The National Register.
London, England, 1817-05-26 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

traordinary people were chastised but not destroyed—
were dispersed but not lost—were conquered but
not subverted—were reduced to poverty, but enabled to
amass new treasures—broken, but not overwhelmed—
and though their city was destroyed, yet it was always
an cl!iect of attack, and its citizens rendered feeble and
suffering ruin, vet had the means of becoming formid-
able wherever they wen: re-established.

In the ninth and tenth centuries the Jews acquired
considerable celebrity in their academies, which pro-
(laced several learned men, among whom Hay, a pro-
fessed descendant of the house of David, published the
famous eabalistical work entitled, " The Voice of
God in Power." And, " even in the dark ages of their
history, they cultivated their language with assiduity,
and were never destitute of grammarians, or subtle in-
terpreters of the scripture. But, generally speaking,
it was only during their union with the Saracens in
Spain, or in the flourishing ages of the Caliphs of Bug-
that, that they ventured into general literature, and
used in their writings a foreign, and, consequently, a
profane language." But. Ho. Bib.
The commencement in i 095, and continuance of the
crusades, were severe visitations upon the Jews; for,
" under the idea of procuring a blessmg on their expedi-
tion, they destroyed the deseendan t s oft ru tse who crucified
our Saviour." Still their learned labours were cherished;
for, " to facilitate the study of Aristotle among the
Jews, his writings were translated from the Arabic to
the Hebrew tongue. Several other ancient works, par-
ticularly the Elements of Euclid, and the medical writ-
ings of the Greeks, towards the close of the thirteenth
century, appeared in a Hebrew dress." These, and
other parts of their literary history in the eleventh cen-
tury, prove their numbers and established respect ; and we
trace them in this character, becomit:g great in Ger-
many with lesser synagogues at Treves, Colo/pi, Metz,
and Fninkfort ; they assisted the Christians against the
barbarians, and thus acquired considerable alleviation
in their persecutions, particularly from the Emperer
Henry IV. whose favour seems to have increased the
fury of the crusaders. Metz is the only city in Ger-
mans, where the crusaders did nut imbrue their hands in
the blood of the Jews. (Grego. ti 1.2.) It is hap-
pily recorded, that the Bishop of Spires and some other
of the Christian clergy aflbrded them an asylum against
this general barbarity. (I ;id.) Yet in all these suf.-
ferings, the historians seldom if ever advert to their
being the fulfilment of the prophets concerning them.
The journey of Benjamin of Tudela, in the twelth
century is briefly related, and that in his course from
Bagnlat he found, on the banks of the Chcbar, the
tomb of the prophet Ezekiel, which is recognised by
Calmet. He also found the Samaritans settled at Si-
diem and Cesarea, having abandoned their own city,
but they were reduced to :100 in both places, and in
Jerusalem to only '2OO. In the east they had become
opulent, and had recovered from the massacres of the
holy war. He speaks of their acatlemies and ardour
for study, particularly of the divine law—lt were much
to be wished that this ardour had not been lost in the
subsequent lapse of time.
The author is far too concise in her account of Mai-
monides and his sturdy defence of the sacred writings
of Moses, which at that time were opposed 1w sonic
infidels who had charged them with Laving been or-
dainul upon a principle purely arbitrary—the contro-
versy, which lasted forty years, is (I;sposed of in one
page! but the fa Mod. Un Hist. will assist the re-
search of the English student. It is very remarkable
that the Israelites in this century furnished several
formidable impostors boasting themselves to be Mes-
siahs, and that every one of them caused the severest
calamities as well to themselves as to their deluded
followers—none escaped with life or property : they
who had crucified the real Messiah could have little
claim to succeed in assuming falsely his title, and that
for sinister and temporary purposes only. See Jortin
Rem. ii. .'f 49.

The establishment of Jets in Englund is generally
dated at the Norman invasion ; but on the authority
of Basnag,e and Adams, we arc led to infer that they
were here in much strength previous to that date :
they were men of learning, of polite manners, and of
opulence, being the bankers of that age and the chief
merchants to Europe. As they dealt in bullion, they
were branded with the odium of usury—they were also
suspected of necromancy, and their desire to be present
at the coronation of Richard I. was assailed with every
prejudice of tviekcd desitrn—they stifll.red a severe per-
secution in London and throughout the country. The
canon law prohibited them building a synagogue under
pain of its being seized to the Crown. (M. Paris.)
They were limited to particular places of residence to-
gether, and wore a badge on their garments. (Molloy,
407.) King John opened the thirteenth century with
exactions upon tiwin, which he continued during his
reign. Henry 111. declared that no Christian should sell
them any provisions, and the crimes of murder, &c.
were charged upon them tier the sole purposes of ex-
tortion ; and thus penalties were the best evidence of
their innuveuc,•.

In France tloy sofrerel by an inconsistency in the
Government scarcely to be paralleled-Ihr they were
at one tim, bani:ilted, and their property confiscated;
and at another, miters they embraced Christianity, (117

WAY 28.

were sentenced to the same privations : and many of
these were exacted upon them by the Order of St.
he was a prisoner in the I loly Land, 1248
to 1270, and the Councils of Lyons and Vienna sane.
tinned those oppres,,ions.
Our Author leads us through the Jewish persecuti►nns
in Germany and Spain during the same periods, and
then places before us a more tolerating spirit iu the
Court of Rome during the 12th to the kith century,
in which the Holy Pontiffs are recorded, chiefly by
writers of the Roman Church, to have extended their
protection with few exceptions to the Jews, and one
curious tact is stated, upon the authority of Rossie's
Hely. Biog. that in 1492, when the Portuguese exiles
fled into Italy, the University of Jews ut Rome, of-
fered Pope Alexander 1000 ducats, on condition of hi►►
refusing those of Spin permission to settle in his terri-
tories. But Alexander rejected this ofli2r with disia►in,
and reproved them fbr their barbarity towards their
brethren. He also decreed that they should he ba-
nished from his dominions, and the Spanish Jews re-
ceived in their place ; and they were obliged to pay
vast sum bethre they could obtain a revocation of this
order. And to this fact our author adds that, " 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 teen spilled, and
in which the rites of h►m►anity have been more re-
spected with regard to their Nation than in the Ec-
clesiastical State." Jortin has, In wever, stated also
the crafty policy of this kindness. (Item. v. 2.) Their
general sufkrings have fully verified all the prophecies
concerning them, from the time of Moses in Deut.2B. to
that of our blessed Saviour throughout the Gospel.
" For 18 centuries the Nations of the Furth have
been treading under fixit the remains of Israel."