1 68 



THE PRESERVATION OF THE JEWS. 



may have in common, as men born and 

 reared on the same soil. The very ap- 

 pearance of the two is palpable proof 

 that they are not of the same race. 

 The Jew invariably and unavoidably 

 holds his "nation " to mean the Jewish 

 people, scattered over the world ; and is 

 reared in the idea that he is, not only in 

 creed, but in blood, distinct from other 

 men ; and that, in blood and creed, he 

 is not to amalgamate with them, let 

 him live where he may. Indeed, what 

 England is to an Englishman, this uni- 

 versally scattered people is to the Jew ; 

 what the history of England is to an 

 Englishman, the Bible is to the Jew ; 

 his nation being nowhere in particular, 

 but everywhere, while its ultimate des- 

 tiny he, more or less, believes to be 

 Palestine. Now, an Englishman has 

 not only been born an Englishman, but 

 his mind has been cast in a mould that 

 makes him an Englishman ; so that, to 

 persecute him, on the ground of his 

 being an Englishman, is to persecute 

 him for that which can never be changed. 

 It is precisely so with the Jew. His 

 creed does not amount to much, for it is 

 only part of the history of his race, or 

 the law of his nation, traced to, and 

 emanating from, one God, and Him the 

 true God, as distinguished from the gods 

 and lords many of other nations : such 

 is the nature of the Jewish theocracy 

 (P- 496). 



The being a Gipsy, or a Jew, or a 

 Gentile, consists in birth and rearing. 

 The three may be born and brought 

 up under one general roof, members of 

 their respective nationalities, yet all 

 good Christians. But the Jew, by be- 

 coming a Christian, necessarily cuts 

 himself off from associations with the 

 representative part of his nation ; for 

 Jews do not tolerate those who forsake 

 the synagogue, and believe in Christ, as 

 the Messiah having come ; however 

 much they may respect their children, 

 who, though born into the Christian 

 Church, and believing in its doctrines, 

 yet maintain the inherent affection for 

 the associations connected with the 

 race, and more especially if they also 

 occupy distinguished positions in life. 

 So intolerant, indeed, are Jews of each 

 other, in the matter of each choosing 

 his own religion, extending sometimes 

 to assassination in some countries, and 

 invariably to the cruellest persecutions 

 in families, that they are hardly justified 

 in asking, and scarcely merit, toleration 



for themselves, as a people, from the 

 nations among whom they live. The 

 present Disraeli doubtless holds him- 

 self to be a Jew, let his creed or Chris- 

 tianity be what it may ; if he looks at 

 himself in his mirror, he cannot deny it. * 

 We have an instance in the Capadose 

 family becoming and remaining for 

 several generations Christians, then re- 

 turning to the synagogue, and in ano- 

 ther generation joining the Christian 

 Church. The same vicissitude may at- 

 tend future generations of this family. 

 There should be no great obstacle in the 

 way of it being allowed to pass current 

 in the world, like any other fact, that a 

 person can be a Jew and at the same 

 time a Christian ; as we say that a man 

 can be an Englishman and a Christian, a 

 McGregor and a Christian, a Gipsy and 

 a Christian, or a Jew and a Christian, 

 even should he not know when his an- 

 cestors attended the synagogue. Chris- 

 tianity was not intended, nor is it capa- 

 ble, to destroy the nationality of Jews, 

 as individuals, or as a nation, any more 

 than that of other people (p. 497). 



In my associations with Gipsies and 

 Jews, I find that both races rest upon 

 the same basis, viz : a question of peo- 



Ele. The response of the one, as to who 

 e is, is that he is a Gipsy ; and of the 

 other, that he is a Jew. Each of them 

 has a peculiarly original soul, that is 

 perfectly different from each other, and 

 others around them ; a soul that passes 

 as naturally and unavoidably into each 

 succeeding generation of the respective 

 races, as does the soul of the English 

 or any other race into each succeeding 

 generation. For each considers his na- 

 tion as abroad upon the face of the 

 earth ; which circumstance will pre- 

 serve its existence amid all the revolu- 

 tions to which ordinary nations are sub- 

 ject. As they now exist within, and 

 independent of, the nations among 

 whom they live, so will they endure it 

 these nations were to disappear under 

 the subjection of other nations, or be- 

 come incorporated with them under 

 new names. Many of the Gipsies and 

 Jews might perish amid such con- 

 vulsions, but those that survived would 

 constitute the stock of their respective 

 nations ; while others might migrate 

 from other countries, and contribute to 

 their numbers (p. 499). 



In considering the phenomenon oi 

 the existence of the Jews since the dis- 

 persion, I am not inclined to place it on 



