THE DUKE OF ARGYLL ON THE PRESERVATION OF 



THE JEWS. 



IN thinking of the Gipsies, an allu- 

 sion to the Jews is natural. Many 

 hold that their existence since the 

 dispersion is a miracle, and others 

 that it is a special providence. Now, 

 miracles are of two kinds; one iri 

 which the hand of man does not ap- 

 pear, as in the burning bush, and 

 the other in which it does appear 

 both appealing palpably to the sen- 

 ses. In no meaning of the word, 

 then, can the existence of the Jews 

 since the dispersion be a miracle ; 

 nor can it be a special providence, 

 for as Providence creates and sus- 

 tains us, and numbers our years, and 

 counts the hairs on our heads, feeds 

 the sparrows, and clothes the lilies 

 of the field " preserving and gov- 

 erning all his creatures, and all their 

 actions " there is no room for a 

 special providence. Revelation and 

 miracles, providence and grace are 

 the only attributes of the Deity, of 

 that nature, made known to us. 



A large part of the Jews never 

 lived in Palestine after the Babylo- 

 nian captivity, and at the destruc- 

 tion of Jerusalem perhaps the most 

 of the race were abroad, so that they 

 became what they were already 



the habit of shirking responsibilities of 

 any kind. 



In the Disquisition are to be found the 

 following sentiments of the Gipsies, that 

 illustrate the question whi.ch John Bunyan 

 asked his father : "We must have been 

 among the Jews, for some of our cere- 

 monies are like theirs" (p. 511). "They 

 naturally think of the Jews, and wonder 

 whether, after all, their race may not, at 

 some time, have been connected with 

 them" (p. 512). This point is naturally 

 laid stress on by Mr. Leland in his English 

 Gipsies, published lately, with reference to 

 Bunyan's question, and the great trouble 

 he took to have it answered, " Whether we 

 were of the Israelites or no." 



On the occasion of erecting a statue to 

 Bunyan, at Bedford, on the roth of June last, 

 II 



a scattered people, looking to Pales- 

 tine as the home of their race and 

 religion, as Catholics, in the matter 

 of creed, have looked to Rome. Al- 

 though informed by prophecy of 

 what was to befall the Jews, the 

 means bringing it about were of the 

 most ordinary kind that is, the sys- 

 tem of Roman conquest, as applied 

 to all the surrounding nations, and 

 their own passions, factions and 

 vices. Ever since, the Jews have 

 existed in the same position, and by 

 the same means; the dislike and 

 persecution by the world at large, 

 acting on the inherent peculiarities 

 of the race, being alone sufficient to 

 keep them separate from other peo- 

 ple. I have discussed the subject 

 pretty fully in the work, showing 

 that the existence of the Jews since 

 the dispersion is in exact harmony 

 with every natural law, and that it 

 would have been a miracle had they 

 ceased to be Jews, and become any- 

 thing else than what they are to- 

 day ; and that there is no analogy 

 between their history and that of 

 any European nation. 



The Jews a family that are de- 

 scended from a common parentage 



nothing was said as to who he really was ; 

 and yet that is the most important question 

 connected with the illustrious pilgrim's 

 history. The honours then shown to his 

 memory were for the most part bestowed 

 on a being existing only in the imagina- 

 tions of his worshippers. Had they ad- 

 mitted his Gipsy nationality, they would 

 have isolated him from all of his age, and 

 placed his memory, by contrast, on a 

 pedestal that will outlive bronze and 

 granite. The people of England will 

 make a sorry exhibition of themselves, if 

 such men as the Duke of Bedford and 

 the Dean of Westminster prove capa- 

 ble of being influenced by other motives 

 than a regard for the evidence, in coming 

 to a decision on the important matter at 

 issue. 



(161) 



