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.