[306] It is an unnecessary stretch upon the belief in the Scriptures, to ask consent to the abstract proposition that the Jews, while in Egypt, encreased from seventy souls to “about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, besides children,” at the time of the Exodus. Following a pastoral life, in a healthy and fertile country, and inspired with the prophecy delivered to Abraham, as to his numberless descendants, the whole bent of the mind of the Jews was to multiply their numbers; and polygamy and concubinage being characteristic of the people, there is no reason to doubt that the Jews encreased to the number stated. The original emigrants, doubtless, took with them large establishments of bondmen and bondwomen, and purchased others while in Egypt; and these being circumcised, according to the covenant made with Abraham, would sooner or later become, on that account alone, part of the nation; and much more so by such amalgamation as is set forth by Rachel and Leah giving their maids to Jacob to have children by them. Abraham was, at best, the representative head of the Jewish nation, composed, as that was originally, of elements drawn from the idolatrous tribes surrounding him and his descendants.
[307] Tacitus gives the following glowing account of the destruction of the Druids, in the island of Anglesey: “On the opposite shore stood the Britons, closely embodied, and prepared for action. Women were seen rushing through the ranks in wild disorder; their apparel funereal; their hair loose to the wind, in their hands flaming torches, and their whole appearance resembling the frantic rage of the Furies. The Druids were ranged in order, with hands uplifted, invoking the gods, and pouring forth horrible imprecations. The novelty of the sight struck the Romans with awe and terror. They stood in stupid amazement, as if their limbs were benumbed, riveted to one spot, a mark for the enemy. The exhortation of the general diffused new vigour through the ranks, and the men, by mutual reproaches, inflamed each other to deeds of valour. They felt the disgrace of yielding to a troop of women, and a band of fanatic priests; they advanced their standards, and rushed on to the attack with impetuous fury. The Britons perished in the flames which they themselves had kindled. The island fell, and a garrison was established to retain it in subjection. The religious groves, dedicated to superstition and barbarous rites, were levelled to the ground. In those recesses, the natives imbrued their altars with the blood of their prisoners, and, in the entrails of men, explored the will of the gods.“—Murphy’s Translation.
[308] It would almost seem that the Gipsies are the people mentioned in Deut. xxxii. 21, and Rom. x. 19, where it is said: “I will provoke you, (the Jews,) to jealousy, by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.” For the history of the Gipsy nation thoroughly burlesques that of the Jews. But the Jews will be very apt to ignore the existence of the present work, should the rest of the world allow them to do it. Yet, excepting the Gipsies themselves, none are so capable of understanding this subject as the Jews, there being so much in it that is applicable to themselves.
[309] This information I obtained from some English Gipsies. Thereafter, the title of the following work came under my notice: “Historical Researches Respecting the Sojourn of the Heathens, or Egyptians, in the Northern Netherlands. By J. Dirks. Edited by the Provincial Utrecht Society of Arts and Sciences. Utrecht: 1850. pp. viii. and 160.”
Indeed, the Gipsies are scattered all over Europe, and are to be found in the condition described in the present work.
[310] There are, probably, 12,000,000 of Jews in the world. I have seen them estimated at from ten to twelve millions. It is impossible to obtain anything like a correct number of the Jews, in almost any country, leaving out of view the immense numbers scattered over the world, and living even in parts unexplored by Europeans.
[311] It is astonishing how superficially some passages of Scripture are interpreted. There is, for instance, the conduct of Gamaliel, before the Jewish council. (Acts v. 17-40.) The advice given by him, as a Pharisee, was nothing but a piece of specious party clap-trap, to discomfit a Sadducee. St. Paul, who was brought up at the feet of this Pharisee, and, doubtless, well versed in the factious tactics of his party, gives a beautiful commentary on the action of his old master, when, on being brought before the same tribunal, and perceiving that his enemies embraced both parties, he set them by the ears, by proclaiming himself a Pharisee, and raising the question, (the “hope and resurrection of the dead,”) on which they so bitterly disagreed. (Acts xxiii. 6-10.) There was much adroitness displayed by the Apostle, in so turning the wrath of his enemies against themselves, after having inadvertently reviled the high priest, in their presence, and within one of the holy places, in such language as the following: “God shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten, contrary to the law.” As it was, he was only saved from being “pulled in pieces” by his blood-thirsty persecutors—the one sect attacking, and the other defending him—by a company of Roman soldiers, dispatched to take him by force from among them. Nothing could be more specious than Gamaliel’s reasoning, for it could apply to almost anything, and was well suited to the feelings of a divided and excited assembly; or have less foundation, according to his theory, for the very steps which he advised the people against adopting, for the suppression of Christians, were used to destroy the false Messiahs to whom he referred. And yet people quote this recorded clap-trap of an old Pharisee, as an inspiration, for the guidance of private Christians, and Christian magistrates!
[312] Tacitus makes Caius Cassius, in the time of Nero, say: “At present, we have in our service whole nations of slaves, the scum of mankind, collected from all quarters of the globe; a race of men who bring with them foreign rites, and the religion of their country, or, probably, no religion at all.”—Murphy’s Translation.
[313] The following extract from “Leaves from the Diary of a Jewish Minister,” published in the above-mentioned journal, on the 4th April, 1862, may not be uninteresting to the Christian reader:
“In our day, the conscience of Israel is seldom troubled; it is of so elastic a character, that, like gutta percha, it stretches and is compressed, according to the desire of its owner. We seldom hear of a troubled conscience. . . . . Not that we would assert that our people are without a conscience; we merely state that we seldom hear of its troubles. It is more than probable, that when the latent feeling is aroused on matters of religion, and for a moment they have an idea that ‘their soul is not well,’ they take a homœopathic dose of spiritual medicine, and then feel quite convalescent.”