CHAPTER XLI.
A.D. 1800-1885.
THE JEWS IN ENGLAND—continued.
It does not surprise us, as was remarked in the last chapter, that no step was taken to amend the position of the Jews during the latter half of the eighteenth or the first quarter of the nineteenth century. For many years after the struggle of 1753 its memory was fresh in men’s minds; and to have attempted its renewal would only have called forth a more bitter expression of hostility. Then the struggle with America, the horrors of the French Revolution, the excitement of Napoleon’s wars, the trade riots and domestic disturbances of the later years of the Regency engrossed men’s minds, and they had neither leisure nor inclination to attend to the grievances of the Jews. Even when, in George the Fourth’s reign, questions of internal policy again became the topic of the day, the disabilities of the Roman Catholics, a numerous and influential portion of the nation, naturally took precedence of those of the Jews. But when these had been removed, and the Test and Corporation Act had, in 1829, been repealed, the Board of Deputies, already referred to, felt that their opportunity had arrived. They applied to the leading statesmen of the day, and among others to the Duke of Wellington, pointing out that, as he had recently carried through Parliament a Bill for the relief of the Roman Catholics, he was in consistency bound to do the like for the relief of the Jews. But the duke answered that such an attempt would raise so angry an outcry as to render the success of the measure hopeless.
Nevertheless, something was done. The first step was taken in 1828, when the restrictions were removed which had been imposed on the admission of the Jews to the Stock Exchange. Up to that time only twelve Jewish brokers had been allowed there, and the privilege of entry had to be purchased by the payment of a large sum to the Lord Mayor.[214] This was now abolished; and in 1830 Mr. Robert Grant, afterwards Lord Advocate in the Grey Ministry, introduced into the House of Commons a Bill for the removal of Jewish Disabilities. It was rejected by the large majority of 163. The Reformed House of Commons passed it three years afterwards, but it was thrown out in the House of Lords.
Still the cause of the Jews progressed. In 1830 an Act was passed, legalizing Jewish marriages, which the law, up to that time, had not recognised. In 1832 they were admitted to the franchise, and became free of the City. They were now allowed to open shops there, which they had hitherto been prohibited from doing. In 1833 a Jew, Mr. Goldsmid, was admitted as a barrister by the Society of Lincoln’s Inn. In 1835 Mr. Salomons, also a Jew, was made Sheriff of Middlesex. In 1837 Mr. Montefiore was knighted by the Queen; and in 1844 the Jews were declared eligible to all municipal offices. Mr. Salomons was made an Alderman in 1847, and Lord Mayor in 1856.
About this time a movement was set on foot in London for the reformation of the Jewish Church there. It is stated that during the first half of the present century the services in the synagogues were ill-conducted and poorly attended. Attempts were made by some zealous members of the community to bring about an improvement, but for a long time with little success, until, in 1841, matters came to a crisis. The reformers, among whom Sir Isaac Goldsmid was conspicuous, withdrew from their brethren, and built what was called the Reformed Synagogue, now situated in Upper Berkeley Street. The object of the seceders was mainly to improve the existing liturgy, partly by shortening it, partly by the removal of certain expressions in the prayers which do not harmonize with the feelings of educated Jews in the present day.[215] A good deal of angry feeling was called forth on the occasion, and the excommunications of the seceders were freely pronounced. After a few years, however, this began to subside, and has now, we are told, vanished altogether. Both the Sephardim and Ashkenazim, indeed, have made considerable alteration in their liturgies in the course of the present century.
In 1847 an important step was taken by the leaders of the Jewish emancipationists. At the general election in that year Baron Lionel Rothschild offered himself as a candidate for the city of London, and was returned. When the session of 1849 opened, Lord John Russell, then Premier, brought in a Bill to omit from the Parliamentary oath the words, ‘on the true faith of a Christian,’ which rendered it impossible for a Jew to take it. The Bill was carried by a majority of 66. It was then introduced into the House of Lords by the Earl of Carlisle, who urged that the Jews were now the only persons excluded from Parliament on account of their religious opinions. As uniformity of belief on religious subjects had ceased to be required as the condition of admission to the legislature, it was obviously unjust to exclude Jews on that ground. The Bill was opposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who argued that the measure was inconsistent with the national profession of Christianity; also by the Bishop of Exeter, who declared it to be a breach of the contract made between the sovereign and the nation—that ‘the Crown should maintain the laws of God, and the true profession of the Gospel.’ On the other side, Archbishop Whately argued that the spirit of Christianity forbids us to require the imposition of civil penalties on those who differ from it. On a division the Bill was lost by a majority of 25.
An attempt of a different character was now made to obtain the object desired. On the 26th of July, 1850, Baron Rothschild presented himself before the Speaker to take the necessary oath; and when the Clerk presented the New Testament, he said, ‘I desire to be sworn on the Old Testament.’ Sir R. Inglis rose to oppose this suggestion; the baron was ordered to withdraw, and a long debate ensued. The opinion of the law officers of the Crown having been taken, the House resolved that Baron Rothschild could not take the oath, except in the ordinary manner prescribed by the law. It was agreed, however, that another Bill should be introduced for the relief of the Jews in the ensuing session.
This was accordingly done. The Bill was brought in and carried, though by a reduced majority, and was then sent up to the Lords, by whom it was, as before, thrown out. Its rejection was followed by a second attempt, similar to that of Baron Rothschild in the preceding year. Alderman Salomons, who had been returned for the borough of Greenwich, presented himself at the table, and demanded to be sworn on the Old Testament. He was ordered to withdraw, but refused to do so, until given into the custody of the Serjeant-at-Arms. He also voted in two or three divisions, although he had not taken the oath. The House declared this procedure to be illegal, and an action was brought against Alderman Salomons in the Court of Exchequer to recover of him the penalty of £500, which he was said to have incurred by voting in the House of Commons without having previously taken the oath. Judgment was given for the plaintiff. Mr. Salomons appealed, and the case was again heard before six of the judges, but they confirmed the decision of the previous court.
From that time until 1858 Bills were repeatedly brought into the Lower House, and passed by majorities, sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, until the year above named, when, under a Conservative Government, the Commons admitted the Jews by a resolution setting aside the standing order of the House, and Baron Rothschild took his seat as the first Jewish member. In 1860 a Bill was passed through both Houses, allowing the Jews to omit from the Parliamentary oath the words, ‘on the true faith of a Christian.’ To complete the history of Jewish emancipation, it should here be added that in 1873 Sir George Jessel was made Master of the Rolls, being the first Jew admitted to the English Bench; and in 1885 Sir N. Rothschild was created a peer, the first who has entered the English House of Lords. No Jew has as yet been a Cabinet Minister; but it is obvious that, whenever it shall serve the interest of the party which has for the time a predominance in the country to make a Jew Lord Chancellor, or one of the Secretaries of State, or even Premier, there will be no legal obstacle, and probably no opposition offered to such a measure. The struggle, in fact, is over. The Jews are fully emancipated.
The history of this protracted strife is full of interest to the student of Jewish history, because it illustrates in the most forcible manner the difference of opinion in men’s minds respecting the Jews, which has existed from the earliest ages of the Church—which, indeed, still exists, notwithstanding the great change in their condition which this present century has brought about. Many sincere Christians still think that the nation, in admitting Jews to the legislature, has been guilty of a breach of its duty in the sight of God. There is, first of all, the belief that the Jews are a people lying under the curse of God, and that to show any favour to them is to rebel against this decree. We have seen what revolting barbarities this idea led to during the Dark and Middle Ages. Its nineteenth-century form—of standing aloof, and withholding civil rights from them—is less shocking in its results, but equally false in principle. God has doubtless His own purposes towards them, and they are a standing miracle, an enduring evidence of the truth of His prophetic word. But He has not commanded us to be the instruments of what we may suppose to be His pleasure, and can do His work without our help. Every faithful follower of St. Paul will regard the Jews in the same light in which he regards them.[216] Every sincere believer in the Lord will echo the same prayer[217] that He offered for them. Again, there are those who, though they would repudiate the notion above suggested, still think, with Archbishop Sumner, that the admission of the Jew to the legislature is a repudiation of our national Christianity; or, with Bishop Philpotts, that it is a breach of the sovereign’s coronation oath. If this were so, no faithful believer, no loyal citizen could uphold the measure. But let us consider what this ‘admission to the legislature’ really amounts to. A Jew who enters Parliament cannot, in consequence of his entry, himself make or alter laws. He has only one voice out of a thousand in any legislative enactment. It will be said that he ought not to have any voice at all. But if so, he must not have the elective suffrage; or he may help to return a member who represents his opinions. Nay, even if he has not the suffrage, he may, by the use of his money, his station, his personal character, his tongue as a public speaker, his pen as a writer, exercise a powerful influence in the settlement of public affairs, which is, in fact, legislation. The only mode of preventing him from doing this would be to do as our forefathers did in England, as Torquemada did in Spain—to forbid him to dwell in the land at all. They were at least consistent, and could be so in no other way.