, has tra- 
 velled from Holland to Russia, and from thence to the Crimea, for the 
 sole purpose of ascertaining the present state of the Jews, and of dis- 
 tributing the Hebrew Testament amongst them. 
 
 All the publications of the London Society are to be had at their 
 house, No 10, Wardrobe Place, Doctors' Commons.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 543 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 General character of the Jews, moral and literary. Of the number of 
 this people now existing. Concluding Reflections. 
 
 THE Jews, notwithstanding the calamities they 
 have so long endured, still look down upon all 
 nations, and continue to claim the partial kindness 
 and protection of heaven. The miracles, performed 
 in favour of the first Hebrews, inspired their 
 descendants with a contempt for those nations which 
 the Deity never honoured in the same manner. 
 They are more elated with the advantages granted 
 to their ancestors, than humiliated by the calamities 
 which they have endured since their dispersion.* 
 
 We may number among the most striking traits 
 which designate the Jewish character, the wonderful 
 uniformity of views that appear to have influenced 
 the actions of this extraordinary people through the 
 course of so many ages.f The Rabbinists, which 
 form the bulk of the nation in different countries, 
 agree in their dogmas, rites, and religious habits ; 
 because no religion establishes such an uniformity 
 in doctrine as the Mosaic, which, joined to the tra- 
 ditions of the doctors, regulates with the utmost 
 minuteness every thing which respects life. These 
 people, wherever dispersed, have carried with them 
 their language and religion, and abandoned none of 
 the customs but those which they could not preserve. 
 Even climate has had scarcely any effect upon them, 
 
 * Basnage, p. 748. Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, 
 p. 37. 
 
 t Essay on the Commercial Character of the Jews, p. 5.
 
 544 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 because their manner of life counteracts and weakens 
 its influence. Difference of periods and countries 
 has, therefore, strengthened their character, instead 
 of altering its original traits.* 
 
 The Jews, since their final expulsion from Pales- 
 tine, have universally attached themselves to traffic 
 for a subsistence. Being generally prohibited from 
 acquiring and cultivating land, and interdicted from 
 following trades and professions, the objects of their 
 industry have t" .'limited, and they compelled to 
 Y * ^ f confine themselves to commerce. The political 
 ,v A? .p state of the European powers in the middle ages 
 I furnished them with many, and even lawful means, 
 of enriching themselves. Buying and selling were 
 occupations confined exclusively to them ; and they 
 conducted the whole retail trade in Europe,* espe- 
 
 * The author of the Letters of certain Jews to Voltaire asserts, 
 that " the Jews, being dispersed in different nations, have assumed 
 their character. A Portuguese Jew of Bourdeaux," says he, " and 
 a German Jew of Metz, appear both to be absolutely different." 
 But the learned author, from whose work on the Reformation of the 
 Jews the above remarks are extracted, observes, " I allow this may 
 be the case in some shades ; the usual consequence of disparity of 
 fortune, poverty and opulence, luxury and misery. But by searching 
 historical documents we shall find, that, unless in the above respects, 
 the Jewish nation has ever been the most like itself at all times, both 
 in belief and usages. 
 
 " These people, however," says our author, " have been modified 
 by their dispersion ; but this modification extends only to two objects, 
 their obstinate attachment to their belief, which they abandoned with 
 ,so much facility in ancient times, and that spirit of avarice which 
 seems to be their ruling passion." Commerce has introduced a re- 
 markable change in their morals. But even commerce, which tends 
 to efface national characters, and to render them perfectly alike, has 
 scarcely made any impression on those of the Hebrew people. Gre- 
 goire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 34 36. 
 
 * It has been adduced in proof of this assertion, that the Jews have 
 only applied themselves to commerce since their dispersion ; that
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 545 
 
 daily in Germany. They improved the oppor- 
 tunities afforded them of acquiring wealth ; and 
 their opulence having awakened the avarice and 
 jealousy of their enemies, interest conspired with 
 superstition to endeavour their destruction. Being 
 continually persecuted and stript of their riches, 
 they found it essential to their existence to oppose 
 oppression by fraud. These acquired habits were 
 continued from age to age, and all the energy of 
 their minds directed to the pursu'* p gain. In con- 
 sequence of which their usurious practices increased 
 the public hatred, and excited fresh persecutions. 
 
 " It would, however," says a celebrated author, 
 " be highly unjust to imagine, that the whole Hebrew 
 nation are a people destitute of principles and good 
 morals. We find a number of striking exceptions 
 among the Jews of Portugal, Italy, France, and 
 above all Holland, where, for two centuries, not one 
 of them has been condemned to death ; among the 
 Jews of Germany, Amsterdam, Berlin, and even in 
 Lorrain ; among those in the English colonies, 
 where many of them, by their good conduct, have 
 attracted the notice of government; and if we attend 
 to the general prejudice entertained against them, 
 we must allow, that the Jews who meet with esteem 
 are undoubtedly worthy of it."* 
 
 while in Palestine there never was a people more attached to agri- 
 culture. The sacred history speaks of the trading fleets of Solomon, 
 but no others can he mentioned ; the genius of that great prince 
 created them ; and we find they were not continued by any of his 
 successors. Among the Hebrews there was always very little circu- 
 lation, and little barter ; their law appears to have been almost 
 directly contrary to the spirit of commerce. Gregoire on the Refor- 
 mation of the Jews, p. 106. 
 
 * Gregoire on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 40. 
 
 N N
 
 546 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 Another late author remarks, that te the Jews on 
 many accounts are entitled to a very high degree of 
 esteem, from their general character and deportment. 
 Their charities to the poor of their own communion 
 are immense ; and their peculiar isolated situation 
 through the world, in the midst of strangers, has 
 drawn the bonds of affection towards one another 
 more close. Their care to adjust their differences 
 in civil concerns amicably among themselves is edi- 
 fying ; and let it not be forgotten, that, if on any 
 account they are justly censurable, our unworthy 
 treatment of them may have forced them into the 
 very acts which we condemn/'* 
 
 In the midst of their calamities and depression, 
 the Jews have all along paid some attention to their 
 language and religion ; but dispersed as they are, 
 and without a country of their own, they cannot be 
 expected to have such national establishments as 
 universities ; yet in almost every considerable town 
 on the continent, where they reside in any great 
 numbers, schoolsf are formed under the auspices of 
 their presiding or dominant rabbies, who confer 
 titles on their scholars, or on others who deserve 
 them. They appear to have two degrees, analogous 
 
 * Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 80. 
 
 + They formerly established the celebrated academies of Jafna, 
 Tiberias, Jerusalem, Lydda, Cesarea, Sephora in Galilee, Pheruty, 
 Bitterah near Shibour, Sora, Nahardea, Pundebita, Lund, Alex- 
 andria; and at a later period those of Sapheta, Thessalonica, Prague, 
 Fez, Cracow, Rome, Bologna, Vienna, and Augsburg. In the 
 present century, since their condition is ameliorated, we find them 
 establishing schools in Germany, and other places ; and making great 
 improvements in literature. The following are their most distin- 
 guished academies in the present day ; viz. Salonichi, Fez, Padua, 
 Amsterdam, Rome.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 547 
 
 to, and most probably taken from the usages at uni- 
 versities ; the one rabbi, nearly equivalent to A. B. 
 and the other Morenu Rab, answering to doctor. 
 These appear to be of modern institution, and to 
 have commenced about the year 1420 ; previous to 
 which the latter term is not found ; and the distinc- 
 tion is supposed to have become necessary,, in order 
 to prevent the irregular conducting of marriages 
 and divorces, which every one presumed to do, in 
 consequence of the title of rabbi, although not suffi- 
 ciently informed, or qualified for the office. The 
 origin of these schools was evidently the sanhedrim 
 in the temple ; by whose determination the laws 
 were explained, and all the Mosaic institutions were 
 reduced to minute and actual practice. The form, 
 period, and manner of all ceremonies and observ- 
 ances were by them established, and handed down 
 to successive sanhedrims, who, as intricate circum- 
 stances and questions arose, gradually enlarged the 
 code, and provided for both extraordinary and ordi- 
 nary situations.* 
 
 An ingenious author, who is said to be of Jewish 
 origin, f has, however, observed, that " the entire 
 system of Hebrew education is inimical to the 
 progress of the human mind. Dark and stationary 
 in ignorance, or bewildered with intricate super- 
 
 * Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 57. 
 
 + M. Berr Isaac Berr, a celebrated literary Jew, in a letter ad- 
 dressed to his brethren, 1791, observes, " we have been in a manner 
 compelled to abandon the pursuit of all moral and physical sciences, 
 of all sciences in short, which tend to the improvement of the mind, 
 in order to devote ourselves entirely to commerce, to be enabled to 
 gather as much money as would ensure protection, and satisfy the 
 rapacity of our persecutors. Transactions of the Sanhedrim of Part's ^ 
 p. 14.
 
 548 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 stition, their modes of life are little favourable to 
 forming a taste for the productions of nature and 
 art; and the sole occupation permitted them, the 
 art of acquiring wealth, extinguishes their bolder 
 and prominent passions.* Men of learning among 
 the Jews are obliged to encounter numerous ob- 
 stacles ; and their most malignant and powerful 
 enemies are found among their domestic associates. 
 If a literary Christian is matured at thirty, a literary 
 Jew can scarcely be matured at forty. They have, 
 therefore, addicted themselves to those studies which 
 have little connexion with the manners of men. 
 They have had severe metaphysicians, and industrious 
 naturalists ; and have excelled in the practice of 
 medicine. But in polite letters they have had few 
 literary characters of eminence. Sensible that they 
 do not at present bear chains under tyrants, they 
 feel grateful that they exist under men ; but the 
 energies of glory die in inertion, and honour is 
 strangled by the silken cord of commerce." 
 
 The Hebrew nation are at present scattered over 
 the face of the habitable globe. They^afe nu- 
 merous in some parts of Asia, particularly the 
 Turkish dominions. Various countries in Africa 
 contain a large number, as Egypt and Ethiopia ; 
 and it is computed, that there are four hundred 
 thousand in Morocco, Algiers, and Fez.f They 
 are said to be more numerous in Poland than any 
 part of Europe ; and have been estimated at seven 
 
 * D' liraeli's Vaurien, or Sketches of the Times, vol. ii. p. 245 
 250. 
 
 * Boissi's Dissertations Critiques, &c.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 549 
 
 hundred thousand.* It is calculated that there are 
 about one hundred thousand Jews in France and 
 Italy, f Their number in Westphalia is estimated 
 at eighteen thousand. 
 
 The Jewish population in the world js computed 
 to be three millions, one of which resides in the 
 Turkish empire, in Europe and Asia ; three hundred 
 thousand in Persia, China, India, and Tartary ; 
 and one million seven hundred thousand in the rest 
 of Europe, Africa, and America. J 
 
 The history of the Jews exhibits a melancholy 
 picture of human wretchedness and depravity. On~"l 
 one hand we contemplate the lineal descendants of 
 the chosen people of God, forfeiting their inesti- 
 mable privileges by rejecting the glory of Israel, 
 and involving themselves in the most terrible cala- 
 mities ; condemned to behold the destruction of 
 their city and temple ; expelled their native country ; 
 dispersed through the world ; by turns persecuted 
 by Pagans, Christians, and Mahometans ; continu- 
 ally duped by impostors, yet still rejecting the true 
 Messiah. 
 
 On the other hand, we see the Christian world 
 enveloped in darkness and ignorance ; and the 
 
 * Gregoire's Histoire, &c. The Marquis de Salvo in his Travels in 
 1806, observes, that " without the Israelites the stranger in Lithuania 
 would find it impossible to travel, or even exist ; it seemed as if the 
 government itself, the lands, productions, houses, all, in short, were 
 in their possession." 
 
 t Transactions of the Sanhedrim. 
 
 J This is the calculation made by Basnage, when he concluded his 
 history. But Gregoire has observed, that since that epoch they have 
 experienced no great revolution by war, and we may increase this 
 number by one half, which will give four millions five hundred thou- 
 sand persons." Essay on the Reformation of the Jews, p. 67.
 
 550 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 professed disciples of the benevolent Redeemer 
 violating the fundamental precepts of the Gospel ; 
 assuming a shew of piety as a mask for avarice, and 
 a pretence for pillaging an unhappy people. If 
 from the west we turn to the east, we shudder over 
 similar scenes of horror ; wherever the Mahometan 
 banner is erected, contempt and misery await the 
 
 / Jews. In short, their history exhibits all the wild 
 fury of fanaticism ; the stern cruelty of avarice ; 
 a succession of massacres ; a repetition of plunders ; 
 shade without light ; a dreary wilderness, unen- 
 
 \ livened with one spot of verdure.* 
 
 Still, however, in traversing the desert, a won- 
 derful object arrests our attention, and the feelings 
 of indignation and compassion are suspended by 
 astonishment while we contemplate the " bush 
 burning with fire, and not consumed/' a helpless 
 face of men, whom all nations have endeavoured to 
 exterminate, subsisting during ages of unrelenting 
 persecution ; and though dispersed in all nations, 
 still in all countries preserving their own customs 
 and religious rites; connected with each other by 
 
 * Such has been the state of the Jews for a series of ages. But 
 in the last and present century their condition has been greatly ame- 
 liorated in various parts of Europe. " Christians," says Dr. Buchanan, 
 " in all countries begin to consider, that the indignation against the 
 holy people is nearly accomplished. Many events declare it. The 
 indignation of man is relaxing. The prophecies have been fulfilled 
 regarding it. The great crime at Calvary has been punished by all 
 nations : and we now hear the words of the prophet addressing us, 
 " Comfort ye, comfort ye ray people, saith your God ; speak ye com- 
 fortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accom- 
 plished, that her iniquity is pardoned," Isaiah xl. i. This rs the 
 divine command. And behold, Christians begin now, for the first 
 time, " to speak comfortably to Jerusalem." Buchanan's Researchct 
 in Asia, p. 210.
 
 HISTORY OP THE JEWS. 551 
 
 a community of sentiments,, of antipathies, and 
 pursuits, yet separated by a wonderful destination 
 from the general mass of mankind. 
 
 The preservation of the Jews as a distinct people, 
 is an event unparalleled in the annals of history. 
 To use the animated language of a modern writer* 
 of their own nation, " Braving all kinds of tor- 
 ments, the pangs of death, the still more terrible 
 pangs of life, we have withstood the impetuous 
 torrent of time, sweeping indiscriminately in its 
 course, nations, religions, and countries. What is 
 become of those celebrated empires whose very 
 name still excites our admiration by the ideas of 
 splendid greatness attached to them, and whose 
 power embraced the whole surface of the known 
 globe ? They are only remembered as monuments 
 of the vanity of human greatness. Rome and 
 Greece are no more ; their descendants, mixed with 
 other nations, have lost even the traces of their origin ; 
 while a population of a few millions of men, so 
 often subjugated, stands the test of thirty revolving 
 centuries, and the fiery ordeal of fifteen centuries of 
 persecution. We still preserve laws which were 
 given to us in the first days of the world, in the 
 infancy of nature. The last followers of a religion 
 which had embraced the universe have disappeared 
 these fifteen centuries, and our temples are still 
 
 * M. Michael Berr's " Appeal to the Justice of Kings and Nations," 
 written and published at Strasburg in 1801, and cited in the Transac- 
 tions of the Parisian Sanhedrim. This learned author is counsellor 
 at law, member of several academies, and deputy for the department 
 of la Seine. He still continues to exert all his talents in defence of 
 the rights and interests of the Jews, whom he proved, in the above 
 work, entitled to the benevolence of all sovereigns.
 
 552 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 standing. We alone have been spared by the un dis- 
 criminating hand of time, like a column left standing 
 amidst the wreck of worlds, and the ruins of nature. 
 The history of this people connects present times 
 with the first ages of the world, by the testimony it 
 bears of the existence of those early periods. It 
 begins at the cradle of mankind, and its remnants 
 are likely to be preserved to the very day of universat 
 destruction." 
 
 " The Jews," says a late Christian author, " are 
 a living and continual miracle, continuing to subsist 
 as a distinct and peculiar race for upwards of three 
 thousand years, and even in the midst of other 
 nations ; flowing forward in a full and continued 
 stream, like the waters of the Rhone, without 
 mixing with the waves of the expansive lake through 
 which the passage lies to the ocean of eternity."* 
 ^ The preservation of this extraordinary people 
 during their calamitous dispersion exhibits the faith- 
 fuluess of the Deity in fulfilling his gracious promise, 
 that, " when they are in the land of their enemies, he 
 will not cast them away, nor destroy them utterly/'f 
 and, " I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee ; 
 though I make a full end of all the nations whither 
 I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end 
 of thee, but will correct thee in measure/'^ &c. 
 The care of Divine Providence is wonderfully dis- 
 played in saving the outcasts of Israel from utter 
 extermination, while groaning under the most furious 
 intolerance. 
 
 * Adam's Religious World Displayed, vol. i. p. 16. 
 
 t Leviticus xxxiii. 44. t Jeremiah XXT. 11. 
 
 \ " We ought above all," says a Jewish writer, " to return our
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 553 
 
 Though, from the destruction of Jerusalem to 
 the sixteenth century, there are few countries in 
 which they have not been successively banished, 
 recalled, and again expelled ; yet they have never 
 been banished from one country without finding an 
 asylum in another. 
 
 The exemption of the Jews from the common 
 fate of nations, affords a striking proof of the truth 
 of the sacred scriptures. They are, as was foretold, 
 dispersed over the habitable globe, being themselves 
 the depositories of those oracles in which their own 
 unbelief and consequent sufferings are clearly pre- 
 dicted. " Had the Jews/' says Pascal, " been all 
 converted, we should have had none but suspected wit- 
 nesses ; had they been all destroyed, we should have 
 had no witnesses at all." The exact accomplish- 
 ment of our Saviour's prediction respecting the de- 
 struction of their city and temple, and the calamities 
 they have endured since their dispersion, have fur- 
 nished every age with the strongest arguments for 
 \jthg. truth of the Christian religion. One of the 
 great designs of their being preserved and continued 
 a distinct people appears to be, that their singular 
 destiny might confirm the divine authority of the 
 Gospel, which they reject ; and that they might 
 strengthen the faith of others in those sacred truths, 
 to which they refuse to yield their own assent. 
 
 The future conversion of the Jews has been the 
 subject of various works published in Europe in the 
 last, and especially since the commencement of the 
 
 thanks to Providence, who has not suffered that the aged tree should 
 be torn up by the roots, though it has often permitted that its 
 branches should severely suffer."
 
 554 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 
 
 present century.* Many pious and learned men 
 "'have supposed that they will not only be converted 
 I to the Christian religion, but restored to Palestine, 
 \and placed in a state more splendid and glorious than 
 r. In support of this opinion it is argued, that 
 they never have received that abundance of temporal 
 and spiritual blessings,, which.it was predicted they 
 should enjoy after their return from captivity ; that 
 the promises relate to the twelve tribes, as well as 
 those of Judah and v Benjamin ; that a double 
 return is predicted by several prophets ; and that 
 those who lived after the Babylonian captivity have 
 foretold their restoration in similar terms with those 
 who preceded them. The concurring testimony 
 which arises from the state of the Jews in the world, 
 and the expectation they entertain of being restored 
 to their own land, have also been adduced in support 
 of this opinion. f 
 
 The prophecies, however, which are alleged in 
 order to prove the return of the Hebrew nation to 
 Palestine, can only be completely explained by the 
 events which accomplish them. " Over the Jews as 
 well as us revelation extends its majestic veil." 
 
 * Dr. Hartley, Dr. Priestley, and others, have written in defence 
 of the restoration of the Jews to their native country. At a later 
 period Mr. Faber has published a work on this subject, in which he 
 adduces various passages from the prophets, with a view to show, 
 that after a period of the most terrible political convulsions which the 
 world ever witnessed, the Jews will be restored to Palestine, partly in 
 a converted, and partly in an unconverted state ; that the ten tribes 
 will be afterwards converted and restored, and with the tribe of Judah 
 united under one head, the king Messiah, and reign with him a thou- 
 sand years in high pre-eminence among the nations of the earth. 
 Then modern Judaism and Popery, Paganism and Mahometanism, 
 will be exchanged for the pure and undented religion of the Gospel. 
 
 + Hartley's Observations on Man, vol. iii. p. 373.
 
 HISTORY OF THE JEWS. 555 
 
 But while the operations of Divine Providence 
 are rapidly unfolding the volume of predictions, the 
 sacred page has already clearly opened a source of 
 consolation to those who are anxiously waiting for 
 the redemption of Israel. An inspired apostle has 
 assured us, that the Jews, " the natural branches of 
 the Olive Tree/'* though now broken off by un- 
 belief, will " be grafted in again," and participate 
 with the Gentiles in the blessings resulting from 
 faith in Jesus the Messiah. Persuaded then of this, 
 on the ground of Divine Revelation, and commiser- 
 ating a people who have been, during so many ages, 
 exiles from their own land, and exposed, as this 
 history has fully shewn, to numberless calamities 
 attendant on banishment, the Christian reader can- 
 not surely close this volume more suitably than 
 with a resolution to pray frequently and fervently 
 for their promised conversion, and with a generous 
 desire to enrol his own name amongst those of the 
 subscribers to the " London Society for promoting 
 Christianity amongst the Jews ;" a Society whose 
 views are pure, disinterested, and extensive ; and 
 whose efforts, it seems highly probable, the God of 
 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will in the present age 
 honour, as the means of bringing descendants of 
 those illustrious patriarchs, to the acknowledgment 
 of the " truth as it is in Jesus," and " the obedience 
 of faith." 
 
 * See Romans xi. 24.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE ten tribes who were carried captive by the king of 
 Assyria have been lost for more than two thousand years. 
 Various conjectures have been formed, both by Jews and 
 Christians, respecting the place of their residence;* some 
 of which shall be briefly mentioned. 
 
 Menasses Ben Israel, in a work, styled, " The Hope of 
 Israel," has attempted to prove, that the American natives 
 were the descendants of the ten tribes. This opinion has 
 been adopted by some Christian writers, particularly by 
 James Adair, Esq. a trader with the Indians, and resident 
 in the country for forty years. He was a most careful 
 observer of their whole economy, both public and private, 
 and had the best opportunity of knowing it, without much 
 danger of deception. In a work, entitled, " The History 
 of the American Indians," he concludes his observations 
 on their origin and descent as follows : " From the most 
 exact observations I could make in the long time I traded 
 among the Indian Americans, I was forced to believe them 
 lineally descended from the Israelites, either while they 
 were a maritime power, or soon after the general captivity ; 
 the last, however, is the most probable. Had the nine 
 tribes and a half of Israel, which were carried off by 
 Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and settled in Media, con- 
 tinued there long, it is very probable, by intermarrying 
 with the natives, and from their natural fickleness and 
 proneness to idolatry and the force of example, that they 
 would have adopted and bowed before the gods of the 
 
 * For far more satisfactory observations, than this Appendix fur- 
 nishes, respecting the places of residence of the descendants of the 
 ten tribes, see Dr. Buchanan's Christian Researches.
 
 APPENDIX. 55T 
 
 Medes and Assyrians, and have carried them along with 
 them ; but there is not a trace of this idolatry among the 
 Indians." Hence he argues, that the ten tribes, who were 
 the forefathers of the Americans, soon advanced eastward 
 from Assyria, and reached their settlements in the new 
 continent before the destruction of the first temple.* 
 
 In order to prove that the American Indians are de- 
 scended from the ten tribes, Mr. Adair adduces various 
 arguments; a sketch of his mode of reasoning is as 
 follows : 
 
 1st. All the Israelites were divided into tribes, and had 
 chiefs over them, so the Indians divide themselves ; each 
 tribe forms a little community within the nation. As the 
 nation hath its particular symbol, so each tribe hath the 
 badge from which it is denominated . The sachem of each 
 tribe is a necessary party in conveyances and treaties, to 
 which he affixes the mark of his tribe. If we go from 
 nation to nation among them, we shall not find one, who 
 doth not lineally distinguish himself by his respective 
 family. The genealogical names, which they assume, are 
 derived either from the names of those animals whereof the 
 cherubim are said in revelation to be compounded, or 
 from such creatures as are most similar to them. The 
 Indians, however, bear no religious respect to the animals 
 from whence they derive their name; on the contrary, 
 they kill them when opportunity serves. When we con- 
 sider that these savages have been above twenty centuries 
 without the use of letters to carry down their traditions,, it 
 cannot reasonably be expected, that they should still 
 retain the identical names of their priraogenial tribes; 
 their principal customs corresponding with those of the 
 Israelites sufficiently clears the subject. Besides, as hath 
 been hinted, they call some of their tribes by the names 
 of the cherubinical figures that were carried on the four 
 principal standards of Israel. 
 
 2nd. By a strict permanent divine precept, the Hebrew 
 
 * Adair'g History of the American Indians.
 
 558 APPENDIX. 
 
 nation were ordered to worship at Jerusalem, Jehovah, 
 the true and living God, who, by the Indians, is styled 
 Yohewah. The ancient heathens, it is well known, wor- 
 shipped a plurality of gods, as various as the countries 
 they inhabited ; and as numerous with some as the days of 
 the year. But the Indian Americans pay their religious 
 devoir to the " great beneficent, supreme, holy spirit of 
 fire," who resides, (as they think) above the clouds, and 
 on earth also with unpolluted people. He is with them 
 the sole author of all animated and vegetable nature. 
 They do not pay the least perceivable worship to any 
 image, or to dead persons, neither to the celestial lumi- 
 naries, nor evil spirits, nor any created being what- 
 soever.* 
 
 3d. Agreeably to the theocracy, or divine government 
 of Israel, the Indians think the Deity to be the immediate 
 head of their state. All the nations of Indians are ex- 
 ceedingly intoxicated with religious pride, and have an 
 inexpressible contempt of the white people. They used 
 to call us in their war orations, the accursed people. But 
 they flatter themselves with the name of the beloved 
 people, because their supposed ancestors, as they affirm, 
 were under the immediate government of the Deity, who 
 was present with them in a very peculiar manner, and 
 directed them by prophets, while the rest of the world 
 were aliens and outlaws to the covenant. When the old 
 Archimagus, or any one of their Magi, is persuading the 
 people at their religious solemnities to a strict observance 
 of the old beloved, or divine speech, he always calls them 
 the beloved or holy people, agreeably to the Hebrew 
 epithet Ammi, (my people) during the theocracy of Israel. 
 He urges them with great energy to imitate their virtuous 
 ancestors, and flourishes upon their beloved land, which 
 flowed with milk and honey. It is their opinion of the 
 theocracy, or that God chose them out of all the rest of 
 mankind, as his peculiar people, which alike animates 
 
 * Adair, p. 15.
 
 APPENDIX. 559 
 
 both the White Jew and the Red American with that 
 steady hatred against all the world except themselves, and 
 renders them hated or despised by all. 
 
 4th. The Indian language and dialects appear to have 
 the very idiom and genius of the Hebrew. Their words 
 and sentences are expressive, concise, emphatical, sono- 
 rous, and bold ; and often both in letters and signification 
 are synonymous with the Hebrew language.* 
 
 5th. They count time after the manner of the Hebrews. 
 They divide the year into spring, summer, autumn, or 
 the falling of the leaf, and winter. They number their 
 years from any of these four periods, for they have no 
 name for a year ; and they subdivide these, and count the 
 year by lunar months, like the Israelites, who reckoned by 
 moons. The number and regular periods of the Indians' 
 religious feasts is a good historical proof that they counted 
 time by and observed a weekly sabbath long after their 
 arrival on the American continent. They began their year 
 at the first appearance of the first new moon of the vernal 
 equinox, according to the ecclesiastical year of Moses. 
 
 6th. In conformity to and after the manner of the Jews, 
 the Indian Americans have their prophets, high priests, 
 and others of a religious order. As the Jews had a sanctum 
 sanctorum, so have all the Indian nations. There they 
 deposit their consecrated vessels, none of the laity daring 
 to approach this sacred place ; the Indian tradition says, 
 that their ancestors were possessed of an extraordinary 
 divine spirit, by which they foretold things future, and 
 controuled the common course of nature, and this they 
 transmitted to their offspring, provided they obeyed the 
 sacred laws annexed to it. Their pontifical office descends 
 by inheritance to their children. Mr. Adair also traces 
 a resemblance between the dress of the Indian Archimagus, 
 when he officiates in making the supposed holy fire for the 
 
 * Mr. Adair has adduced a number of examples to shew the sim- 
 ilarity of the Hebrew and Indian languages.
 
 560 APPENDIX. 
 
 yearly atonement for sin, and that of the Jewish high 
 priest.* 
 
 7th. The ceremonies of the Indians in their religious 
 worship are more after the Mosaic Institution than of 
 Pagan imitation, which could not be if the majority of the 
 old nation were of heathenish descent. They are utter 
 strangers to all the gestures practised by Pagans in their 
 religious rites. According to Mr. Adair, the American 
 Indians have, like the Hebrews, a sacred ark, in which 
 are kept various holy vessels. " It is," says he, " worthy 
 of notice that they never place the ark on the ground, nor 
 sit on the bare earth while they are carrying it against the 
 enemy. On hilly ground where stones are plenty they 
 place it on them ; but in level land upon short logs, always 
 resting themselves on the same materials. They have also 
 as strong a faith of the power and holiness of their ark, as 
 ever the Israelites retained of theirs. The Indian ark is 
 deemed so sacred and dangerous to touch, either by their 
 own sanctified warriors or the spoiling enemy, that neither 
 of them dare meddle with it on any account. It is not to 
 be handled by any, except the chieftain and his waiter, 
 under penalty of incurring great evil ; nor would the most 
 inveterate enemy dare to touch it. The leader virtually 
 acts the part of a priest of war, pro tempore, in imitation 
 of the Israelites fighting under the divine military banner.t 
 
 8th. The Israelites had cities of refuge for those who 
 killed a person unawares. In like manner each of the 
 Indian nations have either a house or town of refuge, which 
 is a sure asylum to protect a manslayer or the unfortunate 
 captive if they once enter 'into it. In every Indian nation 
 there are several peaceable towns, called old beloved, 
 ancient holy, and white towns, which appear to have been 
 formerly towns of refuge. 
 
 9th. Mr. Adair proceeds to point out the resemblance 
 between the festivals, fasts, and religious rites of the 
 Hebrews, and those of the American Indians. He ob- 
 
 * Adair, p. 81. t Adair, p. 162.
 
 APPENDIX. 561 
 
 serves, that before the latter go to war, they have many 
 preparatory sacrifices of purification and fasting. He 
 points out the similarity in their daily sacrifice; their 
 ablutions and anointings ; their abstinence from unclean 
 things ; their marriages, divorces, and punishment for 
 adultery ; their several punishments ; their burial of the 
 dead ; their mourning for the deceased, and various other 
 particulars. He then proceeds to adduce his last argu- 
 ment for the origin of the Indian Americans, from their 
 own traditions, from the accounts of our English authors, 
 and from the testimonies which the Spanish writers have 
 given concerning the primitive inhabitants of Peru and 
 Mexico. 
 
 o o
 
 INDEX. 
 
 A 
 
 Page 
 
 AARON, (caliph) his liberality to the Jews 170 
 
 Abbas, Shah, convenes the Jewish rabbies 895 
 
 Abbas II. persecutes the Jews 297 
 
 Abraham Ben Ezra, account of 209 
 
 Abarbanel, a learned Spanish rabbi .. 262 
 
 Abelda, Moses, a learned Jewish writer 304 
 
 Academies, Jewish, their origin 96 
 
 , flourishing state in tenth century 178 
 
 Acosta, Uriel, account of 875 
 
 Adrian, rebellion of the Jews during his reign 105 
 
 Affghans, supposed to be the ten tribes 538 
 
 Ageda, council of Jews convened at this place 339 
 
 , proceedings of the assembly .... S40 
 
 Agolrard, bishop, his attempt against the Jews 175 
 
 Agrippa I. grandson to Herod the Great, made king ............ 56 
 
 Agrippa II. attempts to dissuade the Jews from engaging in war 62 
 
 Akibha, his character 103 
 
 , favours the pretensions of Barchocheba 107 
 
 , is put to a cruel death 109 
 
 Albinus, the Roman governor, his character 59 
 
 Alcimus made high priest 25 
 
 Aleppo, of the Jews in this city 439 
 
 Alexander the Great enters Jerusalem in a friendly manner 8 
 
 . favours the Jews 9 
 
 Alexander Janneus, his altercation with the Pharisees 32 
 
 Alexandrina, his wife, favours the Pharisees 33 
 
 Alexander Severus favours the Jews 120 
 
 Alexander VI. pope, treats the Jews with humanity 284 
 
 Alexander, (emperor of Russia) his edict in favor of the Jews. . 41 1 
 
 Algiers, the Jews unjustly put to death there 325 
 
 Almansor, caliph, patronizes the Jews 1 68 
 
 Alphonso Peter, a converted Jew 216 
 
 Alphonso, king of Spain, raises the Jews to offices 184 
 
 Alphonso VIII. cause of bis indulgence to the Jews ............ 203
 
 INDEX. 563 
 
 Page 
 
 Alphonso X. patronizes the learned of the Jewish nation 252 
 
 Alphonso XI. protects the Jews , 255 
 
 Alsace, Jews numerous in that province 415 
 
 Alsheh, Moses, a famous Jewish preacher 301 
 
 Al-Wathek, caliph, oppresses the Jews 170 
 
 Ananus, the high priest, takes arms against the Zealots . , 70 
 
 Ananus revives the sect of the Sadducees , 169 
 
 Antiochus the Great'Conquers Syria and Palestine 13 
 
 Antiochus Epiphanes persecutes the Jews 15 
 
 Antiochus Eupator conducts the war against the Jews '. . . 24 
 
 Autiochus Sidetes invades Palestine 30 
 
 Antipater made lieutenant of Judea 37 
 
 Arabia, of the Jews in that country , 443 
 
 Archelaus, son of Herod, deposed by Augustus 43 
 
 Argun Jehan favours the Jews 293 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Hyrcanus, his cruelty 31 
 
 Aristobulus, son of Alexander Jauneus, takes arms against bis 
 
 brother , . . 33 
 
 , is put to death , . 37 
 
 Armeuia, Jews persecuted in that country , 299 
 
 Asce, a famous rabbi, compiles the Babylonian Talmud 142 
 
 Asmonean family, end of their reign 38 
 
 Asmouil, a Jew, embraces Mahometanism 215 
 
 Assembly of Jewish deputies convened in France 419 
 
 , their proceedings 426 
 
 Athias, Joseph, a celebrated Jewish printer 375 
 
 Avignon, of the Jews in 416 
 
 Azael, Judas, a famous Jewish preacher , 356, 
 
 B. 
 
 Bagdat, Jews numerous in this city 298 
 
 Balschem, Israel, forms a new sect 517 
 
 Barchocheba proclaims himself the Messiah 1 07 
 
 raises an army against the Romans ib. 
 
 Baruc, a cabbalistical Jew ... 270 
 
 Benedict XIII. pope, endeavours to convert the Jews 257 
 
 Benjamin de Tutlela, his account of the Jews in the 12th century 1U8 
 
 Bernard, St. protects the Jews from the Crusaders 198 
 
 Bible, origin of its division into chapters and verses 352 
 
 Bill passed for the naturalization of the Jews 389 
 
 ' , it is repealed 3<J2 
 
 Bloch, Mark Eleazar, a Jewish physician 403 
 
 Bohemia, Jews expelled from 332
 
 564 INDEX. 
 
 Pag 
 
 Boleslaus, king, grants privileges to the Jews 270 
 
 Boraberg, David, prints Hebrew books in Venice 352 
 
 Borg, Ernestus Maximilian, converted to Christianity 346 
 
 Braga, archbishop of, engages the Jews in a conspiracy against 
 
 the house of Braganza 362 
 
 Buchanan, Dr. his account of the Jews in India 448 
 
 , Speech to the London Society 533 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabbala, account of 98 
 
 Caligula, emperor, claims divine honours 56 
 
 Caliphs, Mahometan, state of the Jews under 155 
 
 Candia, Jews in this island deluded by an impostor 134 
 
 Caraite Jews, their tenets 49 
 
 , colony of, in the Crimea 411 
 
 , number of, in the seventeenth century _. 49 G 
 
 Carbe, Victor, a converted Jew 328 
 
 Carigal, Hajem 461 
 
 Carolina, Jews in this state 465 
 
 Casimire the Great grants privileges to the Jews 275 
 
 Cavades, king of Persia, persecutes the Jews 145 
 
 Ceremonies of the Jews 470 
 
 Cesarea, contest concerning this city 61 
 
 Cesti us Callus besieges Jerusalem 64 
 
 Charlemagne, his conduct to the Jews 173 
 
 Charles the Bald, poisoned by a Jewish physician 1 76 
 
 Charles VI. expels the Jews from France 247 
 
 Charles V. emperor, his aversion to the Jews 360 
 
 Charleston, of the Jews in this city 4G5 
 
 Chasidim, their tenets 517 
 
 Childebert, his decree against the Jews 164 
 
 Chilperic persecutes the Jews 165 
 
 China, of the Jews in this empire 444 
 
 Chintilla expels the Jews from Spain 1 60 
 
 Cbosroes the Great, treats the Jews with rigour 145 
 
 Chosroes II. takes Jerusalem 147 
 
 Chozar, king of, embraces Judaism 167 
 
 Christians retire from Judea 64 
 
 Church, Jewish, its government 482 
 
 Clement V. favours the Jews 282 
 
 Clement VI. treats them with indulgence 283 
 
 "Clement VIII. allows the Jews liberty of conscience 352 
 
 Cochin, of the Jews in 452
 
 INDEX. 565 
 
 Page 
 
 Cohen, Aaron, a famous Caraite .... .......................... 293 
 
 Cohen, Nehemiah, informs the sultan against Tzevi ............ 312 
 
 Constautiue the Great, treats the Jews with severity ...... . ..... 123 
 
 Constantius, insurrection of the Jews under his reign .......... 125 
 
 Gophni, Samuel, a learned rabbi ............................ 186 
 
 Cordova, Moses, a famous Cabbalist ................. . ........ 300 
 
 Cranganor, account of the Jews in .......................... 449 
 
 Cromwell favours the re-admission of the Jews to England ...... 384 
 
 Crusaders, their origin ..... .- .................. .............. 185 
 
 -- , their cruelty to the Jews ................... 1 ..... 191 
 
 Cy rene, rebellion at .......................................... 1 05 
 
 Cyril, bishop, his violent conduct to the Jews . ...... ..... ---- 135 
 
 Dagobert, king of France, banishes the Jews .................. 1 65 
 
 Darius, king of Persia, ratifies the edict of Cyrus .............. 3 
 
 David, prince of the captivity, his arrogance .................. 179 
 
 David Lemlein, an impostor ................................. 278 
 
 Dedication, feast of ......................................... 479 
 
 Dedication of the temple at Seezen ...... . ................... 410 
 
 Denmark, of the Jews in .................................... 412 
 
 Dessau, schools at .......................................... 404 
 
 Dominick, a converted Jew .................................. 300 
 
 Domitian, emperor, his rigour in taxing the Jews ............ 93 
 
 Duitch, Solomon, a convert to Christianity .................. 531 
 
 E. 
 
 Edicts issued against the Jews by Adrian ...................... 110 
 
 -- , by Constantino ................................... 123 
 
 - , by Constantius ... ................................. 125 
 
 - , by Theodosius II ................................... 133 
 
 , by Justinian ...................................... 148 
 
 -- , by Heraclius ...................................... 1 5g 
 
 -- , by Chintila ....................................... 1 60 
 
 - , by the councils of Toledo .................... 161 13 
 
 -- , by Childebert ...................................... 164 
 
 - , by Dagobert ................................ , .... 165 
 
 - , by Wamba ....................................... 1 66 
 
 , by Iman Jaaffer ................................ ... 169 
 
 1 - , by Montarakel ......................... . .......... 171 
 
 -- , by Ladislaus ..................................... 190 
 
 -- , by Edward 1 ....................................... 235 
 
 - , by Philip Augustus ............................... 236
 
 566 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Edicts issued against the Jews ; by Lewis the Saint 237 
 
 , by the duke of Brittany 240 
 
 , by the council of Lyons 241 
 
 , by the council of Vienna ib. 
 
 , by Philip the Fair ib* 
 
 , by Philip the Tall 243 
 
 , by Charles VI 247 
 
 , by Ferdinand and Isabella 262 
 
 , by the council of Vienna ... 273 
 
 , by the emperor of Germany 275 
 
 , by the council of Basil 277 
 
 , by pope John XXIII 2*4 
 
 Edicts in favour of the Jews, by Charles, king of Naples 359 
 
 , by Joseph II > 398 
 
 , by Leopold s. ,. ib. 
 
 , by Alexander 411 
 
 Edgardus, (Esdras) converts many Jews 338 
 
 Edward I. his severity to the Jews 233 
 
 Egypt, Jews numerous in this country 319 
 
 Eleazar, a zealot, his party 73 
 
 Emanuel, (king of Portugal) his cruelty to the Jews 266 
 
 Essciies, their tenets 49 
 
 Ethiopia, of the Jews in this country 317 
 
 Expiation, (fastof) 479 
 
 F. 
 
 Falasha, an account of *.. 317 
 
 Felix, character of 59 
 
 Ferdinand, (king of Spain) persecutes the Jews 184 
 
 Ferdinand III. (emperor of Germany) grants privileges to the 
 
 Jews 338 
 
 Festus, state of the Jews under his government 59 
 
 Fez, Jews numerous in 325 
 
 Flagellants, their cruelty to the Jews 273 
 
 Florus, character of 59 
 
 Frankel, editor of a Jewish literary journal 404 
 
 Furtado, (Abraham) president of the Jewish Assembly 420 
 
 G. 
 
 Galilee reduced by the Romans 69 
 
 Gantz, (David) a Jewish historian 333 
 
 Gaulonites, their tenets 52 
 
 Gedaliah, a learned rabbi ,. 303
 
 INDEX. 567 
 
 Page 
 
 Gerizira, (temple of) built 10 
 
 Gersion, a learned rabbi 1 ?8 
 
 Ghetto, or quarter for the Jews that are iu Padua .... S56 
 
 Goldsmids, Jewish merchants 396 
 
 Gotescal makes war upon the Jews 190 
 
 Gozani, (a Jesuit,) his account of the Jews in China 445 
 
 Grecian cities, of the Jews in 304 
 
 Gregory the Great, his indulgence to the Jews *... 15ff 
 
 Gregory IX. protects the Jews from the Crusaders 280 
 
 Gregoire, (bishop and senator) writes in favour of the Jews .... 417 
 , Extract of a letter from... 415 
 
 H. 
 
 Hakem, an impostor, his tenets 1 69 
 
 Hakem, (caliph) attempts to establish a new religion 1 80 
 
 Halevi, (Abraham and Judah) famous rabbics 214 
 
 Halle, an institution formed there for the conversion of the 
 
 Jews 397 
 
 Hamburg, of the Jews in this city 338 
 
 Hay, a celebrated rabbi 179 
 
 Heilbronner, a convert to Christianity 345 
 
 Heliodorus attempts to plunder the temple 14 
 
 Heliogabalus attempts to blend Judaism with Paganism 120 
 
 Hellenists read the Septuagint in their synagogues 118 
 
 Henry II. tolerates the Jews 22S 
 
 Henry III. oppresses the Jews 230 
 
 Henry IV. (emperor) defends the Jews 191 
 
 Heraclius persecutes the Jews 157 
 
 Herod the Great obtains the crown of Judea , 38 
 
 , his tyranny and cruelty 39 
 
 , rebuilds the temple ; his death 40, 42 
 
 Herodians, their tenets . . 51 
 
 Hertz, (Mark) a learned Jew 403 
 
 Holland, settlement of the Jews in this country 370 
 
 , of the learned men who flourished in the seventeenth 
 
 century 372 
 
 , oppressions of their Syndics 432 
 
 , they form a separate synagogue 434 
 
 , of the learned men among them in the thirteenth and 
 
 nineteenth centuries 436 
 
 Honorius, emperor, allows the Jews liberty of conscience 137 
 
 Hormisdas favours the Jews 146 
 
 Hospital for the Jews, erected in London 395
 
 568 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Houcwitz, Zalkind, writes in favour of the Jews 417 
 
 Hypatia teaches philosophy ....^..^.. 136 
 
 is assassinated 137 
 
 I. 
 
 Jd umeans conquered by Hyrcanus 30 
 
 introduced into Jerusalem 71 
 
 Infidelity, its prevalence among the Jews 493 
 
 Innocent XI. pope, favours the Jews 357 
 
 Isaacs, five eminent rabbies of that name 186 
 
 Ishmael, Sophi, his aversion to the Jews 294 
 
 Isidore of Seville, his moderation 1 60 
 
 Israel, Daniel, an impostor 315 
 
 J. 
 
 Jacobson, his efforts to civilize the Jews 408 
 
 , extract of a letter from 409. 
 
 Jamaica, settlement of the Jews in this Island 458 
 
 James, king of Arragon, approves of the Jewish prayer books 253 
 
 James II. king of England, favours the Jews 387 
 
 Jarchi, Solomon, a famous rabbi 212 
 
 Jason, purchases the high priesthood. ..... _.. 15 
 
 Jechiel, a famous rabbi 209 
 
 Jechiel, a converted Jew 355 
 
 Jerome de Santa Fide defends the Christian religion .... 257 
 
 Jerusalem, rebuilt under the Persian monarchy, 4 ; fortified by Jon- 
 athan, 28; reduced by Forapey, 35; its strength previous to its 
 being besieged by Titus, 75; terrible destruction of, by the 
 Romans, 86 ; it \ rebuilt by Adrian, and its name changed to Elia, 
 lOfi; enlarged and beautified by Constantine, and its ancient name 
 restored, 123; taken by Chosroes II. the Persian king, 147; 
 retaken by Heraclius, the emperor of Constantinople, 190; con- 
 quered by Omar, the Saracen caliph, 154; after being taken from 
 the Saracens by the Seljukian Turks, it was reduced by the Cru- 
 saders under Godfrey, who is elected kiug of it, 193 ; forced from 
 the Europeans by Saladin, the Mahometan Sultan of Egypt, 225; 
 the Jews never numerous in this city since their dispersion, 299 ; 
 account of their wretched condition in the nineteenth century 
 under the Ottoman Turks, 442. 
 
 Jews, (before Christ) they return from captivity, 2; state of under the 
 kings of Persia, 3 ; under Alexander the Great and his successors, 
 9 15; they are persecuted by Antiochus Epiphanes, 1523; they, 
 revolt under Mattathias, 21 ; they regain their independence, 28;
 
 INDEX. 569 
 
 their state under the Asmonean princes, 28 34; they are reduced 
 by Pompey, 35 ; state of, at the time of Christ's appearance, 36 52. 
 
 Jews, .after Christ) the gospel first preached to them, 55; they are 
 cruelly oppressed by the Roman goyernors, 56; they revolt, 62; 
 vast numbers of them are massacred, 63 ; a formidable army is 
 sent against them, 66; they are repeatedly defeated with great 
 slaughter, till all Galilee is reduced, 07 69 ; of the different par- 
 ties among them, 70; intestine war in Jerusalem, 72; they are 
 besieged in the city by Titus, 76 ; their terrible sufferings during 
 th siege, 78 84 ; numbers of them destroyed and taken captive 
 during the war, 87. 
 
 Jews, (after the destruction of their city and temple,) 91 ; they are 
 dispersed over the world, 92; confirmed in their attachment to oral 
 traditions after the dissolution of their national polity, 96; of the 
 rebellion caused by a false Messiah, 107 ; vast numbers destroyed 
 in the war, 108; of their state in the east, 112; condition in the 
 west under several of the Pagan Roman emperors, 113 122 ; they 
 are treated with severity by the first Christian emperors, 123 125 ; 
 they are favoured by Julian the apostate, 126; they insult the 
 Christians at the feast of Purim, 132; their altercations with the 
 Christians at Alexandria, 135 ; those in the east persecuted by the 
 Persian monarchs, 145; those in the west cruelly oppressed by 
 Justinian, 148; their state after the appearance of Mahomet, and 
 under the first caliphs, 152 155; the persecution they suffered in 
 Spain and France during the seventh century, 159 166; their situ- 
 ation under the Mahometan caliphs in the eighth and ninth cen- 
 turies, 169 171; the condition of those in France during the 
 same periods, 137 177$ those under the Saracens cultivate 
 learning in the dark ages, 178 181; their state in Spain in the 
 eleventh century, 182; learned men among those in Spain and 
 France in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, 187 189; their 
 sufferings in Germany and other countries from the Crusaders, 
 191 195; causes of the general hatred against them, 195; account 
 of their situation and numbers in various parts in the twelfth 
 century, 198 '468 ; account of the learned men and false Mes- 
 siahs who appeared among them during the twelfth century, 
 209 220 ; their sufferings in England from the eleventh century 
 to their expulsion by Edward I. 221 235; in France, from 
 the eleventh century to the time of their banishment by Charles VI. 
 236 248 ; in Spain, from the thirteenth century to their being 
 expelled by Ferdinand and Isabella, 250 265 ; in Portugal, where 
 they sought an asylum, till the time of their banishment by Ema- 
 nuel, 266, 267 ; persecution they suffered in Germany from the
 
 570 INDEX. 
 
 thirteenth century till they were expelled from the empire, 
 209 278 ; their condition during the same periods more tolerable 
 in Italy, though they were sometimes persecuted, 280 286; exact 
 accomplishment of prophecy in their fate during the middle ages, 
 287 291 > account of those in the east from the thirteenth cen. 
 tury to 1665, 292304; of Zabathai Tzevi, a false Messiah who 
 appeared 1666, 305 316; account of their number and condition 
 in various parts of Africa, 317 327. Of those in Germany, 
 in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 3'28 335; their flou- 
 rishing state in Poland under John Sobieski in the seventeenth 
 century, 337 ; particulars respecting them in various parts of Ger- 
 many and Poland, 337 346 ; account of those in Italy from the 
 sixteenth to the eighteenth century, 347 359 ; they attempt in 
 vain to obtain a settlement and a toleration in Spain and Portugal, 
 and assume the mask of Christianity, 360 367- Of their settle- 
 ment in Holland, and the learned men who appeared among them 
 in the seventeenth century, 370 382 ; of their return to England 
 in the seventeenth century, 385; their state in' the kingdom from 
 that period to the nineteenth century, 386 396. Favourable 
 change in their condition in Germany and other countries during 
 the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, 397 412. Account of 
 those in France from their establishment in Metz to the nineteenth 
 century, 413 431 ; in Holland, in the eighteenth and nineteenth 
 centuries, 432 437; of their state in the Turkish dominions, and 
 other countries in Asia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, 
 438 454 ; of those in various parts of America, 455 467 ; of 
 their synagogue worship, religious rites and ceremonies, 468 
 483. Account of their religious tenets, and of the sects which 
 still exist among them, 484497. Of the dissimulation of many 
 of this people who have professed Christianity ; and of the efforts 
 which are now used in England to effect their conversion, 530 533. 
 Of their character, moral and literary, 544 548 > of their number, 
 549. Concluding reflections, 549 555. 
 
 Jochaides, Simeon, a famous cabbalist 300 
 
 John of Gischala, his cruelty 70 
 
 John, king of England, oppresses the Jews 229 
 
 John II. king of France, permits their return to the kingdom . . 246 
 
 John II. king of Portugal, his severity to the Jews 266 
 
 John XXII. pope, orders the Gemaras to be burnt 282 
 
 John XXIII. pope, persecutes the Jews ~. 28-4 
 
 Jochanan, a famous rabbi 97 
 
 Joseph Ben Gorion, his fictitious history IS 9 
 
 Joseph Albo, censures the creed of Maimonides 258
 
 INDEX. 
 
 571 
 
 Page 
 
 Josephus, Flavius, his origin 65 
 
 , taken prisoner 67 
 
 Judas Maccabeus, the motto on his standard 2-2 
 
 , he purifies the temple from the pollutions of Antiochus .. 23 
 
 , his death 27 
 
 Judah, surnamed the Saint, compiles the Misna 114 
 
 Julian, surnamed the Apostate, attempts to subvert the Christian 
 
 religion 126 
 
 , his design of rebuilding the temple frustrated by a miracle 128 
 
 Julius Cesar favours the Jews 38 
 
 Justinian, his severity to the Jews 1 48 
 
 K. 
 
 Karo, Joseph, a famous rabbi 300 
 
 Kimkies, three celebrated rabbies of this name 213 
 
 Korkos, Mordecai, writes against the Cabbala 354 
 
 L. 
 
 Ledinillah, Kasser, persecutes the Jews 168 
 
 Lemlein, David, an impostor 278 
 
 Leo Isauricus, his severity to the Jews 1 72 
 
 Leontius, bishop of Cyprus, attempts to convert the Jews 151 
 
 Levita, Elias, account of 348 
 
 Levi, Nathan, precursor to Tzevi 307 
 
 Levi, David, a celebrated Jewish writer 394 
 
 Lewis, Debonai r, prosperous state of the Jews under 174 
 
 Lewis IX. persecutes the Jews 237 
 
 Lewis X. recalls them to France 242 
 
 London, number of synagogues iu the city 396 
 
 London Society, their efforts to convert the Jews 532 
 
 Lunel, an academy founded in this city 1 66 
 
 Luther deters some princes from receiving the Jews 331 
 
 Luzati, Simeon, a famous rabbi 353 
 
 Lyra, Nicholas, a convert to Christianity 242 
 
 M. 
 
 Mahomet establishes a new religion 1 52 
 
 commences a war with the Jews 153 
 
 jVlaimonides, his character 210 
 
 , creed of 484 
 
 Maimon, Solomon, a learned Jew 403 
 
 Malcho, Solomon, an impostor 278 
 
 Margalitha, Aaron, a converted Jew , 345
 
 572 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 Marcus, Moses, embraces the Christian religion 388 
 
 Martin, archdeacon, preaches against the Jews 256 
 
 Masada, suicide of the Jews in this castle SS 
 
 Masora, account of 144 
 
 Mattathias heads a revolt against the Syrians 20 
 
 Mecklenburg, princes of, their cruelty to the Jews 77 
 
 Menasses Ben Israel, a famous rabbi, account of 372 
 
 Mendolsohn, a celebrated rabbi, his character 399 
 
 Meir Algudes, a Jewish physician 257 
 
 Meir Mithridos, a learned rabbi 253 
 
 Menicho, bishop of Spires, protects the Jews 273 
 
 Menelaus, an apostate high priest 16 
 
 Mersburg, Jews banished from this city , 331 
 
 Messiahs, false, account of those in the twelfth century 21 G 
 
 Messiah, sentiments of the Jews on his mission and character . . 53 
 
 Mesopotamia, rebellion of the Jews at 1 06 
 
 Michez, a Jew, persuades Selim II. to attempt the conquest of 
 
 Cyprus 302 
 
 Minorca, reputed conversion of the Jews in this Island 133 
 
 M isna, account of 115 
 
 Modena, Leo, a celebrated Jewish writer 355 
 
 Mordecai Ben Moses, embraces the Christian religion 345 
 
 Mordecai, rabbi, pretends to be the Messiah 334 
 
 Mohadi, caliph, his seventy to the Jews .. ~. 1C ( J 
 
 Monis, Judah, embraces the Christian religion 460 
 
 Moors oppress the Jews 323 
 
 Morrocanus, Samuel, embraces the Christian religion 321 
 
 Mostanged, caliph, favours the Jews 200 
 
 Motarakel, caliph, his contemptuous treatment of the Jews.... 171 
 
 Muley Arcby seizes the property of a rich Jew 320 
 
 Muley Mahomet causes the synagogues to be rebuilt. 323 
 
 Muley Ismaelj his tyrannical behaviour to the Jews 324 
 
 N. 
 
 Nachmanides, Moses, a famous Cabbalist , 292 
 
 Nachmias, Samuel, embraces the Christian religion 353 
 
 Xasci, David, settles a colony in Surinam 455 
 
 Nasci, Isaac, a learned Jew 453 
 
 Nero, Roman emperor, sends an army against the Jews 66 
 
 New York, of the Jews in this city 464 
 
 None hides, precepts of 423 
 
 Nuremburg, Jews expelled from this city 277
 
 INDEX. 573 
 
 Page 
 
 o. 
 
 Oaths, those administered to the Jews in France 238 
 
 , regulation of those in Augsburg 271 
 
 Omar, caliph, his rapid conquests 1 54 
 
 Onias, high priest, put to death 16 
 
 Onias, his son, builds a temple in Egypt 26 
 
 Oran, Jews numerous in 321 
 
 Orobio, Balthasar, is confined in the inquisition 364 
 
 Orsana, the inhabitants of, massacre the Jews 252 
 
 Ottoman empire, state of the Jews in 438 
 
 . , their number in the seventeenth century ib. 
 
 Ozida, Samuel, a Jewish preacher , 301 
 
 P. 
 
 Pacheco, a Jew, sent ambassador to the Hague . . ,,. 323 
 
 Paramaribo, of the Jews in 456 
 
 Patriarchs, Jewish, their origin, 93; they are suppressed 139 
 
 Paul III. pope, his partiality to the Jews 286 
 
 Paul IV. treats the Jews with severity 350 
 
 Paul V. expels the Jews from his dominions 352 
 
 Pentecost, feast of 475 
 
 Pestilence destroys the Jews in Spain 254 
 
 Peter I. king of Spain, averse to persecution 185 
 
 Pharisees, their origin, 31; their tenets 46 
 
 Philacteries, pieces of parchment on which are written sentences 
 
 of the law, bound by the Jews on the forehead, or left arm 470 
 
 Philadelphia, Jews in this city - 465 
 
 Philip Augustus expels the Jews 236 
 
 Philip the Bold recalls the Jews . . 241 
 
 Philip the Tall banishes the Jews 243 
 
 Pfepfercorn attempts to burn the Jewish books 329 
 
 Plates, brass, with privileges engraved upon them, granted to the 
 
 Jews 449 
 
 Popes, of their indulgence to the Jews 280 
 
 Portuguese Jews claim their descent from the tribe of Judah 367 
 
 Princes of the captivity, their origin unknown 113 
 
 Ptolemy Soter carried 100,000 Jews captive to Egypt H 
 
 Ptolemy Philadelphia orders the Old Testament to be translated 
 
 into the Greek language 12 
 
 Ptolemy Philopater persecutes the Jews IS 
 
 Pundebita, academy of 199 
 
 Purgatory maintained by the Jews 492 
 
 Purim, feast of 478
 
 574 INDEX. 
 
 Page 
 
 R. 
 
 Rabbinists, or modern Pharisees , 496 
 
 Raind Flaisch preaches against the Jews 272 
 
 Raymond de Penneforte, his efforts to convert the Jews 251 
 
 Reformation, Luther's, its effects upon the Jews 330 
 
 Reuchlin defends the Jews , 32<) 
 
 Hied, a converted Jew 286 
 
 Richard I. massacre of the Jews iu his reign 223 
 
 . S. 
 
 Saaddoulat, a Jewish physician 293 
 
 Sadducees, their rise, 33 ; their tenets 48 
 
 , their number very small at present 496 
 
 Samaritans, their origin, 2 ; enmity between them and the Jews, 
 
 3 ; they are considered as a sect of the Jewish religion, 44; 
 
 Benjamin de Tudela's account of them 202 
 
 Samaritans, account of, from the twelfth century to the year 
 
 1808 498516 
 
 Sanhedrim, its origin, 4 ; reasons for supposing it did not exist 
 
 after the destruction of Jerusalem 95 
 
 Sanhedrim convened at Paris, 428 ; of their proceedings 428 
 
 Sapheta, Jewish academy in this city 299 
 
 Saracens, they cultivate learning in the dark ages 1 78 
 
 , their union with the Jews 181 
 
 Sansanding, Jews in this part of Africa 326 
 
 Schools for Jews established in Germany 404 
 
 Schools established in Copenhagen -. 412 
 
 Sects now existing among the Jews 496 
 
 Seburians, or sceptics, a Jewish sect 144 
 
 Seezen, college at 405 
 
 Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament 12 
 
 Serenus pretends to be the Messiah 173 
 
 Shepherds, crusade of, in France 239 
 
 , they massacre the Jews in France 243 
 
 , massacre by those in Spain 254 
 
 Sidelius forms a new Jewish sect 331 
 
 Simeon Ben Jochai, a great cabbalist 103 
 
 Simon, Jewish high priest, his character 1 l 
 
 Simon, son of Mattathias, the Jews began their independence 
 
 under his administration 29 
 
 Smouse Jews ~ 459 
 
 Sixtus V. pope, grants privileges to the Jews 351 
 
 Society, London, for promoting Christianity among the Jews .. 532
 
 INDEX. 
 
 575 
 
 Page 
 
 Solomon, Don, a celebrated Jew 215 
 
 Spinoza, Benedict, a celebrated Jew 379 
 
 Spira, Nathan, a learned Jew 334 
 
 Spire, bishop of, protects the Jews against the Crusaders 273 
 
 Stiles, president, his attention to the Jews 401 
 
 Surinam, settlement of the Jews in this colony 455 
 
 Synagogues, their rise - 6 
 
 Syndics, their arbitrary conduct 432 
 
 T. 
 
 Tabernacles, feast of - , 47T 
 
 Talmud, account of that of Jerusalem .. 115 
 
 , of that of Babylon 142 
 
 , the latter is translated into Arabic 182 
 
 Temple, second, begun by the Jews after their return from cap- 
 tivity, 1 ; completed under Darius, 3 ; rebuilt by Herod, 
 
 40 ; destroyed by the Romans 5 
 
 Temple, inscriptions on one built at Seezcn .... 410 
 
 Tephilim. See Philacteries 
 
 Theodoret, Gothic king, protects the Jews 140 
 
 Titus reduces Giscala, 69 ; besieges Jerusalem, 76 ; surrounds 
 
 the city with a wall, SO ; attempts to save the temple S3 
 
 Toledo, decrees of fourth council of, 160; of fifth council .... 161 
 
 Toledo, bishop of, his cruelty to the Jews 250 
 
 , insurrection in this city 256 
 
 Trajan, emperor, his rigorous treatment of the Jews 106 
 
 Traiii, Jews massacred in this city 282 
 
 Trani, Moses, a famous rabbi 300 
 
 Treraellius, Samuel, a converted Jew 349 
 
 Trumpets, feast of 476 
 
 Tucker, dean, favours the naturalization of the Jews 391 
 
 Tzephalon, Jacob, a Jewish physician 355 
 
 Tzevi, Zabathai, a famous impostor, account of 305 
 
 V. 
 
 Valentinian, emperor, tolerates the Jews 131 
 
 Vespasian sent against the Jews, 66 ; reduces Galilee 73 
 
 Tidal, rabbi, defends the Jewish faith , 257 
 
 Visigoth, kings, their severity to the Jews 161 
 
 W. 
 
 Wamba, king of the Goths, expels the Jews 166 
 
 William the Conqueror brings a colony of Jews to England .... 22 1
 
 576 INDEX. 
 
 Pag;e 
 
 William Rufus favours the Jews 222 
 
 Winceslaus, king of Bohemia, his unjust conduct to the Jews .. 275 
 Witeyst, Solomon, his conference with Israel Loebel 523 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zabathaites, the followers of Zabathai Tzevi 316, 528 
 
 Zacutus, a Jewish physician : 374 
 
 Zealots, their character, 70; barbarous conduct, 71; insolent 
 
 behaviour to Titus 85 
 
 Zechariah, a Jewish impostor 253 
 
 Zeighler, an impostor ....; 370 
 
 Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, prosperity of the Jews during her 
 
 reign 120 
 
 Zohar, a cabbalistical work 103 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 MACINTOSH, Printer, London Society's Office, Spitalfields, London.
 
 from which it was borrowed. 
 
 * JAN 2 3 igge
 
 
 REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 654 273 2 
 
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