This is a pet theory of Mrs. Webster, and is very largely based on the
untenable propositions noticed above. It is, however, also sought to
show that the Illuminati and the Martinezists were active artisans of
the Revolution, and that they were abetted by Jews. On this the only
concrete evidence adduced is that Martinez Pasqualis, who figured
prominently in both movements, was "generally reputed to be a
Portuguese Jew." As a matter of fact, there were scarcely any
Portuguese Jews at the time, and even the distinction between Old and
New Christians in Portugal had been recognised as obsolete and
abolished by decree in 1768.[18] Pasqualis was probably as little--or
as much--a Jew as Pombal or Dom Joseph in the popular anecdote.[19] As
for his alleged Jewish abettors, it is noteworthy that neither Barruel
nor Robison--both contemporaries of the Revolution--knew anything of
them. Barruel, indeed, ignored the theory when it was actually
suggested to him, and for good reason. No one knew better than he how
ludicrous it was. The Jews in Paris at the time were few and
relatively insignificant; they did their duty by the new Government,
but were sturdily on the side of moderation, and so far from having
had any hand in making the Revolution they were actually the last to
benefit by it. They were, in fact, the only class of the population
whose disabilities were continued by the new regime, and it was not
until September, 1791, that, after many appeals from them and in face
of a strong opposition, the National Assembly consented to their
emancipation.[20] As for their political opinions, they are
sufficiently illustrated by the fact that one of the first acts of the
Terror was to arrest forty-six of them as suspect of "delits
contre-revolutionnaires"--the charge is itself a vindication--and nine
of them were executed.[21] None of these good people were of any
political prominence. Indeed, whether for good or evil, not a single
Jewish name figures conspicuously in the history of the Revolution.
With the subsequent Revolutions of 1830 and 1848 the case was
different, but these were essentially bourgeois movements, and the
Jewish activity in them was characteristically middle-class and
moderate.