Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1829-01-08

Riehmors' Va. January !, ls2a -.,-,e -
Remarks upon he sPI.cseat Sf,e Of he Jtesn ;n me
Quarterly Reeie,r, NO. rs.
Aincs: all writer's upon the condition of the Jews
have lndUl"ed themselves in showerinr plentiful
abuse upon their moral and religious characscr Witty
ing thcir institutions and denouacno their teachers
and Rabbins. The Jews themselves have commonly
been s'ign'atizcd dishonest their dealings, and
oniy ueSirous OF engaging IN small trade u 0rcI-
son 70 ds'c',ft'i'e, R,IR Tabor M the Scicrces. It
- unfortunately true, that inost o NV brethren in
faith arc thus engaged but ct inquire IL The tult
be theirs Bet us for recur 20 our hiSto-
re- since the destruction OF the Second Temple and
we slall lind reasons enough TO account for the
present state of the Jews. That part OF our nation
settled in Syria were ag,cultursts and mechanics rs
long as they lived umrpes'cd: they were respected
and enlightened, and not u0ne made the Ti,nuH their
study but made also great progress in the other sci
cnccs, particularly Astronomy, of which the Iewsl
Calendar bears honorable testimony, which even the
Christians must confess has been very inooniously
consjructed and several schools particularly the onc
IN Srria were long and Justly celebrates bat barba
rouS nation now occupies This fair land, and tn
| israelites grcun under oppression.
| Tho Jews settled amongst the Christians were
uniformly hated and dcteStcd; every opprcsSor con-
sderCd them lawful prey, and both king aud bconr
trod them under foot. No jew was allowed TO enter
n university, no Jew could be member OF a ruiid.
without being which, be- could exercise none OF The
mechanic arts what then left to him I'M, to t,ln
his attention to trade. Could ~ one be whole
sale dealer; Surely not l. it therefore wonderful
That by degrees the greater part ofour nation became
snOli-traders, shop kccpers and pcd,crs: Some in
this way Umassed considerable fortunes ard in cCnsa-
quonce turned their ettrnon to increase Their wealth
without the trouble and vONnrion ncConinauyiuU the
aforementioned occupations, and tus became ronov
changers, and because they loaned money on interest
were direct " called us''rcrs The Christian nobility
nay even kings became indebted 10 them mud they
acquired thus an asccndency which was Otherwise
denied them. will not dwell upon the mauy hard
ships we had to endure, how many perceptions we
h?d 70 suffer, particularly III Engl7ni Frunce and
SPAN; how we were driven from town to town, and
from country to country; it was tkcu tina, hccks oil
jews or "swa,1ns" rs the Quarterly so eleoantly
styles it, fed from these countries into Gerncnv and
Poland, where though oppressed they could at least
hope To obtain resting place for their wearied limbs
where they might dwell TO acquire & esh STRENGTH m
BE- nble to endure new siierings. j, was then that
the Emperor of Germany took the Jews under his
own protection: II then that the King C1sn,ir OF
Poland granted unto the People Of God thoa. prvi-
leges which they yet enjoy there. But even n Ger
many and Poland we were obiu.d 10 suffer much
and many OF us were slaughtered. and the Hebrew
elcsv expresses it, 'the blood of parents was mingled
''wh that of the children that OF the teachers with
1.-The blood of their scholars, and the blood of the
bridegroom with the blood Of his bride" We were
tconsdered as an inferior every spit at us
and no one felt pity for the miserable remnant of
grea: people It is true cheerfuly went to NEE;
deeth by fire. by water by the sword and the gal
lows. nay many suffered themselves to be buried alive
rather than crsake faith; and gave up our ives
|
the only Eternal Being rather than by changing our
belief, live highly honoured aud respected by the
world but dcspisedby ourselves In all these great
sufcrngs the voice of the Rabbins heard encour-
aging their flock 10 submit cheeruly the DEGREES
Of Heaven and suffered every thing rather than cease
admoHishing and teaching the common people. And
Il could they acquire glory by mqTtyriOu2 Had they
any principle of their own 70 establish bv thei,
death?-No, SO far from IL, their Individual names al
almost forgotten except among few of their breth
rem aud they died for the faith Of their ancestors and
as for doctrines oftheir own they had % cstab
! sh, since their brethren already entirely confdet
in them and they therefore needed not sacrifice fbei,
lives for the attainment al that, which they already
posscssed.--The life of the Rabbins has been uni.
tormly moral and Pious. and would puzzle even the
learned writer In the Quarterly Review to find tie He
brow Rabbies act like some OF the NAM Christian
Bishops and Pontitfs have done. No Rabbin, ven
tu to assert ever went forth in battle fight in the
tram OF conquerlng prince; Habbn ever ordered
the eyes ot n opponent to be put out one Of thf
early POpes is said TO have done. Upon the who'll,
the life of Rsbbns, may without danger to their repu
oton, be compared with the best of the Christian l
vines, and l even dare say, that in most cases thu
Jewish Ra bbins will be found TO have been the hes
| men, II is not my object TO throw odium upon tho
teachers OF christianity. far from It, for there are many
good and valuable men amongst them, many both If
ancient and modern times no wished and did well Il
Israel. But only to rescue tho memory of own pcs
tors, from tho reproach and contempt, which the Re
viewer and many kindred spirits would so rladl,
! bring Them into Ifwlat have said Of the RUbbiu.
30 lrNc lana the WOfld 10 CenV 1T ell
constituent will vanish, why the Jewish tlleOognns
exercise such powerful influence over ali their breth
rem; why their opinions listened TO with such pro
found Difference, and why every lew should aim thai
! his should become Of the sacred fraternity
Every person that dispaeonately reads the ARTIFICIAL
luded TO in the Q. r. must be convinced, that the
writer oft was actuated by, may say. a deadly ha
tired to the Rabbns for what other motive could he
have for calling the great Moses Mendclsohu Of bes
/ sed memory, nfdc: Has the Reviewer ever reat
his letters 10 professor Koclbcc, in which he defends
himself against the charge Of being n dcist? True he
cause he could not answer hlmo Certainly not II
was what Mr.. Mcudclsolm publicly announced, that
should Mr.. Rochelle think proper TO answer him, n,
/ fIcndclsohn) would not think hi'n worthy Of reply
rs the letter he then writing must of nC cessty be
sufficient answer TO all he coullsay IN reply. on
j. quote from memory not having The book at present
but sure, that have stated the substance cor
reciiy. Let any man read the works Of Mcndclsoh
and let him thor pronounce Judgment, and I do not
fear that he will him find guilty Of the Gym charpe nj