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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 1877)
v.. February. THE WEST SHORE. 117 ONLY A JEW. PAST AND PRESENT. It is the year of grace one thousand one hundred and eighty nine, and gay Cockaigne shouts a joyful cheer for Richard Plantagenet, King of England, who to-day is crowned at Westminster. To distinguish him from the cruelly brave warriors around him he is called the Lion-hearted, and Richard Coeur de Lion is feared as he is loved. All West minster is astir, and from far and near come the loyal subjects of the young prince, dressed in their best. Among those who are to greet their sovereign are bearded, dark-visaged men, in whose countenances fear and hope call up alternating tears and smiles; oppres sion has written deep lines upon their brows, and they gaze furtively around though they dread the fatal spring of a tiger. They are gorgeously attired, and the richness of their apparel evokes admiration, not unmixed with envy. They keep together, and speak to none around for none will speak to them, except it be a sneer, to laugh, and gibe. And why? Soft they are Jews, de scendants of Abraham ; men of whose nation Moses, David, Solomon, Isaiah and Christ were members. Therefore they must be despised, scorned, tramp led underfoot, robbed murdered. What have they done, these Jews, that they should be driven from one corner of the earth to the other deprived of an joys wnich make lite bearable, and held up as the scum of the world? Why avoid them as a pestilence? They arc Jews, they arc rich, they arc us urers. Are they not men? No, thev arc Jews! They may be hanged, drawn, quartered! their wives and daughters ollered as sacrifices to lust and brutality ; the whole family exter minated. Laugh at him, spit upon him. tear him to pieces, throw his carcass to the dogs, lint ha! he is but an infidel an Israelite. He is only ajew! Arc we wrong in ascribing these sen timents to the Christians of England at the time of the ascent to the throne of viiiiaru i.r v c tear not, inougn u is hard to understand the intensity of the intolerance directed against the unhap py Hebrews. Shut out from the par ticipation in the learned professions and from numerous mechanical trades, the Jews were compelled to give their al most undivided attention to money-lending, and it was not unnatural that thev o:-l l t s AtT- e . -l l took advantage of the chronic impe cuniosity of their noble clients to place an enormous percentage upon the mon ey lent. The chances for repayment "cic smaii, anu me security Dcuig tnus ell nigh "nil," the interest was pro portionately large. Where one baron would honestly discharge his obligation a the Jew, fifty barons would fail not "nly to pay the interest, but the capital, lding insult and blows to the pecuniary '"jury already inflicted upon the luck ' lender. Hoping to gain the good will and protection of Richard the Lion 'Ktrted, many oftheir number proceed "I to the coronation with presents for ' king, fully relying upon the strength of the douceurs to win him to their side. All seemed to go well, when, suddenly, the word went around that a massacre of the Jews had been decreed, and that their property was consequently confis cated. The mob headed even by gal lant knights not too proud or too brave to attack a defenceless people rushed upon the Israelites and streams of blood ran through Westminster, and soon all London rang with the death-shrieks of the victims. The cry of mercy was loud, but the pack had tasted blood, and knew not mercy. Old and young men, women and children, fell beneath the sword of the Christian! bigotry spared but a few who hid themselves from the murderous crowd. Throughout England the bloody herald went and roused the populace to deeds of dcsDeration. and evervwhi. Jews and Jewesses fell, the murderers, mtucu oy me preacners ot the Crusade, believing it a virtue to immolate the race upon the altar of intolerance. In many towns, including Norwitch, Ed mondbury and Stamford, they offered in vain resistance j their chattels were seized, and themselves tortured and killed. At York, however, the faint hope of defending themselves seemed to inspire the Jewish residents; drown ing men catc'h at straws, and the ill- fated Israelites of that old city made for ioik castie, londly, Hoping that its ! strong walls would shelter them and j meir treasures. 1 akmg advantage of doubled; a cw hunt followed, and the the temporary absence of the governor1 chase was 'well rewarded. And this whose fidelity they suspected, the Jews happened in England not several hun seized the stronghold, an act which sojdrcd vears back! The martvrdom of THE HOME OF AN exasperated the absent functionary that, with the assistance of the sheriff and an armed force, the castle was at once besieged. The word was out and the fiat gone forth, and the Jews shut up in the castle knew well that thev could hope for no mercy from the mad dened mass of Jew-haters who sur rounded them. The mob was roused to the pitch of bigoted passion by the clergy, who hurled their denunciations at the Jews, dubbed them sorcerers, and cried for their blood, l)ut the Jews knew how to suffer, how to die; they had been brought up in peace and had little idea of warfare and bloodshed, save what they saw of the oppression directed against them. They were looked upon as mean money-grubbers, blood-suckers who thirsted for Christian blood; none believed that a spark of bravery or courage existed among them. Hut beneath the timid mien of the Jews, the half-sycophantic, half helpless attitude witli which they ad dressed the nobles, there lurked a dor mant heroism which only danger could call into action. Seeing that their case was becoming utterly hopeless, the besieged met to gether in council, and the Rabbi of 1 ork thus addressed his brethren : "Men of Israel, the God of our an cestors is omniscient, and there is no one who can say, 'What dost thou?' This day He commands us to die for His law that law which we have cherished from the first hour it was given, which we have preserved pure throughout our captivity in all nations, and for which, for the many consola tions it has given us, and the belief in eternal life which it communicates, can we do less than die? Posterity shall behold its solemn truths sealed with our blood; and our death, while it con firms our sincerity, shall impart strength to the wanderers of Israel. Death is before our eyes, we have only to choose an easy and'hnnorable one. If we fall into the hands of our enemies, which fate, you know, we cannot elude, our death will be ignominious and cruel; for these Christians who picture the Spirit of God in a dove and confide in the meek Jesus, are athirst for our blood, and prowl like wolves around us. Let us escape their tortures, and surrender, as our ancestors have done before us, our lives with our own hands to our Creator. God seems to call for us; let us not be unworthy of that call." These words, looked upon even through the spectacles of the practical nineteenth century, are soul-inspiring and ennobling, and thoroughly in har mony with the characteristics of the race. The Rabbi's advice, fearful in its import, was eagerly appreciated, and at the break of the next day the rabble were horrified to observe flames issuing from every part of the Castle. The five hundred beleagured lews had killed themselves, but not before thev had destroved their riches. The fury of the mob on this discovery w.is re- OltEOUN FAItMEB. the brave Jews is all but forgotten and unthought of even by modern lews themselves, for the milid and the heart of the Christian are changed. Hut not fifty thousand years will wipe out from the national escutcheon the foul blot upon its brilliancy incurred by the fear ful massacre of the Jews. Si range (hat men fired by religious zeal, in what they termed their love fur God, should spill the blood of His creatures His chosen people. Still, in the year 1877, there is a feeling, 'unexpressed as it Jcnerally is among Christians, that a cw is infinitely inferior to the rest of mankind, this prejudice will never be wholly effaced, though its operation may not manifest itself. Can it be de nied that a misfortune to an Israelite is made little of; that his aspirations, his ambitions, his woes, his peculiarities, his customs, his sensitiveness, are not respected? It must be conceded that, despite his improved position, he is a member of a despised race; he may lie rich, talented, influential gifted with all the graces and virtues of mortals, but he is only a Jew. On September the third, one thous and one hundred and eighty-nine, was enacted the tragedy we have endeav ored to describe. The waves of the time have rolled away much of the fanaticism prevalent in this country. On September the third, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, a Jew was raised to the dignity of the Master of the Roll a Judge of the English Bench. The Jew in whom the govern ment of England thus reposed its con- fidence is Sir George Jesse!, and since his occupancy of that proud position, no shafts of ridicule or spite hare been hurled against him, though he too is ""ly lew !" Naturally the Hebrews of England are proud of this distin guished jurist, for in his person they recognize the establishment of a power ful and salutary principle that a Jew is limn mm urotner. And let us sav a few words nm.n the term "Tiw" nn.l tia ni:..:n term "lew" and its annhcatmn. Despite the spread of intolerance, it s not uiiusum to observe in a news paper the defendant in a legal matter cited as "a Jew." The religion of other malefactors is never mentioned why then make this invidious distinction? There is an impression abroad that "Jew" fully describes nationality, where as it but indicates reliirious profession Jews born in England are as English as rroiestants ami catholics indigenous to that soil, and it is therefore cither out of sheer ignorance or out of stupid spite that the words "a Tew" are placed after the name of an offender. The position of Sir George Jesscl cannot fail to suggest a contrast to the thoughtful Jew between the relative conditions of the Jews of the twelfth, and the Jews of the nineteenth century. When, in years to come, the student attempts to draw conclusions from these facts, he will be at some difficulty to account for the alteration in the status of the Jewish nation, and for the nature of the feelings with which they are regarded. When Sir George Jes scl was called to the bar, he practiced only by favor of the benchers, "for a Jew was deemed unlit to enjoy the state of a barrister." That so great a revul sion of feeling should he effected in less than two decades is very remarkable, and must be traced to a more important cause than the marked ability of the Master of the Rolls. Public opinion has undergone a stupendous change, mid the intolerant minds and there are many arc led by the thoughtful and liberal, who do niit sec in the Jew any characteristic dangerous to the gen eral weal. Tolerance has gained the day. The Jews arc talented and useful members of society, and their hearts beat in accord with the hearts of the rest of the population; they worship at the shrines of art, literature, and sci ence, as devoutly as their fellow citizens. Jews and Gentiles are identi cal in every respect in the social anil political worlds they diller but in the mode of worshipping the Creator. In this respect they will always differ and in this matter a few will always be "only n Jew!" Whilcakrr's Mo. Dartmouth Coi.t.r.OK.New Hamp shire, has had anions its alumni 11 Judges of the United States and other courts, 15 senators, 61 Representatives to Congress, two Cabinet Ministers, four Embassadors and Foreign Minis ters, one Postmaster-General, 14 Gov ernors of States and one Governor of a Territory, 15 College Presidents, and 104 Professors of Colleges and Aca. demical, Medical, and Theological Institutions.