In Spain and Portugal during this century, there were a great many Jews who, according to the permission granted them by the Talmud, pretended to be Christians, and as such, filled various offices in the state, and even performed the functions of priests in the Roman Catholic Church. Outwardly they were zealous Roman Catholics; inwardly they were Jews: so that it has been said, that whenever a house was more than usually furnished with crucifixes, images of the Virgin and of the Saints, relics and lamps, the inhabitants were sure to be Israelites in heart. By pretending great zeal for the Christian religion which they detested, these dissemblers generally escaped detection; though from time to time some of them did fall into the hands of the Inquisition.
Jews can now live openly and unmolested in Spain and Portugal: they claim to be descended from the tribe of Judah, and declare that many of their ancestors went into those countries, at the time of the captivity, more than two thousand years ago! For these reasons, the Spanish and Portuguese Jews think themselves superior to those in other countries, and will not allow of marriages with them. The daughter of a Portuguese Jew having married a Jew of Berlin, the parents of the bride put on mourning for her as if she had been dead, which she was to them, as they never would see or hear of her again: they renounced her for ever.
After the revolution in France towards the end of the eighteenth century, when the king Louis the Sixteenth was murdered, the Jews were allowed all the privileges of citizens, on condition of taking an oath of obedience to the Government of the country. Their numbers then increased amazingly in France.
In Germany also, during this century, the Jews gained many privileges from the Emperors. In short, the children of Israel were now everywhere protected by the laws, though they were still often robbed of their property, ridiculed and scoffed at, and employed in the lowest work.
At Frankfort, as in Rome, the Jews rich and poor, are all obliged to live in one quarter of the town: this consists of a long street, with high walls at the backs of the houses, to separate them from those parts in which the Christians dwell.
Zealous Christians have often formed plans for the conversion of the Jews; not, as formerly, by violence, but in a manner more suitable to the spirit of the Gospel; that is, by endeavouring to convince them that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah prophesied of in the Holy Scriptures, and that they must look for no other, until in the end of the world He shall come again in glory, to judge both the quick and the dead. These efforts have met with some little success, but still there are an immense number of Jews. One of these converts to Christianity in the middle of the eighteenth century, was a young man named Moses Marcus, whose parents, rich Jews of London, had him carefully instructed in Hebrew and Chaldee, and in all the learning of their people. When he was old enough, he was sent from England to finish his education at Hamburg, and there became acquainted with some clergymen of what was called the Reformed Church,—that is, a branch of the Church which had given up many of the doctrines and practices of the Church of Rome. With these clergymen, Marcus frequently talked of the difference between the religion of the Christians and that of the Jews. By their advice he studied the Scriptures of the New Testament, and became thereby convinced that Jesus Christ was indeed the Messiah. Mean time the father of Marcus had been to India, and when he returned to England he sent for his son, then about twenty years old. On his arrival, the young man at once told his father of the change which had taken place in his religious feelings and opinions. His father received this intelligence with the greatest displeasure, and spared neither threats nor promises to induce the young man not to desert the synagogue. But the faith of Marcus had been strengthened by conversation with clergymen of the Church of England, and therefore, disregarding all threats and promises, he persevered, even at the risk of his life, and was baptized: soon afterwards, he published a work explaining his reasons for becoming a Christian; pointing out the fulfilment of prophecy in the person of Jesus Christ; and showing how many absurdities and contradictions were contained in the Talmud.
Chapter XVI.—CONCLUSION.
Of late years many privileges have been granted to the Jews in England, and many societies have also been formed, for the purpose of trying to prove to them from their own Scriptures, that the promised Messiah, has accomplished His work, and that the Christian religion should now take the place of the Jewish Dispensation,—that the two are but in fact, only two parts of one religion,—that the Jewish Dispensation, the Law, the Covenant of Works, was designed to prepare mankind for the Coming of the Messiah,—and that, as that event has taken place, we are now living under the Christian Dispensation, the Gospel, the Covenant of Grace. Some have believed; but many, alas! believe not, and still cling to their old faith.
At the present time, no persecution is carried on against the Hebrew race, and Jews are to be found in all parts of the world, having free liberty to observe the rites and ceremonies of their own religion, as far as they can do so. Their manners and customs, and their mode of observing the ceremonies of their religion, differ in different countries; but all agree in denying that Jesus Christ was the Messiah.