VIII.
The Civil and Military Status of the Jews in Jamaica.

In the West Indies, the Jews, though debarred from public office until late, contributed much to the public good. Their constancy and restless activity in behalf of the Government under which they served are chronicled by many historians. It were useless to give an elaborate account of their influence for good in the islands. It would lead us much too far to recount them, and in fact many things have been recorded of this nature by the present writer elsewhere.[112] If we mention the case of Daniel Cordoso, who was killed while defending Curaçao, from an attack of the English in 1805,[113] it is because his is the only one referred to by name in the history of that island. No doubt other researches will be made by the active members of the American Jewish Historical Society, in this direction, which will silence all calumny against our patriotism. As a fitting epilogue to these pages, we subjoin a "List of Jews appointed to civil and military offices in Jamaica, since the act of 1831," extracted from the official gazettes of the island, and presented by Sir F. H. Goldsmid, in his Arguments advanced against the enfranchisement of the Jews, considered in a series of letters, Second Edition, London 1833, pp. 39-40 (First Ed., London, 1831), arranged in the following chronological order:

1831.
October 15thMyer Benjamin, Gent., to be a Quartermaster.
October 24thMoses Gomes Silva, Esq., to be a Provost
Marshal-General.[114]
October 27thAlexander Bravo, Esq., to be a Magistrate
and Assistant Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas for the Parish of Clarendon.
November 2ndPhilip Lucas, Esq., to be a Magistrate and
Assistant Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas for the Parish of Kingston.
December 13thAaron Gomes Dacosta, Gent., to be an
Ensign.
December 31st Daniel Jacobs, Gent., to be an Ensign.
1832.
January 19thAlexander Joseph Lindo, Gent., to be a
Quartermaster.
March 8thJacob De Pass, Esq., to be a Magistrate and
Assistant Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas for the Parish Port Royal.
March 9thSamuel Delisser, Gent., to be an Ensign.
April 27thIsaac Gomes Dacosta, Gent., to be a Quartermaster.
May 1stGeorge Isaacs, Gent., to be a Quartermaster.
May 5thBarnet Isaacs, Gent., to be an Ensign.
July 6thDavid Lopez, Gent., to be a Lieutenant of
Artillery.
July 26thAbraham Isaacs, Esq., to be a Magistrate
and Assistant Judge of the Court of Common.
Pleas for the Parish of St. Ann.
August 4thMoses Q. Henriques, Gent., to be an
Ensign.[115]

It is evident from this brief and insufficient summary of our subject, that the Jews on American soil, north and south, east and west, were loyal, law-abiding citizens, noble philanthropists and exemplary patriots.

FOOTNOTES:

[30] See H. J. Koenen's prize essay, Geschiedenis der Joden in Nederland (Utrecht, 1843), pp. 277-78: "Machtig breide zich deze bevolking uit als de Nederlanders omstreeks het jaar 1624 Brazilie veroverden. Op de Hollandsche vloot hadden verscheiden Joden vrijwillig dienst genomen, om zich in het te vermeesteren gewest met hunne geloofsgenooten te vereenigen. Deze ontmoeting, en de voor hen aanlichtende vrijheid onder Hollandsche Bestuur, maakten, dat vele Braziliaansche Nieuwe Christenen wederom opentlyk het Jodendom beleden; en dat zij eerlang eene tweede volkplanting hunner geloofsgenooten te Cayenne stichteden, waar David Nassi, een geboren Braziliaan, zich met goedkeuring der West-Indische Compagnie nederzette. Inmiddels hadden de Joden, die met 's lands vloot in 1624 naar Brazilie overgestoken waren en de Nederlanders dat land hadden helpen vermeesteren, aan hunne te Amsterdam woonachtige broederen geschreven, en hen uitgenoodigd om zich in het nieuw veroverde gewest op den pas ontgonnen koophandel te komen toeleggen; waartoe eene ruime gelegendheid was, sedert de Hollanders, na het sluiten van eenen wapenstilstand met de Portugezen, eene publicatie hadden afgekondigd, dat het den Joden voortaan volkomen zoude vrijstaan, zich in Brazilie te vestigen, etc."

We have copied this in full, as Koenen, whom recent historians all follow, is the only authentic source, although in this case no authorities are given. This point, and others in connection with the early Jewish settlements in Brazil were discussed by the present writer in two papers: Early Jewish Literature in America, in Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society (= P. A. J. H. S.), No. 3 (1895), pp. 103-47 (cf. esp. pp. 104, 105, 134-40) and Jewish Martyrs of the Inquisition in South America, to appear simultaneously with this volume, in the same place, No. 4.

[31] See Pieter Marinus Netscher's Les Hollandais au Brésil, Notice Historique sur les Pays-Bas et le Brésil au XVIIe siècle (La Haye, 1853), p. 14: "Avant de mettre en mer (1623?), les amiraux Hollandais obtinrent sur la situation politique du Brésil les informations les plus utiles par l'intermédiaire des Juifs qui s'y étaient établis, et qui presque tous, désiraient avec ardeur passer sous le gouvernement des Provinces-Unies, à cause de sa tolérance en matière de religion." Cf. also De Beauchamp's Histoire du Brésil, vol. II, p. 159; Southey's History of Brazil (2nd ed.) I, pp. 477, 479, 495, supplem. note 135; vol. II, p. 241; Judge Daly's Settlement of the Jews in North America (2nd ed. New York, 1893) p. XVII.

[32] History of Brazil (London, 1810), Vol. I, p. 566; cf. also the quotation in R. G. Watson's Spanish and Portuguese South America, etc., op. cit., Vol. II, p. 29.

[33] See also Netscher's Les Hollandais au Brésil, etc., (La Haye, 1853), p. 94: "Les synagogues furent fermées, et les Juifs durent se borner à célébrer leur culte dans l'intérieur des maisons. Le mal fut d'autant plus sensible qu'un grand nombre de commerçants respectables et d'autres habitants du Brésil-Hollandais étaient des Juifs, qui depuis nombre d'années s'étaient réfugiés au Recife ou qui récemment y avaient été attirés par la tolérance du comte Maurice." Cf. also ibid., pp. 128, 202, note 82; and Judge Daly's work, op. cit., p. 6. On the subject of religious freedom enjoyed by Jews in Brazil, more at another time.