Chapter D

The address of the York Rabbi is evidently a digest of Eleazar’s speeches in the fort of Masada. After the destruction of Jerusalem (A.D. 72), a great number of the Jews entrenched themselves in that fort, and for some time defended themselves so bravely, that it cost the Romans one bloody battle more. However, when the besieged beheld that in consequence of the fire which the Roman engines sent into their fortress, its further defence was impossible, the whole garrison, at the instigation of Eleazar, their commander, surrendered themselves to a voluntary death, slaying first their wives and children, and then each other, to the number of 960, that they might not fall into the hands of the hated besiegers. As the awful tragedies are so strikingly alike, it may not be uninteresting to the reader to take a view of both leaders’ addresses at the same time; I therefore give here the speeches of Eleazar, long though they are:――

“Since we long ago, my generous friends, resolved never to be servants to the Romans, nor to any other than to God himself, who alone is the true and just Lord of mankind, the time is now come that obliges us to make that resolution true in practice. And let us not at this time bring a reproach upon ourselves for self-contradiction; while we formerly would not undergo slavery, though it were then without danger, but must now, together with slavery, choose such punishments also as are intolerable; I mean this, upon the supposition that the Romans once reduce us under their power while we are alive. We were the very first that revolted from them, and we are the last that fight against them; and I cannot but esteem it as a favour that God hath granted us, that it is still in our power to die bravely, and in a state of freedom, which hath not been the case of others who were conquered unexpectedly. It is very plain that we shall be taken within a day’s time; but it is still an eligible thing to die after a glorious manner, together with our dearest friends. This is what our enemies themselves cannot by any means hinder, although they be very desirous to take us alive. Nor can we propose to ourselves any more to fight them, and beat them. It had been proper, indeed, for us to have conjectured at the purpose of God much sooner, and at the very first, when we were so desirous of defending our liberty, and when we received such sore treatment from one another, and worse treatment from our enemies; and to have been sensible that the same God who had of old taken the Jewish nation into his favour, had now condemned them to destruction; for had he either continued favourable, or been but in a lesser degree displeased with us, he had not overlooked the destruction of so many men, or delivered his most holy city to be burned and demolished by our enemies. To be sure we weakly hoped to have preserved ourselves, and ourselves alone, still in a state of freedom, as if we had been guilty of no sins ourselves against God, nor been partners with those of others: we also taught other men to preserve their liberty. Wherefore, consider how God hath convinced us that our hopes were in vain, by bringing such distress upon us in the desperate state we are now in, and which is beyond all our expectations; for the nature of this fortress, which was in itself unconquerable, hath not proved a means of our deliverance; and even while we have still abundance of food, and a great quantity of arms and other necessaries more than we want, we are openly deprived by God himself of all hope of deliverance; for that fire which was driven upon our enemies did not, of its own accord, turn back upon the wall which we had built: this was the effect of God’s anger against us for our manifold sins, which we have been guilty of in a most insolent and extravagant manner with regard to our own countrymen; the punishment of which let us not receive from the Romans, but from God himself, as executed by our own hands, for these will be more moderate than the other. Let our wives die before they are abused, and our children before they have tasted of slavery; and after we have slain them, let us bestow that glorious benefit upon one another mutually, and preserve ourselves in freedom, as an excellent funeral monument for us. But first let us destroy our money and the fortress by fire; for I am well assured that this will be a great grief to the Romans, that they shall not be able to seize upon our bodies, and shall fail of our wealth also: and let us spare nothing but our provisions; for they will be a testimonial when we are dead, that we were not subdued for want of necessaries; but that, according to our original resolution, we have preferred death before slavery.”

The above address was not at first approved of by all, and consequently a second impetuous speech was elicited, which is the following:――

“Truly, I was greatly mistaken when I thought to be assisting to brave men who struggled hard for their liberty, and to such as were resolved either to live with honour, or else to die; but I find that you are such people as are no better than others, either in virtue or in courage, and are afraid of dying, though you be delivered thereby from the greatest miseries, while you ought to make no delay in this matter, nor to await any one to give you good advice; for the laws of our country, and of God himself, have, from ancient times, and as soon as ever we could use our reason, continually taught us――and our forefathers have corroborated the same doctrine by their actions, and by their bravery of mind――that it is life that is a calamity to men, and not death; for this last affords our souls their liberty, and sends them, by a removal, into their own place of purity, where they are to be insensible of all sorts of misery; for while souls are tied down to a mortal body, they are partakers of its miseries; and really, to speak the truth, they are themselves dead; for the union of what is divine to what is mortal is disagreeable. It is true the power of the soul is great, even when it is imprisoned in a mortal body; for by moving it after a way that is invisible, it makes the body a sensible instrument, and causes it to advance farther in its actions than mortal nature could otherwise do. However, when it is freed from that weight which draws it down to the earth, and is connected with it, it obtains its own proper place, and does then become a partaker of that blessed power and those abilities, which are then every way incapable of being hindered in their operation. It continues invisible, indeed, to the eyes of men, as does God himself; for certainly it is not itself seen while it is in the body, for it is there after an invisible manner, and when it is freed from it it is still not seen. It is this soul which hath one nature, and that an incorruptible one also; but yet it is the cause of the change that is made in the body; for whatsoever it be which the soul touches, that lives and flourishes; and from whatsoever it is removed, that withers away and dies: such a degree is there in it of immortality. Let me produce the state of sleep as a most evident demonstration of the truth of what I say, wherein souls, when the body does not distract them, have the sweetest rest depending on themselves, and conversing with God, by their alliance to him; they then go everywhere, and foretell many futurities beforehand. And why are we afraid of death, while we are pleased with the rest that we have in sleep?――and how absurd a thing it is to pursue after liberty while we are alive, and yet to envy it to ourselves where it will be eternal! We, therefore, who have been brought up in a discipline of our own, ought to become an example to others of our readiness to die; yet if we do not stand in need of foreigners to support us in this matter, let us regard those Indians who profess the exercise of philosophy; for these good men do but unwillingly undergo the time of life, and look upon it as a necessary servitude, and make haste to let their souls loose from their bodies; nay, when no misfortune presses them to it, nor drives them upon it, these have such a desire of a life of immortality, that they tell other men beforehand that they are about to depart; and nobody hinders them, but every one thinks them happy men, and gives them letters to be carried to their familiar friends (that are dead); so firmly and certainly do they believe that souls converse with one another (in the other world). So when these men have heard all such commands that are to be given them, they deliver their body to the fire; and in order to their getting their soul a separation from the body, in the greatest purity, they die in the midst of hymns of commendation made to them; for their dearest friends conduct them to their death more readily than do any of the rest of mankind conduct their fellow-citizens when they are going a very long journey, who, at the same time, weep on their own account, but look upon the others as happy persons, as so soon to be made partakers of the immortal order of beings. Are not we, therefore, ashamed to have lower notions than the Indians; and by our own cowardice to lay a base reproach upon the laws of our country, which are so much desired and imitated by all mankind? But put the case that we had been brought up under another persuasion, and taught that life is the greatest good which men are capable of, and that death is a calamity; however, the circumstances we are now in ought to be an inducement to us to bear such calamity courageously, since it is by the will of God and by necessity that we are to die; for it now appears that God hath made such a decree against the whole Jewish nation, that we are to be deprived of this life, which (he knew) we would not make a due use of; for do not you ascribe the occasion of your present condition to yourselves, nor think the Romans are the true occasion that this war we have had with them is become so destructive to us all: these things have not come to pass by their power, but a more powerful cause hath intervened, and made us afford them an occasion of their appearing to be conquerors over us. What Roman weapons, I pray you, were those by which the Jews of Cesarea were slain? On the contrary, when they were no way disposed to rebel, but were all the while keeping their seventh day festival, and did not so much as lift up their hands against the citizens of Cesarea; yet did those citizens run upon them in great crowds, and cut their throats, and the throats of their wives and children, and this without any regard to the Romans themselves, who never took us for their enemies till we revolted from them. But some may be ready to say, that truly the people of Cesarea had always a quarrel against those that lived among them, and that when an opportunity offered itself, they only satisfied the old rancour they had against them. What, then, shall we say to those of Scythopolis, who ventured to wage war with us on account of the Greeks? Nor did they do it by way of revenge upon the Romans, when they acted in concert with our countrymen. Wherefore you see how little our good will and fidelity to them profited us; while they were slain, they and their whole families, after the most inhuman manner, which was all the requital that was made to them for the assistance they had afforded the others; for that very same destruction which they had prevented from falling upon the others, did they suffer themselves from them, as if they had been ready to be the actors against them. It would be too long for me to speak, at this time, of every destruction brought upon us; for you cannot but know that there was not any one Syrian city which did not slay their Jewish inhabitants, and were not more bitter enemies to us than were the Romans themselves; nay, even those of Damascus, when they were able to allege no tolerable pretence against us, filled their city with the most barbarous slaughter of our people; and cut the throats of eighteen thousand Jews, with their wives and children. And as to the multitude that was slain in Egypt, and that with torments also, we have been informed they were more than sixty thousand; those, indeed, being in a foreign country, and so naturally meeting with nothing to oppose against their enemies, were killed in the manner forementioned.

“As for all those of us who have waged war against the Romans in our own country, had we not sufficient reason to have sure hopes of victory? For we had arms, and walls, and fortresses so prepared, as not to be easily taken, and courage not to be moved by any dangers in the cause of liberty, which encouraged us all to revolt from the Romans. But, then, these advantages sufficed us but for a short time, and only raised our hopes, while they really appeared to be the origin of our miseries; for all we had, hath been taken from us, and all hath fallen under our enemies, as if these advantages were only to render their victory over us the more glorious, and were not disposed for the preservation of those by whom these preparations were made. And as for those that are already dead in the war, it is reasonable we should esteem them blessed, for they are dead in defending, and not in betraying their liberty; but as to the multitude of those that are now under the Romans, who would not pity their condition? And who would not make haste to die, before he would suffer the same miseries with them? Some of them have been put upon the rack, and tortured with fire and whippings, and so died. Some have been half devoured by wild beasts, and yet have been reserved alive to be devoured by them a second time, in order to afford laughter and sport to our enemies; and such of those as are alive still, are to be looked on as the most miserable, who, being so desirous of death, could not come at it. And where is now that great city, the metropolis of the Jewish nation, which was fortified by so many walls round about, which had so many fortresses and large towers to defend it, which could hardly contain the instruments prepared for the war, and which had so many ten thousands of men to fight for it? Where is this city that was believed to have God himself inhabiting therein? It is now demolished to the very foundations, and hath nothing but that monument of it preserved, I mean the camp of those that have destroyed it, which still dwells upon its ruins. Some unfortunate old men also lie upon the ashes of the temple, and a few women are there preserved alive by the enemy for our bitter shame and reproach. Now, who is there that revolves these things in his mind, and yet is able to bear the sight of the sun, though he might live out of danger? Who is there so much his country’s enemy, or so unmanly, and so desirous of living, as not to repent that he is still alive? And I cannot but wish that we had all died before we had seen that holy city demolished by the hands of our enemies, or the foundations of our holy temple dug up after so profane a manner. But since we had a generous hope that deluded us, as if we might, perhaps, have been able to avenge ourselves on our enemies on that account, though it be now become vanity, and hath left us alone in this distress, let us make haste to die bravely. Let us pity ourselves, our children, and our wives, while it is in our power to show pity to them, for we are born to die, as well as those were whom we have begotten; nor is it in the power of the most happy of our race to avoid it. But for abuses and slavery, and the sight of our wives led away after an ignominious manner, with their children, these are not such evils as are natural and necessary among men; although such as do not prefer death before those miseries, when it is in their power so to do, must undergo even then on account of their own cowardice. We revolted from the Romans with great pretensions to courage; and when, at the very last, they invited us to preserve ourselves, we would not comply with them. Who will not, therefore, believe that they will certainly be in a great rage at us, in case they can take us alive? Miserable will, then, be the young men who will be strong enough in their bodies to sustain many torments; miserable also will be those of elder years, who will not be able to bear those calamities which young men might sustain! One man will be obliged to hear the voice of his son imploring help of his father, when his hands are bound! But certainly our hands are still at liberty, and have a sword in them. Let them, then, be subservient to us in our glorious design; let us die before we become slaves under our enemies; and let us go out of the world, together with our children and our wives, in a state of freedom. This it is that our laws command us to do; this it is that our wives and children crave at our hands; nay, God himself hath brought this necessity upon us; while the Romans desire the contrary, and are afraid any of us should die before we are taken. Let us, therefore, make haste, and instead of affording them so much pleasure as they hope for in getting us under their power, let us leave them an example which shall at once cause their astonishment at our death, and their admiration of our hardiness therein.”

This second harangue had the desired effect. The Romans having scaled the walls, apprehended some treachery, by reason of the death-like silence that prevailed around the fortress; but soon discovered the slaughtered bodies and learned the dreadful occurrence from the mouths of two women and five children, who, by concealing themselves, had escaped the fulfilment of the fatal compact.――_Josephus’ Wars_, Book vii., Chaps. 8, 9.

E.

“Ricardus Malebisse, r. c. de XX. Marcis, pro rehabendâ Terrâ suâ usque ad adventum Domini Regis; quæ saisita fuit in manu Regis, propter occisionem Judæorum Eborac. Et ut Walterus de Carton and Ricardus de Kukeneia Armigeri ejus habeant Pacem Regis usque ad adventum ejus.” Mag. Rot. 4 R. I. Rot. 4. b. Everwich.

F.

The following Hebrew Shtar was adduced by the learned John Selden, of the sixteenth century, in order to prove that the title “Sir” was considered part of the possessor’s name, so that the Jews of England retained it in their contracts without translating it.

אני החתום מטה מודה הודאה גמורה שפטרתי ומחלתי לשי׳ אדאם משטרטונא וליורשיו ולבאים מחמרו כל מן תביעה ועיעור שיש לי ושיכול להיות ליער המלון כשטנמירא הקטנה בפלך מידלשצע שהאדם הנקו׳ מחזיק זאת לדעת בקרקע ובאהו ובמרעה ובאגם עם כל האפורטניציע שמקדם היה לשי׳ אשטייבוא מקינדוט בכן שלא אני ולא יורשי ולא שום אחר בעבורי יכולין לתבוע או לערער על שי׳ אדאם הנקו׳ או על יורשיו או על הבאים מכחו על המלון הנקו׳ עם כל האפורטניצע הנקו׳ בעלילת שום חוב שהיה אשטייבנא הנקו׳ חייב לי או לשום יהודי אחר מבריאת עולם עד סופו ואם שום יהודי בעולם יבא לתבוע או לערער על שי׳ אדאם הנקו׳ או על יורשיו או על הבאים מחמרו על המלון משטנמירא הנקו׳ עם האפורטנצע הנקו׳ בעלילת שום חוב שהיה אשטייבנא מקינדוט הנקו׳ חייב לי או לשום יהודי אחר בעולם מבריאת עולם עד סופו עלי ועל יורשי בתראי להגינם ולהצילם ולפוטרם נגד כל המעיערים וזאת התמתי היים דניקול

The above _shtar_, or starr, was very indifferently copied by Selden, and so badly transcribed by Dr. Tovey, that a reference to the original became absolutely necessary, and which was after a little trouble obtained. The original has also a Latin note as follows:――

“Istud starrum fecit Hagm. fil. Magistri de London, Domino Adæ de Stratona, de acquietantia de STANMERE de omnibus debitis in quibus S. de Cheynduit ei tenebatur. Ita quod idem Judæus nec hæredes sui nihil exigere possint de prædicto Ada nec hæredibus suis ratione terræ de Stanmere de prædictis debitis.”

The following specimen of the second kind is a charter of release, made by one Aaron, a Jew of Lincoln, to William Fossard, so early as 1176, A.D., or 22 H. 2, long before the exchequer of the Jews was established.

“Sciant omnes legentes et audientes Litteras has, quod ego Aaron Judæus de Lincolnia, attestatione hujus meæ Cartæ quietum clamavi Willielmum Fossard de toto debito quod ipse vel pater ejus mihi debuerunt; et testificor, quod ipse est quietus de debito quod debuit vel mihi vel Josceo de Eboraco, vel cæteris Judæis subscriptis, viz., Kersun Elyae, Samsoni, Isaac, Judæo Pulcelle, vel ipsi Pulcelle vel Deuecresse de Danemarchia, usque ad festum S. Michaëlis anni Incarnationis Domini millesimi centesimi LXXVI. Hanc quietam clamantiam feci ei pro mille et CC. et LX. marcis unde Monachi de Mealse adquietaverunt eum versus me. Et sciendum quod quasdam Cartas hujus debiti jam reddidi, et eas si quas adhuc penes me habeo quamcitius potero reddam.――Mag. Rot. 9. R. I., Rot. 4. b. Everwichseira.”

Maddox, in his “Formula Anglicana,” gives the following as a specimen of a Jewish shtar, or starr, in the French language. It is a general release from a certain Jew, Fitz-Hagyn by name, who acted as attorney for his father, to a certain John de Say.

“Jeo ke suy ensele de suz, reconnuse verreye reconusaunce et testimoine pur mon pere Hagyn le fiz mestre Moss, ke Sire Johan de Say et ses auncestres et ses Heyres quites sunt de mun Pere avaunt dit, et de ses heyrs, et de tuz ses enfaunz, et de moy, et de mes heirs, et de mes assignes, de totes dettes, demaundes, chalendes, et plegages, ke eus a nus esteint tenuz, par Chartre u par nule Cirographe, u autre estrument; fetes avaunt ke cest Estar, del commencement du Secle dek a la fyn. Et si seit trove Chartre, u taille, u autre estrument, sur le nun le avaunt dit Sire Johan, u akeun de ces auncestres, u akeun de ses heires, e en le nun mun pere avaunt dit, u akeun de ses heires, u akeun de sez enfaunz, u en mun nun, u akeun di mes auncestres, u de mes heires, en la Huche nostre Seynur le Rey, u de hors, fetes avaunt ke cest Estar fu feyt; Je reconus et tesmoyne pur mun pere avaunt dit, et pur tuz ses heirs, et pur ses enfaunz, et pur moy, et pur mes heires, et pur mes enfaunz et assignes, ke quites seent a tuz jurz, et ren ne vaylet. E Jo et mes heires warrantirum aquiterum et defenderum le avaunt dit Sire Johan de Say, et ses heires, enver mun pere avaunt dit, et envers tuz ses heires, et ses assignes de tuttes dettes ke la avaunt dit Sire Johan a eus esteynt tenuz avaunt cest Estar fu fet, du comencement du secle dek a la fin. Act le Venderdi prochein apres la Seinte Lucy, lan du Regne le Re Edeward le fiz le Rey Henry, secund. E ceo ke jeo ay reconu, ai ensele cum aturne mun pere avaunt dit en ceste chose.

“JACOB LE FIZ HAGIN.”

G.

“Court of Star-Chamber (_camera stellata_), a famous, or rather infamous English tribunal, said to have been so called, either from a Saxon word, signifying to _steer_ or govern; or for its punishing the _crimen stellionatus_, or cosenage; or because the room wherein it sat――the old council-chamber of the palace of Westminster (Lamb. 148), which is now converted into the lottery-office, and forms the eastern side of the new palace-yard――was full of windows; or (to which Sir Edward Coke, 4 Inst. 66, accedes), because _haply_ the roof thereof was at the first garnished with gilded _stars_. As all these are merely conjectures (for no stars are now in the roof, nor are any said to have remained there so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth), it may be allowable to propose another conjectural etymology, as plausible, perhaps, as any of them. It is well known that, before the banishment of the Jews under Edward I., their contracts and obligations were denominated in our ancient records _starra_, or _starrs_, from a corruption of the Hebrew word _shetar_, a covenant. These _starrs_, by an ordinance of Richard the First, preserved by Hoveden, were commanded to be enrolled and deposited in chests, under three keys, in certain places; one, and the most considerable, of which was in the king’s exchequer at Westminster; and no starr was allowed to be valid, unless it were found in some of the said repositories. The room at the exchequer, where the chests containing these starrs were kept, was probably called the _star-chamber_, and when the Jews were expelled the kingdom, was applied to the use of the king’s council, sitting in their judicial capacity. To confirm this, the first time the star-chamber is mentioned in any record, it is said to have been situated near the receipt of the exchequer at Westminster (the king’s council, his chancellor, treasurer, justices, and other sages, were assembled _en la chaumber des esteilles presta resceipt at Westminster, Clause 41, Edw. III. m. 13_). For in process of time, when the meaning of the Jewish _starrs_ were forgotten, the word _star-chamber_ was naturally rendered in law French, _la chaumbre des esteilles_, and in law Latin, _camera stellata_, which continued to be the style in Latin till the dissolution of that court.”――_Encyclopædia Britannica._

LECTURE IV.

MY lecture this evening commences with the history of the Jews in this country, during the reign of King John――the reign of one who has acquired an unenviable notoriety in the political history of this country――one who is well known as a disobedient son, an unnatural brother, and a savage monarch――one who disregarded the rights of all men――one, in short, who trampled under foot all laws, both Divine and human.

What could the Jews expect from such a character? The natural effect of the cruelties to which they had been subjected during the last reign, under Richard Cœur de-Lion――who, though generous, was yet rash and romantic, which was the cause of their very great sufferings――I say, the natural effect would have been to deter them from attempting to accumulate any more wealth in this country; and it was to be apprehended that on the accession of such an unprincipled man to the throne, and the semi-barbarian state of the then people of England, who were continually quarrelling with each other, and were ready at all times to plunge the sword or the lance into the breasts of each other: the Jews, under such circumstances, instead of resorting to England, as holding out to them inducements for the acquirement of riches, might have been expected to have quitted this island altogether. It was well put into the mouth of a Jewish maiden of that age, “Such is no safe abode for the children of Israel. Ephraim is an heartless dove――Issachar an over-laboured drudge, which stoops between two burdens. Not in a land of war and blood, surrounded by hostile neighbours, and distracted by internal factions, can Israel hope to rest during her wanderings.” It was to be apprehended that they would have betaken themselves to Spain, where their brethren were just then highly honoured, and enjoyed great favour at the Spanish courts.¹ But John was an artful man as well as a wicked one.

¹ See Appendix A.

The law which his brother Richard enacted, relative to the Exchequer of the Jews, permitted the king to exercise unlimited power over the properties of the Jews. This circumstance afforded him great facilities for obtaining supplies to a large amount, upon any emergency. John wanted money continually in consequence of his incessant disagreements with his people. He saw it necessary, therefore, to devise some measure which would have the effect of allaying the fears of the Jews; and therefore began his reign with pretended kindness towards them, holding out to their view the expectation of greater security in future.

Accordingly, King John, in the first year of his reign, to show the Jews that they would not be molested by reason of any antipathies which he entertained towards them on account of their creed, granted them permission to nominate a person to the office of chief Rabbi of England, and confirmed the appointment by the following charter:――“The king to all his faithful, both to all the Jews and English, greeting. Be it known, that we have granted, and by our present charter confirmed, to Jacob the Jew, of London, Presbyter of the Jews, the jurisdiction of all the Jews throughout all England. To be had and to be held by him during his life-time, freely and quietly, honourably and entirely, so that no one may presume to molest or trouble him in any way. We wish, therefore, and firmly command, that the same Jacob, Presbyter of the Jews of all England, may live secure, shielded, and peaceably defended. And if any one shall presume to impeach him on that account, that without delay you cause amends to be made (our interference to be procured for our protection), as also for our Dominican Jews, whom we keep in our special service. We also prohibit any plea to be entered in, concerning any thing that belongs to him, unless before us, or before our chief justice, as it is appointed by our brother Richard.”¹

¹ See Appendix B.

Highly flattering as this appointment must have been to the Jews, the king complimented them still more by granting Jacob, who was their first chief Rabbi, a charter of safe conduct through his dominions, honouring him in the record with the highest terms of love and respect, and commanding all his subjects to regard his person with the same reverence and affection as they were bound by their allegiance to pay to the king himself.

As this was the first time that the Jewish nation was so honourably mentioned, and so carefully protected, it may not be unacceptable to hear the whole charter. The original is a mixture of Latin, Saxon, and French.

“John by the grace of God, &c. To all his faithful subjects, to whom these letters shall come, as well beyond as on this side the sea. You are commanded and enjoined, that through whatever village or place, our well beloved and intimate Jacob the Presbyter of the Jews may pass, that you allow him and everything belonging to him to pass safely and freely, and that you make him comfortable; and that you do not suffer any injury, trouble, or violence, to be offered to him any more than to ourselves; and if any one should presume to injure him in any wise, that you cause redress to be made without delay.”¹

¹ See Appendix C.

In furtherance of the same purpose of conciliation, the king, also, in the second year of his reign, granted two other important charters; the one extended to the Jews of Normandy, as well as to those of England, the other was confined to England alone. By these charters it was, amongst other things, granted to the Jews, that they might live freely and honourably within the king’s dominions, and hold lands and have all their privileges and customs, as quietly and honourably as they had, in the time of Henry I.; that if a Jew died, the king would not disturb his possessions, provided he left behind him an heir who could answer his debts and forfeitures; that they should be at liberty to go where they would, with all their chattels and effects, without restraint or hindrance. Certain regulations were also prescribed for the adjustment of any differences which might arise between the Jews themselves, or with Christians; as between themselves, all disputes were to be settled according to their _own_ laws; if any Christian had a plaint against a Jew, it was not to be tried in the ordinary manner, but by a jury of Jews, and before particular judges, as will be seen by the following literal translation of the same great charter of the Jews.

“John by the grace of God, &c. Be it known that we have granted to all the Jews of England and Normandy to have a residence freely and honourably in our land, and they are to hold all things of us, which they held of King Henry, our great-grandfather; and all those things which they now lawfully hold in land, bonds, and mortgages, and their chattels. That they may have all the liberties and customs which they had in the time of the said Henry, the grandfather of our father, in a better and more quiet and more honourable manner. And if complaint shall arise between a Christian and a Jew, let him who shall have appealed against the other, produce witnesses to substantiate his plaint, viz., a lawful Christian and a lawful Jew. And if a Jew shall have a writ concerning his plaint, his own writ shall be his witness. And if a Christian shall have a plaint against a Jew, the plaint shall be tried by the Jew’s peers. And when a Jew dies, his body shall not be detained above the ground; and let his heirs have his money and his debts, so that he be not disturbed thence, that is to say, if he have an heir that would be responsible for him, and do justice as touching his debts and forfeitures. And let it be lawful for Jews to buy every thing offered to them and to receive them, except such things as belong to the Church, and crimson cloth. If a Jew be summoned by any one without a witness, let him be free from such a summons by his single oath taken upon his book; and if he be summoned concerning things which belong to the crown, let him likewise be free by his single oath taken on his roll. If a difference arise between a Christian and a Jew about the lending of money, the Jew should prove the capital, and the Christian the interest; that a Jew may lawfully and quietly sell a mortgage made to him, when he is certain that he held it a whole year and a day; that the Jew should not be entered into any plea, except before us, or before the keepers of our castles, in whose bailiwicks the Jews resided. That the Jews, wherever they are, may go whither they please, with their chattels, as if they were our own chattels, nor may any man detain or hinder them. And we ordain that they should be free throughout England and Normandy, of all customs, tolls, and modiations of wines, just as much as our own chattels are. And we command and order you to keep, defend, and protect them; and we prohibit any one from impleading them in opposition to this charter touching the things mentioned above, under pain of forfeiture, as the charter of our father, King Henry the Second, did reasonably command.”¹

¹ See Appendix D.

And as a particular encouragement to the English Jews, he granted, moreover, by another charter, dated the same day, that all differences among themselves, which did not concern the pleas of the crown, should be heard and determined by their Rabbies, according to their own law: a privilege which must have been of great importance to them, as the Jews consider it strictly unlawful to go to judgment before Gentiles.

In return for these charters, the Jews paid the sum of 4,000 marks.

The Jews, encouraged by such extraordinary marks of respect and kindness, fancied once more that they had found in England a home; and great numbers began to come over from the Continent. The royal favour, however, tended to excite the envy of their Gentile neighbours, who began to accuse them again of various crimes, as crucifying children, and falsifying the coin, &c.

In the fourth year of this reign, a Jew, of Bedford, Bonefand by name, was indicted for a crime of a very incredible nature; which alleged crime, however, could not be proved, and the Jew was, therefore, honourably acquitted.¹

¹ See Appendix E.

In the fifth year of this reign, the Jews were subjected to many ill treatments and indignities from the citizens of London; but the king still continued to show a desire of affording the Jews protection. They petitioned him to interfere his authority, and obtain them security from a recurrence of like grievances: whereupon he immediately wrote a sharp letter to the mayor and barons of London, in which he told them that, “as they knew the Jews were under his special protection, he wondered that any ill had been suffered to come upon them;” and after committing the Jews to their guard and protection, concluded with saying, that if any fresh injuries should be allowed to befall them, he should require their blood at the hands of the citizens.¹

¹ See Appendix F.

These measures of conciliation had the desired effect: the Jews, placing reliance in the protection thus offered them by the king, again applied themselves, with full confidence, to the acquirement of property; and before ten years of this reign had passed away, their increasing wealth rendered them capable of affording a rich harvest to the crown. When the fickle tyrant found that this was the case, he did not any longer keep the mask of kindness on his face: he began to throw aside the disguise he had assumed, and by every means which lay in his power endeavoured to reap the advantages which his policy had placed within his grasp. It evidently appears that the reason he lavished so many privileges upon them, was for the diabolical purpose of alluring them into his power, that he might plunder and oppress them at pleasure. It was aptly said by a French historian, that the Jews were used like sponges――allowed for a time to suck up a large amount of wealth, which was wrung out into the coffers of the crown.

In the year 1210, he laid a tallage upon the Jews, of 66,000 marks, and enforced payment by imprisonment, and by the infliction of various modes of bodily torture. He commanded all the Jews of both sexes throughout England to be imprisoned, till they would make a discovery of their wealth, which he appointed officers to receive in every county, and return to his exchequer. The generality of them had one eye put out. One Jew of Bristol, who hesitated to pay the sum at which he was assessed (no less than 10,300 marks of silver) is stated to have been condemned to the cruelty of having one of his teeth torn from his head each day, until he had discharged his quota. For seven days he submitted to the torture: on the eighth day, having lost all his teeth but one, he produced the amount demanded of him. Both these facts are briefly noticed in the chronological table of Valentine’s Hebrew and English Almanack.

The many wars King John was engaged in about that time, pressed him very hard for money. He not only waged war against France, Ireland, and Wales, but also against his own barons. Money was indispensable, and the poor Jews were the sufferers.

The next year a further tallage was levied, in respect of which one Jew alone paid 5,500 marks. In the sixteenth year of his reign, John imposed another heavy tax, and compelled its payment by imprisonment and other measures of violence. Some of the Jews of Southampton were rather backward in their payments; they were ordered to be imprisoned and sent to the castle at Bristol.

Besides the sums which were thus raised upon the Jews by means of taxes affecting their whole community, the king derived considerable advantages from appropriating the property of individuals amongst them. Was he desirous of making a handsome wedding-gift to any one? he did so by sending the favoured party a full receipt of all the debts owed to the poor Jew, as was the case with a certain Robert.¹ In some instances he would seize upon their houses, and grant them away to other persons, as was the case with Isaac of Norwich, who had a house in London, which the king without ceremony presented to the Earl of Ferrars.² But the mode which he more generally adopted to turn their acquisitions to account, was to enter into agreements and compromises with their debtors――either releasing in full the sum which was due, or discharging the interest payable upon the amount.

¹ See Appendix G.

² See Appendix H.

It would appear, that the right which the king thus assumed of treating the debts due to the Jews as his own, although it brought considerable advantage to the crown, was found, in some instances, to be grievous in its effects to the people in general; it placed all persons who were under engagements to the Jews, in the same situation as the debtors to the king, and thereby subjected them to liabilities much more extensive than those to which, in common cases, they would have been exposed. When, therefore, the barons forced from King John the great charter of liberty, they included in it two several clauses, which had for their object the regulation of the claims in respect to these debts, and the twelfth clause of Magna Charta declares――“If any one have borrowed anything of the Jews, more or less, and dies before the debt be satisfied, there shall be no interest paid for that debt, so long as the heir is under age, of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our hands, we will take only the chattel mentioned in the charter or instrument.” The thirteenth clause further declares, that “If any one shall be indebted to the Jews, his wife shall have her dower, and pay nothing for the debt; and if the deceased leave children under age, they shall have necessaries provided for them, according to the tenement of the deceased, and out of the residue the debts shall be paid, saving, however, the service of the Lord.”¹

¹ See Appendix I.

The barons, who had assembled with the view of compelling the king to grant this charter, collected part of their forces in London; and whilst they remained there, imitated the king’s conduct, and broke into the residences of the Jews, and pillaged them of whatever valuables they could find; and then, pulling down the houses, carried the stones of which they were built, and used them for the purpose of repairing the walls of the city. About two hundred and sixty years ago, when Ludgate was rebuilt and enlarged, a very large stone was discovered, with the following Hebrew inscription――מצב ר׳ משה בן הרב ר׳ יצחק ח׳ ו׳――“The tombstone of Rabbi Moses, the son of the Rabbi Isaac the wise and learned.”¹

¹ The absurd criticism of Dr. Tovey on the above epitaph
has been already refuted by Dr. Jost. See _Geschichte der
Israeliten_, vol. vii., p. 405.

There were some, however, in this reign who were interested in the spiritual welfare of the poor persecuted Jews. The king himself was indeed an infidel,¹ and cared for no religion, and loved no God but the god of money, and therefore cared for nothing but the treasure of the Jews. There was, however, a prior, Richard by name, of Bermondsey, who, A.D. 1213, built a house for the reception of Christian Jews, and called the building “The Hospital of Converts.” The prior did it in honour to St. Thomas.²

¹ See Appendix K.

² It appears that there was an institution of that kind much
earlier in the city of Oxford. See Wood’s History of the
University of Oxford.

The last act of King John towards the Jews was to employ them in a barbarous deed, to execute which he could not compel any of his Christian subjects. Having taken prisoners a great part of the Scotch army at Berwick, who assisted the barons, he determined to inflict such a variety of cruel and inhuman tortures upon them, that he could find none except the Jews whose obedience he was able to command. The Jews in the neighbourhood were, therefore, reluctantly obliged to become their executioners. It is not to be supposed that the Jews lamented much his decease, since even a modern Jew can yet exclaim, at the mention of his name, “Thank God that there was only one King John!”

When Henry the Third succeeded to the throne, he was only nine years old; and owing to the impious and arbitrary conduct of the late king, the country was in a state of general turbulence and discontent. It was therefore fortunate for the Jews, in common with the nation at large, that the administration of affairs, in the early years of this reign, fell successively into the hands of men of distinguished ability and virtue. The Earl of Pembroke, whilst by his talents and vigour he reduced the disaffected to respect the power of the crown, reconciled all ranks of men to his authority, by the equity and impartiality of his measures. As soon as he entered on his exalted office, as guardian to the youthful king, he adopted measures for the special relief and protection of the poor persecuted Jews. Many individuals amongst them were exonerated from burdens which had been previously imposed upon them; and numbers were immediately liberated from imprisonments, to which, upon various pretences, they had under the late king been condemned. Writs and letters patent were issued, directed to the principal burgesses of each of the towns where the Jews resided, viz., London, Lincoln, York, Hereford, Worcester, Stamford, Bristol, Northampton, Southampton, Winchester, Gloucester, Warwick, and Oxford, in all which places great numbers of the Jews resided, commanding that they should be held secure from any injuries, either to their persons or to their properties; and particularly that they should be guarded against any violence from the hands of the crusaders. In addition to these measures, a confirmation of the charter they had obtained in the beginning of the late reign was granted, by the terms of which it will be remembered that most important privileges were granted them, and their estates and persons were shielded from violence. At the same time with this confirmation of their former charter, the Jews were further exempted from the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical courts; and, to secure them a more strict administration of justice, the judges who in the late reign had presided over their affairs in the exchequer, and who had shown themselves unworthy of their trust, were removed from their office, and persons of character appointed in their place. Hubert de Burgh, who, upon the death of the Earl of Pembroke succeeded him in the chief direction of the government, was little inferior to him in the wisdom and probity of his conduct. During the fifteen years that these ministers continued in power, no instances are recorded of any acts of violence having been offered to Jews; but we are, on the contrary, informed that many unlooked for privileges were lavished upon them. In conjunction with these measures, the sheriffs of the different places, where the Jews resided, were directed to require that the Jews should distinguish themselves by wearing, on all occasions, a particular mark upon their clothes. The mark was to be attached to their upper garment, and was to consist of two white tablets of linen or parchment, and to be affixed to their breasts. Some historians wish to persuade us, that although this order bore the appearance of being of a nature at once degrading and oppressive, it had nevertheless been dictated by no unkindly intention. And it has been remarked, that by making the Jews thus plainly known from other persons, any one who offended against the directions given for their protection, would be deprived of the excuse they might otherwise have made, of being ignorant of their persons. This certainly sounds plausible; but a critical reader of history will at once discover that such a reason is a mere gloss. The real reason for the enactment of that strange order seems to be, that the Jews should be discernible in the eyes of the king, in order that when he wanted money he should know where to find it without great search; for we are informed by Dr. Tovey, that “the next year [of Henry’s reign], the king being informed of his council that great profit would arise from the Jews if they were kindly dealt with, sent forth the following writs to the respective sheriffs and officers, commanding them to elect twenty-four burgesses out of every town where the Jews resided in any number, to watch carefully over them that they received no injury, and particularly guard them against the insults of Jerusalem Pilgrims.” So that, to my mind, it appears that the government after all watched more jealously their purses than their persons!

However, the protection which was thus extended to them again inspired them with confidence: those who had survived the oppressions of the last reign began afresh to accumulate wealth; and numbers of their nation were induced to come over from the Continent, and settle in this country. The new comers were at first treated with violence by the wardens of the cinque ports where they landed. They were thrown into prison, and pillaged of their effects. For though the policy of the government towards the Jews had changed, the hatred and cupidity of the people in general remained unabated. When, however, information was given at court of the circumstance, relief was quickly afforded. Writs were issued to the officers of the different ports, commanding that such Jews as had been imprisoned should be set at liberty, and be allowed to live freely and without restraint, upon consenting to enter their names upon the Rolls of the Justices of the Jews, _and not to depart the country again without permission!¹_

¹ See Appendix L.

The clergy, it would seem, took umbrage at the privileges which the Jews enjoyed, and resolved to attempt, by an exercise of ecclesiastical authority, to overbear the effects of the protection which had been afforded by the measures of government. Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, in conjunction with Hugo de Velles, Bishop of Lincoln, published a general prohibition, by which all persons were forbidden to buy anything of the Jews, or to sell them any victuals or other necessaries, or to have any communication with them; declaring, at the same time, that they were persons, who, by the laws of the Church, were excommunicated for their infidelity and usury. Indeed the ecclesiastics had more cause to be jealous of them then than at any subsequent periods. The Jews were then a more accomplished and enlightened race, than centuries of feudal oppression had made them four or five hundred years later. Benjamin of Tudela, the great Jewish traveller of the preceding century, informs us, that every association of Jews in the more important cities of Europe, had its college, or seminary, for training men learned in their law: whilst on the other hand, Christians were then groping in the darkness of superstition and ignorance. The laity, and even the priesthood, were then, in point of enlightenment, as far inferior to their descendants four hundred years later, as the Jews were superior to theirs. In England, the balance of learning and accomplishments decidedly preponderated in favour of the Jews, as I have shown in the lecture before last.¹ There was a difference, too, in the relative holds of the two religions upon the minds of their votaries. Both rested upon one common basis――the Old Testament. The faith which spiritualises the types and forms of that sacred volume was then comparatively new in the island; many of its inhabitants had been pagans only two or three centuries before, and were yet wavering in their faith. On the other hand, the Jews were stronger in faith then than they are now. The Jews were then a proselytising race: now they no more seek to make converts than the Society of Friends. All which tended to excite emulation on the part of the Church.²

¹ See p. 109.

² See Knight’s London.

Stephen Langton issued, therefore, the following edict respecting the Jews, at his provincial synod:――

“That the Jews do not keep Christian servants: and let the servants be compelled by ecclesiastical censure to observe this, and the Jews by canonical punishment, or by some extraordinary penalty contrived by the diocesans. Let them not be permitted to build any more synagogues, but be looked upon as debtors to the churches of the parishes wherein they reside, as to tithes and offerings.

“To prevent likewise the mixture of Jewish men and women with Christians of each sex, we charge by authority of the general council, that the Jews of both sexes wear a linen cloth, two inches broad and four fingers long, of a different colour from their own clothes, on their upper garment, before their breast; and that they be compelled to do this by ecclesiastical censure. _And let them not presume to enter into any church._”

Alas, how little solicitous was the Christian Church in the middle ages to bring the Jews to a knowledge of the truth! The above edict virtually acknowledges the friendly disposition which pervaded the breasts of the Jewish people towards their Christian neighbours; nay more, it virtually maintains that the Jews desired to visit Christian places of worship, but were forced back by Christian bishops.

The Jews appealed to the crown for protection, and obtained relief. Directions were sent to the sheriffs of the different counties and cities, to prevent the prohibitions being enforced; and orders were given to imprison all persons who, by reason of the commands of the Church, refused to sell provisions to the Jews.¹ This edict of the Church was published in the seventh year of this reign.

¹ See Appendix M.

In the annals of the succeeding seven years, no mention is made of the Jews, and we may therefore conclude that during that period they were permitted to live free from persecution. They experienced marks of liberality even from some of the clergy. We know an instance in the conduct of the prior of Dunstable, who granted several of them permission to reside within his jurisdiction, and to enjoy all the privileges in common with the Gentiles, for the annual payment of two silver spoons, each of which was to weigh twelve pennyweights.¹ Unfortunately for them, as well as for the nation in general, the conduct of public affairs assumed a different aspect; it was after that time taken out of the hands of Hubert de Burgh, who till then had continued in power, and was placed under the control of men whose principles and motives were entirely opposite to those of that minister. From henceforth the Jews, in place of the security they had previously enjoyed, were subjected to continued violence and arbitrary exaction.

¹ See Appendix N.

The English subjects began to murmur that too much favour had been shown to the Jews, and consequently charged the king with indifference towards the Christian religion. The king therefore, wishing to convince them that he was zealous for Christianity, and thereby quiet the turbulent minds of his subjects, determined to seize upon the whole effects of any Jewish convert to Christianity.¹ It is a pleasing consideration, however, that in spite of such a cruel and anti-Christian conduct, there were some Jews of some celebrity in this country who hazarded every thing for the sake of truth. We have an instance in a Jew of Canterbury, Augustin by name, who about that time embraced Christianity. And the monkish historians relate as an act of great kindness on the part of Henry, that he was _actually_ graciously pleased to give him his house again to live in, notwithstanding that he was converted.²

¹ A most impious custom practised by a great many Christian
monarchs of that period, who justified their infamous conduct
by a reference to Jesus’ command to the young ruler.

² See Appendix O.

The change of feeling on the part of the government towards them, was first manifested in the fourteenth year of this reign. In this year they were compelled to give up a third part of their moveables to the crown. Immediately after the imposition of this tax, the Jews in London were subjected to another unexpected act of injustice and oppression. By permission of the king, they had lately completed a synagogue, upon a scale of great magnificence, which surpassed all the Christian churches in architectural taste. No objection whatever was made to the work in its progress; but as soon as it was finished, the king sent directions to have it seized, and forthwith granted it to the brothers of St. Anthony of Vienna, to be by them converted into a church. Dr. Jost, a modern German Jewish historian, who has been often referred to during these series of lectures, observes, “A folly into which all Jews at all times suffered themselves to be misled by propitious circumstances; not considering that this desire of vain self-exaltation stimulated jealousy, and had the inevitable effect of bringing them down very low.”¹

¹ “_Eine Thorheit, zu welcher die meisten Juden zu allen
Zeiten sich durch gunstige Umstande verleiten liessen, nicht
bedenkend, dass dieses auf Eitelkeit beruhende Sich-Erheben
den Neid erwecken und zu ihrem tiefem Sinken Anlass geben
musse._”――Geschichte der Israeliten, vol. vii., p. 140.

About this time an Armenian bishop arrived in this country with letters from the pope, in order to see some curious relics; and among other things which he stated――for the truth of which I cannot vouch――he related the extraordinary circumstance about the Wandering Jew; and as at this time the old man is very much talked of, and you see in many windows in large characters THE WANDERING JEW, I will just give you the description the prelate gave of him, as it is recorded by Matthew Paris, a contemporary monkish historian. He tells us seriously that “several persons examined him about this wonderful Jew, and that the prelate gave them his word that he was then living in Armenia; and an officer of his retinue who came along with him, informed the examiners more particularly, that this Jew had formerly been porter to Pontius Pilate, and was called Cataphilus; and that standing by when our Saviour was dragged out of the Judgment hall, he smote him upon the back: at which Jesus being offended, turned about and said to him, ‘The Son of Man will go, but thou shalt stay till he come again.’ That afterwards he was converted to the Christian faith, baptized, and called Joseph, living to be an hundred years old. But then growing sick and impotent, he fell one day into a swoon; upon coming out of which he found himself young again, and as vigorous as a man of thirty the age he was of when Christ was crucified. The same officer assured them that his master was intimately acquainted with this strange person, and dined with him not long before he came into England; that he himself had seen him several times; that he was a man of great seriousness and gravity, never laughing when any questions were put to him concerning ancient history, such as the resurrection of the dead bodies that came out of their sepulchres at the time of the crucifixion, the apostles’ creed, and other circumstances relating to those holy persons; that he was very fearful of Christ’s coming to judge the world, for then he said he was to die; and that he trembled whenever he called to mind the grievous crime of smiting the Son of God, yet hoped for salvation, because it was a sin of ignorance.”¹ A most fit person for examining old relics.

¹ A different account of a Wandering Jew was announced about
five centuries later, which I shall notice in the second
series.

From this time scarce a year was allowed to pass without taxes to a grievous amount being exacted. In the seventeenth year of this reign, the king manifested great zeal for the Christian religion, by taxing the Jews again to the amount of 18,000 marks of silver.

These taxes were enforced by imprisonment, by seizing the property and possessions of the Jews, and by taking from them their wives and children; and punctuality of payment was secured by obliging the richest of their community to become sureties for the rest, under similar penalties. In addition to these tallages, extending to the whole community of the Jews, the title which the crown claimed to their property was continually enforced against individuals; and on every succession of property they were constrained to pay fines, often most exorbitant in amount, to the king, for permission to take possession of it.

However, the king was seized with a charitable fit this year, and erected an institution for Jewish converts. The reason of that fit was, to deliver his father’s soul from the flames of purgatory. Conscious, as it were, that his father, by his cruel conduct towards the Jews, deserved a larger share of punishment than any king before him: Henry thought perhaps doing something for Jews would quench the purgatorial fire a little. Most important was and is the existence of such an institution or institutions, since the Jew who was convinced of the truth of Christianity, experienced at the same time the loss of all things besides.

The following is the king’s charter:――

“The king to the archbishops, &c. greeting. Be it known that we, by the institution of God, and for the safety of our soul, and of the souls of our predecessors and of our heirs, have granted, and by this our charter confirmed, for us and for our heirs to the house which we caused to be built in the street which is called New-street, between the old and new temple of London, for the maintenance of the converted brethren, and those to be converted from Judaism to the Catholic faith, and for the aid of the maintenance of these brethren that dwell in the said house, the houses and lands which belonged to John Herberton, in London, and are in our possession as forfeited (except the garden which belonged to the said John in the aforesaid New-street, and which we granted formerly by our charter to the venerable Father Rudolph, of Chichester, our Chancellor), and all other forfeitures which in our time, by felony, or from any other causes, will fall to us in our city, or in the suburbs of our city, London. Wherefore we wish, and firmly enjoin for us and for our heirs, that the aforesaid house have and hold freely, and quietly, and in peace, for the maintenance of the converted brethren, and those to be converted from Judaism to the Catholic faith, in aid for the maintenance of these brethren that dwell in the same house, the houses and lands which belonged to John Herberton, in London, and are in our possession, as if our forfeiture (except the garden which belonged to the same John in the aforesaid street, New-street, and which formerly by our charter we granted to the venerable Father Rudolph, Bishop of Chichester, our Chancellor), and all other forfeitures which in our time, by felony, or from whatever other causes, will fall to us in our city, or in the suburbs within the liberty of our city, London, as we have beforesaid.”¹

¹ See Appendix P.

This is the first royal interest taken in the conversion of the Jews. Individual cases were known earlier than Henry’s time, even in King John’s time, as I have already stated in a former part of this lecture.¹ Henry was no loser by this establishment; the house itself belonged to a Jew, and he took, moreover, care to indemnify himself more than enough by the exorbitant imposts he put upon the Jewish community from time to time. I humbly venture to suggest that it would be quite a legitimate thing to restore those revenues to the purposes for which they were originally granted.

¹ See p. 193.