There was much in Cromwell’s followers to dispose them favourably towards Israel. Their history, their theology, their character, their morals, and their ideals were all as Hebraic as anything could be that had not had its birth in Asia. The Puritans boasted, as the Jews had always done, that they themselves were the only pure Church, and hated all others as idolaters. They believed, as the Jews had always done, that they were the favourite people of Heaven, selected by the Almighty to bear testimony to His unity, to fight His battles and to exterminate His enemies: “Destroy the Amalekites, root and branch, hip and thigh,” was the burden of the Puritan preachers. They dreamed of a Theocracy, as the Jews had always done; of a state in which the civil should be subordinated to religious authority. The spiritual arrogance of the Jew met with its other half in the spiritual arrogance of the Puritan. If the Jew held that for him Jehovah had spoken on Mount Sinai, the Puritan was equally certain that for him God had suffered on the hill of Calvary. If the Jew applied to himself the prophecies of the Old Testament, the Puritan was as eager to appropriate the fulfilments of the New. They both walked with their heads in the skies, but with their feet firm upon solid earth. The daily contemplation of eternal interests did not disqualify either of them for the successful pursuit of temporal ends. Spiritual at once and practical, they saw in material prosperity a proof of divine approbation. Believing, as they did, that “thrift is blessing,” they strove to earn the fruits of thrift by excessive piety. And, while they established their own rule, they had no doubt that they were promoting the Kingdom of God.

The resemblance can be traced to the minutest details. The Puritan’s detestation of the fine arts, of ecclesiastical decoration, and of sacerdotal foppery was not less sincere than that of the Jew. Equally strong was the hatred entertained by both sects towards public amusements. Under the reign of the Puritans the playhouses were closed, masques were anathematised, maypoles demolished; all beauty was denounced as a sin, all pleasure punished as a crime. Even so at the same period (about 1660) a Rabbi of Venice expressed his horror at the establishment of theatres by Venetian Jews, wherein men, women, and children of the chosen people assisted at frivolous performances, and regretted his inability to suppress the graceless and godless gatherings. Both Jews and Puritans in the seventeenth century were ready to subscribe to the words of the Talmudic sage of the first: “I give thanks to thee, O Lord, my God and God of my fathers, that thou hast placed my portion among those who sit in the House of Learning and the House of Prayer, and didst not cast my lot among those who frequent theatres and circuses. For I labour, and they labour; I wait, and they wait; I to inherit paradise, they the pit of destruction.”[131]

Lastly, both Puritans and Jews had suffered sorely for dissent, and they had both made others suffer as sorely for the same reason. The heroic fortitude of both sects under affliction was disgraced by their fierce intolerance when in power.

This close similarity in temperament and ideas found expression in many ways, more or less marvellous, more or less amusing. It originated that partiality to the Old Testament which was responsible for most of the Puritans’ peculiarities and sins. The Lord’s Day in their mouths became the Sabbath; their children were baptized by the uncouth names of ancient Hebrew patriarchs and prophets; their everyday conversation was a compound of sanctity and Semitism. Hebrew was revered as the primitive tongue of mankind, and it was held that a child brought up in solitude would naturally speak Hebrew at four years of age. Not only were their notions on social and moral questions derived from the code of Moses, but even in matters judicial that code was gravely recommended as a substitute for English jurisprudence, and the extreme Puritans, who migrated to America, actually adopted the Mosaic law in Massachusetts, acted Hebrew masquerades in the island of Rhode, and called the members of the Constitutional Committee of New Haven “The seven pillars hewn out for the House of Wisdom.” Last, but most important of all, Cromwell’s Ironsides found in the Old Testament precedent and sanction for deeds which are utterly abhorrent to the teaching of the New.

Under the circumstances, it is not surprising that, while the persecution of Papists and Episcopalians was at its highest in England, the public attitude towards the Jews should have undergone a marked change for the better. Members of the race were already established in London, though secretly. On January 5, 1649, two inhabitants of Amsterdam presented to Fairfax and the Army a petition for the repeal of the banishment of the Jews under Edward I., and they must have found the public mind not unprepared for their request. The question of the rehabilitation of the Jews formed about this time the subject of earnest consideration in certain circles. Edward Nicholas, ex-Secretary to Parliament, advocated it with fervour and biblical erudition, declaring his belief that the tribulations which England had endured for a generation were a punishment for the expulsion of God’s people. A newspaper, published on May 6, 1652, contains the account of a visit to a synagogue in Leghorn by a friendly sailor, ending with the appeal, “Shall they be tolerated by the Pope, and by the Duke of Florence, by the Turks, and by the Barbarians and others, and shall England still have laws in force against them?”[132] ♦1652♦ When Dr. John Owen drew up his scheme for a national Church and submitted it to Parliament, Major Butler and some others attacked it as not liberal enough. Not only did they denounce interference on the part of the State in matters spiritual and doctrinal, but they asked: “Is it not the duty of magistrates to permit the Jews, whose conversion we look for, to live freely and peaceably amongst us?” Roger Williams was strongly on the same side, and so was Whalley, the gallant Major of Naseby fame, both on religious and on practical grounds.

As a result of this agitation in favour of Israel, four conferences were publicly held for a discussion of the matter. The last of these occurred on Wednesday, December 12th, 1655, at Whitehall, under the presidency of the Protector. It was a great event, and it created a deep sensation throughout the country. All the highest authorities of the Church and the State assisted at the consultation, and argued out the question whether the Jews should be permitted to settle and trade in England again.

The proposer was Manasseh Ben Israel, a Rabbi of Amsterdam, the son of a Marrano of Lisbon, who had suffered at the hands of the Inquisition. Manasseh was a true patriot: rich in nothing but Rabbinical and Cabbalistic lore, a fluent speaker, and a prolific writer; withal a firm believer in the approaching advent of the Messiah, and in his own divinely appointed mission to promote that advent. Indeed, he had a family interest in the matter; for he had married a descendant of the House of David, and entertained hopes that, in accordance with the ancient prophecies, the King of Israel might be among his own offspring. Manasseh, thinking that the establishment of the Puritan Commonwealth and of liberty of conscience in England, as well as the enormous attention paid by the European world at that time to questions of biblical prophecy, afforded an opportunity for the readmission of his co-religionists, had already approached the English Puritans and Millennarians, and had made several attempts to obtain a hearing of Parliament; but he had failed until Cromwell’s accession to the head of affairs. Manasseh, in his declaration to the Commonwealth of England, dwelt at great length and with great historical knowledge on the loyalty shown by the Jewish people in the countries where they were treated kindly. Among other examples he quoted the heroic fidelity of the Jews of Burgos to the fallen King of Castile, Don Pedro.[133] But his principal argument was that by the admission of the Jews into England the biblical prophecies concerning the Messianic era—namely, that it would not dawn until the Israelites had been dispersed through all the nations of the earth—would be fulfilled, and thus the era itself brought materially nearer. It was an argument well calculated to appeal to an audience thirsting for the Millennium and the Fifth Monarchy of the Apocalypse, and terribly anxious to pave the way for the Redeemer.

Cromwell himself—whether influenced by Messianic expectations, by the desire to win over the Jews to Christianity through kindness, by broad principles of religious toleration, or by the less aërial motive of making use of the Jews as a means of obtaining intelligence on international affairs and of profiting by their wealth and commercial ability—was earnestly in favour of Manasseh’s proposal, and supported it with great eloquence. But it was not to be. Though the conference decided that there was no legal obstacle to the settlement of Jews in England, public opinion, and religious sentiment more especially, were not yet ripe for so revolutionary a measure. Despite the enlightened example of leaders like Cromwell and Milton, the majority thought otherwise. Liberty of conscience? they said. Yes, but within certain limits. So, after a long and wearisome controversy, in which prophecies and statutes were solemnly quoted by both sides, weighed and rejected, prejudice prevailed over reason and Christian charity; and Manasseh Ben Israel was obliged to depart—not quite empty-handed; for Cromwell rewarded his labours in the good cause with an annual allowance of one hundred pounds, which, however, the rabbi did not live to enjoy. He died on the way to Amsterdam; like Moses, denied the satisfaction of witnessing the fruit of his zeal. For, though a public and general admission of his co-religionists was found impracticable, it was understood that individual members of the race could settle in the country by Cromwell’s private permission. Many availed themselves of this privilege, in the teeth of strong opposition on the part of the Christian merchants of the city, and soon a humble synagogue and a Jewish cemetery were seen in London—nearly four hundred years after their confiscation by Edward I. ♦1657♦ This return is still celebrated by English Jews as Re-settlement Day, its anniversary constituting one of the few “red-letter days” in their calendar. Nor is the man forgotten who practically secured the boon. Manasseh’s memory is held in deservedly high honour among Hebrews, and the English Jewish community in 1904 celebrated the 300th anniversary of his birth.

♦1660♦

When, a few years after the settlement, the Commonwealth was overthrown by the Restoration, the Jewish community survived their protector. Charles II., too needy to despise the Jews, not bigoted enough to persecute them, followed the tolerant policy of his great predecessor, and, though from entirely different motives, granted to them the benefit of an unmolested, if legally unrecognised, residence in his dominions. Mr. Pepys visited their synagogue in London on October 13th, 1663, and seems to have been greatly amazed, amused, and scandalised by what he saw therein: