But the Kaimacon was embarking for the war with Crete; in his absence
he feared to leave Sabbataï in the capital. The prisoner was therefore
transferred to the abode of State prisoners, the Castle of the
Dardanelles at Abydos, with orders that he was to be closely confined,
and never to go outside the gates. But, under the spell of some
strange respect, or in the desire to have a hold upon them, too, the
Kaimacon allowed his retinue of Kings to accompany him, likewise his
amanuensis, Samuel Primo, and his consort, Melisselda.
The news of his removal to better quarters did not fail to confirm the
faith of the Sabbatians. It was reported, moreover, that the
Janissaries sent to take him fell dead at a word from his mouth, and
being desired to revive them he consented, except in the case of some
who, he said, were not true Turks. Then he went of his own accord to
the Castle, but the shackles they laid on his feet fell from him,
converted into gold with which he gratified his true and faithful
believers, and, spite of steel bars and iron locks, he was seen to
walk through the streets with a numerous attendance. Nor did the
Sabbatians fail to find mystic significance in the fact that their
Messiah arrived at his new prison on the Eve of Passover--of the
anniversary of Freedom.
Sabbataï at once proceeded to kill the Paschal lamb for himself and
his followers, and eating thereof with the fat, in defiance of
Talmudic Law, he exclaimed:--"Blessed be God who hath restored that
which was forbidden."
To the Tower of Strength, as the Sabbatians called the castle at
Abydos, wherein the Messiah held his Court, streamed treasure-laden
pilgrims from Poland, Germany, Italy, Vienna, Amsterdam, Cairo,
Morocco, thinking by the pious journey to become worthy of seeing his
face; and Sabbataï gave them his benediction, and promised them
increase of their stores and enlargement of their possessions in the
Holy Land. The ships were overburdened with passengers; freights rose.
The natives grew rich by accommodating the pilgrims, the castellan
(interpreting liberally the Kaimacon's instructions to mean that
though the prisoner might not go out visitors might come in) by
charging them fifteen to thirty marks for admission to the royal
precincts. A shower of gold poured into Abydos. Jew, Moslem,
Christian--the whole world wondered, and half of it believed. The
beauty and gaiety of Melisselda witched the stubbornest sceptics.
Men's thoughts turned to "The Tower of Strength," from the far ends of
the world. Never before in human history had the news of a Messiah
travelled so widely in his own lifetime. To console those who could
not make the pilgrimage to him or to Jerusalem, Sabbataï promised
equal indulgence and privilege to all who should pray at the tombs of
their mothers. His initials, S.Z., were ornamentally inscribed in
letters of gold over almost every synagogue, with a crown on the wall,
in the circle of which was the ninety-first Psalm, and a prayer for
him was inserted in the liturgy: "Bless our Lord and King, the holy
and righteous Sabbataï Zevi, the Messiah of the God of Jacob."
The Ghettos began to break up. Work and business dwindled in the most
sceptical. In Hungary the Jews commenced to demolish their houses. The
great commercial centres, which owed their vitality to the Jews, were
paralyzed. The very Protestants wavered in their Christianity.
Amsterdam, under the infection of Jewish enthusiasm, effervesced with
joy. At Hamburg, despite the epistolary ironies of Jacob Sasportas,
the rare _Kofrim_, or Anti-Sabbatians, were forced, by order of
Bendito de Castro, to say Amen to the Messianic prayer. At Livorne
commerce dried up. At Venice there were riots, and the _Kofrim_ were
threatened with death. In Moravia the Governor had to interfere to
calm the tumult. At Salee, in Algeria, the Jews so openly displayed
their conviction of their coming dominance that the Emir decreed a
persecution of them. At Smyrna, on the other hand, a _Chacham_ who
protested to the Cadi against the vagaries of his brethren, was, by
the power of their longer purse, shaved of his beard and condemned to
the galleys.
Three months of princely wealth and homage for Sabbataï had passed. In
response to the joyous inspiration of Melisselda, he had abandoned all
his ascetic habits, and lived the life of a king, ruling a world never
again to be darkened with sin and misery. The wine sparkled and
flowed, the choicest dishes adorned the banqueting-table, flowers and
delicate odors made grateful the air, and the beautiful maidens of
Israel danced voluptuously before him, shooting out passionate glances
from under their long eyelashes. The fast of the seventeenth of Tammuz
came round. Sabbataï abolished it, proclaiming that on that day the
conviction that he was the Messiah had been borne in upon him. The
ninth of Ab--the day of his Nativity--was again turned from a fast to
a festival, the royal edict, promulgated throughout the world, quoting
the exhortation of Zephaniah: "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion;
for lo I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord."
Detailed prescriptions as to the order of the services and the
psalmody accompanied the edict.
And in this supreme day of jubilation and merrymaking, of majesty and
splendor, crowned with the homage and benison of his race,
deputations of which came from all climes and soils to do honor to his
nativity, the glory of Sabbataï culminated.
(_Here endeth the Second Scroll._)