wealth they brought into the country, and their fruitful commercial
activity, especially in the colonial trade, soon revealed them as an
indispensable element of the prosperity of the City.[178] As early as
1668 Sir Josiah Child, the millionaire governor of the East India
Company, pleaded for their naturalisation on the score of their
commercial utility.[179] For the same reason the City found itself
compelled at first to connive at their illegal representation on
’Change, and then to violate its own rules by permitting them to act as
brokers without previously taking up the Freedom.[180] At this period
they controlled more of the foreign and colonial trade than all the
other alien merchants in London put together. The momentum of their
commercial enterprise and stalwart patriotism proved irresistible. From
the Exchange to the City Council Chamber, thence to the Aldermanic
Court, and eventually to the Mayoralty itself, were inevitable stages of
an emancipation to which their large interests in the City and their
high character entitled them. Finally the City of London—not only as the
converted champion of religious liberty but as the convinced apologist
of the Jews—sent Baron Lionel de Rothschild to knock at the doors of the
unconverted House of Commons as parliamentary representative of the
first city in the world.
Jewish emancipation in England was, in short, the work of the English
democracy—almost of the same democracy which in the thirteenth century
had spued the Hebrews forth, when their kingly protectors had made their
residence in the land conditional on their acting as the usurious
instruments of the Royal Exchequer, and which in the seventeenth had
resented their readmission under the influence of deeply rooted
prejudices, inherited from that dark age. It was no mere homage to the
abstract principle of Religious Liberty like the emancipations on the
Continent which, in the name of the Rights of Man, suddenly called forth
the oppressed Jews from their Ghettos and bade them take up a new life,
from which they were sundered by centuries of mediæval seclusion.
Religious Liberty in England broadened on more cautious lines.
Dissenters, Roman Catholics, and Jews have each been taken into the
bosom of the nation by separate legislative action, and as the result of
practical demonstrations of the futility, nay, the disadvantage, of
their exclusion. The gradual emancipation of the English Jews, first
socially and then in the municipalities, enabled them to show that their
civic qualities entitled them to the fullest rights of citizenship; and
it was the realisation of this fact—not by statesmen or philosophers,
but by their neighbours and fellow-citizens themselves—that eventually
gave them the position they now enjoy.
The story of Jewish emancipation in England is the true _Vindiciæ
Judæorum_—the avenging of Menasseh’s broken heart and the vindication of
his touching trust in his people. It is something more. It is one of
many justifications of that fine conception of statecraft, deeply rooted
in infinite sympathy with human freedom, which is the secret of
Britain’s greatness, and of which Oliver Cromwell must ever be regarded
as the typical exponent in English history.
VII. DOCUMENTS
The following is a selection of the documents referred to in the
foregoing narrative. They have been selected chiefly on account of their
personal bearing on Menasseh’s efforts:—
1. Fragment of a letter from Menasseh ben Israel to an unknown
correspondent in London (Harl. Miscel., vol. vii. p. 623). The original
was probably in French or Latin:—
“AMSTERDAM, _September 5407_ [1647].
“_Senhor, no pueda enar!_ that is, sir, I cannot express the joy
that I have when I read your letters, full of desires to see your
country prosperous, which is heavily afflicted with civil wars,
without doubt by the just judgment of God. And it should not be in
vain to attribute it to the punishment of your predecessor’s faults,
committed against ours; when ours being deprived of their liberty
under deceitfulness, so many men were slain only because they kept
close under the tenets of Moses, their legislator.”
2. Abstract of a letter relating to the “Hope of Israel” from Menasseh
ben Israel to John Dury (Thorowgood, “Jews in America,” 1650, p. xvii).
The original seems to have been in French:—
“AMSTERDAM, _November 25_, [1649].
“By the occasion of the questions you propose unto me concerning
this adjoyned Narrative of Mr. Antonio Montezinos, I, to give you
satisfaction, have written instead of a Letter a Treatise, which I
shortly will publish & whereof you shall receive so many copies as
you desire. In this Treatise I handle of the first inhabitants of
America which I believe were of the ten Tribes; moreover that they
are scattered also in other Countries, & that they keep their true
Religion, as hoping to returne againe into the Holy Land in due
time.”
3. Portion of a letter on the same subject from Menasseh ben Israel to
John Dury (Thorowgood, _ibid._). Like the foregoing, the original was in
French:—
“AMSTERDAM, _December 23, 1649_.
“[In my Treatise] I declare how that our Israelites were the first
finders out of America; not regarding the opinions of other men,
which I thought good to refute in few words onely; and I thinke that
the ten Tribes live not onely there, but also in other lands
scattered every where; these never did come backe to the second
Temple, & they keep till this day still the Jewish Religion, seeing
all the Prophecies which speake of their bringing backe unto their
native soile must be fulfilled: So then at their appointed time, all
the Tribes shall meet from all the parts of the world into two
provinces, namely Assyria and Egypt, nor shall their kingdome be any
more divided, but they shall have one Prince the Messiah the Sonne
of David. I do also set forth the Inquisition of Spaine, and
rehearse diuers of our Nation, & also of Christians, Martyrs, who in
our times have suffered seuerall sorts of torments, & then having
shewed with what great honours our Jews have been graced also by
severall Princes who professe Christianity. I proue at large, that
the day of the promised Messiah unto us doth draw neer, upon which
occasion I explaine many Prophecies.”
4. Letter from Menasseh ben Israel to Paul Felgenhauer (_Bonum Nuncium
Israeli_, pp. 87 _et seq._):—
“D. Paulo Felgenhauer,
Salutem & Benedictionem, à
Deo Israelis reprecatur,
Menasseh Ben Israel.
“Bonum istud, in novissimis & afflictissimis hisce temporibus populo
Israeli à te, Vir spectatissime, allatum Nuncium, tanto fuit animo
meo gratius, quo, post tot seculorum aerumnas & tam diu protractas
spes nostras, flagrantius idipsum exoptare non desino; modò præ rei
magnitudine verbis tuis fides constare possit. Siccine, Bonarum
rerum Nuncie bone, in procinctune jam est, ut adveniat Deus noster,
Miserator Nostrum, utque nobis Desiderium tot seculorum, Messiam
caput nostrum, tam brevi sit missurus? Siccine tempus illud imminere
ais, quo Deus; hactenus offensus & aversus à nobis, iterum Populum
suum consolabitur, & redimet non solum â Captivitate hac plusquam
Babylonicâ, à servitute plusquam Ægyptiacâ in qua jam elanguit præ
morâ, sed & ab iniquitatibus suis, in quibus quasi consumptus est!
Vtinam tam Verum esset, quam Bonum Nuncium tuum, tibique, tam
Credere possem quàm vellem! Utcunque quæ ad gaudii nostri
confirmationem ex scriptis Propheticis Signa adfers Adventus Messiæ
(ut fatear quod res est) lubens amplector; & quo plus animo meo
volvuntur ea, hoc magis spes mihi inde aliqua affulgere videtur.
“Ad Primum quod attinet, apud nostros Rabbinos id signum in confesso
est: quum enim necesse sit Imperia hujus mundi omnia corruere,
antequam Regnum & Potestas & Magnitudo Regni detur Populo sanctorum
Altissimi, cui omnes Reges servire & obedire oportet, inde non
obscure sequitur, immediatè ante adventum illum Messiæ &
Instaurationem Regni ipsius, magnas Conturbationes, Tumultus,
seditiones, intestina & crudelissima Bella, Regnorum & Populorum
hinc inde devastationes præcedere debere; Quæres quod brevi sit
effectum sortitura, ex præsenti Imperiorum Mundi facie vero haud
dissimile videtur.
“De Elia, secundo Adventus Messiæ nostri signo, quod ais, non
diffitemur, quin & gaudemus maxime, quod in eo nos Judæi cum
selectissimis Christiani Nominis Viris, in unam eandemque sententiam
concurrimus, fore illum ex nostrâ Gente oriundum. Verum enim vero
Elias ille cum nondum comparuerit nobis, eo usque saltem suspendatur
spes nostra necesse est: adeo ut, donec illum Deus nobis
revelaverit, certi & indubitati quicquam de Messiæ Adventu statuere
minus tuum videatur.
“De Tertio isto Adventus Messiæ signo quod ais, nempe de hac Regni
Israelis per totum Terrarum orbem prædicatione, id mihi non solum
verisimile videtur, sed & tale quid jam in lucem prorumpere &
effectum sortiri haud obscurè videmus: quin & Prædicatorem istorum
haud contemnendus numerus mihi ipsi per literas innotuit, qui ex
diversis mundi partibus ad consolandum Sionem prodierunt; inter
alios Viros Nobilitate & Doctrinâ insignes, qui ad manum jam sunt.
En ex Silesia habemus _Abrahamum à Frankenberg_, ex Borussiâ _Joh.
Mochingerum_, ex Galliâ Autorem Libelli Gallico idiomate editi, _Du
rappel des Juifs_. Ex Angliâ quos non? Nuper auctoritate publicâ
_Nathanael Homerius_, SS. Theol. Doctor, librum in folio edidit
anglico idiomate, de hac ipsa materiâ; & _D. Henricus Jesse_, nobis
librum Belgico idiomate de _Gloriâ Jehudæ & Israelis_; publicè
dedicavit. Plures allegare possem, qui instar Nubeculæ istius 1 Reg.
18 (quam Elias ascendentem de mari vidit, & subito in tantam molem
excrevit ut totum Cœli expansum contegeret) Indies numero & virtute
accrescunt, donec tandem totum Terrarum ambitum prædicatione suâ
sint completuri: Vt autē aliquod hajus rei specimen, ad testimonium
tuum confirmandum tibi, mi Paule prebeam; selegi tibi aliquot
Virorum istorum ad me literas, quæ jam præ manibus habebam, quas
legere poteris, & mecum gaudere, de ijs qui dicunt nobis, _Ibimus in
domum Domini, stabunt adhuc pedes nostri in atriis tuis Ierusalem_;
qui ad cor Ierusalem loquuntur, prædicantes salutem & dicentes
Sioni, _Deus tuus Regnabit_.
“Sed præter hæc mitto quoque ad Te, Vir Doctissime, autographum
Panegyrici cujusdam quem meo Nomini inscripsit D. _Immanuel Bocarus
Frances y Rosales_ alias _Jacobus Rosales Hebræus_, Mathematicus &
Medicinæ Doctor eximius, quem Imperator Nobilitatis Insignibus &
Comitis Palatini dignitate donavit; idque eâ potissimum intentione
mitto, ut videat Dominus exstare adhuc & discerni ad hunc usque diem
surculos ex stirpe Davidicâ ortum ducentes. Denique ut desiderio tuo
faciam satis, en quoque Catalogum librorum, quos vel in lucem edidi
jam, vel edendos penes me in parato habeo, sive Latino sive
Hispanico idiomate. Hisce te Deo Patrum nostrorum ejusque gratiæ &
benignitati animitus commendo, Datum Amsterodami An. 1655, die 1
Febr.”
5. Enclosures in the foregoing, being a letter from Nathaniel Holmes,
with a postscript by Henry Jessey (_Bonum Nuncium Israeli_, pp.
103–106):—
“Nunc sequitur Clarissimi Viri, Nathanaelis Homesii SS. Theol.
Doctoris Anglici ad me Epistolium, datum 24 Decemb. An. 1649, cum
Subscriptione Reverendi D. Henrici Jesse ei annexâ.”
“_Decemb. 24, 1649._
“Animus mihi fuit, citius adte scribendi, Vir egregie, otium non
fuit, Nec hodie ita mihi vacat, ut menti meæ, tantisque tuis
scriptis (quamvis expectatione paucioribus) satisfaciam. Nondum de
loco decem Tribuum, ex tuis literis responsum accepi; quod in meis
desideratum fuit; non astu, vel curiositate. Veritatem insequor, ne
Impostores pro Ebræis nobis obstrudantur. Scripsit quidam nuperime,
Innodos Novæ Angliæ decem Tribubus esse prognatos. Alii Tartyros
esse contendunt. Alii alios. Discrucior animi, ne fallar, usque dum
literas tuæ me fecerint certiorem. Delectari videris D. Nicolai
Apologiâ. Spero (ne glorier) te plura (ne dicam majora) visurum, meo
de Mille Annis prodeunte tractatu. Quod opus ita me tenet occupatum,
ut meæ ad te ituræ morentur literæ. Martyres in tuis literis vox
est; quæ, ni fallor, veteri Testamento haud innotuit. Verum sub
Novo, viri celebres, Christum, ejusque Evangelium, ad mortem
asserentes, primi illud nomen obtinuerunt. Facilè tamen concedo,
quoslibet veritatis alicujus testes, Martyres Græce dictos fuisse.
Sed (parcatur nostræ libertati Conscientiæ, quam lubentissimè tibi
inter scribendum indulsero) nec pontificii jam post Concilium
Tridentinum ullatenus habeantur propriè Christiani: nec Martyrium
esse mihi videatur, pro hodiernâ Legis Mosaicæ observatione animam
deponere. Quippe Lex illa quoad usum, ex plurimis veteris Testamenti
suffragiis, ante hoc abolenda esset. Deut. 18, v. 18, 19. Psal. 50.
v. 6–15, 23. Iesaiæ 66, v. 1–3. Vt olim multis jam annis transactis,
Iudei ubi maxima indulgetur libertas non sacrificantes, vosmetipsos
tamen vere Deum colere arbitramini, Libet tamen, non obstanti hâc
dicendi libertate nos edoceri, dedocerique, quâ in re â veritate
subsidimus, vel hallucinamur. Tractatum itaque quem nominas _De
debito Christianorum erga Ebræos affectu_, mittas; ut quantum in me
est, typis mandetur, & in publicum promoveamus. De tempore adventus
Messiæ quod incertum pronuncias, idque incertum comprobares
experientiâ; in promptu est responsio; Illud Danieli prius
ignoranti, tandem revelatum est; idque ex libris illius, nobis. Et
quamvis nonnulli (quos nominas) computando hallucinantes, in errorum
gyris, & labyrintho sunt involuti; non tamen hâc ratione deponendæ
sunt de eâ re (tanquam nullius usus) Prophetiæ. Quippe quod
expectamus, Danielis more cap. 9. v. 2 & v. 21. ut jam Vesperi
ætatem, quo propius accedunt liberationum periodi, eo clarius
elucescant revelationes ad easdem spectantes. Ægyptii Ethnicorum
barbariores (te teste Egregie Vir) nascendum Mosen præsentiscebant,
nescientibus tunc Israelitis natum Liberatorem. Quidni etiam
Christiani Scripturas amplexi, adventum vestræ Messiæ secundum
præviderent? In cujus adventu, (pace eruditionis vestræ asserentis,
quod stupens mirabar, _Vestram salutem in ejus Adventu non esse
sitam_) fundatur nostra, præsertim vestra æterna salus. Si enim
verum foret, eum nondum venisse, & posthæc illum venturum ambigitur,
labitur omnis prophetiarum Compages, totumque veteris Testamenti
Systema ruit. Et ita de Scripturarum veritate actum est; ut de
salute tum nostrâ, tum vestrâ actum est. Quæ si quippiam asserere
videantur, Christi Messiæ _passionem_ (Psal. 22. Isa. 53)
_resurrectionem_ (Psal. 16) _ascensionem_ (Psal. 68) _sessionem ad
dextram Patris_ (Psal. 110) _potestatem super omnia regnantem_, more
Adami novissime creati (Psal. 2. Psal. 8) omnino asserunt. Quæ omnia
acurate comparata, Messiæ Filii Davidis adventum, abitumque,
reditumque, elenchicè satis demonstrant. Non novum urgeo
Testamentum, quod æquis miraculorum portentis nobis commendatum
fuit, ut vetus Israeli. Vobis tamen Hebræis libentissimè favemus,
utinamque plus multò favere possemus; quamvis nec Meritum, nec pro
merito (vox Bibliis ignota) quicquam expectamus. Merces ex gratiâ
datur non merito. Malum possumus, qui perfecte peccamus, mereri;
bonum in quo omnimodo deficimus. Malum itaque pro nostro, bonum pro
Christi merito (si voce utar) nobis compensatur. Hominum (fateor)
alter de altero mereri dicatur, ut egomet tibi (vir Candidissime)
pro tuis literis me multum debere agnosco. Quin & universa vestræ
Nationi, flexis genibus servire molior, ut sive Nos Vobis, Vosvè
Nobis facti Proselytæ utrique juxta Isaiam, & Ezechielem, cæterosque
Prophetas, in unam coeamus ecclesiam. Nec non (confido)
dilectissimus noster Iesseus idem meditatur; cui literas communicavi
tuas, ad me missas. Pudet multum me tamdiu siluisse, verum tibi
rescribenti, duplâ quoad possim diligentiâ compensabitur.
“_A Tui Observantissimo_,
“NATHANAELE HOMESIO.
“Tuis hisce ex animo attestatur, assentitur, negociis à scribendo
jam detentus, qui Sionis pulverem commiseratur, qui hæc propriâ manu
subscripsi
H. IESSE.”
6. Original French text of Menasseh ben Israel’s demands on behalf of
the Jews presented to Oliver Cromwell (S. P., Dom. Inter., ci. 115).
“Ce sont icy les graces et les faveurs qu’au nom de ma nation
hebreue moy, Menasseh ben Israel, requiers a vostre serenissime
altesse que dieu fasse prosperer et donne heureux succez en toutes
ses entreprises comme son humble serviteur lui souhaitte et desire.
“I. La premiere chose que je demande a vostre Altesse est que nostre
nation hebreue sont reçeue et admise en cestee puissant republique
sous la protection et garde de vostre altesse comme les cittoiens
mesmes et pour plus grande securité au temps advenir je supplie
votre altesse de faire jurer (si elle l’a pour aggréable) à tous ses
chefs et generaux d’armes de nous deffendre en toutes occasions.
“II. Quil plaise a vostre altesse nous permettre synagogues
publiques non seulement en Angleterre, mais aussi en touts austres
lieux de conqueste qui sont sous la puissance de Vostre Altesse et
d’observer en tout nostre religion comme nous devons.
“III. Que nous puissions avoir un lieu ou cimetiere hors la ville
pour enterrer nos morts sans estre molestes d’aucun.
“IV. Qu’il nos soit permis de trafiquer librement en toute sorte de
marchandise comme les autres.
“V. Que (afin que ceux qui vendront soyent pour l’utilité des
citoyens et viven san porter prejudice à aucun ni donner scandale)
vostre serenissime Altesse elise un personne de qualité pour
informer et recevoir passeport de ceux qui entreront, les quels
estant arrivez le faira scavoir et les obligera de jurer et garder
fidélité a vostre Altesse en ce peix.
“VI. Et pour n’estre point à charge aux juges du peix touchaut les
contestations et differents qui peuvent arriver entre ceux de nostre
nation que vostre serenissime Altesse donne licence aux chef de la
synagogue de prendre avec soy deux ausmoniers de sa nation pour
accorder et juger tous les differents de procez conforme à la loy
Mosayque avec liberté toutefois d’appeler de leur sentence aux juges
civils déposant premierement la somme à laquelle la partye aurait
esté condamnée.
“VII. Que si paradventure il y avait quelques loix contraires à
nostre nation juifve que premierement et avant toutes choses elles
soient revoquées affin que par ce moien la nous puissons demeurer
avec plus grande securité sous la sauvegarde et protection de vostre
serenissime Altesse.
“Lesquelles choses nous concedant vostre serenissime Altesse nous
demeurerons toujours les très affectionnés et obligez à prier Dieu
pour la prospérité de vostre Altesse et de vostre illustre et très
sage conseil. Qu’il luy plaise donner heureux succez à toutes lés
enterprises de vostre Serenissime Altesse Amen.”
7. Circular issued by Cromwell’s Council convening the Whitehall
Conference (S.P. Dom. Inter., i. 76, 1655, pp. 378–79).
“SIR,—His Highness the Lord Protector and the Council having
determined of a certain number of persons (whereof yourself is one)
to meet with a Committee of the Council on Tuesday the fourth of
December next in ye afternoon neare the Council Chambers in
Whitehall to the intent some proposalls made to his Highness in
reference to the nation of the Jewes may be considered of you are
therefore desired by his Highness & the Council to take notice
thereof & so meet at the said time and place for the purpose
aforesaid.
Signed in the name &
by order of the Council
HE. LAWRENCE
Presidt
WHITEHALL,
16 Novem. 1655.”
8. Report of the Sub-Committee of the Council of State after the
Conferences at Whitehall (S. P., Dom. Inter., ci. 118).
“_That the Jewes deservinge it may be admitted into this nation to
trade and trafficke and dwel amongst us as providence shall give
occasion._[181]
“That as to poynt of conscience we judge lawfull for the magistrate
to admit in case such materiall and weighty considerations as
hereafter follow be provided for, about which till we are satisfyed
we cannot but in conscience suspend our resolution in this case.
“1. That the motives and grounds upon which Menasseh ben Israel in
behalfe of the rest of his nation in his booke lately printed in
this English tongue desireth their admission in this commonwealth
are such as we conceave to be very sinfull for this or any Christian
state to receave them upon.
“2. That the danger of seducinge the people of this nation by their
admission in matters of religion is very great.
“3. That their havinge of synagogues or any publicke meetings for
the exercise of their worship or religion is not only evill in
itselfe, but likewise very scandalous to other Christian churches.
“4. That their customes and practices concerninge marriage and
divorce are unlawfull and will be of very evill exemple amongst us.
“5. That principles of not makinge concience of oathes made and
injuryes done to Christians in life, chastity, goods or good name
have bin very notoriously charged upon them by valuable testimony.
“6. That great prejudice is like to arise to the natives of this
commonwealth in matter of trade, which besides other dangers here
mentioned we find very commonly suggested by the inhabitants of the
city of London.
“7. We humbly represent.
“I. That they be not admitted to have any publicke Judicatoryes,
whether civill or ecclesiasticall, which were to grant them terms
beyond the condition of strangers.
“II. That they be not admitted eyther to speake or doe anythinge to
the defamation or dishonour of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ or
of the Christian religion.
“III. That they be not permitted to doe any worke or anythinge to
the prophanation of the Lord’s Day or Christian sabbath.
“IV. That they be not admitted to have Christians to dwell with them
as their servants.
“V. That they bear no publicke office or trust in this commonwealth.
“VI. That they be not allowed to print anything which in the least
opposeth the Christian religion in our language.
“VII. That so farre as may be not suffered to discourage any of
their owne from usinge or applyinge themselves to any which may tend
to convince them of their error and turn them to Christianity. And
that some severe penalty be imposed upon them who shall apostatize
from Christianity to Judaisme.”
9. Petition of the London Marranos to Oliver Cromwell (S. P., Dom.
Inter., cxxv. 58):—
“To His Highnesse Oliver Lord Protector of the Com̄onwelth of
England, Scotland & Ireland & the Dominions thereof.
“The Humble Petition of The Hebrews at Present Residing in this
citty of London whose names ar vnderwritten
“Humbly sheweth
“That Acknolledging The manyfold favours and Protection yo^r
Highnesse hath bin pleased to graunt vs in order that wee may with
security meete priuatley in owr particular houses to our Deuosions,
And being desirous to be favoured more by yo^r Highnesse wee pray
with all Humblenesse y^r by the best meanes which may be such
Protection may be graunted vs in Writting as that wee may
therew^{th} meete at owr said priuate deuosions in owr Particular
houses without feere of Molestation either to owr persons famillys
or estates, owr desires Being to Liue Peacebly under yo Highnes
Gouernement, And being wee ar all mortall wee allsoe Humbly pray
yo^r Highnesse to graunt vs License that those which may dey of owr
nation may be buryed in such place out of the cittye as wee shall
thineke conuenient with the Proprietors Leaue in whose Land this
place shall be, and soe wee shall as well in owr Lifetyme, as at owr
death be highly fauoured by yo^r Highnesse for whose Long Lyfe and
Prosperity wee shall continually pray To the allmighty God.”
MENASSEH BEN ISRAEL.
DAVID ABRABANEL.
ABRAHAM ISRAEL CARUAJAL.
ABRAHAM COEN GONZALES.
JAHACOB DE CACERES.
ABRAHAM ISRAEL DE BRITO.
ISAK LOPES CHILLON.
Oliver P.
Wee doe referr this Peticon
to the Consideracon of y^r Councill.
March ^{ye} 24th
1655⁄6.
(Endorsement)
Hebrews
^{ye} 25 March 1656
dd by the Lord Presid^t
Gentlemen ye 26
June 1656.”
10. Petition of Menasseh ben Israel to Oliver Cromwell, probably written
at the end of 1656 (S. P., Dom. Inter., cliii. 122):—
“To his Highness the Lord Protector.