It was late at night--the tumult in the streets had ceased. No more
carriages rolled along from the theatre, or from parties at the houses
of the rich Hamburg merchants. The promenade on the 'Jungfernstieg' had
been over long before, and the pavilions were locked up. Lights
glimmered faintly from the upper windows of the large hotels, and only
here and there a solitary reveller was to be seen, humming an air, as
he was wending his way homewards from the 'Salon d'Apollon,' or was
stopped by some straggling night-wanderer of the female sex. The moon
was shining calmly on the Alster, and the watchman had just called the
hour by St. Michael's clock; but two strange-looking figures still
walked up and down the 'Jungfernstieg,' and seemed to have no thought
of home, though the sharp wind scattered the leaves of the trees around
them, and the flitting clouds often obscured the moon on that cold
September night. A dark-haired young girl walked, shivering with cold,
alongside of an old Jew, and seemed to be speaking words of comfort to
him, in a low, sweet voice; and that Jew was the aged Philip Moses!
'You are freezing, my child,' said the old man, as he threw the
skirt of his torn talar around her shoulders. 'Let me take you back to
the house of your mother's brother; but _I_ will not cross his
threshold again. I made that vow the day he was seduced into wedding
the artful Christian girl. On this day has my third son closed his
door against me, and I have no more daughters on this earth. But yes, I
have _you_ still--you, the daughter of my dear and excellent Rachel!
Come, let me take you home. It is hard enough upon you to be an
orphan--fatherless and motherless--and a servant to your Christian
aunt; you shall not become houseless for my sake. Poor Benjamina!' he
exclaimed, as a bright beam from the moon, that was unclouded for a
minute, enabled him to see her lovely youthful face distinctly, and to
observe how tears were gathering in her long dark eyelashes. 'Poor
Benjamina! you are indeed kind to care so much for your rough old
grandfather, and not to be afraid to come and wander about with him, in
our day of persecution, when he was thrust out alone among our foes!'
'Ah, dear, good grandfather!' replied Benjamina, 'how could my uncle
Samuel behave so ill to you! But all my uncles are not so bad as he is.
I am tolerably comfortable at uncle Daniel's every other week, and they
are kind to me now at uncle Isaac's, since I have grown stronger, and
am able to assist my aunt in the kitchen. Do go with me to one of them.
Their wives and new connections do not hate us as the other Christians
do; and you must go somewhere. Since uncle Samuel has become so rich,
he disdains all his poorer relations, and will not associate with them.
Why did you choose to live with him, rather than with either of your
other sons? I am sure neither of them could have found it in his heart
to have treated you as Samuel has done to-day. You never took a vow not
to enter Isaac's house, therefore do go with me to it. I shall reside
there with you, and attend upon you: and the pretty children will
become fond of you. They can learn from you the history of Joseph and
his brethren, and hear about little Benjamin, my namesake. You can
teach them as you taught me at my poor mother's, when I was a little
girl. Come, dear grandfather, come!--before day dawn, and our
persecutors awake. In these times of tribulation we must cherish each
other--we unfortunate and persecuted fugitives.'
'It is five years since I have entered my son Isaac's house,' said the
old man, slowly. 'How many children has he now?'
'Ah, you do not know that, dear grandfather, and yet he is your own
son! His fifth boy is an infant in its cradle.'
'Is his Christian wife kind to him? and does she not turn his feeble
spirit from Jehovah, and the faith and the customs of our forefathers?
I have not seen him lately at the synagogue, but he never misses going
to the Exchange.'
'Only come with me to him, grandfather, and you will see that he is
better than Samuel, though he may not go to the synagogue, and only
puts the shop-door on the latch on Saturday, instead of shutting it up.
You will like his nice little boys, though my aunt rather spoils the
eldest. They have all light hair and pretty blue eyes, like their
mother. Many Christians visit the house; and the good Mr. Veit, who is
a painter, sometimes teaches me to draw when I am there. You do not
hate _all_ Christians, do you, grandfather, because some of them treat
us cruelly? You do not condemn them all so much as these--our
uncharitable persecutors?'
'No, my child,' replied the old man. 'I admit the general philanthropy
of the Christians, which they believe they learned from their wise but
unfortunate prophet; though, in their present conduct towards us, they
give no proof of it. Yet far be it from me to blame them for this. Our
law tells us to make our own hearts clean before we judge others; that
so we may find forgiveness in the day of atonement. But stay not out
here longer, so late, my daughter; your good name may be made the prey
of the tongue of the backbiter and the slanderer, although it is only
in a work of mercy and of love in which you are engaged, and for which
the Lord God of Sabaoth will bless you in future days. Leave me to
wander out into the solitary paths! The Lord can send to me--even to
me--a raven in the desert, if he think fit. My tent is now the great
Temple of the Lord, where the sun and the moon are lights in the high
altar, and the four corners of the earth are the pillars of the
tabernacle. Hark! from thence shall it seem to me that His mighty
cherubs are singing praises to His name, when the wild storms of nature
are playing around my head. Let me go, my child, and weep not because I
am a lonely wanderer! I would rather roam, houseless, through the
world, than seek a refuge under the roof where I am an unwelcome
intruder. I would rather be stoned by the Christians than be disdained
as a pauper by my own kindred--my own children--and perhaps hear that I
am so, when the infirmities of age compel me to listen in silence.'
'Well, then, so be it, dear grandfather, and I will remain with you.
The Christians may stone me in your arms if they will.'
The old man was silent for a time, and he appeared to be fighting a
hard battle in his heart.
'Come then, my child,' said he at length, seizing Benjamina by the
hand, 'for your sake will I endure disgrace, and ask shelter from a
son, who cared more for a strange woman than for his father's
blessing.'
They then proceeded in silence to the 'Hopfenmarkt,' and rang at the
clothier Isaac's door.
'Is that any of our people?' whispered an anxious voice from a window.
Philip Moses answered in Hebrew, and a little while after the outer
door was opened.
Isaac received his deserted old father, who had thus taken refuge with
him, with sincere pleasure; yet this pleasure was damped by the
perplexed and uneasy feelings which came over him when he thought of
the daily reproaches which he foresaw he would have to encounter, and
the many disturbances in his domestic life which he feared the
unbending rabbi would occasion. But their common grievances and danger
drew their hearts together. Though Isaac's house was, at present,
exempt from all damage (since, through his marriage with a Christian,
and his frequent intercourse with Christians, he seemed almost
separated from his own people), he lived still in constant terror, on
account of the inimical disposition evinced towards the Jews, which had
now actually broken out in open persecution of them; and he sought in
vain to conceal from those with whom he associated the interest he
secretly took in the fate of his unhappy nation.
He was extremely indignant when he heard how his rich brother, Samuel,
had behaved to the old man: and he begged his father to forget all the
past, and make himself at home in his house. But he resolved, at the
same time, not to permit his domestic peace to be disturbed, or the
habits of his daily life to be disarranged, by the old man's
prejudices--such at least as could not be borne with easily, and might
not give cause of complaint. 'He must accommodate himself, as my guest,
to the ways of the house,' thought he to himself. 'He will be
accustomed to them in time, and there would be no use in beginning as
we could not go on.'
'Your brother Samuel has not honoured his father, and he cannot succeed
in worldly matters,' said Philip Moses, as he seemed endeavouring to
read in the countenance of his son what was passing in his mind. 'But
may the Almighty give him, and all our people, grace to repent, and let
not His angry countenance be turned upon us to our ruin! _My_ days will
not be many,' he added, earnestly; 'but had it not been for my
faithfully attached Benjamina's sake, I would rather have gone forth to
wander over the wide world than have exposed your heart, my son, to a
trial which, I fear, is beyond your strength.'
Isaac's wife was quite out of humour when Benjamina went to her bedroom
to tell her what had taken place.
'It will never answer,' said she, 'to have that old instigator of
strife here in our house. He hates me already, because I am not one of
your nation. It was on my account that he has never hitherto chosen to
put his foot within our doors.'
'No, my grandfather does not hate the Christians,' replied Benjamina,
cheerfully. 'If he lives here, he will bring good luck and a blessing
to the house. Dearest aunt, may I not get the little blue chamber ready
for him? I did not dare to go near him when he was with my uncle
Samuel, and yet he was so kind to me when I was a child.'
'Well, I suppose I can't help his staying, for the present at least,'
replied the aunt, peevishly, 'so you can put the blue chamber in decent
order for him, Benjamina. But if you make too much fuss about him, or
give me any additional trouble with this new pest, I will send you back
to Daniel. You may stay for the present; but keep him as much as
possible away from the children and the rest of us. We shall have quite
annoyance enough with him at the dinner-table.'
'Poor, poor grandfather!' sighed Benjamina, as weeping silently she
left her unkind aunt, who had often before spoken harshly to her, but
had never wounded her feelings so deeply as now.
Isaac had afterwards an unpleasant matrimonial scene, and a sharp
battle of words with his wife, in reference to the old man, to whom he
could not deny an asylum in his house, however many scruples he himself
had as to keeping him.