I
 
 ... . 
 
 THE 
 
 JEWISH ARMOURY, 
 
 BY 
 
 I. L. MOCATTA, 
 
 Author of "Moral Biblical Gleanings." 
 
 Psalm gi, v. 4. " The truth of the Lord shall be thy 
 shield and buckler." 
 
 Psalm ug, v. 8g. " For ever, O Lord, thy word is 
 settled in Heaven. 
 
 NOT PUBLISHED. 
 
 1877.
 
 BRIGHTON : 
 
 PRINTED BY CL-RTIS BROS. AND TOWNER, 
 150, NORTH STREET BRIGHTON.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 PREFACE . V. 
 
 CHAP. I. Four important words in connection with 
 Judaism ONE EVERLASTING TRUE 
 PERFECT i 23 
 
 II. The Divine laws and ordinances inculcated in 
 the Mosaic dispensation, which are pre- 
 eminently distinguislied for their sublime 
 morality and practical utility 24 56 
 
 III. A review of sundry Mosaic laws and ordinances, 
 such as need close investigation to enable 
 the cursory reader of the Sacred Volume to 
 arrive at a full conviction of their supreme 
 excellence 57 85 
 
 IV. On the Immortality of the Soul as an article of 
 Jewish belief, practically and inferentially 
 demonstrated in the Pentateuch, and re- 
 peatedly referred to in other portions of the 
 Sacred Volume , 86-98 
 
 V. Short biographical sketches from Sacred and 
 Profane History, proving to demonstiation 
 the efficacy of the Mosaic code of laws upon 
 individual character 99135 
 
 VI. Extracts from the writings of some of the most 
 enlightened men in Christendom showing 
 that the Jewish belief in the Unity of God 
 coincides with their own convictions ; that 
 in the main they admit the Mosaic code to 
 be alike practical and useful ; that they 
 highly appreciate many traits peculiar to the 
 Hebrew race ; finally, extracts from works 
 written by Jewish authors on their own 
 national characteristics and social position.. 136 179
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Jewish Association for the diffusion of Religious 
 Knowledge thus concludes one of its latest Reports, 
 "The many influences which are at work in this present 
 age of materalism, when all religions are being subject to 
 the severest tests and trials, render it necessary that we 
 should endeavour to place in the hands of the followers 
 of our Holy Faith the first as well as foundation of all 
 revealed religion weapons with which to combat the 
 attacks from without, and even from within. This can 
 only be effected by the dissemination amongst our co- 
 religionists of a clear and correct knowledge of Judaism 
 and its observances." 
 
 With the above quotation vividly impressed on his 
 mind, the writer takes up his pen earnest in the furtherance 
 of a like object, and, as he does so with extreme diffidence 
 he trusts that no presumption will be imputed to him, 
 either in regard to the title he has chosen, or to the 
 assurance he has displayed in following in the wake of 
 an association, which has already achieved so much, and 
 justly gained the attention and high consideration of the 
 entire Jewish community. 
 
 Before proceeding to offer a few remarks regarding 
 the main purport of these pages, the author would be per-
 
 yi. Preface. 
 
 mitted to make some slight reference to his last religious 
 work, viz, "MORAL BIBLICAL GLEANINGS," indeed, 
 both books have this common object, to concentrate and 
 bring into relief all that is most valuable and instructive 
 in the Holy volume. In the " Gleanings " are to be found, 
 under especial headings, a variety of practical precepts 
 with a short biography of numerous Israelites of old, who, 
 considering those precepts their best heirloom, strove 
 sedulously to practice and follow them out, and having 
 succeeded therein, left us a legacy of imperishable names, 
 names which adorn the annals of History, and will ever 
 be admired and revered by all of every sect or creed, who 
 can appreciate true merit and agree to stamp the 
 character of man according to its moral excellence. 
 
 In the present little volume the author has for object to 
 bring before his co-religionists an epitome of the very 
 many facts and arguments which have tended to give 
 strength and permanency to the Jewish faith, besides other 
 data, avoiding all that is discursive ; and by thus bringing 
 them together in the most compact form possible, he 
 trusts good service will be rendered to the cause of 
 religion, and that these pages will meet the wishes of those 
 persons who, lacking either time or inclination to peruse 
 long controversial works, are, nevertheless, desirous of 
 having placed before them a fair exposition of Judaism 
 and its Laws, whilst it will enable the enlightened Christian 
 to cast a thoughtful and appreciative glance over a sum- 
 mary of those numerous beautiful ordinances and holy 
 truths which have given, and will assuredly continue 
 to give, life, stability, and lasting vitality to the religion 
 of the Israelite.
 
 Preface. vii. 
 
 As a book entitled "The Jewish Armoury" may be 
 deemed incomplete by some readers without it contains 
 especial reference to the views expounded by David and 
 the teachings of the Prophets, it will be well to state here 
 that the writer had proposed concluding this volume with 
 two chapters devoted thereto, and it is solely on account 
 of enfeebled health that he foregoes his original inten- 
 tion. The enforced curtailment of this work would have 
 proved a source of greater regret to its author had he not 
 been impressed with the belief that any additional strength 
 imparted to Judaism through the Psalms and the Books of 
 the Prophets is mostly, if not solely, due to the fact that 
 their writers, true to the ancestral faith, undeviatingly 
 upheld the Mosaic code and demonstrated in the most im- 
 passioned language how greatly they appreciated each 
 precept, each ordinance contained therein. The teach- 
 ings of these chosen servants of God are simply supple- 
 mentary, and though of inestimable value in themselves, 
 cannot dwarf in the slightest degree the mighty structure 
 of Mosaism. 
 
 But could it by possibility be conceded that some feu> 
 verses both in the Psalms and in the Prophets militated 
 against the doctrines and laws set forth by the great Law 
 giver, yet on how slender a thread do they hang when 
 weighed with the mass cf evidence that can be brought 
 forth against any such construction, and even these 
 selected verses utterly lose their assumed significance in 
 the minds of the unprejudiced when they reflect on the 
 fact that these props to another creed have, in nearly 
 every instance, been wrested from their true meaning, 
 their true intent, through a strange perversion and an un-
 
 viii. Preface. 
 
 doubted mistranslation from the original language. 
 Nevertheless, as Judaism has been assailed at various 
 epochs through the mistaken or ill-directed zeal of many 
 a novice in Hebrew literature, it is fortunate that there 
 are some valuable Jewish works on the subject of these 
 controversial verses, and the author believes that it will be 
 opportune here to draw the attention of his readers to 
 three books of sterling merit, wherein are to be found 
 the most undeniable proofs that these isolated and mis- 
 translated verses, so well calculated to mislead, are easily 
 refuted and altogether fail to weaken or undermine a 
 religion which has survived repeated attacks during long 
 centuries. The names of these valuable works are, istly, 
 "FAITH STRENGTHENED," translated from the 
 Hebrew by the revered Mr. Moses Mocatta ; 2ndly, 
 " A COURSE OF SERMONS " by Dr. Hermann Acller, 
 3rdly, "THE DEICIDES" by J. Cohen, translated from 
 the French by Miss Anna Maria Goldsmid. 
 
 In conclusion, the author, while expressing the hope 
 that some allowance will be made for any shortcomings 
 in this work, is yet sanguine enough to believe that it will 
 in a measure subserve the object, the intent which first 
 gave it birth and then quickened it into existence. 
 
 BRIGHTON, 
 
 NOVEMBER, 1877.
 
 THE JEWISH ARMOURY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 i 
 
 There are four words of superlative impor- 
 tance when taken in connection with the Jewish 
 religion, and indeed it would be impossible to 
 overrate their rare significance to the Jew, since 
 on them is based the whole structure of his 
 sublime and venerable faith ; we allude to the 
 
 words, ONE. EVERLASTING, TRUE, PERFECT. 
 
 Now, it might well be supposed, that no 
 amount of ingenuity could pervert these simple, 
 yet all comprehensive words from their obvious 
 meanings, but since they are, nevertheless, often 
 distorted or wrenched from their original signi- / 
 fication, it may be well to direct our attention 
 to these symbols of the Israelitish creed, and 
 endeavour to show that the Jews cannot by any 
 possibility interpret them otherwise than have 
 
 their forefathers throughout past centuries ; but, 
 
 E V
 
 The Jeiuish Armoury. 
 
 holding them to be the most unequivocal words 
 to be found in the Holy volume, they will 
 assuredly continue to make them a standpoint, 
 so long as language is capable of conveying 
 definite, accurate, and distinct ideas to the human 
 mind. 
 
 Referring, firstly, to the UNITY of God, 
 represented by the word " One," which is again 
 and again repeated throughout the Scriptures in 
 reference to the Deity, it would seem incredible 
 that any question could possibly be raised as to 
 
 , the precise sense intended to be conveyed 
 through it, and the more so, because frequently 
 found in conjunction with the most distinct,_the 
 most emphatic negation of Divine plurality. ; 
 
 f nevertheless, the absolute Unity of God, the 
 fundamental, the vital principle of Judaism, and 
 treasured as such by all Israelites throughout 
 their long chequered history, is most certainly 
 not regarded under the same point of view by 
 
 /those who believe in the Trinity. It may, 
 
 I therefore, be well to cull some all important 
 verses from the Sacred volume, and show the 
 grounds whereon the Jew holds so tenaciously 
 
 f to this conviction, as also the authority whereon 
 he bases his implicit, his undying belief.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 The first commandment of that Decalogue, 
 which was delivered direct from Heaven to the 
 Jewish nation, and has ever been held in high 
 reverence by those of a different creed, opens 
 with the personal pronoun of the singular l 
 number, " I," which in no one instance, when / 
 
 i " 
 
 applied to mortals, has served to convey the 
 idea of plurality. This monosyllable, then, being 
 universally symbolic of unity, of oneness, cannot 
 in fairness be wrested from its general signifi- 
 cation when applied to the Deity, particularly 
 since it is often coupled with some such negation 
 to plurality as gives it even additional force ; for 
 -example, " I, the Lord of Hosts, am the first 
 and the last, and besides me there is no God" 
 And again we find this solemn declaration : Hosea 
 13, v. iv, " Lam the Lord thy God, thou shalt 
 know no God but me, for there is no Saviour^ 
 besides nie " ; also, " I am God, there is no other, 
 .and my glory will / nnt (rJ7i/> fy n.nntli.pv" a 
 sentence which of itself bears the imprint of 
 Omniscience, a foreknowledge of what was to 
 occur long centuries after, as indeed does also 
 the following verse, Is. ch. 43, v. xi., " /, even 
 I am the Lord, and beside ME there is no 
 .Saviour_" \ in which quotation it is notable that
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 the singular number is twice repeated, as also 
 when the Lord proclaimed, Deut. ch. 32, v. 
 xxxix, " I am He, and there is no God with me" 
 or again, Is. ch. 43, v. xxv., " I, even I, am He 
 who blotteth out thy transgressions." It is. 
 further deserving of notice that to the letter 
 " I " is frequently affixed the all important, 
 because unequivocal monosyllable " One," as for 
 example, Is. ch. 60, v. xvi, "J.^ the Lord, am 
 thy Saviour, thy Redeemer, the mighty Ow of 
 Israel." Also the forcible words " only " and 
 " alone." adding thereby fresh significance, and, 
 it might be thought, precluding the possibility 
 of attaching to it a plural meaning ; indeed, had 
 we solely the heaven-sent article of belief, " I, 
 the Lord thy God am One God," it would 
 surely suffice to fix this truth indelibly in the 
 heart. Then again, the proof of this first 
 personal pronoun being intended to represent 
 unity in the Godhead may be found in the fact 
 of its being so frequently coupled with words 
 of deepest import, viz., " the Eternal," " the 
 King," "Jehovah," the latter especially being a 
 name which certainly conveys a distinct idea of 
 individuality to the human mind, and when 
 regarded as the Hebrew equivalent to the
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 sacred appellation, " I AM," carries with it a 
 hallowed sense of that Divine essence which 
 knows no subdivision, no plurality. It may 
 here also be observed that the singular pronoun, 
 " Thou," is always used in the Pentateuch, the 
 Psalms, and the Prophets, when reference is 
 made to the Deity ; as for example, " Thou, 
 the Holy One of Israel," " Thou, the Most 
 High, will judge his people." 
 
 It may, however, be advanced that the 
 pronoun " We " is occasionally employed in the 
 Old Testament when referring to the Supreme, 
 yet surely no proof^ of plurality is hereby 
 afforded, since this monosyllable is used in most 
 languages in lieu of the singular form when the 
 object is to intensify authority, or give force of 
 utterance, as in the case of a Monarch on 
 issuing a decree, or an author when seeking to 
 be especially impressive. Nor may we over- f/jS* 
 look the use of the word " Elohim," which, 
 
 , . 11. , , 
 
 having a plural termination,, might be ojpen to - . 
 misconception, were it not frequently employed^** **%* 
 also in reference to a messenger of God, or to 
 some human authority, as, for instance, we find 
 Manoch exclaiming after he had perceived " an 
 angel of the Lord," " we shall surely die, for we
 
 flJL 
 
 The Jewish Armortry. 
 
 'have seen Elohim.' ' And still more to the 
 point are the words of God Himself to Moses ; 
 Ex. ch. 7, v. i., " Behold, I have made thee an 
 Elohim to Pharaoh," which, of itself, might 
 amply suffice to prove that the expression 
 " Elohim," like the pronoun " We," is used to 
 signify authority in the individual, since here it 
 is indubitable that Moses alone is alluded to. 
 |6M&pCf Furthermore, the pure spirituality of the Deity 
 ' ' is clearly inculcated by the Lawgiver when 
 addressing the multitudes who had been eye 
 witnesses of the delivery of the Law at Mount 
 Sinai, he says: Deut. ch. 4, v. xv., "Take ye 
 therefore good heed unto yourselves ; for ye saw 
 no manner of similitude on the day that the 
 Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst 
 of the fire : lest ye corrupt yourselves and 
 make you a graven image, the similitude of any 
 figure, the likeness of male or female." 
 rfo Once let us permit ourselves to conceive 
 
 either plurality or materialism hrsjie Supreme, 
 and w r e have but too surely dwarf 'in our minds 
 the Great Lord of all, which fact doubtless 
 caused Moses, not only to prohibit the people 
 under various penalties from setting up graven 
 images, but also led him to proclaim again and
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 again the incorporeality and invisibility of the 
 
 God of Israel. (/ /^ 
 
 The glorious truth of the Unity of the Deity # 
 has for long centuries been cherished and up- / 
 held by the Hebrew as the fundamental prin- 
 ciple, the very keystone of his faith ; the words 
 in Deut. ch. 6, v. iv. : " Hear, O Israel, the 
 Lord our God, the Lord is ONE," first lisped 
 in earliest childhood, never cease to form the 
 daily prayer of each devout Jew till that final 
 hour arrives, when, in heartfelt and pious accents, 
 he seals this life-long conviction, by their utter- 
 ance with his latest breath. Truly this grand 
 and solemn article of belief, the heaven-given 
 heirloom of the knowledge of the Unity of the 
 Godhead, can never be lost to the House of > 
 Israel or remain indefinitely obscured to the '" 
 world so long as the Jew is true to himself, 
 his children, and to his God.* 
 
 Proceeding next to consider the word "Ever- 
 lasting " in connection with the Mosaic dispen- 
 sation, which, although a word of itself, amply 
 
 * At chap. 5 will be found the views of many enlightened Christians 
 on this all important doctrine, coinciding most remarkably with this 
 primary article of the Jewish faith. Surely it is to the belief of the 
 oneness and pure spirituality oi the Deity that we must ascribe the 
 following sublime idea of the great Unitarian philosopher, Sir Isa^c 
 Newton : " His centre is everywhere,~His circumference nowhere."
 
 8 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 demonstrates that the Law given by God 
 through Moses was to endure to all times, we 
 yet rind that though frequently repeated in 
 various portions of Scripture, it is further 
 supplemented by many hardly less positive 
 affirmations of permanent duration in such ex- 
 pressions- as these, " always," " for ever and 
 ever," " from everlasting to everlasting," " to 
 all generations." For example, we find in 
 Is. ch. 24, v. v.. The earth is defiled under the 
 inhabitants thereof; because they have trans- 
 gressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken 
 the everlasting covenant:" again, Is. ch. 40, v. viii., 
 " The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but 
 the word of God shall stand for ever ;" also in 
 Deut. ch. 7, v. ix., " Know that the Lord, the 
 faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy 
 with them that love him and keep his command- 
 ments to a thousand .generations;" again Deut. 
 ch. n, v. i., " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 and keep his statutes, his judgments, and his 
 commandments always^' And in Numbers 
 ch. 15, z 1 . xv., "One ordinance shall be both 
 for you and for the stranger that sojourneth 
 with you, an ordinance for ever_ in your gene- 
 rations." But possibly there is no quotation
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 that could be selected from the Holy Volume 
 which would better serve to prove the intended 
 durability of the Law than the following : 
 Is. ch. 24, v. iv., " My Covenant will I not break, 
 nor alter the thing that has %one out of my lips, 
 saith the T.nvtl" Surely here we have the 
 clearest evidence that the Mosaic code is to be 
 both permanent and immutable ; indeed, to admit 
 the bare possibility that any occurrence could 
 happen which might lead to a modification of 
 what God Himself has once decreed, and this, 
 in the most emphatic, most unqualified language, 
 is little short of impugning the Divine attributes 
 of Omnipotence and Omniscience. Truly, that 
 charter of Sinai upon which the Eternal set 
 His signet, and which has stood the test of 
 centuries, will, to quote the words of David, 
 Ps. ch. 105, v. viii., " Endure to one thousand 
 generations." That this was the conviction of/ 
 those faithful servants of God, who were per- 
 mitted to read the future and prophesy in the 
 name of the Most High, admits of no shadow 
 
 O ' 
 
 of doubt, else, instead of explicitly holding out 
 the assurance of the perpetuity of the Law, 
 and devising every possible means of dissemi- 
 nating the Holy Ordinances among the people,
 
 io The Jewish Armo^try. 
 
 exhorting their observance alike by threats and 
 entreaties, and sparing no labour which could 
 contribute thereto, these inspired prophets 
 would assuredly have made known any forth- 
 coming change and prepared their disciples for 
 it. Without this firm conviction would Ezra 
 and Nehemiah have written out the law and en- 
 forced its fulfilment ? Would the positive com- 
 mand for the observance of the Sabbath, and 
 various other inculcations have been again and 
 again insisted on by each succeeding prophet of 
 the Lord from the time of Isaiah to that of 
 Malachi ? Indeed, the last words of the latter at 
 the very close of Bible history, ch. 4, v. iv.. 
 " Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant" 
 left on record an injunction for after centuries, 
 and for all people, that the Mosaic Code was 
 never to be abrogatecTor superh^ded, but to be 
 held in sacred trust and carried down generation 
 after generation to the end of time. 
 
 It would be superfluous to refer here to the 
 numerous Psalms which demonstrate how en- 
 tirely their authors were imbued with the 
 doctrine that the Mosaic dispensation was 
 imperishable, and indeed it would be worse 
 than futile to adduce any arguments therefrom,
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 since these compositions, admirable though they 
 
 are, not being inspired like the Books of the y 
 
 Prophets, merely serve to convey the individual 
 
 belief of the writers, and, therefore, fail to- 
 
 afford that positive evidence which alone could 
 
 give to their words the authoritative stamp of 
 
 truth. 
 
 Having sought to show beyond all question 
 that the laws of Moses are to endure " for 
 ever," and admitting thatMiad this assertion 
 been qualified by the admission that some 
 portion only of those laws, particularly the 
 Ten Commandments, were given in perpetuity 
 the arguments here advanced would have met 
 with little opposition, if not, indeed, with 
 universal assent, it now becomes essential to- 
 offer a few brief remarks on this subject, and 
 endeavour to prove that the whole Mosaic Code 
 is immutable, and must stand or fall in its 
 integrity. Most certainly it is impossible to- 
 find one single verse or sentence in the Penta- 
 teuch wherein it can be said that Moses ever 
 broached the thought of the slighest repeal or 
 change, or wherein he specified any 7 difference 
 in regard to the divers laws he taught the 
 people, except, indeed, in those instances where
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 r performance were only possible so long- 
 as the Israelites inhabited the Holy Land^ as, 
 for example, the law of manslaughter in con- 
 nection with the cities of refuge ; the sacrifices 
 and burnt offerings in the Sanctuary of the Holy 
 of Holies ; the jubilee and such ordinances as 
 solely appertained to agriculture, the all en- 
 grossing occupation of those times, and nearly 
 the only means of subsistence or prosperity. 
 
 Now, can it be doubted that hadnptevery 
 law been equally binding, the distinction would 
 ?c/ c*t& have been plainly set forth, and the obligation 
 of each especial statute been clearly defined in 
 that Pentateuch' which was, at the command of 
 God, to be handed down from father to son, 
 and preserved unimpaired to all futurity? And 
 happily, such has been the case for long cen- 
 turies ; indeed, had not the Mosaic religion, with 
 the sublime ethical precepts it unfolds, been 
 intended to abide " for everlasting," the Jewish 
 nation must long, long ere this have become 
 extinct, trampled down as it has been by un- 
 ceasing and cruel persecutions, oppressed and 
 oftentimes gravitating to its fall through incessant 
 struggles for bare existence, and, withal, vigor- 
 ously and often ruthlessly assailed by the
 
 Tfie Jewish Armoury. 
 
 13. 
 
 intolerant and bigoted followers of new-born- C&~ 
 creeds, who, in the search for proselytes and 
 religious supremacy, ignored the stem from 
 which they had sprung, and forgetful of the . 
 infallibility and perfection of God's laws, enun- 
 ciated for their own belief a higher a more 
 philanthropic code of morality ! Truly, the fact 
 that Judaism has stood firm and majestic 
 through long ages, and its Sinaic laws been 
 preserved intact for centuries, must of itself 
 afford ample guarantee of its permanent dura- 
 tion ; but, further, let it once be proved that 
 those laws are " true and perfect altogether," 
 thus worthy of being perpetuated, and more 
 than enough will have been advanced in support 
 of the assurance conveyed through the Holy 
 Volume, that the law of Moses was destined 
 to be transmitted from " generation to genera- 
 tion," from " everlasting to everlasting," " for 
 evermore." 
 
 The words "true" and "perfect" now demand 
 our attention, and these having the closest 
 affinity when considered in reference to the law 
 of Moses, may therefore be treated in common,, 
 for it is self-evident that this code could not be 
 perfect unless the whole of its component parts
 
 14 Tlie Jewish Armoury. 
 
 its very essence were true, whilst, on the 
 other hand, it must be true, since it proceeds 
 from the Omniscient, the. God of truth. These 
 emphatic and all comprehensive words have 
 also this in unison, that they admit of no super- 
 lative, for what is true cannot be more true, or 
 that which is perfect, cannot, by any possibility, 
 attain to a greater degree of perfection. But it 
 may be said that the words " true " and " per- 
 fect" are supple, and oftentimes change their 
 character altogether, according to times and 
 circumstances, and this may be justly affirmed 
 when human institutions are in question ; but can 
 such be advanced in regard to those laws w r hich 
 
 o 
 
 were given by the immutable Lord of all flesh ? 
 Assuredly not ; we may not, we dare not, enter- 
 tain even the mere notion, while, indeed, none 
 but a sceptic will deny that the Mosaic Code 
 unaltered, unchanged, is as true and per- 
 fect now as at the period of its delivery on 
 Mount Sinai. 
 
 It would be worse than useless further to 
 allude to what appears so self-evident, except 
 for the fact that iL is repeatedly alleged and 
 strenuously contended that the new dispensa- 
 tion of another creed has introduced laws and
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 doctrines calculated to teach a higher morality, 
 us well as a purer spirituality, and therefore 
 should supersede the old ; but such being the 
 case, it becomes imperative on us to examine if 
 this assertion could have any solid foundation, 
 for if it were possible to prove that even one of 
 the Mosaic laws needed to be supplanted or 
 supplemented, then would the heavenly-given 
 code necessarily be imperfect. To amend that 
 which is perfect is manifestly impossible, since 
 any change made is simply to render it im- 
 perfect. i , 
 
 Now 4 the Sinaic dispensation lack that 
 
 vital principle which is fitted to ensure ,the 
 
 happiness of- all God's creatures, did noti/the 
 
 . ! 
 
 various laws enjoin virtue and tend to re- 
 
 press vice, in a word, did they not inculcate 
 the highest possible morality consistent with 
 human nature, then, indeed, might the Jewish 
 code be considered ill adapted for that standard 
 of perfection to which all mankind should look 
 up for guidance, and thereby seek to gain the 
 lavour of a kind and merciful Judge, the 
 gracious giver of the Holy Law. But as it 
 can be amply demonstrated that the Mosaic 
 code fulfils all these conditions, the conclusion
 
 1 6 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 which ensues is inevitable, that, taking the words- 
 true and perfect in their literal signification, 
 without any double interpretation, they clearly 
 define the character of God's sublime law, and 
 as "true" and "perfect" it will surely endure in 
 its entirety from " everlasting to everlasting." 
 
 It now only remains to advert to some few 
 of the numerous facts and inferences which lead 
 to the conviction, indeed to the certainty, that 
 the Mosaic code is alike true and perfect, 
 an< ^ among them the following may well be 
 selected : Firstly, That it directly emanated 
 from the Divine Will, and moreover was 
 solemnly delivered by the Supreme himself, 
 the Lord of infinite wisdom and perfection, and 
 in the presence of a vast assembled multitude, 
 as we read in Deut. ch. 29, v. 10. : "Ye stand 
 this day all of you before the Lord your God ; 
 your captains of your tribes, your elders, your 
 little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is 
 in your camp, from the hewer of wood unto the 
 drawer of thy water, that thou should'st enter 
 into covenant with the Lord thy God unto his 
 oath which the Lord thy God maketh with thee 
 this day ;" and proceeding to verse 15, we find 
 it there clearly and amply demonstrated that it
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 was not intended to be either local or tempo- 
 rary, but was adapted for transmission to all 
 futurity, else it would not have been thus 
 enjoined, " Neither with you only who stand 
 here this day do I make this covenant and this 
 oath ; but also with him that is not here this 
 day'' 
 
 Secondly : The distinct command given 
 there should be no amendment or alterations^ *4*\ 
 whatsoever to the Law, is of itself alone proof 
 positive that it contains all the elements 
 essential and vital to man's well-being. And 
 this is the injunction, Deut. ch. 4, v. 2, " Ye 
 shall not add unto the word which I command 
 you, nor shall ye diminish aught from it;" and 
 again at ch. 12, v. 32, "What thing soever I 
 command you, observe to do it ; thou shalt not 
 add thereto nor diminish from it." 
 
 Thirdly""! Its duration, tor it could not 
 possibly have resisted the repeated attacks 
 levelled against it from all sides during no less 
 
 o ^> 
 
 a period than thirty centuries and survived 
 unmaimed and vigorous, but that it derived 
 a vitality which truth and perfection alone 
 could impart, or in the words of Moses, Deut. 
 ch. 4, v. 8, " What nation has statutes so 
 
 c
 
 1 8 The Jewish Armoiiry. 
 
 righteous as all this law ?" Had it lacked any 
 essential precepts or ordinances, had some com- 
 mand calculated to lead man to virtue and to 
 God been omitted, its stability would surely 
 have been endangered, but that it has weathered 
 every storm, and during the lapse of ages 
 seen many a new conflicting system rise and 
 fall, assuredly speaks in a marvellous and un- 
 paralleled manner the perfection and truth of 
 the immortal code propounded by our inspired 
 Prophet. 
 
 Fourthly : The Laws themselves with their 
 . high moral inculcations, their applicability to 
 every situation of life, to every phase of ex- 
 istence, from tenderest youth to old age, their 
 adaptation to each lofty aspiration, each 
 spiritual want ; in a word, their potency in 
 ministering to the happiness and well-being 
 of humanity, affords conclusive evidence that 
 they are of Divine origin, and hence must 
 infallibly be alike true and perfect. 
 
 It would, however, be as inopportune as 
 superfluous, to enlarge here on this subject, 
 since it will be the purport of the two following 
 chapters practically to demonstrate in detail all 
 that has just been advanced in regard to the
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 19 
 
 Mosaic Code in its entirety. Suffice it to remark 
 that therein the sacred rights of life and property 
 are strictly prescribed ; forbearance, charity, 
 love, and the purest spirit of philanthropy are 
 enjoined ; every virtue is inculcated, and the 
 duty of man to his God and to his fellow- 
 creatures is clearly demonstrated and emphati- 
 cally enforced, whilst it may also be observed 
 that God Himself hath said to His people, 
 
 Deut. ch. 1 8, v. 13, "Be perfect," a command 
 which taken in conjunction with the Divine 
 decree then delivered by Infinite Wisdom and 
 goodness, is a further confirmation of the de- 
 claration that " the law is perfect and righteous 
 altogether." By the observance of the Heaven- 
 given code alone can man hope to become 
 " perfect," since assuredly conscience and judg- 
 ment would of themselves be alike powerless to 
 direct him aright or map out moral excellence, 
 truth, and perfection. J 
 
 Fifthly : The effect of the Mosaic Code on 
 individual character. The world's history most 
 certainly contains no more perfect, no more 
 righteous men than those who took the Sinaic 
 laws for their guidance and strictly followed 
 their sublime ethical inculcations. To their rigid
 
 2O The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 adherence to each precept, each command, in 
 the dispensation vouchsafed from Heaven, may 
 surely be traced the excellence which dis- 
 tinguished each true, each faithful servant of 
 God, nor indeed does this remark refer exclu- 
 sively to Biblical characters, such for exam- 
 ple as Moses himself, or Samuel, Daniel, or 
 Jeremiah, but is clearly discernible in the lives 
 of every individual who has made himself a 
 name for goodness, for probity and for intrinsic 
 worth. 
 
 Sixthly: The bias of the Sinaic laws on the 
 human mind. That men of the greatest intel- 
 Jwvk ^lectual powers and towering mental calibre have 
 in succeeding generations regarded those laws 
 
 / _ as the very basis of all excellence is not without 
 its significance, for were they not alike true and 
 perfect, they would surely have failed to main- 
 tain their ascendency and have ceased to be 
 transmitted as a glorious heirloom from father 
 
 O 
 
 to son. But it is beyond dispute that the very 
 men who have shone brightest and displayed 
 the most exalted moral qualities, as well as the 
 highest mental culture, are those who have borne 
 undying testimony both by word and deed to 
 their profound appreciation of the Divine com-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 21 
 
 mands. Did not King David proclaim their 
 efficacy when he said " Thy word is a lamp 
 to my feet and a light unto my path " ? And 
 again, Ps. ch. 19, v. 7, "The law of the Lord 
 is perfect, converting the soul: the word of the 
 Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." Further, 
 he declared, " Thy commandment is exceed- 
 ingly broad ; for ever, O Lord, thy word is 
 settled in heaven ; give me understanding and 
 I shall keep thy law, yea, I shall keep it with 
 my whole heart." That he sought to perpetuate 
 these statutes, believing in their perfection and 
 adaptation to every human want, we may feel 
 assured, when we regard his dying injunction 
 to the son who was to succeed him on the 
 throne. In i Kings ch. 2, v. 3, we read, " David 
 charged Solomon, saying, Keep the charge of 
 the Lord thy God to walk in his ways, to keep 
 his statutes and his commandments and his 
 judgments as it is written in the law of Moses" 
 Nor did King Solomon, the wisest of men, hold 
 them in less estimation, judging by his writings 
 in general and by the following injunction in 
 particular Eccles. ch. 12, v. 13, " Fear God 
 and keep his commandments, for this is the whole 
 duty of man." Also in the most solemn and
 
 22 The Jeivisk Armoury. 
 
 emphatic manner did each sacred penman extol 
 them, and with a zealous fervour exhort their 
 performance, whilst they further sought to 
 transmit them in their integrity to after gene- 
 rations. And none more earnestly laboured 
 therein than Ezra, the " ready scribe of the 
 Law of Moses, who " prepared his heart to 
 seek the law of the Lord," who "opened the 
 Book of the Lord in the sight of the people 
 and caused them to understand the sense 
 thereof." Even the very last injunction of the 
 last of the Prophets shows the law was held in 
 no less estimation after the lapse of 1,300 years, 
 since it was enjoined by Malachi ch. 4, 
 27. 4, " Remember ye the law of Moses, with the 
 statutes and judgments." 
 
 It is not necessary here to allude specifically 
 to the host of distinguished men of more 
 modern times whose writings and acts alike 
 bear testimony to their belief in the perfection 
 of the Mosaic Code, since their names will for 
 ever be found engraven on the page of profane 
 History."" 
 
 Seventhly : The laws being free from all 
 ambiguity and obscurity, they admit of, indeed 
 
 * See chapter V. which treats on this subject.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 23 
 
 even court, the keenest enquiry. . Their sim- 
 plicity, being without a shadow of mysticism, 
 permit the test of the severest criticism, and 
 withal, the profound wisdom which lies at their 
 very root, never fails to manifest itself at each 
 important juncture, triumphing over those laws 
 and observances, which have been fashioned 
 by fallible man, and thereby giving positive 
 evidence of their truth and perfection. 
 
 Eighth and lastly : The fact that no one com- 
 mand clashes with another, but all dovetail with 
 the most admirable precision, and together form 
 a bulwark of moral ethics to which each of 
 God's creatures may resort for guidance, and in 
 those true and righteous laws find that which 
 Infinite Wisdom decreed should be the only, 
 the undeviating rule of life and of moral 
 conduct.
 
 24 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Laws themselves now call for special 
 and separate consideration, and it will be the 
 main purport of this and th'e following chapter 
 to substantiate what has been advanced, and 
 show how fully they bear the imprint of infinite 
 wisdom and justice, those high and gracious 
 attributes of the Supreme Ruler of the Universe. 
 With this object we shall summarize and bring 
 into prominent relief some of the many emi- 
 nently practical Laws which the inspired pen- 
 man drew up and clearly set forth in the Penta- 
 teuch for the guidance of after generations. 
 
 It being, however, advisable to consider the 
 varied covenants and laws under twojdistinct 
 headings, it will now be our object to pass brietly 
 in review those nrHipanrpc; whirh fqw but the 
 sceptic and the scoffer will impugn or disregard, 
 postponing to the following cKapter our com- 
 ments on such Divine injunctions as possibly 
 display less markecT[\ r tlie higrT and important
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 influence they are calculated to exercise on the 
 world at large and on the Jewish nation in 
 particular. 
 
 On directing then our attention, firstly, to 
 those laws and ordinances, most of which have 
 not been prized by the Jewish people alone, but 
 also by the enlightened and pious of every 
 civilized nation, it will be well to commence 
 with the consideration of the ten command- 
 ments, the very basis of moral ethics, embracing 
 as they do the whole duty of man to God and 
 to his fellow-creatures. But the all-compre- 
 hensive precepts which are embodied in the 
 Decalogue will demand separately only a few- 
 brief remarks, since they may be left to speak 
 their own perfection and Divine origin. 
 
 Taking in conjuction the first and second 
 commandments, both of which Distinctly pro- 
 claim the Unity of the Godhead in the sentences, 
 "I am the Lord thy God" and "Thou shalt 
 have no other God besides me," then coupling 
 them with the emphatic, clear and oft repeated 
 declaration, " The Lord is ONE/' and " I, the 
 Lord am Holy," it must be admitted that these 
 two commandments are well calculated to sub- 
 serve a high moral purpose, since they tend to
 
 26 The Jeivisk Armoury. 
 
 fix the mind exclusively on the sole fount of 
 Infinite goodness and holiness, and greatly con- 
 duce to rouse the best sentiments of the heart, 
 and direct them in all purity of spirit to the 
 One immutable Being to whom alone is due all 
 reverence, all love, all obedience, or, in a word, 
 that faithful adherence to the inculcations of 
 righteousness which are so strictly, so solemnly 
 enjoined in the all-gracious statutes and ordi- 
 nances vouchsafed from on Hi^h. 
 
 Cj 
 
 Turning to the third commandment, we can- 
 not fail to discern that in order to act" in accord- 
 ance with it, we should always collect our 
 thoughts before we utter the ineffable name of 
 Go3Tnp_ra.yer, for to neglect this bounden duty 
 must infallibly lead to the disregard of what is 
 due to the Supreme, whose " mercies are new 
 every morning," and will surely end in our 
 " taking the Lord's name in vain." Further 
 remarks we reserve till treating on the ninth 
 commandment, when this injunction will be con- 
 sidered in its social bearing. 
 
 Proceeding then to the fourth commandment, 
 it will not be needful to make any comments on 
 its first ordinance, " to labour and do all thy 
 work " during six days, as even ordinary ex-
 
 The Jezuisk Armoury. 27 
 
 perience clearly demonstrates that social well- 
 being depends in a great measure on each in- 
 dividual accomplishing his allotted duties and 
 sedulously fulfilling his especial vocation, but 
 we must briefly dilate on the solemn mandate of 
 the Supreme, " to rest on the seventh day," a 
 command repeatedly and emphatically enjoined 
 throughout the Pentateuch, since the beautiful 
 institution of the Sabbath and the beneficial 
 effects its observance is calculated to produce, 
 are only too frequently disregarded or ignored. 
 This injunction, however, having been con- 
 sidered in all its bearings under the heading of 
 " The Sabbath " in " Moral Biblical Gleanings " 
 (the author's last religious work), it will here 
 suffice to give such extracts therefrom as- 
 especially refer to the subject matter in ques- 
 tion. " Among the benefits which it should 
 bring in its train may be numbered bodily and 
 mental refreshment ; and for this we must know 
 nothing of idleness, l>ut much of repose. On 
 this day, a day of compensation, lost stamina is 
 to be recovered, power to be restored, energies 
 to be recruited, the weary brain relaxed, and 
 mental quietude engendered by calm, healthy 
 and truthful reflections. When this result is
 
 28 The Jeivish Armoury. 
 
 attained, we shall be able to resume with all 
 necessary energy the business engagements of 
 the ensuing week, and efficiently discharge the 
 many obligations and duties which pertain to 
 our position in life. Renewed zest will have 
 been engendered by the temporary suspension 
 of business cares, and the mind, having for a 
 time buried in oblivion thoughts which worried 
 
 O 
 
 or oppressed it, will have regained its elasticity, 
 its vigor, and with them renewed confidence 
 and trust. The next benefit we may derive 
 from the sacred day of rest is Intellectual im- 
 provement, for does not the Bible tell us that 
 ' they "wKo seek the Lord understand all 
 things ?' That mind will be clear and bright to 
 discern the things of earth which has been 
 furnished with heavenly truths, and if these be 
 not taken to heart on the peaceful Sabbath, 
 they will assuredly receive little attention on 
 the working days. . . . Finally, a benefit 
 which greatly depends thereon is our moral 
 progress ; a truly pious and virtuous character 
 is not to be formed without those reflections 
 which the holy day is every way calculated to 
 suggest. We must then learn to be and to do 
 good ; we must turn our thoughts inwards,
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 29 
 
 examine the disposition of our heart, review 
 our past conduct, give heed to errors com- 
 mitted, and fixedly determine the straight line 
 for future guidance. When reflections fol- 
 lowed by good resolutions have been made a 
 constant weekly practice, then shall we be well 
 fitted to take an active part in the business and 
 charities of life." ..." But would we 
 enhance our appreciation of that Sabbath which 
 does so much to promote our worldly interests 
 and confers on us so many spiritual benefits, 
 we have only for a moment to consider this 
 heavenly boon withdrawn^ and that we were 
 obliged to toil mind and body without respite. 
 Would not our constitution be undermined, and 
 our health greatly impaired ? Would not de- 
 bility and illness attack our frames, force us 
 from the haunts of men, and injure our worldly 
 prospects ? Would not our thoughts gradually 
 centre in the things of earth to the exclusion of 
 our spiritual welfare, and our hearts harden 
 under the never-ceasing stimulus of selfish 
 interests ? There would, indeed, be little left 
 to sanctify our lives ; we should only at rare 
 intervals, and for short periods, raise our minds 
 to our Maker, study His laws, and so frame
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 our conduct thereby. Truly both our moral and 
 physical well-being w r ould have received a rude 
 shock." ..." Let us therefore have ever 
 before our eyes its negative "as well as its posi- 
 tive advantages, and love the holy Sabbath 
 with its ordinances for its own sake as well as for 
 the good it can and will accomplish. We shall 
 then take for its motto rest, trust and be 
 thankful bearing ever in mind that to dis- 
 regard the beautiful provisions of Providence 
 is to work against our own well-being, and to 
 violate the Sabbatical appointment is truly a 
 suicidal act." 
 
 The fifth commandment, the sense of which 
 is thus reiterated in Lev. ch. 19, v. 3, in these 
 words " Ye shall fear every man his father 
 arid his mother," may also be dismissed with a 
 brief notice, since the injunction to honour 
 and obey the authors of our being, through 
 whom, under Providence, we have from infancy 
 received every enjoyable blessing, appeals 
 directly to each human breast, and assuredly 
 none but those who are utterly dead to right_ 
 feeling and generous emotions will disregard it.^ 
 Being unwilling, however, to pass over this 
 
 command without 
 
 showing 
 
 that, like every
 
 ? he Jewish Armoury. 
 
 Divine law, it must not only be fraught with 
 material benefit to those who adhere to its 
 inculcations, but also that its neglect will surely_ 
 entail the most dire consequences, we deem it 
 advisable to contrast me effects which can 
 hardly fail to attend the fulfilment or non-fulfil- 
 ment of a son's imperative duty. And for this 
 purpose we will once more give a brief extract 
 from " Moral Biblical Gleanings," referring the 
 reader to the heading of " Filial Affection," for 
 a full treatment of the subject. " The youth 
 who attends to the admonitions of his fond 
 parents, hearkens respectfully ta their advice, 
 and follows it cheerfully, ever striving to walk 
 by the greater light of their experience, and 
 seeking to become deserving of their glowing 
 aspirations, will prove himself a worthy son ; 
 and never yet did a worthy son fail in perform- 
 ing his part in life worthily as a man. Earnestly 
 fulfilling every moral duty, he will assuredly 
 secure the respect and love of all good men, 
 and the happiness which smiled upon him first 
 within his home will go forth with him into 
 the world without." . . . " Truly filial affec- 
 tion is not alone a duty, but a prerogative ; and 
 thrice happy the son who can throw so glowing
 
 The Jewish Annoury. 
 
 and glorious a halo over the spirit of a dying 
 parent, receiving in return what must spread 
 a hallowed joy over his entire life that loving 
 parent's parting benediction." ..." But 
 heavy and severe will be the penalty which 
 that youth has to pay, who, regardless of duty 
 and his own self-interest, rashly and wilfully 
 Trrsobeys parental commands. Surely, if every 
 minor dereliction of duty is fraught with evil, 
 sad and painful must be the consequences 
 entailed by filial disobedience. To him who 
 refuses the light of experience, the road 
 to ruin will be as swift as certain. Heart, 
 purse, and health, will soon be alike bank- 
 rupt. When conscience ceases to struggle 
 for the right, when no chord of sympathy or 
 love is struck by the sight of anguish 
 written in legible characters on that face which 
 it \vas a son's duty to irradiate with joy, when 
 a father's anger is obdurately defied, and passion 
 is allowed full sway, that goal is nearly reached 
 whence there can b2 no return. Truly nought 
 but compunction of conscience will be left to 
 him who, besides ruining his own prospects, 
 has disappointed the fond aspirations of loving- 
 parents. Nor can his sorrow be otherwise than
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 33 
 
 greatly heightened when he sees death laying 
 its cold hand on that father or mother to whom 
 all reparation has now become impossible. Yet 
 even a severer sting than this will occasionally 
 wound the undutiful child ; for if his unfilial 
 conduct has inflicted a blow which in any 
 measure hastened that fatal end, an agony of 
 remorse and self-condemnation will steal upon 
 him ; too late will he then remember that 
 parents forgive much, very much ; indeed, that 
 
 the fond mother will pardon nearly all but 
 ingratitude, and that by obstinately persisting 
 in subjecting her to this cruel wrong, he has 
 basely stabbed her to the quick perhaps 
 broken her heart, and sent her sorrowing to 
 the grave. Let, then, the son who would save 
 himself in later yearsTrbm the stings of con- 
 science and much bitter grief, 
 
 rns~ first step in opposition to a parent's counsel. 
 Indeed, it surely behoves him to regard such 
 advice as an inestimable boon, for then will he 
 make a pleasure of obedience, and wisely 
 profiting by the experience of age and the 
 lessons of love, will become an honour to his 
 family, a pride and a joy to beloved and loving 
 parents." 
 
 D
 
 ^ 34 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 ^ . . 
 
 To the last five commandments have we 
 now to direct our attention, and these pro- 
 hibitory laws may not only be considered 
 together, but can advantageously be taken in 
 conjunction with the all-comprehensive and 
 sublime ethical precept Lev. ch. 19, v. xviii., to 
 " love thy neighbour as thyself," in which they 
 are clearly comprised. And here it may be 
 worthy of remark, lest the idea conveyed by 
 the term " neighbour" * might be regarded in 
 its narrow and contracted sense, that the 
 Hebrew word should, according to the ablest 
 Jewish scholars, be translated " fellow-man," 
 and further, we find the significant expression 
 "stranger" introduced in the almost syno- 
 nimous sentence Deut. ch. 10, v. xix., " The 
 Lord of lords loveth the stranger, love ye there- 
 fore the stranger" which imparts a distinct and 
 definite idea to the mind, thereby precluding all 
 misinterpretation, all misconception. In these 
 injunctions, containing the very essence and 
 embodiment of Judaism, are to be found a 
 
 * In regard to this word "neighbour" it is worthy 
 of remark that no one verse is to be found restricting it 
 to an Israelite, indeed it is practically demonstrated 
 otherwise, since the term neighbour was equally 
 applied to the Adullamite and to the Egyptian.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 35 
 
 deterrent to such sinful propensities as must 
 surely lead to the infringement, if not indeed to 
 the positive infraction of the last five command- 
 ments, which have an especial bearing upon the 
 duty of man to man. Let us but truly " Love our 
 neighbour," and it will necessarily follow that 
 we shall resolutely refrain from injuring him 
 even under provocation, or in any way wound- 
 ing his feelings by either word or act ; indeed, 
 the pure spirit of benevolence, or charity in its 
 broadest sense, will certainly characterize our 
 conduct and keep us ever mindful of the 
 rights and interests of others. 
 
 Now assuredly it is owing to the wilful viola- * / 
 tion of the sixth commandment " Thou shalt A 
 not kill," as well as of the grand fundamental 
 principle to " love thy neighbour as thyself," 
 that duelling is yet rampant on the continent of 
 Europe, and that so many descend to their 
 graves branded with the curse of Cain. Also, 
 when we slander or take away the reputation 
 of a fellow-creature, so that ruin and misery 
 ensue, then are we but too surely shortening, 
 even if not cutting, the very thread of life, and 
 further, we are breaking the^gighth command- Q 
 ment ; for unjustly to detract from a man s
 
 36 7%? Jewish Armoury. 
 
 merit or honour and lower him in the world's 
 esteem through untruthful statements orcalumny, 
 is simply to "steal" from "our neighbour" that 
 which we never afterwards can fully restore, or 
 for which it is impossible to make adequate 
 reparation even by a formal open recantation. 
 
 Then as to the seventh commandment, what 
 /.do the annals of the Divorce Court prove but 
 the constant transgression of the Divine in- 
 junction forbidding conjugal infidelity, and that 
 the Law given " for our good always " being 
 once broken and a breach made in the family 
 circle, misery and disgrace speedily follow. And 
 truly, if we love not the one who is nearest and 
 should be dearest to us, how may we hope to 
 " love the stranger " or any denizen of the outer 
 world whether a " neighbour " or an " alien " ^ 
 
 The eighth commandment in its broad signi- 
 fication needs no special remarks here, since 
 only the utterly worthless and abandoned are 
 capable of the act of stealing ; but as regards 
 the many deceptions generally termed " tricks 
 of the trade," which are most certainly a species 
 of theft, we shall treat of them when consider- 
 ing the ordinance that emphatically denounces 
 and prohibits the use of " false weights and
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 37 
 
 V 
 
 measures." Again, what could be more at 
 variance with the injunction to love our fellow- 
 
 man than to break the ninth commandment, and 
 " bear false witness against our neighbour," for 
 to do so clearly betokens some sinister motive, 
 a cruel animosity and rancorous feeling that 
 nothing could justify, while it also shows a 
 criminal perversity in daring to disregard the 
 third commandment and " take God's name in 
 vain." But all further allusion to so heinous, so 
 iniquitous a violation of a solemn duty and 
 sacred obligation is here quite unnecessary, 
 since every-day experience amply demonstrates 
 that honour and truth are the pillars on which 
 depend and rest the well-being of the entire 
 social fabric ; withdraw these supports to moral 
 rectitude and assuredly all would soon be utter 
 chaos. 
 
 Finally, in regard to the tenth commandment, 
 it is evident that by no possibility could we 
 violate the solemn injunction, not to covet any 
 possession which belongs to another, if we had 
 at heart the sublime precept to " love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself." It is indeed pure selfishness 
 which produces that inordinate desire, that rest- 
 less craving which begins in covetousness and
 
 38 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 but too surely ends in envy and discontent, the 
 two greatest and most insidious foes to all en- 
 joyment, all happiness. That a disregard of 
 this warning against cupidity and unruly 
 passions will involve the very worst con- 
 sequences is only too certain, while it cannot 
 fail to lead to the infraction of other Divine 
 ordinances promulgated at Sinai. 
 
 Now although the last five prohibitory com- 
 mandments taken in conjunction with the grand 
 Mosaic precept to " love thy neighbour as thy- 
 self" indicate and define, with the most 
 marvellous simplicity and clearness, the high 
 moral duties which are incumbent on man in 
 relation to his fellow-man, nevertheless there 
 are further numerous supplementary injunctions 
 to be found in the Pentateuch which breathe 
 alike the purest spirit of philanthropy and 
 brotherly love, and thence being in perfect, in 
 absolute harmony with the ennobling teachings 
 of the Decalogue, give them yet additional force: 
 and significance.'" 
 
 It is truly astonishing that any one conversant 
 with the ethical teachings of the Great Sovereign, can 
 overlook the fact that the sublime injunction to " love thy 
 .neighbour (fellow creature) as thyself" was not only
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 39 
 
 And to demonstrate this we will now cite 
 some few of the many beneficial laws and 
 statutes which the Omniscient, in His infinite 
 love and mercy, ordained and declared obliga- 
 tory on each of His creatures as being all- 
 powerful to promote and ultimately ensure in- 
 dividual happiness and universal good. 
 
 Directing our attention, firstly, to those ordi- 
 nances which bear the closest affinity to the 
 fundamental principle of action inculcated in 
 the Mosaic code to love our fellow-creature, 
 whether he be native born or an alien, the 
 following verses may well be selected for con- 
 sideration : Ex. ch. 23, v. i., "Thou shah not 
 raise a false report ; put not thine hand with 
 the wicked to be an unrighteous witness," and 
 Lev. ch. 19, v. xvi., " Thou shalt not go up and 
 down as a tale-bearer among thy people ;" thus 
 showing that neither directly nor indirectly are 
 we to asperse or undermine the reputation 
 
 inculcated by Moses, but was made the cardinal doctrine, 
 the very essence of his moral code. Nevertheless, as 
 only too many men of another creed, through a strange 
 fatuity or blindness, credit the New Testament with being 
 the first exponent of this precept, it behoves the Jew not 
 to permit this erroneous impression to pass unchallenged, 
 but ever seek to give expression to this fundamental 
 principle of Mosaicism both by word and deed.
 
 40 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 of any one, a proceeding which can only be 
 dictated by rancour, revenge, or some other evil 
 passion, and which is totally at variance with 
 the sublime command to " love thy neighbour 
 as thyself." Then we read in Lev. ch. 24, v. xxii., 
 " Ye shall have one manner of law as well for 
 the stranger as for one of your own country," 
 and the tenor of this command is still more 
 emphatically enjoined in Num. ch. 15, v. xv-xvi., 
 " One ordinance shall be both for you and also 
 for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an 
 ordinance for ever in your generations ; as ye 
 are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. 
 One law and one manner shall be for you and 
 the stranger that sojourneth with you ;" also 
 in Ex. ch. 22, v. xxi., " Thou shalt not vex a 
 stranger or oppress him ; ye shall not afflict any 
 wictow or fatherless child," thus coupling the 
 stranger with the unprotected and poor of the 
 land. And again in Deut. ch. 24, v. xiv., 
 " Thou shalt not oppress a hired servant, 
 whether he be one of thy brethren or a 
 stranger." And this is also enjoined in the 
 fourth commandment, wherein it is decreed that 
 " the stranger " should do no manner of work 
 on the Sabbath day. Again in Deut. ch. 15
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 41 
 
 v. xi., " Thou shall open thy hand wide unto 
 thy brother and to the needy," here likewise in- 
 ferring the stranger, as also in the following 
 verse, "Lev. ch. 19, v. xiii., "The wages of 
 him that is hired" (mostly prisoners of war, 
 and therefore aliens) " shall not abide with thee 
 all night until the morning," and this is repeated 
 in Lev. ch. 25, v. xxxv., " If thy brother be 
 waxen poor and fallen into decay, then thou shalt 
 relieve him ; yea, though he be a stranger or a 
 sojourner ; that he may live with thee ;" and 
 again in Deut. ch. 24, v. xvii., " Thou shalt 
 not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor 
 of the fatherless, nor take a widow's raiment to 
 pledge." Nor is the respect due to old age 
 ignored, for w r e are bidden in Lev. 19, v. xxxii., 
 to " rise up before the hoary head and honor 
 the face of the old man." 
 
 And now we would revert more particularly 
 to some few of the admirable and eminently 
 practical laws which have for object to hold 
 man to the performance of all that is strictly 
 just and honourable in his dealings with his 
 fellow-man, and to restrain him from the indul- 
 gence of that cupidity or individual greed of 
 gain which will surely lead to misery and to
 
 42 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 shame. To select a few of the most important, 
 we begin with the command in Lev. ch. 19, 
 v. xxxv., " Thou shalt do no unrighteousness," 
 and to make this injunction the more emphatic, 
 the more stringent, the words " I am the Lord thy 
 God " are added. And next, Lev. ch. 9, v. xi., 
 " Thou shalt not deal falsely one with another ; 
 thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour." Again, 
 Lev. ch. 25, v. xiv., "If thou sell ought unto 
 thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neigh- 
 bour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another." 
 Also in Deut. ch. 25, v. xiii., " Thou shalt not 
 have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a 
 small, thou shalt not have in thy house divers 
 measures, a great and a small, but thou shalt 
 have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and 
 just measure shalt thou have.". That these laws 
 
 *- 
 
 are frequently evaded or ignored even in the 
 present advanced state of civilisation, is only 
 too patent to those who give due heed to the 
 several reprehensible methods adopted for the 
 purpose of securing additional and illegitimate 
 profits through what has been termed " tricks 
 of the trade." The sensational mode of puffing 
 wares for sale, the deception practised by means 
 of ticketing up apparently low and attractive
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 43 
 
 prices, indistinct figures being coupled with 
 other dark ones, the adulteration of food, now 
 so loudly denounced, also the system of over- 
 charging by means of selling one specified 
 quality and quantity, whilst substituting them 
 and really delivering a lesser measurement or 
 an inferior article, together with other hardly 
 less culpable artifices, better concealed, perhaps,, 
 but all in contravention to that fairness and 
 honesty which is so emphatically enjoined in 
 the Heaven-given code. Again we are com- 
 manded in the following injunction not to be 
 extortionate or to press hard upon such of our 
 fellow men as need our assistance, Ex. ch. 22, 
 v. xxv., "If thou lend money to any of my 
 people that is poor, thou shalt not be to him as 
 a usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury. 
 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to 
 pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that 
 the sun goeth down;" and in Lev. ch. 25, 
 v. xxxvii., " Thou shalt not give unto thy 
 brother if he be waxen poor, yea, though he 
 be a stranger or a sojourner, thy money upon 
 nsnry nor lend him thy victuals for increase." 
 And be it here observed in reference to this 
 latter subject, that the true interpretation of the
 
 44 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 Hebrew word is not " usury " but " interest," or 
 a fair compensation for some voluntary loan 
 (see Dr. H. Adler's admirable pamphlet on 
 " Usury "), and even this was only to be per- 
 mitted when it was advanced for mercantile 
 purposes. This subject, however, needs no 
 further comment here, since it will again have 
 attention in the following chapter. 
 
 But the Mosaic system goes much further 
 than the inculcation of mere fairness and 
 honesty of purpose in all our dealings, for 
 therein we find the most distinct, the most 
 emphatic call on our active, practical bene- 
 volence. We are not simply enjoined to do 
 our fellow-man no wrong, we are bidden to 
 do him positive good. Thus it is commanded 
 to give in charity one-tenth of the wealth with 
 which we have been blessed. Deut. ch. 14. 
 v. xxxviii., "At the end of three years thou 
 shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase, 
 and the Levite and the stranger, and the father- 
 less, and the widow, shall come and shall eat and 
 be satisfied." And again, v. xxii., " Thou shalt 
 truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the 
 field bringeth forth year by year, that thou 
 mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always,"
 
 TJie Jewish Armoury. 45 
 
 and were this Divine behest duly carried out in 
 practice, penury with its too frequent concomi- 
 tants, misery and crime, would be almost un- 
 known ! The sublime institution of the 
 Sabbatical year had the same purpose, serving- 
 to lessen destitution and preclude oppressive 
 exactions. All who had fallen might hope to 
 regain their high estate and become once more 
 independent. Alienation of property in per- 
 petuity was rendered impossible, while it also 
 entailed the remission of debts owing by the 
 poor and the manumission of the slave. And 
 here are the several injunctions in regard to its 
 observance. Ex. ch. 23, v. x., " Six years thou 
 shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the 
 fruits thereof, but the seventh year thou shalt 
 let it rest and lie still, that the poor of thy 
 people may eat, and what they leave the beasts 
 of the field shall eat." This is repeated again 
 and again in Leviticus, with the following- 
 addition, at ch. 23, v. xxii., " Thou shalt not 
 gather any gleaning of thy harvest : thou shalt 
 leave them unto the poor and to the stranger ; I 
 am the Lord your God." Further, we have in 
 Deut. ch. 15, v. i., " At the end of every seven 
 years thou shalt make a release ; every creditor
 
 46 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall re- 
 lease it, he shall not exact it." And again, 
 Lev. ch. 25, v. viii., " Thou shalt number seven 
 sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven 
 years, and ye shall hallow the fiftieth year and 
 proclaim liberty throughout all the land, it shall 
 be a jubilee unto you, and ye shall return every 
 man unto his possession" Then again, what 
 could possibly be more mild, more beneficent, 
 than the following ordinances which inculcate 
 true charity, forbearance, sympathy and love ? 
 Deut. ch. 15, v. viii., "Thou shalt not harden 
 thy heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor 
 brother, but thou shalt open thy hand wide unto 
 him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his 
 need in that which he wanteth ;" and this is re- 
 peated at v. xi., " Thou shalt open thy hand 
 wide unto thy brother, to the poor and to the 
 needy in the land," implying the stranger. 
 Again in Lev. ch. 25, v. xiv., " If thou sell 
 ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of 
 thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one 
 another." Then in regard to the Temple 
 worship, it is ordained, Deut. ch. 18, v. iv., that 
 "The first fruits also of thy corn, of thy wine, and 
 of thy oil, and the first of the fleece of thy
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 47 
 
 sheep, shalt thou give to the Levite, Thou shalt 
 be perfect with the Lord thy God." Further, 
 there is a species of fairness due even to dumb 
 animals which has not been overlooked, and 
 various are the injunctions in the Pentateuch 
 inculcating their kindly treatment. Merciful 
 indeed are the commands, Lev. ch. 22, v. xxviii., 
 " Whether it be cow or ewe, ye shall not kill it 
 and her young both in one day," and to like 
 effect, Ex. ch. 34, ' v. xxvi., "Thou shalt not 
 seethe a kid in his mother's milk." Again, 
 Deut. ch. 22, v. iv., " Thou shalt not see thy 
 brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way an J 
 hide thyself from them." And v. x., " Thou 
 shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together." 
 Also, ch. 25, v. iv., "Thou shalt not muzzle the 
 ox when he treadeth out the corn." Then we 
 are bidden to give rest to the beast of burden 
 on the Sabbath day : to slaughter the animals 
 granted us for food in tTTe speediest 9hd most 
 merciful manner : to let the poor bird go free : 
 whilst other ordinances, equally beneficent, all 
 incontrovertibly prove that to compassionate the 
 brute creation is the fixed law, the essential 
 principle of Judaism. 
 
 We will now conclude with the consideration
 
 48 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 of those injunctions which seem to appeal more 
 directly to the individual than to the whole 
 social body, but which are as surely calculated 
 to ensure its permanent benefit as they are to 
 secure the well-being of each member con- 
 stituting it. Among the most important com- 
 mands assuredly rank those which inculcate the 
 duty of parents to instruct their offspring and 
 keep God's laws constantly before them. We 
 read in Deut. ch. n, v. xix., "Ye shall teach 
 them (these my words) to your children, 
 speaking of them when thou sittest in thine 
 house and when thou walkest by the way," 
 implying, indeed, on every suitable occasion. 
 A youth thus brought up can hardly fail to 
 become a good man and a blessing to the 
 parents who have trained him in this pious 
 manner. The ordinances for the observance of 
 the Festivals we find in Lev. ch. 23, z/.vii.," These 
 are the feasts of the Lord, even holy convocations, 
 ye shall do no servile work therein," again re- 
 peated in Numbers ch. 28, v. xviii., and well 
 calculated are they not only to promote social 
 and friendly intercourse, but also to uproot the 
 seeds of discord and strife, while tending to 
 draw us nearer to God, either through a sense
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 49 
 
 of gratitude for memorable mercies vouchsafed 
 in the long, long past, or the fulfilment of some 
 golden hope, some heavenly-promised boon. 
 And the above remark is peculiarly applicable 
 to the solemn day of Atonement, so beautiful 
 in its very simplicity. It tells us we must for- 
 give before we may hope to be forgiven, and 
 were this consideration fully recognized, no 
 feud, no quarrel could last more than one year, 
 for this hallowed day would bring healing on 
 its wings, and whilst asking God's pardon with 
 heartfelt contrition, no unkind feelings towards 
 a fellow creature would harbour in our breasts ; 
 past enmity and ill-will would surely sink back 
 into oblivion. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary here to make 
 more than a passing allusion to the statutes 
 concerning abstinence from certain food ; take 
 for example the following: Lev. ch. 11,27. iv., re- 
 peated at Deut. ch. 14, v. iii., " Thou shalt not 
 eat any abominable thing. They that chew the 
 cud but divide not the hoof are unclean unto 
 you, andthe^SMdae^ ye shall not eat of their 
 
 It can but be a matter of surprise that while many of 
 the ablest scientific men of the day hold in high estima- 
 tion the sanitary laws of Moses and give free expression 
 to their opinion, nevertheless they seem in a great 
 
 E
 
 50 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 flesh. Of all clean birds ye may eat, but 
 every creeping thing is unclean unto you," also 
 in Ex. ch. 22, v. xxxi,, "Ye shall be holy unto 
 me ; neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn 
 of beasts in the field," since it has been proved 
 to demonstration that the dietary laws of Moses 
 have been fruitful of good to the people for 
 whom they were especially instituted, while the 
 
 measure to overlook or disregard those dietary prohibi- 
 tions which most certainly have no less a claim to their 
 especial notice and appreciation. All who have given 
 their attention to this subject will assuredly certify that 
 they who partake freely of any food pronounced unclean 
 by the Mosaic statutes become subject to many of the 
 most grievous diseases which afflict humanity. But if we 
 might be permitted to single out one unclean animal 
 which demonstrates more clearly than another how im- 
 portant is the observance of the prohibitory laws in 
 regard to food, we should not hesitate to name the hog, 
 which ever wallowing in the mire, rejects no refuse, how- 
 soever foul or impure, in the endeavour to satiate its gross 
 I and gluttonous appetite, and thence will not unfre- 
 quently be found to generate those subtle and venomous 
 juices which taint its flesh and render it totally unfit for 
 human consumption. To instance how deadly poisonous 
 the flesh of the swine may become, we here give an out- 
 / line of a sad and painful occurrence which was graphically 
 
 , described quite recently by a trustworthy daily paper. 
 
 On board the barque a cask of pork was opened, 
 
 (, .and a portion was boiled into soup, of which fourteen 
 
 sailors partook, all of whom soon became seriously ill 
 and grew worse day by day, till at the end of a fortnight, 
 
 ^ after much suffering, some went raving mad and others 
 
 flied in horrible agony, whilst four alone survived, and 
 
 / even their health was materially undermined. 
 
 >>
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 51 
 
 infraction of them has at all times been preg- 
 nant with evil consequences. Truly, when it 
 is considered that the Omniscient, in His good- 
 ness, not only has declared what food is clean, 
 therefore wholesome and calculated to promote 
 health and strength, but has also specified what 
 is unclean, or gross and pernicious alike to 
 physical and mental vigour, it is surprising that 
 any single individual should run counter to the 
 explicit command of God in regard to this 
 matter, and partake of those species of diet 
 which have been so clearly, so strictly forbidden. 
 But these hygienic laws even serve yet another 
 beneficial purpose, since they impose a restraint 
 on the appetite. Abstinence from certain 
 -\ classes of food greatly tends to give a power of 
 control over our sensual nature, and which, if 
 only turned to good account, will enable us to 
 / curb all gluttonous propensities and any undue 
 ^ craving after luxuries. 
 
 The laws referring to some of the most im- 
 portant ceremonial rites also need but brief 
 comment, since no true Israelite could by any 
 possibility neglect their observance. Regarding, 
 firstly, the Abrahamic covenant, it will suffice to 
 draw attention to what an able writer of the
 
 52 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 Christian faith has said on the subject, and for 
 which reference may be made to the Lancet of 
 the 1 6th January, 1875, where it is proved to 
 demonstration that the observance of this 
 Divine injunction is ever pregnant with the 
 most sanitary and salutary effects. As to the 
 Mezuzots to be placed on the door-posts as com- 
 Tnanded in Deut. ch. i, v. xx., and the Tsisith 
 to be worn on the person according to the com- 
 mand in Numbers ch. 15, v. xxxviii., it is 
 enough to say that they are simply signs to 
 meet our gaze and keep us constantly in re- 
 membrance of God and His holy laws, or in 
 other words, outward aids to draw us to pious 
 reflection at suitable intervals, and most cer- 
 tainly possessing no other talismanic virtue. 
 Not a single rite commanded from on High 
 suggests the slightest notion of the existence 
 of any supernatural power, or in the remotest 
 degree contains aught of mysticism ; each one 
 has solely for object to assist the worship of the 
 heart, while under no possible circumstance 
 are they intended to weaken or supercede it. 
 
 We now come to the subject of the priests' 
 dress, and clearly are the proper sacerdotal 
 habiliments specified in the 28th chapter of
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 53 
 
 Exodus. That the description of special vest- 
 ments to be worn by ministers should thus be 
 distinctly defined proves how highly important 
 it is that they who officiate in a Temple of 
 worship should be above the vanity which 
 indulges in decorations according to individual 
 caprice, and through so questionable a medium 
 seeks to allure, if not impose upon, the shallow- 
 minded congregants. At no moment could the 
 beneficial effects of these directions be more 
 apparent than at the present epoch, when ritual- 
 ism is rampant, and fine attire, parade and 
 change in forms of garments seem no less 
 attractive than Divine worship itself. Were 
 there one specified attire for clergymen of all 
 denominations, as was the case in the Jewish 
 Temple, much acrimony would be avoided, and 
 all dissent on that score hushed to rest. 
 
 The law which we are now about to consider 
 is clearly intended to prevent a great social 
 evil, which is only too intimately associated with 
 immorality, if not with positive crime. It is to 
 be found in Deut. ch. 22, v. v. "The woman 
 shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a 
 man, neither shall a man put on a woman's 
 garment, for all that do so are abomination
 
 54 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 unto the Lord." Assuredly God's commands 
 may not be infringed with impunity, and those 
 persons who disregard the injunction which for- 
 bids the wearing of an apparel appropriated 
 to a different sex, as is only too frequently the 
 practice in travesties during the Carnival, in 
 the casinos in foreign lands, and even in fancy 
 dress balls in our own country, oftentimes pay a 
 heavy penalty and certainly incur the risk of 
 obloquy and shame. 
 
 To show how admirably adapted to every 
 situation and relation of life are even the least 
 important of the Mosaic laws, and how benefi- 
 cent are their intent, we would quote from 
 Deut. ch. 24, v. v. "When a man hath taken a 
 new wife, he shall not go out to war, but he 
 shall be free at home one year and shall cheer 
 up his wife which he hath taken," for here we 
 see that even a call to arms must not be 
 suffered to destroy domestic happiness. Many, 
 many a youthful widow in latter ages must have 
 bemoaned the abandonment of an usage which 
 had been directly commanded from on High. 
 
 Having now briefly passed in review some of 
 the most important precepts found in the Pen- 
 tateuch, it only remains to show how they may
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 55 
 
 be most surely carried into practice, and how 
 the injunction in Deut. ch. 19, v. iv., "Ye shall 
 walk after the Lord thy God and keep his 
 ordinances and fear Him, and serve Him," can 
 be most easily made the rule of life. And 
 assuredly these propositions may be concisely 
 answered in the words of one command, truly 
 the culminating point of Judaism Deut. ch. 6, 
 v. v. " Thou shalt love the Lord with all thy 
 heart," for then shall we with all our " soul and 
 might" seek to fulfil each Divine behest, and 
 thus make ourselves worthy of the love of Him 
 who graciously gave us His Holy law " for our 
 good always." 
 
 Before closing this chapter, it may fairly be 
 asked if it is possible for the human mind to 
 conceive that aught conducive to the well-being 
 of man is lacking in that imperishable, that sub- 
 lime code of the Israelite which we have had 
 under consideration. Are not benevolence, 
 true philanthropy, meekness of temper, forbear- 
 ance, honesty, and every exalted virtue clearly 
 enjoined therein, while is not every defect of 
 character, every crime and all that would tend 
 to vice and profligacy fully and clearly repre- 
 hended and forbidden ? Embracing all that
 
 56 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 constitutes morality and true piety, the Mosaic 
 Code needed indeed but God's seal to establish 
 and confirm its perfection, which He, in His 
 Supreme love towards His fallible creatures, 
 graciously bestowed in the following explicit 
 declaration Deut. ch. 30, v. xx. " For it (the 
 law) is thy very life."
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 57 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Passing onwards from those laws which are 
 pre-eminently distinguished for their sublime 
 morality and practical utility, we will now give 
 our attention to others which seem less perfect, 
 and to which exception has been taken on the 
 score that though they might have been of 
 service at the time of their promulgation, 
 and possibly were well-suited for a people just 
 released from bondage, they are ill-adapted to 
 promote the welfare of a civilized community at 
 the present day ! But is this really so ? 
 Assuredly not. If indeed the Mosaic Code of 
 laws had emanated from fallible man, then we 
 might readily believe that some imperfections 
 would be discoverable therein, and that, like 
 most human institutions, it could simply sub- 
 serve a useful purpose in regard to some 
 especial community or nation, and this for a 
 limited time only. But when it is considered 
 that each law, each injunction was given direct 
 from Heaven, must not that man be pre-
 
 58 The Jewish Armoury, 
 
 sumptuous indeed, or wilfully blind, who dares 
 question either their utility or practicability, who 
 will set bounds to their duration or hold in low 
 estimation any one ordinance, any one command 
 which has proceeded from Omniscience ? Yet 
 there are to be found very many cavillers, who 
 unhesitatingly aver that some of those laws of 
 Divine origin are not only Draconic, but more- 
 over are tyrannical and of cruel intent ! 
 
 To disprove such erroneous and rash asser- 
 tions will now be our aim, and we hope forthwith 
 to show that even those few laws which appear 
 to admit of a less satisfactory interpretation than 
 the others, still bear the stamp of excellence, and 
 that they only need a thoughtful and un- 
 prejudiced consideration to draw us to this 
 conclusion. 
 
 Referring firstly to the several statutes in the 
 Mosaic Code that relate to the punishment 
 of death for certain grave offences and crimes, 
 and which have been most unjustly designated 
 harsh and vindictive by many men of unreflect- 
 ing or prejudiced minds, it will simply be 
 necessary to disprove such unfounded allega- 
 tions by the plainest facts drawn from the records 
 of History. These, indeed, do far more, since
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 59 
 
 clearly testifying to the benefits which they 
 conferred by promoting individual happiness, 
 social well-being and public morality. And 
 once again we would repeat that the certain 
 knowledge that those laws directly emanated 
 from the One Sole Fount of infinite love and 
 perfection, should of itself suffice to enforce the 
 conviction that they contain the germs of good 
 to human kind, and assuredly none but the 
 narrow and shallow-minded, who would dwarf 
 all to the standard of their own defective or dis- 
 torted vision, can fail to discern that they are 
 characterized by wisdom, mercy and justice. 
 
 Now be it observed in the first place that the 
 crimes to which are attached the penalty of 
 death, were those that had been solemnly 
 denounced from Sinai, and if suffered to be per- 
 petrated with impunity, great demoralization 
 must have infallibly followed, involving a 
 serious disorganization in the entire community. 
 We may instance the case of an undutiful and 
 obdurate son, who, dead to filial affection and 
 regardless of the Fifth Commandment and the 
 voice of conscience, would surely have lost every 
 spark of goodness by the time of reaching man- 
 hood but for the stern, yet salutary, punishment
 
 o The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 which might be lawfully enforced to arrest 
 him in his wilful course. We may reasonably 
 infer that fear of a violent and ignominious 
 -death proved an efficient deterrent, since we find 
 no one instance in the pages of either sacred or 
 profane Jewish History of a son having forfeited 
 his life through running counter to the will of his 
 parent. Here, then, we have ample ground for 
 believing that to the very stringency of the 
 command at Deut. ch. 21, v. xxi., "All the men 
 of his city shall stone him with stones, that he 
 die ; so shalt thou put evil away from among 
 you, and all Israel shall hear and fear," was due 
 the fact of its never having been carried out in 
 practice, and therefore it must have been, like 
 every one of God's laws, all powerful for good. 
 But the very manner of the threatened death, 
 as well as the circumstances under which it had 
 to be put in execution, was of itself well 
 calculated to cure even the most heartless and 
 rebellious youth. It would further have served 
 as an example and a warning, since it was at 
 the hands of the people that the penalty of the 
 law was to be carried out, thus enabling them 
 publicly to manifest their utter abhorrence of all 
 insubordination to parental authority.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 61 
 
 The infraction of the sixth commandment, 
 " Thou shalt not kill," was also punishable with 
 death, as we read in Num. ch. 35, v. xvi., "And 
 if he smite him with an instrument of iron, or 
 with throwing a stone so that he die, he is a 
 murderer ; the murderer shall surely be put to 
 death." Again, in Lev. ch. 24, v. xvii., "And 
 he that killeth any man shall surely be put to 
 death." Human life was to be held sacred, and 
 no one dare, under any possible circumstance, 
 take the law into his own hands, or could with 
 impunity seek to deprive a fellow-creature of 
 this heavenly-bestowed gift. Thence Biblical 
 history makes no mention of duelling, which 
 till lately was so rife in many a civilised 
 country, and unhappily is not even yet extinct. 
 The code of honour instituted by man and 
 instigated by a false sensibility could not exist 
 simultaneously with the Divine law, which was 
 clearly prohibitory of duelling, since its enforce- 
 ment ensured the death of the victor following 
 close on that of his victim. Surely no human 
 being who appreciates the gift of life, and 
 considers it criminal to stain the hand with the 
 blood of a fellow-mortal, can deem that law too 
 harsh or severe which restrains the man who,
 
 62 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 in his blind infatuation, would rashly and 
 culpably take what no earthly power can 
 restore, thereby committing a crime that no 
 after repentance can efface or annul. 
 
 Now when we consider next the painful, 
 heartless cases which even in the present day 
 are frequently brought before the Divorce 
 Court, it might well be asked, would such 
 things be, if the seventh commandment was 
 laid to heart, and the following injunctions of 
 the same character, to be found in Num. ch. 5, 
 v. xv. to xxiv., and in Lev. ch. 18, v. xx., were 
 yet held in full force ? Death for the breach of 
 conjugal fidelity solemnly promised in the face 
 of Heaven may seem a severe punishment, but 
 if it is calculated to uphold public morality, to 
 save many a household from a load of misery 
 and shame, and keep would-be criminal strag- 
 glers in the path of virtue, surely it fulfils its 
 wise intent, its highly moral purpose. And 
 here again the beneficial result is practically 
 manifested in the fact that the pages of Jewish 
 history, comprising the annals of long centuries, 
 have no such blot on record, except, alas ! the 
 one instance only too memorable in the Sacred 
 Volume.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 The penalty of death was likewise attached 
 to the desecration of the Sabbath, which was a 
 flagrant sin, since it involved disobedience to 
 the will of God, as expressly set forth in the 
 Decalogue, and he who would be capable of 
 wilfully acting in opposition to one command of 
 the Supreme, would surely depart from the 
 straight line of duty on the slightest provoca- 
 tion, and violate other laws which were 
 graciously given by Omniscience for the benefit 
 of all mankind. 
 
 Witchcraft, to which the spiritualism of the 
 present day bears only too close an affinity, 
 was, like idolatrous worship, punishable with 
 death, which of itself plainly shows that in the 
 sight of heaven it was a gross abuse of man's 
 free will, and, if left unchecked, would most 
 certainly lead to every species of superstition 
 with many an attendant evil. Here, again, 
 there is nothing to warrant the belief that 
 capital punishment for the infraction of the 
 salutary laws prohibitory of witchcraft and 
 idolatry was ever resorted to, indeed, all his- 
 torical data lead to the very reverse inference, 
 since hardly a single instance of condemnation 
 for any one of the above-mentioned offences
 
 64 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 and crimes is to be found in the records of the 
 Civil Court of Judea, whilst it is clearly stated 
 by trustworthy writers that THAT Sanhedrim was 
 deemed sanguinary which passed the sentence 
 of death once in seventy years ! Does not 
 this fact of itself demonstrate how ripe with 
 good fruits were the Mosaic laws, which, if 
 theoretically severe, were certainly far other- 
 wise in practice ? That they secured the desired 
 effect of staying the wilful, the weak-minded, 
 the presumptous in their rash and evil course 
 can admit of no reasonable doubt, and this was 
 surely due in no small degree to the fear of 
 a terrible retribution. Thus by a strict adher- 
 ence to the Mosaic laws all mal-practices, all 
 debauch, violence and crime were arrested, if 
 not altogether extinguished in that nation which 
 was commanded " to be holy, because the Lord 
 thy God is holy." 
 
 But other causes were also at work to make 
 the punishment of death a rare occurrence 
 in Judea, and to these it may be well to refer 
 before dismissing this subject, since they will 
 serve to prove not only that leniency has ever 
 been a high and notable characteristic of the 
 Mosaic dispensation, but was likewise a dis-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 65 
 
 tinguishing trait in the legislation of the 
 Israelites of old. And to set these forth with 
 lucidity and exactness, it will simply be neces- 
 sary to give some few extracts from a work 
 called the "Hebrew Review,""" edited by T. 
 Theodores ; they are to be found in an article 
 entitled " Administration of Justice among the 
 Jews," in which are embodied many important 
 statements and historical facts well worthy of 
 perusal, as may be judged by the following 
 brief quotations: " Every part of judicial pro- 
 cedure in the Mosaic law is founded on these 
 three principles publicity of trials, liberty of 
 defence for the accused, security against false 
 testimony. Hence a single witness counts as 
 nothing, two or three at least are necessary 
 to establish evidence. The witness on whose 
 declaration a citizen is to be arraigned must 
 previously be conducted before the priests and 
 judges, and there take a solemn oath in the 
 name of the Eternal, that his statement is the 
 truth. The trial is to be held before every 
 member of the community, whence false testi- 
 mony is at ever}- instant in danger of being 
 brought to light by some one of the surrounding 
 
 Vol. 3, page 8.
 
 66 77ie Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " persons. Finally, after sentence has been 
 passed, the leading witness is the first whose 
 hand hurls the deadly stone against the 
 condemned brother, &c. It was of signal 
 advantage to the culprit that he had the faculty 
 of being tried at his choice, either by the 
 council of his own city, by the minor council 
 of Jerusalem, or by the high Sanhedrim. By 
 these means he was protected against the fatal 
 influence which local prejudices might, in many 
 cases, engender. Great was the fear lest aught 
 but the purest motives of equity and love of 
 justice, could guide the judge who stood on 
 any point of intimacy, or was at variance with 
 the contending parties, or the person charged 
 with an offence, and hence the extensive latitude 
 left to the prisoner in the choice and rejection 
 of the arbiters of his destiny." Again (at page 
 22), " The depositions of the witnesses were 
 taken with the greatest circumspection, and the 
 least discrepancy in their details obtained a 
 verdict of acquittal for the prisoner. During 
 the sitting of the court the auditors present 
 were at liberty to ascend the judgment seat, 
 and to employ all their eloquence, if they 
 intended to speak in favour of the delinquent.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 67 
 
 "No such right was granted them if condemna- 
 tion was the motive of their application. At 
 any stage of the proceedings the prisoner was 
 at liberty to interrupt the debates and to call 
 upon the assembly to listen to his defence, and 
 he was ever allowed the benefit of a scruple, 
 where a point of law rendered the decision 
 difficult. If the majority of opinion was favour- 
 able to the prisoner, he was immediately set at 
 liberty ; but if the majority of elders had found 
 him guilty, the court adjourned till the third 
 day, when the magistrates again repaired to the 
 seat of justice, and those who had found no 
 reason to retract their verdict, showed their 
 adhesion to the same by a repetition of their 
 sentence. But as a generous trait in Hebrew 
 legislation, it may be remarked that only those 
 elders who had found a verdict of guilty on the 
 day of the trial could change their sentence 
 into an acquittal. The word of mercy once 
 pronounced could no more be revoked. Of the 
 twenty-three votes, twelve favourable ones 
 were sufficient for the liberation of the accused, 
 whereas it required more than twelve on the 
 side of the prosecution to elicit a sentence of 
 guilty. And even after the sentence of death
 
 68 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " was pronounced, every precaution was taken to- 
 allow the prisoner a chance to retrieve his for- 
 feited life, in case his innocence should come to- 
 light at that late hour. On the prisoner's own 
 request, if he had any disclosures to make, 
 he was taken back before the court as often as 
 five times. Only when every chance of reprieve 
 was impossible, the sentence of death was 
 passed, and at a short distance from the place of 
 punishment a soporific was administered to him, 
 which had the effect of making him less sensible 
 of the horrors of death." . . . Surely after 
 perusing such testimony, founded as it is on 
 indisputable data and authority, none but the 
 most sceptical will be disposed to dispute our 
 statement that the Jewish Tribunals left naught 
 undone which could hedge round human life, 
 although due punishment was administered in 
 conformity with a strict sense of justice and 
 God's all-gracious laws. 
 
 And now we may proceed to consider the oft 
 quoted sentence, Ex. ch. 21, v. xxiv., which 
 alludes to the brutal assaulter of the 
 weaker sex, and is repeated in almost identical 
 terms in reference to the " false witness," 
 at Dcut. ch. 19, r. xxi., "Life shall go for
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 69 
 
 life,"* eye for eye, tooth for tooth," &c., which, 
 despite the whole scope and teachings of Mosa- 
 ism, has only too frequently been strangely, 
 grossly misconceived and unfairly interpreted. 
 The idea that this injunction inculcates a spirit of 
 retaliation, that it breathes a feeling of revenge 
 which can alone be appeased by returning evil 
 for evil, displays such an utter lack of discern- 
 ment that assuredly it could only be entertained 
 either by a novice unversed in Sacred history, 
 or by a mind blinded by prejudice and infatua- 
 tion. Truly all scriptural evidence runs directly 
 counter to such a supposition, and surely any- 
 
 * Let those who cavil at this Mosiac command, and 
 can so far misinterpret its practical bearing's as to declare 
 it harsh and vindictive, take cognizance of these memor- 
 able words, uttered by the highest legal authority in the 
 most civilised Christian country in Europe. The Lord 
 Chief Justice, after having- passed sentence of death on a 
 murderer (see Criminal Court in the Times of the 2nd of 
 December, 1875) thus addressed the culprit ; "I have to 
 warn you against any delusive hope of mercy here as long 
 as the law exists which says that he who takes the life 
 of a fellow -creature with malice aforethought shall 
 answer for it with his own." Surely then we have here 
 sufficient evidence to convince the most sceptical that the 
 Divine injunction was not given merely to suit the 
 exigences of the time of its promulgation, but was 
 adapted to secure the cause of order and the well-being 
 of humanity in after ages by the strict enforcement of 
 justice and equity, which must and ever will prove the 
 surest, the most efficacious deterrant to all violence and 
 crime.
 
 70 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 one who has seriously considered the impera- 
 tive injunction, " thou shalt not avenge," could 
 not for one moment imagine any law, however 
 seemingly harsh and exceptionally severe, to be 
 so in reality, since it would fail to correspond, 
 not only with the all-important command " thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," \vhich 
 ordinance is the only true standard whereby 
 Judaism should be judged, but also with very 
 many more of the like humane and merciful 
 statutes which have been treated on at some 
 length in the previous chapter. 
 
 But granting that we take the command 
 " eye for eye, foot for foot, &c.," in its harshest 
 sense, it would yet be easy to show that it was 
 in itself a merciful and wise ordinance, calculated 
 to proportion the punishment to the crime, 
 scare the zvilfiil evil-doer, and curb the iras- 
 cible, vindictive, remorseless man through the 
 dread of undergoing a similar fate. It served 
 as a powerful restraint, and one only too greatly 
 needed in a clime where the passions of men 
 were oftentimes apt to become ungovernable. 
 And surely it must be conceded by those who 
 have attentively studied the history of the 
 middle ages that had this law then been in
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 71 
 
 force, its pages would not be sullied by so many 
 a sickening list of horrors and tragical deeds 
 entailing intense human suffering and misery ; 
 truly, many an act of violence and crime would 
 never have been perpetrated had the penalty for 
 the evil inflicted been precisely commensurate 
 to the wrong done. And further, admitting 
 that the imposition of severe retribution was to 
 be literally interpreted, yet it should be taken 
 in connection with the attendant circumstances 
 and especially with the method in which it was 
 carried out. The cause was brought before the 
 highest tribunal of the land and was adjudged 
 by those elders who had the full confidence of 
 the entire nation. The adjustment of all 
 criminal proceedings depended entirely on the 
 fiat of the judges, as commanded in Ex. ch. 21, 
 v. xxii., and Deut. ch. 19, v. xviii. Also be it 
 remembered that it w r as with the most 
 scrupulous nicety that these elected judges 
 examined and investigated every act, sifting all 
 the evidence that could be procured before 
 delivering the final sentence, whilst under no 
 possible circumstance could a penalty be im- 
 posed without at least two witnesses testifying 
 on oath to the alleged deed, and swearing in
 
 72 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 open court to a positive knowledge of the crime 
 imputed to the accused. The accuser was 
 bound publicly to prove that he had dealt fairly, 
 and the more surely to secure truthful testi- 
 mony, the false witness had to undergo a 
 fearful retribution, inasmuch as the award which 
 he would have brought on another w r as decreed 
 against himself, for we read in Deut. ch. 19, 
 v. xvi., " If a false witness rise up against any 
 man to testify against him that which is wrong;'' 
 v. xix., " then shall ye do unto him as he had 
 thought to have done unto his brother ; so 
 shall ye put evil away from among you." 
 Assuredly we have in these facts enough to 
 prove to demonstration that the command, so 
 inconsiderately, so unjustly criticised, was truly 
 in direct antagonism to a spirit of vindictive- 
 ness ; that the w r ilful murderer and the obdurate 
 defier of God's gracious laws would surely meet 
 an ignominious fate at the hand of justice, must 
 necessarily have precluded a recourse to in- 
 dividual or private revenge. 
 
 Here we may also remark that could it be 
 certified in any case that accident and not pre- 
 meditated ill-will was the cause of injury or 
 death to a fellow-mortal, then was the city of
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 73 
 
 refuge open to the unhappy author of the deed. 
 [Deut. ch. 4, v. xli.] Thus it will be seen that 
 none but the wilful offender or murderer need 
 stand in dread of retributive justice. And to 
 prove the leniency w r hich ever characterizes the 
 Jewish law, we must further note that any such 
 penalty lasted only for a time, since on the 
 death of the High Priest the exile might return 
 to his own home free from all fear of incurring 
 .any hostility or personal inconvenience. Nor 
 should we ignore the fact that a sentence being 
 once passed acquitting a prisoner, no further 
 proceedings with regard to the same offence 
 could be instituted. Now before concluding 
 this subject, once again must we repeat that 
 history fails to point to one single instance of 
 the execution of the law " eye for eye, tooth for 
 tooth," thereby showing most conclusively, that 
 either this injunction was not literally inter- 
 preted by the Sanhedrim, or that if indeed it 
 were considered of practical application, then 
 it had efficiently served the beneficial purpose 
 for which it was instituted, and must have saved 
 many a man from perpetrating deeds of violence 
 .and crime. 
 
 And be it observed that the law of restitution
 
 74 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 to be found embodied and detailed in Ex. ch. 22, 
 v. i. to xv., was very similar in character and 
 effect. The mere dread that a penalty would 
 be imposed assimilating to the fraud com- 
 mitted, tended to keep in check the avaricious 
 and crafty man, the imposter, and the thief. 
 Additional evidence might easily be adduced to 
 substantiate the foregoing facts, but further 
 remarks on this score seem superfluous ; thence 
 we will now revert to another Jewish law which 
 affords one more proof that leniency, and cer- 
 tainly not harshness, was the prominent feature 
 of the Mosaic code. We read in Deut. ch. 25, 
 v. iii., "If the wicked man be worthy to be 
 beaten, forty stripes may be given and not 
 exceed, lest if he should exceed and beat him 
 above these, then thy brother should seem vile 
 unto thee." Now surely it is impossible to re- 
 concile this injunction with the belief that the 
 Jewish creed ever permitted, much less 
 demanded, rigorous measures and inculcated 
 the sacrifice of mercy to justice, and if thus 
 much be granted, what then becomes of all un- 
 favourable strictures on this score. No, here 
 again the heavenly-bestowed law is not at fault, 
 but rather those, who through gross ignorance
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 75 
 
 or malice-propense, have dared to take ex- 
 ception to it. Man would be wiser than his 
 Maker ! 
 
 It will now be necessary to revert briefly to- 
 the subject of Usury, a word which, as clearly 
 shown in the previous chapter, was used in the 
 place of " interest," a very important difference 
 truly, since its supposed practice has often been 
 regarded as a blot in the character of the 
 Judaic race. Now there could hardly be any 
 more erroneous belief than that the Mosaic 
 Code counselled usury in the case of the alien, 
 and we would quote from the writings of an 
 able scholar, the Rev. Dr. H. Adler, in testi- 
 mony of the application of a far more beneficent 
 law. Here are his words : " When the Gentile- 
 needed the loan of money, not for commerce 
 but for his subsistence, our Divine law made 
 no difference between him and the Hebrew." 
 We read in Lev. ch. 25, v. xxxv., xxxvi., "And 
 if thy brother be waxen poor, then thou shalt 
 relieve him ; yea, though he be a stranger or 
 sojourncr, that he may live with thee. Take no- 
 usury of him or increases, but fear the Lord.". 
 Could any injunction be more equitable, more 
 just ? yet has it been ungenerously and unfairly
 
 76 The Jeiuish Armoury. 
 
 asserted that the prohibition to lend at an 
 usurious rate did not extend to the alien, but 
 simply to a brother in faith. Accept the 
 correct word, " interest " in lieu of usury, mark 
 the repeated inculcation of justice and charity 
 towards the stranger, and further, bear in mind 
 that the practice of usury in its true sense was 
 even punishable with death, see Ezek. ch. 18, 
 >. xiii., "He that hath given forth upon usury, 
 find hath taken increase : shall he then live ? he 
 shall not live ; he hath done this abomination, 
 he shall surely die ; his blood shall be upon 
 him ; " and then declare whether it is not utterly 
 erroneous to say that the Jewish law inculcated 
 usurious dealings ; and, indeed, had there been 
 no other command than the one in Lev. ch 25, 
 v. xiv., " Ye shall not oppress one another," it 
 would amply suffice to disprove any such 
 assertion. 
 
 But among the numerous ordinances which 
 tended to discourage covetousness and greedi- 
 ness of gain, there were none more efficacious 
 than, firstly, the observance of the Sabbath 
 when all trafficking was to be suspended ; 
 secondly, the jubilee, or year of release, during 
 which the restoration of all property and
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 77 
 
 personal freedom was ordained ; thirdly, the 
 festivals, when gifts were to be liberally made 
 to the needy ; and lastly, the sacrifices, which 
 demanded and enforced freewill offerings for 
 the benefit of the Levite, the widow, and the 
 orphan. 
 
 And it is this latter subject that now calls for 
 our attention, since the end and aim of the 
 Sacrificial ordinances being frequently misunder- 
 stood, and their wise and beneficent intent 
 inadvertently ignored or carelessly disregarded, 
 many have been led to cavil at and adversely 
 criticise this phase of Temple worship. It will 
 not, however, be necessary to dwell on more 
 than the main point, for, like several Levitical 
 and economical precepts and practices, the 
 commands relating to sacrifice were solely to be 
 held in force by the Hebrew people during- 
 their sojourn in Judea. Truly, great was the 
 good the sacrificial offerings at that period 
 conferred : they gave a vent for gratitude and 
 thankfulness to God in a practical shape ; they 
 served as a token of truthful repentance ; they 
 proved an admirable medium for dispensing 
 charity, the rich, in accordance with God's solemn 
 command, being bound to offer up the best of
 
 78 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 their flocks and herds, while the priest and the 
 needy were thereby assured of ample provision 
 in the shape of wholesome animal food. Not 
 the most avaricious and grasping man dared 
 appear empty before the Lord : he was forced 
 to do his duty towards the poor as well as 
 towards his Maker, even if too callous to fulfil 
 voluntarily the imperative obligation which the 
 wealthy owe to the indigent and destitute. 
 That the sacrifices were the means to an 
 end, and not the end itself, admits of no 
 reasonable doubt ; indeed, no small proportion 
 of them were left to the promptings of the 
 natural and pious feelings of the Israelitish 
 people. In conclusion, it is enough to re- 
 mark that as Abel, Noah, and the patriarchs 
 offered up of their own free will a " sweet 
 savour to the Lord" to evince their grateful 
 remembrance of some especial manifestation 
 of Divine goodness and bounty, so did the 
 sacrifices in the Temple admit of the pious 
 worshipper showing a practical acknowledg- 
 ment of his undying belief in God's benefi- 
 cence, mercy, and loving kindness. Who, then, 
 dare affirm that they were objectless, fruitless, 
 or superfluous ?
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 79 
 
 We may now say a few words on the various 
 commands relative to slavery which are em- 
 bodied in the Mosaic dispensation, and surely 
 it will only need some careful reflection on their 
 purport to arrive at the firm conviction that, 
 although forming an element in the social con- 
 ditions of Judea, it nevertheless left no dark 
 stain whatsoever on the heavenly-inspired Code, 
 as has so often been inconsiderately affirmed. 
 First, however, be it remembered that slavery, 
 like polygamy, was simply tolerated, and most 
 certainly never enjoined ; indeed, there is every 
 reason to believe that it was permitted in con- 
 sideration of the peculiar position held by the 
 Israelites in regard to the surrounding idolatrous 
 nations, and which made it almost imperative 
 to hold as bondsmen those prisoners taken by 
 them in war, whilst it must surely have been in 
 a great measure the fear of servitude attending 
 on capture and defeat, which curbed these war- 
 like and barbarous tribes. And of this we may 
 adduce a proof from the Book of Joshua, where 
 we find in chapter 9 that the Gibeonites yielded 
 of themselves submissively to become "hewers of 
 wood and drawers of water," and said to the 
 Jewish Leader " Now, behold, we are in thy
 
 8o The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 hand ; as it seemeth good and right unto thee 
 to do unto us, do." The better to show that 
 slavery was only tolerated, and that few were 
 subjected to it except prisoners of war, we have 
 but to refer to Ex. ch. 21, v. xvi., "He that 
 stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be 
 found in his hand, he shall surely be put to 
 death ;" for here we have distinct proof that all 
 trafficking in human beings and servitude through 
 surreptitious means were not only against the 
 Mosaic Code, but even entailed the penalty of 
 death. It should, however, be borne in mind 
 that the condition of the slave under the Jewish 
 dispensation was totally unlike the serfdom of 
 which we read in profane history ; truly it was 
 only the mildest form of thraldom, and there 
 being but " one manner of law for the stranger 
 and for one of the land," it is clear that the 
 numerous injunctions which prohibited unkind- 
 ness and severity to the needy brother who had 
 sold himself into servitude was equally applica- 
 ble to the alien slave. But had there been no 
 other law than that to be found in Ex. ch. 21, 
 v. xxvi., " If a man smite the eye of his servant 
 that it perish, he shall let him go free for his 
 eye's sake; if he smite out his tooth, he shall
 
 The Jewish Armoury. Si 
 
 let him go free for his tooth's sake;" this would 
 suffice to prove that the bond slave had no cause 
 to fear mal-treatment, for a blow struck or such 
 violence used as would maim him, was adequate 
 to procure his liberation, a pecuniary penalty 
 which no master would voluntarily incur or dare 
 ignore. If, then, it could be said that there was 
 any harshness in this case, it certainly was 
 against the oppressor and in favour of the 
 oppressed and humble slave. Yet additional 
 evidence that slavery was no Mosaic institution, 
 but merely the result of the necessity which 
 existed for it during the earlier organisation of 
 the nation, is to be found in the fact that for the 
 building of the Temple levies were raised among 
 the Israelites themselves, and that to the number 
 of thirty thousand ; while the Syrians, who had 
 been taken prisoners by King David, merely 
 became his " servants ;" indeed, only once in the 
 history of the reign of Solomon do we find any 
 mention of bondsmen, while a noted event 
 narrated in the Book of Kings makes it clear 
 that it was not the practice of that period to 
 retain prisoners of war as slaves; else should we 
 not read, that when King Jehoram asked 
 
 Elisha, the prophet, what was to be done with 
 
 G
 
 82 77ie Jewish Armoury. 
 
 the captive Syrians, he thus advised his monarch, 
 " Set bread and water before them, so that they 
 may go to their master," and this kindly act 
 performed, "he sent them azuay" to their own 
 land. 
 
 It would be a serious omission to conclude 
 this especial chapter without making some 
 reference to the numerous wars which the 
 Israelites of old waged against their idolatrous 
 neighbours, if only for the purpose of showing 
 that far from having their origin in the teachings 
 of Moses, or through the proclivities of the 
 Hebrew people themselves, as has been affirmed 
 by superficial readers of the Sacred volume, 
 they simply arose from circumstances over 
 which the nation could have no possible control. 
 And first, be it observed, in refutation to much 
 unmerited censure on this score, that no one 
 instance of useless bloodshed is on record. 
 When it was a direct command from God to 
 exterminate an idolatrous nation which was im- 
 mersed in crime and debauch, and dead to all 
 feeling of remorse or repentance, or, when in 
 the words of Scripture, " the iniquity of the 
 Amonites was full," surely the Israelites must 
 have felt it their bounden duty to obey the
 
 The Jeivish Armoury. 83 
 
 Divine Behest, and therefore the individuals who 
 impute blame to those who were simply the 
 instruments chosen by the Lord Himself to 
 fulfil His purpose, may not feel that they are 
 altogether free from the presumptuous act of 
 judging the gracious Ruler of the Universe, 
 the great Judge of all. Surely it is sufficient to 
 read (Ex. ch. 23, v. xxviii.), " I, the Lord, do 
 drive them out," and (Deut. ch. 20, v. xvii.), " I 
 will deliver the inhabitants of the land into thy 
 hands"; and again, (Num. ch. 25, v. xvii.) 
 " Vex the Midianites and smite them, for they 
 vex you with their wiles," to be convinced that 
 the Iraelites only resorted to arms against neigh- 
 bouring states in obedience to the word of the 
 Supreme, who, in His wisdom must have seen 
 that to permit the further growth of idolatry, 
 with its revolting practices, and the violation of 
 every principle of right and humanity, might 
 finally taint the beautiful world He had made, 
 and entail unutterable misery and calamity on 
 His creatures. God would not withdraw the 
 gracious boon of freewill which might, according 
 if wisely used or grossly abused, be made a 
 blessing or a curse ; better that the impenitent 
 sinner should pay the just penalty of his mis-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 deeds, and therefore, assuredly, was the minor 
 calamity of war permitted for the purpose of 
 arresting the far greater and ever growing evil, 
 the contaminating influence engendered by 
 idolatry and superstition. 
 
 But while these wars were Divinely ordained, 
 mark how they were to be conducted. On be- 
 sieging a city, the first act required in accordance 
 with the command to be found in Deut. ch. 23, 
 v. x., was to " proclaim peace unto it." Surely, 
 such an injunction proves beyond all doubt, that 
 for the purpose of preventing any spirit of 
 vindictiveness or revenge predominating, and 
 thereby provoking a sanguinary conflict, such 
 conflict had to be preceded by friendly over- 
 tures, which precluded the possibility of that 
 reckless haste so frequently attending on 
 violence, passion, and strife, while giving scope 
 for mature deliberation, a wise circumspection, 
 and above all, for a thoughtful consideration of 
 what is due to our common humanity. 
 
 Surely, enough has now been advanced to 
 show that nothing but love, clemency, and 
 benevolence were inculcated in the Mosaic 
 Code ; and further, that these characteristics 
 were displayed by the Israelites of old under
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 85 
 
 almost every circumstance and condition, whilst 
 even the stain that slavery and war seems to 
 cast on the pages of their history, vanishes away 
 on close investigation; thence, if any doubts could 
 yet arise in regard to that mercy, that justice, 
 which assuredly permeates the Jewish Code, 
 they should be at once dismissed, and the con- 
 viction fostered, that God's laws are replete with 
 all that can prove beneficial to His creatures; 
 in a word, that they are wise, true, and perfect.
 
 86 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 To the certain knowledge of the writer of 
 these pages, many of the most enlightened 
 Christians,and among them clergymen and digni- 
 taries of the Church, entertain the erroneous 
 conviction, surprisingly enough, that the Jews 
 do not authoritatively believe in the immortality 
 of the soul, and that it is not to the Old, but to 
 the New Testament alone that mankind must 
 turn to find this doctrine inferred and expounded. 
 
 Now, could this view be substantiated, and so 
 all important, all vital an article of belief, be 
 proved to have no place in Jewish ethics, then 
 indeed would Mosaism have one vulnerable 
 point of attack, but assuredly any such assertion 
 is altogether ill founded, as we hope hereby to 
 demonstrate. 
 
 Treating, as we are, on all the salient charac- 
 teristics of Judaism, with its doctrinal excel- 
 lences, it would be impossible to ignore this 
 bulwark of Mosaism, thence the author here
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 87 
 
 reproduces from his last religious work ("Moral 
 Biblical Gleanings ") a letter he addressed some 
 years back to a dear relative on the subject of 
 Immortality, and which, greatly to the satisfac- 
 tion of the writer, has not only left a favourable 
 impression on the minds of various readers, but 
 has even led some of the thoughtful and enquir- 
 ingly disposed of another creed to the conviction 
 of the truths therein advanced, and to the know- 
 ledge that Judaism lacks no vital principle of 
 stability, no doctrine that could possibly serve 
 to promote man's well-being here or hereafter. 
 
 LETTER ON IMMORTALITY. 
 
 " Dear , In fulfilment of my promise, I 
 
 gladly place before you some of the numerous 
 Biblical quotations which refer to the all- 
 important subject of immortality. They are 
 culled from the various Books of the Old Testa- 
 ment, and directly or indirectly bear testimony 
 that belief therein has ever been the very essence 
 of the Jewish faith. 
 
 " Referring, firstly, to the FIVE BOOKS OF 
 MOSES, we find that almost all relating to a 
 future state is of a practical character, thus the 
 death of the righteous Abel by the hand of his
 
 88 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " guilty brother, when considered in connection 
 with the goodness of the Deity, affords ample 
 evidence that this life is but the prelude to 
 another and a better world. If death be annihi- 
 lation, where was Abel's merited reward ? God 
 had no sooner testified His pleasure with the 
 conduct of His pious servant, than death befel 
 him ! Surely, were there no future state, this 
 untimely fate must be considered a chastise- 
 ment, and certainly not a recompense for his 
 past virtuous life, thence we must believe in 
 immortality if we believe in the justice and good- 
 ness of God. The death of Moses speaks no 
 less forcibly to the same effect. For one incon- 
 siderate act he was not only denied the privilege 
 of entering the Land of Promise, but had to 
 yield up his life at the very moment that his 
 hopes were about to meet their fruition ! If 
 dissolution of the mortal frame were indeed 
 synonymous with extinction of the soul or 
 spirit, breathed by God into man, we should 
 assuredly be unable to reconcile the fact of his 
 departure from this world at such a moment 
 with the gracious attributes of the Lord. Truly 
 the great law-giver, Moses, in his death added 
 to his other valuable teachings the all-important
 
 The Jeivish Armoury. 89 
 
 "' lesson that at the very gates of death lies life 
 everlasting. The translation of Enoch to 
 Heaven without dying is not without its signifi- 
 cance ; indeed, it goes far to prove that another 
 habitation does exist for the sons of men, and 
 is reserved for the faithful servants of the Lord. 
 " Other practical examples might be adduced, 
 but we will now select some quotations from the 
 same five Books, which are scarcely less con- 
 clusive. Take the sentence, Gen. ch. 15, v. xi., 
 " Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace ;" also 
 ch. 25, " He was gathered iinto his people ," and 
 what meaning may we attach to such words but 
 the assurance of a future state ? Indeed, when 
 applied to Abraham, Moses, Aaron, Samuel, 
 Jeremiah, and various others, it is evident that 
 the soul and not the body is referred to, since 
 not one of these was buried near his father, but 
 in distant sepulchres, and in more than one in- 
 stance, lonely solitudes, far, far from the haunts 
 of men. These words would otherwise be w r orse 
 than meaningless ; they would not even bear 
 the high stamp of truth, in itself an utter im- 
 possibility, proceeding as they did from the 
 God of truth. Again, in Gen. ch. 47, we find 
 Jacob alluding to the length of his pilgrimage,
 
 9O The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " and averring before Pharaoh that the years of 
 his life had been " few and evil." Now the 
 very word, pilgrimage, betokened his belief that 
 this world was but a preparation for another, 
 free from those trials which beset his path here 
 on earth. Then among the divers laws given 
 by Moses to the Israelites, we may note such 
 expressions as these: Gen., " He who doeth this 
 wrong shall be utterly destroyed;' "that soul 
 shall be cut off," and again in Lev. " that soul 
 shall be utterly cut off." Here death of the 
 soul is threatened as a punishment, thereby 
 clearly implying that a future world is reserved 
 as a reward for the pious and virtuous. Then,, 
 what is more significant and expressive of the 
 belief in immortality among the Israelites, than 
 their impassioned words to Moses, Num. 
 ch. 17, v. xii., " Behold, we die, we perish" 
 implying utter annihilation. Again, Moses 
 thus addresses the people, Deut. 30, v. xix., " I 
 call heaven and earth to record this day against 
 you that I have set before you life and death, 
 therefore choose life," &c. Now, since death 
 befals the virtuous no less than the evil-disposed 
 and vicious, " life," evidently here implies life 
 everlasting. Further, by the light of immor-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 91 
 
 " tality alone could the people have understood 
 the promised reward of Moses that " their days- 
 should be as the days of heaven upon the earth " 
 would they but act in obedience to the Holy 
 Law. And again, did not Moses clearly allude 
 to a future life, when, after imploring forgiveness 
 for his people, he added, " Yet now if Thou 
 wilt not forgive their sin, then blot me, I pray 
 Thee, out of Thy Book'' Surely, such words 
 must convince us that a belief in immortality, as 
 well as future rewards and punishment, was 
 entertained both by the lawgiver and his 
 people. 
 
 " It is true, however, that the Five Books of 
 Moses speak less plainly and touch more 
 lightly on this subject, this belief, than the 
 Psalms or the Prophets, but the reason is 
 obvious ; like prayer, it is an instinct, a craving 
 of the human heart, and therefore, like it, 
 was never especially " commanded." Further, 
 Moses could not consistently set himself to im- 
 press a people, but lately emancipated from 
 slavery, leading a wandering life and deeply 
 engrossed in every-day cares, with the doctrine 
 of prospective advantages in a future life, but 
 this he knew full well, that when their minds
 
 92 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " became enlightened they would not only com- 
 prehend, but would even grasp its full and high 
 import. It sufficed that he had laid a foundation 
 with ample materials to develop the super- 
 structure into a fundamental principle in future 
 generations. And as we pass onwards, review- 
 ing the various portions of Scripture, this truth 
 openly reveals itself. We find that when once 
 the Israelites had freed themselves from their 
 enemies and established a powerful Kingdom, 
 then, and then only, were they enabled to 
 dismiss the overwhelming cares of the moment, 
 and turn their thoughts into loftier channels. 
 Spiritual welfare was then considered as well as 
 the well-being of the body. Of this we may 
 feel convinced when we peruse the beautiful 
 Psalms of David, which repeatedly revert to 
 the immortality of the soul. These were 
 written for the entire people, and had they not 
 already entertained a well-grounded hope of a 
 blessed hereafter, David's allusions thereto would 
 have been totally unintelligible to them. How 
 could they have comprehended such passages 
 as these, Ps. 23, v. iii., " The Lord restoreth 
 my soul," Ps. 119, v. xv., "God will redeem 
 my soul from the power of the grave, he will
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 93 
 
 " receive me," and Ps. 97, v. x., "Ye that love 
 the Lord hate evil, He prcscrveth tJic soul of 
 His saints;' and again Ps. 37, v. xxxvii. r 
 " Mark the perfect man, for the end of that man 
 is peace " such peace being the sure result of a 
 firm belief in life eternal, for holy trust ever 
 banishes all fear, all doubts, all questionings. 
 Then we have David's memorable words 
 addressed to his servants on the death of his 
 son ; " While the child lived, I fasted and 
 prayed, for who could tell whether God will be 
 gracious to me that it may live, but now that 
 he is dead, wherefore should I fast ? can I bring 
 him back again ? / shall go to him, but he will 
 not return to me." Surely this answer alone 
 would afford conclusive evidence of his faith in 
 a w^orld beyond the grave. Again, how may 
 we construe the following words of Abigail ta 
 David, if not persuaded that they allude to 
 immortality ? I. Samuel ch. 25, " The soul of my 
 Lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with 
 the Lord thy God," thence showing that the 
 belief not only animated the King, but had 
 taken a firm hold on the mind of the whole 
 people. Although more wordly-minded, Solomon 
 spoke no less forcibly or distinctly of a future
 
 94 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " state than did his father David. His words 
 .are not to be misunderstood, being entirely free 
 from all ambiguity. Thus in Eccles. we read, 
 " All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all 
 turn to dust again ; who knoweth the spirit of 
 man that goeth upwards?" and ch. 12, "Man 
 goeth to his long home ; then shall the dust 
 return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will 
 return imto God who gave it" Then in Proverbs, 
 which were especially adapted for the people, 
 we read, ch. n, "Righteousness deliveretk frottt, 
 death;" also, we are told, "When the wicked 
 man dieih, his expectation shall perish ; " and 
 again, "In the way of righteousness is life, and 
 in the pathway thereof tfiere is no death" 
 
 "We now turn to the Book of Job, supposed 
 to have been written in the time of Moses ; 
 and therein we find additional proof that the 
 blissful hope of immortality was then a belief, 
 a fixed trust. Thus we read ch. 19 "and 
 after this body is destroyed, out of my flesh 
 shall I see God." Again, " God looked upon 
 men, and if any say, I have sinned, then will He 
 deliver his soul, and his life shall see the light" 
 
 " A few practical incidents calculated to 
 strengthen the belief in immortality may be
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 95 
 
 *' here introduced ; for example, when Elijah 
 prayed to God that Zarephath's child's soul 
 should come into him again, the Lord granted 
 his request, and " the soul came back unto him 
 again, and he revived." Then also the transla- 
 tion of ElijaJi himself clearly proves that there 
 is another habitation for the sons of men. 
 
 " Turning next to the Book of Kings, we find 
 that in more than one instance deatJi was 
 promised as a blessing, as a reward for virtuous 
 condiict, as in the case of that excellent monarch 
 Josiah, 2 Kings ch. 22, v. xx. ; yet could this 
 have been deemed such by monarchs in the 
 zenith of their prosperity, had they not firmly 
 and fixedly believed in immortality? 
 
 "And now we may add some quotations from 
 the Books of the Prophets, written at various 
 epochs, most of them in the reigns of the 
 Jewish Kings, but .some few when a portion of 
 the Israelites had become captives and exiles 
 in the land of their enemies. Thus we read in 
 Isaiah ch. 26, v. xix., " The dead shall live. 
 Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust," &c. 
 Again, ch. 55, v. Hi., " Incline your ear and 
 come unto me, saith the Lord, and your soiil 
 shall live. Let the wicked man forsake his
 
 9 6 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "way and turn unto the Lord, and God will 
 abundantly pardon'' And again how significant 
 is the following sentence, ch. 25, v. viii., " He, 
 the Lord, will swallozv up dcatJi in victory." 
 Next, extracting from Jeremiah, ch. 22 v. x. r 
 " Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan 
 him, but weep sore for him that goeth away 
 (into exile) for HE shall return no more" 
 Then what words could be more significant 
 of eternal life than the following of Ezekiel 
 ch. 13, v. xix., "Thus said the Lord God, will 
 ye pollute me among my people to slay the sou/s 
 that should not die?" Again, speaking of a 
 righteous man, ch. 18, v. ix., " He hath walked 
 in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments to 
 deal truly, he is just, he shall surely live, saith 
 the Lord." Also, alluding to the evil-doer, 
 " When the wicked man turneth away from his 
 wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth 
 that which is lawful and right, he shall save his 
 soul alwe " and again, ch. 33, v. xv., "If the 
 wicked restore the pledge, &c., walk in the 
 statutes of life, without committing iniquity. 
 he shall surely live, he shall not die'' 
 
 "Turning next to Daniel, we read ch. 12 
 "And at that time thy people shall be delivered,
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 97 
 
 "every one that shall be found written in the 
 Book, and many of them that sleep in the dust 
 shall awake, some to everlasting life, &c., and 
 they that be wise shall shine as the brightness 
 of the firmament, and they that turn many to 
 righteousness as the stars for ever and ever' 
 Then in Hosea ch. 13, v. ix., " O, Israel, thou 
 hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is thine help ; 
 / will ranson them from the power of the grave, 
 I will redeem them from death'' Lastly, in 
 Malachi ch. 3, " They that feared the Lord 
 spake often one to another, and the Lord 
 hearkened, and a Book of remembrance was 
 ^vritten before him for them that feared the 
 Lord and that thought upon his name." Truly, 
 a reiteration of the words of Moses, containing 
 the same glorious promise to the good and 
 risfhteous. 
 
 o 
 
 "PROFANE HISTORY further yields ample evi- 
 dence that the Biblical teachings of immortality 
 were not lost upon the Jewish nation. During 
 long years thousands died for their religion, and 
 by their willing martyrdom not only proved their 
 love and trust in the One sole God, but also 
 practically demonstrated their belief in a future 
 
 and happier state. To those who thus perished, 
 
 H
 
 98 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "death was not annihilation, but an entrance into 
 realms of bliss. The writings of the learned 
 Israelites of successive generations give addi- 
 tional testimony that this belief has never been 
 extinct in the nation. And finally, as a con- 
 clusive proof that the immortality of the soul is, 
 and ever was, an essential principle among the 
 Jews, we need only turn to the thirteen funda- 
 mental articles of their faith wherein this belief 
 is clearly embodied. Now, had not Moses in 
 his five Books inculcated this doctrine, had it 
 been a mere instinct or the offshoot of another 
 creed, this tenet could not possibly have found 
 a place there. Assuredly, that which Moses 
 taught or commanded, and nothing else, forms 
 the basis of the Jewish Faith. To his teachings, 
 then, is this belief due, and if it has in a measure 
 grown and strengthened in successive genera- 
 tions, such is but the natural consequence of the 
 increase of enlightenment, and the ever-growing 
 supremacy of reason and Faith."
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 99 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Having passed in review several important 
 enactments and tenets embodied in the belief 
 of the pious Israelite, and given especial atten- 
 tion to those laws and statutes which are the 
 very basis of the Mosaic religion and have 
 remained intact during ages of tribulation and 
 persecution, it may now be well to consider 
 the beneficial and highly moral influence these 
 latter have exercised on the Jewish nation ever 
 since their promulgation, and as this can best 
 be accomplished by the light of biography, we 
 will summon a host of Jewish celebrities whose 
 united examples cannot fail to prove a tower of 
 strength, since each one has clearly demon- 
 strated through his individual life, that those 
 laws have sufficed to form a truly moral, 
 virtuous, exalted character, and have further 
 conduced to develop the highest intellectual 
 powers. 
 
 Referring, firstly, to Biblical History, it is 
 easy to perceive what a beneficial influence the
 
 ioo The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 Mosaic Code exercised at all those periods 
 when the Israelites followed the prescribed 
 ordinances, and possibly this was never more 
 marked than during the first half century after 
 the Exodus from Egypt. The following words 
 of Joshua " Ye have kept all that Moses, the 
 servant of the Lord, commanded you. 
 Cleave unto the Lord your God, as ye have 
 done unto this day," uttered only some forty 
 years after the deliverance of the poor down- 
 trodden slaves, would not fail to create surprise, 
 if we could allow ourselves to believe that 
 the moral improvement here notified in the 
 character of the succeeding generation was due 
 to any adventitious cause, ignoring the true 
 one, viz., the strict observance of the sublime 
 laws given direct from Heaven, which had been 
 rigidly enjoined by its first recipients on their 
 offspring. Then it is on record how high the 
 nation rose some years later, when, after relaps- 
 ing into idolatry, they once again sought their 
 God, and followed His statutes as prescribed 
 by Samuel ; indeed, throughout the whole Bibli- 
 cal history, it is clearly discernible that they 
 became the more prosperous and mighty in 
 proportion as they observed God's wise and
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 101 
 
 gracious ordinances. This is evident as we 
 pass in review the reigns of David,"" Solomon, 
 Hezekiah, Josiah, at which times they reared 
 their heads high, and made themselves respected 
 or feared by every surrounding nation. 
 
 Further, if we merely glance over the names 
 of some of the most distinguished Israelites of 
 old, and mark their many estimable traits of 
 character and their many virtues, we must 
 arrive at the conclusion that it was simply 
 necessary to follow implicitly the heavenly- 
 given code in order to reach the highest moral 
 excellence and take foremost rank among the 
 best, the noblest, who have adorned the world's 
 history. And here it may be mentioned it was 
 with this object the author of these pages 
 entered at some length on a biographical sketch 
 of most of the scriptural characters in his work 
 entitled "Moral Biblical Gleanings and Practical 
 Teachings ;" and as this book could be referred 
 to, it will here suffice to bring into prominence 
 
 *It may be well to remark that the Exodus from 
 Egypt was in 1490 B.C., while the reign of David began 
 in 1060, for we may thus perceive that it only required 
 430 years to effect a most marvellous transformation, the 
 Israelitish nation being at the very zenith of its power and 
 grandeur at the later date.
 
 IO2 The yewish Armoury. 
 
 a few of those faithful servants of God who 
 regulated their lives in accordance with His 
 laws, and through some transcendent virtue, 
 or some memorable deed, have bequeathed an 
 invaluable lesson to posterity and left behind 
 them an imperishable name. Could we possibly 
 begin with a better example than that of the 
 Great Lawgiver himself MOSES, the meekest 
 of men ? Did he not by his self-abnegation, 
 his forbearance under the severest provocation, 
 expound the sublime precept (Lev. ch. 19, 
 v. xviii.), " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself" ? a precept which takes precedence in 
 moral ethics, and which was first promulgated 
 by him who well knew how to practice what he 
 taught. Take next the following lives, and 
 surely we must acknowledge that in every 
 instance the distinctive features of each cha- 
 racter are based on principles derived from the 
 Mosaic Code. In the dauntless Joslma we 
 mark courage, disinterestedness, and a love of 
 duty ; in the zealous Phinehas, we find a proved 
 champion of moral right ; in the pious Samuel, 
 a spotless integrity ; in the God-fearing David, 
 holy faith, earnestness in right doing and sincere 
 repentance after transgression ; in the Godly
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 103 
 
 Elijah, a bold reprover of kings and zealous 
 servant of the Most High ; in the true-hearted 
 Elisha, a dutiful and loving son, a generous 
 and forgiving spirit, one who counselled the 
 free dismissal of captive foes and personal 
 enemies after conferring benefits on 'them ; 
 in the prayful Jeremiah, a true patriot, un- 
 daunted by threats and piously submissive 
 under trials and calamaties, bearing ill-deserved 
 scorn and contumely with dignified magnani- 
 mity ; in the humble Mordecai, we note a man 
 who disdained to be a sycophant and bow to 
 greatness ; and again, in the " greatly beloved" 
 Daniel, who in a land of idolatry remained 
 faithful to his God and faced without dismay 
 perils attendant on his conscientious allegiance 
 to the Most High. 
 
 We will now pass from Biblical to profane 
 History, and briefly sketch forth in chronological 
 order such important events, with their con- 
 sequent change in the condition of the nation, 
 as owe their origin, either to a religious move- 
 ment on the part of the entire Jewish people, 
 or to the impulse given by some individual 
 member thereof through his courage, learning, 
 or religious zeal.
 
 IO4 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 Commencing this necessarily condensed com- 
 mentary at the period of the building of the 
 second Temple, which was accomplished after 
 some years, in spite of innumerable obstacles 
 and various impediments placed in the way 
 by both internal and external foes, we must 
 remark that this great and glorious achieve- 
 ment was due chiefly to the fervour, courage 
 and persistency of Ezra, combined with an 
 energetic spirit on the part of the entire com- 
 munity worthy of the high intent. From the 
 moment of its dedication, true piety pre- 
 dominated over idolatry, and the sabbaths and 
 festivals were kept " with joy." Some twenty 
 years later, Alexander the Great visited this 
 Jewish Temple, and although he came as a foe, 
 he nevertheless departed as a friend, owing to 
 the respect with which the High Priest had in- 
 spired him. After this incident, not ten years 
 elapsed before Judea became a prey to various 
 rapacious and ambitious foreign Monarchs, who, 
 with vast armies, over-ran and conquered the 
 country, then depopulated it by carrying away 
 with them hundreds of thousands of captives as 
 slaves. This state of warfare lasted with little 
 intermission some 180 years, when up rose the
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 105 
 
 heroic family of the Maccabees, and through 
 the valor and strategic ability of JUDAH 
 MACCABEE, the Syrians were defeated with 
 great slaughter."" When once peace was re- 
 established, this chivalrous patriot caused the 
 Temple to be purified and Divine worship 
 restored, and during the six years that he 
 administered the affairs of Judea, his merits, 
 military, civil and religious, were gladly 
 acknowledged by the whole population. Great 
 indeed, were the services he rendered his 
 country, for he had found it depopulated, the 
 fields lying waste, commerce utterly paralyzed, 
 and ruin general, whilst at his death agriculture 
 was again progressing, commerce had com- 
 pletely revived, life and property were secure, 
 and the land teeming with population ; Judah 
 Maccabees was, indeed, a true champion of 
 Israel, and the revival of a devout spirit 
 throughout the nation was greatly due to his 
 
 And unequal indeed on one occasion was the 
 contest, the Hebrew army consisting" of only eight 
 hundred men against thirty times that number of well- 
 trained Syrian troops ! Surely no such feat of arms is 
 upon record, if we except the noted one of the three 
 hundred Spartans at Thermopylae. And, indeed, what 
 but love of country and love of God could induce eight 
 hundred men to face such fearful odds !
 
 io6 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 zeal and earnestness in the cause of religion. 
 At his decease he was deeply and deservedly 
 mourned by the entire community. 
 
 Twenty-six years later the Roman rule com- 
 menced, and many were the trials the Jews had 
 to undergo during the supremacy of that nation, 
 which, after lasting just one hundred and twenty 
 years, culminated in a revolt of the whole 
 Jewish population. This was especially 
 fomented by the extreme cruelty of the Roman 
 Governor, Florus, who executed many of the 
 nobility, massacred some twenty thousand of 
 the people, and sent large numbers to the 
 galleys. To quell this insubordination, vast 
 armies were poured into the country and fearful 
 was the slaughter of the Israelites, forty thousand 
 falling during the gallant defence of Jotapala. 
 On one battle field alone thirty-six thousand 
 were taken prisoners, then sold for slaves, and 
 finally A.D. 68, Jerusalem was taken, and the 
 Temple burnt to the ground."" We find here 
 
 * If it were needed to prove the steadfast devotion 
 of the Jew to his country and his religion, it would be 
 enough to state the fact that before Judea was finally 
 subjugated, about one million and a half of this devoted 
 people perished, only one hundred thousand submitting- 
 to their conquerors.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 107 
 
 no cowardly submission, but rather a heroism 
 which could only have derived its vigor from 
 the purest patriotism and a fervor inspired by 
 the holy, the sublime Mosaic religion. 
 
 It was just one hundred years after the death 
 of Judah Maccabee, that the college of 
 HILLEL flourished. And mark the favourite 
 precepts which this truly pious and enlightened 
 Israelite inculcated in his disciples, "Love 
 peace and pursue it ; love mankind and caiise 
 them to approach the law ;" and " Let thy 
 conduct towards all men be regulated by the 
 dictates of mercy and justice." A worthy 
 teacher truly ! A few years later, during the 
 reign of Adrian, the Jews had to bow before 
 the most cruel prohibitions, indeed, they were 
 not allowed to practice or observe their most 
 sacred rites, instant death following upon any 
 infringement of the King's commands, and it 
 was at this season of severe trial that the 
 custom was introduced of reading sections from 
 the Prophets during divine service in lieu of 
 portions of the law which had been arbitrarily 
 interdicted. During this period of persecution 
 and tribulation, flourished Rabbi AKIBA, who, 
 after benefiting his co-religionists by his pious
 
 io8 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 labours and " constructing a fence round the 
 law," was put to a cruel death together with 
 nine other sages of note. But better times 
 were at hand, and this change was chiefly 
 owing to Rabbi JUDAH, the Prince, who 
 through his virtue, piety, and learning, obtained 
 the esteem and respect of Antoninus Pius and 
 three successive Emperors, during whose reigns 
 the Jews enjoyed all the rights of their Roman 
 fellow-citizens, while they were exempted from 
 every duty which was incompatible with their 
 religion. This was a boon indeed, and solely 
 due to the especial merit of one individual ! 
 Among the various benefits conferred on the 
 Jewish nation by this holy Rabbi, must be 
 numbered the composition of the Misna (written 
 in the year 141) a work of untold merit and 
 usefulness. And now, before passing over a 
 period of 328 years, wherein little else is to be 
 noted than cruelty and persecution to the Jews 
 in whatsoever land they were located, it should 
 be observed that they ever adhered faithfully 
 to their religion. Just 363 years after the 
 Misna was written, the Talmud that work of 
 past ages and of sages was completed, and 
 glancing onwards, we find that in the year
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 109 
 
 590, a kindly spirit toward the Jews began to 
 permeate through Christian countries, for 
 they were permitted to re-open their colleges 
 and received especial favour both at the hand 
 of King Honidus III. and of Pope Gregory 
 the Great. However, at the opening of the 
 Mahometan ^Era (622) gloom again over- 
 shadowed the prospects of the Jews, who were 
 persecuted, and in some instances put to the 
 sword, on account of their refusal to abandon 
 the faith of their forefathers and adopt the new 
 religion. 
 
 Nevertheless, a nation so stedfast to that 
 covenant which had already endured for thou- 
 sands of years, were not to be thus crushed and 
 exterminated. At once heroes and martyrs,, 
 they resolutely resisted all compulsion, doubtless 
 bearing in mind the memorable words of 
 Joshua ch. 23, v. vi., " Be ye very courageous 
 to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of 
 the Law of Moses ; that ye turn not aside 
 therefrom to the right hand or to the left." 
 
 For nearly a century after this period the 
 Jews, then dispersed over Europe, were rarely 
 permitted to have a permanent abode, for at 
 the mere instigation of any foe, fanatic, or
 
 no The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 calumniator, they were invariably expelled from 
 their homesteads after being mulcted of the 
 greater portion of their hard-earned wealth. 
 During these dark ages religion was almost 
 disregarded, and the Holy Volume might have 
 been lost to mankind but for the Jews, who 
 treasured it and never failed to read it in their 
 Synagogues. To their consistency and for- 
 titude, to their firm determination to sacrifice 
 everything rather than their belief, and to their 
 love of the sacred heritage which God had 
 entrusted to their safe keeping, was greatly due 
 the preservation of the Bible and that moral 
 light, which, again breaking on the world, shone 
 brighter and brighter with little intermission in 
 succeeding centuries. 
 
 But in the year 714 the Jews again found 
 settled homes, for the Moors, on conquering 
 Spain, not only permitted them to reside within 
 its borders, but even protected and favoured 
 them. Two hundred and thirty-four years, 
 however, elapsed before a Jewish college was 
 founded (948), but shortly after its establish- 
 ment at Cordova, a galaxy of talent was to be 
 found within its walls, a circumstance which was 
 partially due to the closing of the Babylonian
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 1 1 1 
 
 College, when very many of its members, re- 
 nowned for their profound erudition, emigrated 
 to Spain, and there issued to the world many 
 works of undoubted value in every branch of 
 learning. Their ranks were further swelled 
 some few years later by the arrival of many 
 learned Rabbis from Persia, where the followers 
 of Moses were again undergoing cruel persecu- 
 tions. During the next century and a half the 
 Jews lived as peaceful citizens in the Iberian 
 Peninsula. They took no part in the unceasing 
 struggle for power between the Christian 
 Monarchs and the Saracen Chieftains, but by 
 their learning and industry did such good 
 service to the country as to gain the esteem 
 and favour of both Christians and Mahometans. 
 Very many Israelites of distinguished talent 
 flourished at this period, and took rank as 
 eminent statesmen, philosophers, theologians, 
 astronomers, mathematicians, physicians, poets, 
 and linguists. Among the most eminent of 
 these may be mentioned SOLOMON BEN 
 GABRIOL, SAMUEL A. LEVI, ISAAC BEN MOSES, 
 and more especially the two MOSES ABEN EZRA, 
 whose sublime poetic compositions have been 
 transmitted to us as an heirloom, and form a
 
 ii2 The Jewish Armoiiry. 
 
 part of the ritual of the Synagogue at the 
 present day ; and SAMUEL I BEN NAGRELA, who 
 was Minister of State for thirty years, and 
 gave entire satisfaction to the several ruling 
 monarchs. He was considered the first Mezzo- 
 fante, being master of ten languages ; he was 
 also a voluminous writer. His nobleness of 
 character, his disinterestedness, his freedom 
 from all arrogance or haughtiness in his high 
 station, his devotion to his people, as well as to 
 their moral and intellectual welfare, and yet 
 more, his true piety made him beloved and 
 respected by all, and at his death he was 
 mourned by the whole population of Granada. 
 Truly, this was a golden era in the history of 
 the Spanish Jews, and indeed in most parts of 
 Europe. This much-enduring people then 
 lived peacefully and unmolested, while they 
 remained ever faithful to the observances and 
 inculcations of their religion. 
 
 A change, however, occurred about the year 
 1096, which seriously affected almost the entire 
 Hebrew nation, and was heralded by the out- 
 break of the Crusades, otherwise termed the 
 Holy War ! This began by the massacre of the 
 Israelites over most parts of Europe, but it was
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 113 
 
 especially in Germany that the most horrible 
 carnage ensued, The barbarity of the infuri- 
 ated fanatics was then appalling, it knew no 
 bounds ; and although many bishops exerted 
 themselves in the cause of humanity, there was 
 little cessation to the fearful sufferings and 
 misery of the Jews ; how r ever, like true martyrs 
 and heroes, they yielded up their lives as a 
 voluntary sacrifice at the shrine of their religious 
 belief, and were inhumanly butchered by 
 thousands. 
 
 On the commencement of the second Holy 
 War some fifty years later (1146), this unfortu- 
 nate people again had almost everywhere to 
 encounter the fury of the general populace, and 
 but for the noted St. Bernard, who befriended 
 them, their fate would have been no less sad 
 than before ; indeed, from the beginning of the 
 Crusades, just ten years after the time that 
 Saladin took Jerusalem (1187), their position 
 throughout most European countries, but 
 especially in England and France, was most 
 critical ; frequently fined, plundered, and tortured 
 without provocation, they seemed to be at the 
 mercy of every foe, whilst every man's hand was 
 upraised against them.
 
 H4 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 Now, notwithstanding this persecution, they 
 rose higher in various branches of science and 
 learning at this sad and gloomy period of their 
 history than during several preceding centuries. 
 Very many eminent Jews, the ornaments of their 
 age, then flourished, whose works shed an im- 
 perishable lustre on Hebrew literature. Among 
 these was ABRAHAM BEX EZRA, who excelled 
 as a philosopher, astronomer, physician, poet, 
 and linguist, whilst his writings were both 
 numerous and diversified. But the star that 
 shone brightest in the galaxy of talent was 
 MAIMONIDES, the most eminent philosopher of 
 his age. No obstacles could daunt him in his 
 self-imposed vocation, that of acquiring and im- 
 parting deep learning, and when forced to quit 
 Spanish soil, after an ignorant and bigoted 
 populace had burnt no less than forty Syna- 
 gogues, and murdered large bodies of his co- 
 religionists, he repaired to Cairo, where he 
 opened an academy of philosophy and Hebrew, 
 to which his fame attracted numerous disciples. 
 His marvellous mental powers shortly brought 
 him into notice, and finally he was promoted to 
 the high post of Minister of State. His various 
 works on Theology, Logic, Medicine, Astronomy,
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 115 
 
 and Philosophy have been universally admired, 
 and it is admitted on all hands that he had 
 advanced in knowledge far beyond his time, and 
 had no compeer either in his nation or his age. 
 Milman, in his " History of the Jews," vol. 3, 
 thus writes concerning him : " The wise Mai- 
 monides, the first who, instead of gazing with 
 blind adoration and unintelligent wonder at the 
 great fabric of the Mosaic law, dared to survey 
 it with the searching eye of reason, and was 
 rewarded by discovering the indelible marks of 
 the Divine wisdom and goodness." Not only 
 did he remain steadfast to his religion, but he 
 also exhorted his brethren in faith to adhere 
 strictly to their belief, and all his works clearly 
 show forth the beauty, the sublimity of the 
 Mosaic dispensation. While renowned for a 
 learning that has rarely or never been surpassed, 
 and a liberality of views most rare in those days, 
 his meed of praise assuredly does not rest there, 
 for besides being a man of comprehensive 
 erudition, he proved himself to be possessed of 
 deep, earnest, religious feelings, as testified by 
 his unblemished life ; ambition never swayed 
 his mind, while the passions of anger and 
 revenge were alike strangers to him. He ob-
 
 n6 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 served every ordinance of his faith with the 
 utmost rigour, visited the tomb of the Patriarchs 
 at Hebron, frequently fasted, devoting the day 
 to prayer, and ever sought to relieve the poor 
 and distressed. To this excellent and pious 
 man the Jews owe the composition of the 
 thirteen " Articles of Faith," which must ever 
 form a portion of the ritual of the Synagogue. 
 His "Commentary on the Mishna" was acknow- 
 ledged by his contemporaries, as well as by 
 posterity to be a master-piece of the utmost 
 importance, and again, his " Mishna Torah," a 
 book in which he compiled the entire Talmudic 
 laws and simplified them, was equally useful and 
 worthy of his high repute. His death, which 
 took place in the year 1 204, was considered a 
 national misfortune by the Egyptians, as well as 
 by the Jews; they observed a general mourning 
 for three days and called it the lamentable year, 
 whilst a fast was observed at Jerusalem. Here, 
 indeed, was one of the shining lights in Israel, 
 a light which the surrounding darkness was 
 powerless to dim or obscure, and as the truly 
 virtuous and devout Jew, Maimonides has 
 thrown a glorious halo over the entire Jewish 
 nation.
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 117 
 
 It was about the year 1200 that the condition 
 of the Jews was again ameliorated in many 
 countries of Europe. The great and good 
 King Phillip Augustus, towards the close of his 
 reign, invited them to return to France, and gave 
 them many privileges ; Pope Innocent III., one 
 of the most enlightened men that had ever 
 existed, also befriended them ; even the rapa- 
 cious King John of England granted them a 
 charter, wherein they were exempted from many 
 past restrictions and allowed certain covetted 
 advantages, among which was the power of the 
 Rabbis to decide differences in accordance with 
 the Jewish law ; all of which privileges were, 
 however, paid for, though faithlessly withheld 
 at times. Frederick II. of Germany also de- 
 fended them against oppression and ill-treat- 
 ment, while Alphonso IX. of Spain showed 
 them peculiar favour, exonerating them from 
 the payment of tithes, permitting them to 
 acquire landed property, and protecting them in 
 the free exercise of theirreligion. But in England 
 this happier state of things only lasted about 
 30 years, at the expiration of which time the 
 Jews again had to submit to extortion, nor were 
 they spared fresh indignities, their Synagogues
 
 n8 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 being confiscated and turned into churches ; 
 indeed, their lot would have been still more 
 deplorable but for Pope Gregory IX., who up- 
 held their cause, and made a formal protest 
 against such acts of spoliation. The year 
 1236 also proved a memorable epoch in the 
 history of the Spanish Jews. The Caliphs of 
 the Moorish provinces had to surrender Cor- 
 dova, the capital, to the victorious forces of 
 King Ferdinand, and then, seeing only fresh 
 trials and calamities awaiting them by this 
 change of dynasty, the Jews quitted with regret 
 that city which had become dear to them from 
 the tranquillity they had there enjoyed for 
 centuries under the Moslem rule, and " through 
 the reminiscences of the glory shed by their 
 scholars on the literary character of the Hebrew 
 nation."" 1 
 
 We may well pass over the next 1 70 years, 
 during which long term the Jews had to submit 
 to every class of extortion and were made to 
 suffer fearfully throughout the European conti- 
 nent. They encountered every conceivable 
 hindrance to the acquirement of wealth and to the 
 cultivation of knowledge, and to this cause must 
 * E. H. Lindo's " History of the Jews of Spain."
 
 The Jewish Armwiry. * 119 
 
 be attributed the paucity of distinguished hebra- 
 ists and linguists who flourished at this period. 
 But though weighed down by systematic 
 oppression and untold barbarities, the chosen 
 people nevertheless remained true to their faith, 
 and numbers perished for its sake. But in the 
 beginning of the i5th century there was a 
 slight improvement in their condition in some 
 of the smaller states of Europe notably, in the 
 city of Bologna, where a magnificent Synagogue 
 was erected by the Jews, and every protection 
 and encouragement afforded them, whilst at 
 Venice they were even permitted to establish a 
 Bank. Pope Nicholas V. not only protected 
 the Jews in his own dominions, but befriended 
 them at the Courts of Spain and France, where 
 prejudice, intolerance, and fanaticism were still 
 rampant, and showed their venom in deeds 
 of rapacity and violence ; while Louis X. of 
 Bavaria (1454) mercilessly ordered the whole 
 of his Jewish subjects, located in no less than 
 forty cities, to quit his territory in one day ! 
 Nor was this cruel expulsion the more crue^ 
 because so sudden confined to that country 
 alone : the example was followed at Trent, in 
 Silesia, and finally in Spain (1492), where the
 
 I2O The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 numberless benefits conferred on the country 
 in past centuries by illustrious Jews, through the 
 medium of commerce, navigation, medicine, 
 literature, and science, were altogether forgotten 
 or ignored. The spirit of fanaticism, led by 
 that bloodthirsty and intolerant monster of 
 iniquity, the Inquisitor Torquamada, counter- 
 acted all other considerations, and without the 
 slightest provocation on the part of the Jews, 
 on a fixed day no less than one hundred and 
 seventy thousand families, or about eight hundred 
 thousand souls, were forced to quit that soil 
 upon which numerous generations of their 
 ancestors had flourished and been laid to rest, 
 many, very many, to perish miserably at sea, 
 the remainder to undergo innumerable priva- 
 tions and trials before finding a new home in 
 distant lands. 
 
 We may here quote an important extract on 
 this subject from the writings of the chief actor 
 in the drama, DON ISAAC ABARBANEL, then 
 finance minister to Ferdinand and Isabella, 
 " I was at court and weaned myself to phrenzy 
 with entreaties, but, as the deaf adder, the 
 King closed his ear, the Queen persuading him 
 with all her eloquence to pursue and accomplish
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 121 
 
 what he had begun. My peace, my rest, had 
 gone, trouble was now my portion. And the 
 people bewailed their lot with great lamenta- 
 tions, they greatly mourned ; terror and distress 
 were upon them, the like of which had not been 
 since the day that Judah had been driven from 
 his land. They exhorted and encouraged each 
 other to be strong for the sake of religion and 
 the law of God, and to defend them against 
 their hateful persecutois. If they leave us 
 with life we will live, and if they deprive us of 
 it, we shall die ; but let us not defile our cove- 
 nant nor estrange our heart ; let us go in the 
 name of the Lord our God. And thus went 
 away in one day from all the royal provinces, 
 young and old, little ones and women, among 
 whom, I myself was, and they went wherever 
 they could go." Truly at no period of their 
 history did the Jews show more true devotion 
 to the religion of their forefathers than during 
 this latter half century. Rather than abjure 
 their faith, they even submitted to become 
 victims to the Inquisition, and thousands were 
 burnt alive, while thousands more were tor- 
 tured and put to the most excruciating agonies 
 until life was extinct, each one breathing in his
 
 122 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 mortal hour that prayer which solemnly pro- 
 claims the Unity of God. And further, as we 
 have said, the survivors in a body quitted the 
 land that had harboured them for centuries, 
 prepared to encounter trials and dangers rather 
 than become apostates to their faith, by which 
 means they might have gained permission to 
 remain. Some few years later, Portugal fol- 
 lowed the example of Spain, and after despoiling 
 the Jews in their midst, expelled them, no way 
 heeding how greatly the country had been 
 enriched and benefitted by their persevering 
 industry in the fields of commerce, literature, 
 and science. Now, what but the knowledge 
 of the persistency and fortitude which charac- 
 terized the Jews of the Iberian peninsula, would 
 enable us to conceive that, even during this 
 season of sore trouble and persecution, literature 
 was not neglected ? Indeed, far from this being" 
 the case, no less than thirty-six members of this 
 nation were distinguishing themselves in various 
 branches of learning at the very crisis of 
 their banishment, and among them was ISAAC 
 OROBIO, the author of " Israel Defended," who, 
 in one of his many excellent works, gave a most 
 vivid description of the martyrdom he under-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 123 
 
 went both in prison and before the dread Tri- 
 bunal presided over by Torquemada. 
 
 The next ninety years (1496 to 1586) was a 
 time of tribulation to the Jews, who found no 
 settled home in all the length and breadth of 
 Europe, with the exception of Poland and the 
 Netherlands. Elsewhere the fanaticism of the 
 populace and the greed of the reigning monarch 
 left them no peace or repose. It was enough 
 for any national misfortune to occur, whether in 
 the shape of some contagious disease such as 
 the plague, a blight, or a deficient harvest, 
 to attribute the blame to the Hebrew people, 
 when immediately uprose a host of cruel perse- 
 cutors, and sad indeed became their plight. 
 Their quarters were burnt, together with the 
 result of all their literary labours, fines were 
 imposed, tortures inflicted, and in many instances- 
 they were even banished. It was well for these 
 forced exiles that Holland not only afforded 
 them a hospitable shelter, but offered every 
 facility whereby they could prosecute their 
 several branches of industry unmolested, while 
 the path of distinction was \vide open to them 
 a path they not only walked with honour to- 
 themselves, but with profit to the entire com-
 
 124 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 munity. It is certain that to Jewish enterprise 
 and intelligence, notable alike on the Exchange 
 and in the market-place, was to be attributed 
 in a great measure the high commercial standing 
 and the commanding position Holland took 
 among the leading nations of Europe at that 
 -date. Under the benign sway of the States- 
 General, the Israelites were enabled to open 
 Synagogues and perform every ordinance of 
 their religion without bar or hindrance. Much 
 also did they owe to the Reformation, which 
 movement offered them security from the 
 persecution of ignorant friars and bigoted 
 Dominican Monks, who were ever ready to 
 incite the prejudiced mob against them. Their 
 great acquisition of wealth, with its free dis- 
 burse in luxuries and splendour, incited no envy, 
 nor did the open display of attachment to their 
 ancestral faith cause umbrage in any quarter. 
 They lived in peace and prospered. 
 
 It was, however, only in the year 1586 that 
 symptoms of an amelioration of their condition 
 in other parts of Europe became manifest, and 
 this was due in a great measure to the kindly 
 influence which the excellent Pope, Sextus V., 
 exerted on their behalf. He revoked all
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 125 
 
 decrees against the Jews, admitted them into 
 every part of the Ecclesiastical States, and 
 granted them many privileges, and even 
 monopolies. Civilization, with its natural 
 fruits, humanity and justice, had been making 
 rapid strides during this half century, and none 
 profitted by the happy change more than the 
 hitherto down-trodden, persecuted, and ill-used 
 Israelite. France and Germany soon after saw 
 these sons of toil again within their borders, 
 whilst in 1655 they were permitted to enter 
 England, chiefly through the influence of the 
 great and distinguished Rabbi MANASSAH BEN 
 ISRAEL, who pleaded with Cromwell on behalf 
 of his co-religionists. But the lot of the Jew 
 in all these countries was far from being 
 enviable during the ensuing hundred years ; 
 they lived in constant fear, often but too well 
 grounded, frequently had to submit to taunts 
 and indignities, and how strenuously soever 
 they might labour with hand or brain for the 
 public good, they dared not even hope, much 
 less expect, any return in the shape of prefer- 
 ment or distinction. Further, they were 
 constantly subjected to extortion, and heavily 
 mulcted by the several Sovereigns, who, to
 
 126 The Jeivisk Armoury. 
 
 meet the exigencies of repeated wars of ag- 
 gression, made them the victims of their greed 
 for dominion and power. 
 
 Having now brought our review up to the 
 year 1750, it may be well to see how far the 
 character of the scattered Hebrews had been 
 affected by the ordeals of the past centuries, as 
 well as by the scarcely less endurable species of 
 toleration which had been doled out to them. 
 It is not to be denied that the rancour, the 
 contumely, the scorn, which had so long been 
 heaped upon them, did cause a slight de- 
 terioration in their character, and partially 
 sapped some of the better qualities which had 
 distinguished them in happier days. But when 
 it is considered that they were by compulsion 
 penned up in the most squalid quarters, that 
 they were deprived of the privilege of following 
 many an honest and honourable vocation, while 
 compelled to devote their whole energies to the 
 acquirement of money, since through its agency 
 alone could they hope to secure partial freedom 
 from oppression and violence, assuredly those 
 faults or blemishes, which have been unfairly 
 set down by the prejudiced as characteristic 
 traits, are clearly attributable to those who, in a
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 127 
 
 spirit of intolerance, spurned and ill-treated 
 them ; indeed, the wonder is that the Jews 
 should have retained so many good qualities 
 under such adverse conditions, except for the 
 fact of their ever strict adherence to their faith, 
 and a ready desire to follow implicitly the 
 moral and sacred obligations inculcated in the 
 Mosaic Code. Clinging to their religion with 
 a tenacity to which History offers no parallel, 
 they learnt through its sublime teachings to 
 bear in a meek and humble spirit that which 
 most galls and depresses the mind of man, viz., 
 ridicule, calumny, hatred, and injustice. This, 
 at least, is certain, that the descendants of 
 those who in times of the direst persecution 
 clung tenaciously to their faith even at the 
 expense of life itself, never wavered, though 
 contempt and ignominy were the sole rewards 
 they reaped for a strict adherence to that 
 religion in which they conscientiously believed, 
 but silently, patiently, they " fought the good 
 fight," and finally gained a glorious victory a 
 victory over time, events, and prejudice ; a 
 victory that ensured to their offspring a goodly 
 heritage, a precious heirloom. 
 
 Now, although it must be acknowledged that
 
 128 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 the bulk of the Jewish people had lost under 
 sinister influences and discouragements, some of 
 that "juste fierte" which marked the character 
 of their ancestors, it yet needs little demon- 
 stration to prove that enough elasticity was 
 left for them to rise as soon as the intolerable 
 weights which had dragged them down were 
 removed ; and for this purpose it will suffice to 
 cast a glance on some few important events 
 concerning the Jews that occurred after the 
 middle of the iSth century, which indeed 
 proved the turning point in their history. Who 
 can doubt that as good and useful citizens they 
 had lived down prejudice, when we find that 
 not only were equal privileges with their fellow- 
 countrymen conferred on them by Joseph IL 
 of Germany, (1780), by Louis XVI. of France 
 (1791), by William IV. of England (1831), 
 by the Sovereign of Denmark in 1814, of 
 Austria in 1815, and Portugal in 1820, but that 
 preferment was not slow to follow in every 
 country, excepting indeed, Russia, whence they 
 were expelled by Peter the Great ? Wisely 
 profitting by the fair field which had thus been 
 opened to them, many Jews rose high in every 
 branch of industry and in every walk of life,
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 129 
 
 while not a few reaped honours and dignities. 
 Now while civilization, together with a more 
 advanced standard of popular education, had been 
 partly instrumental in bringing about this happy 
 change, it was likewise in no small measure due 
 to the high moral character and the great 
 abilities of many individual Jews, who, in- 
 defatigable in cultivating their richly gifted 
 minds, and ever sedulous in their various 
 pursuits or vocations, helped to throw a lustre 
 on their age, and thereby gained for themselves, 
 as also for their co-religionists, the respect and 
 goodwill of the enlightened of all nations. 
 
 Foremost among those who adorned the 
 world at that period of its history, and gave an 
 impetus to the more kindly feeling towards the 
 Jews, which was gradually usurping the place 
 of prejudice and intolerance, must undoubtedly 
 be reckoned Moses Mendelssohn, and we will 
 conclude this chapter with a brief summary of 
 the life of this distinguished scholar, philosopher, 
 and truly pious Israelite. Born of humble 
 parents, he was early forced to quit home, and 
 for years found no settled resting place, or 
 employment which could bring him means of 
 
 subsistence, thence often was he dependent on 
 
 K
 
 130 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 the charity of his co-religionists. Nevertheless, 
 under ever-recurring difficulties and discourage- 
 ments, he found time to cultivate a highly gifted 
 intellect, and by unceasing mental labour, 
 became one of the great philosophers of his age. 
 It has been generally acknowledged that the 
 German language was in part indebted to him 
 for its development. He certainly was one of 
 the most profound and patient thinkers of that 
 era, whilst, at the same time, he was noted for 
 modesty, amiability, and true piety. That so 
 good, so religious a Jew should withstand every 
 effort which the great Lavater, with ill-judged 
 zeal, made for his conversion, was a matter of 
 course ; nevertheless, the repeated attacks upon 
 his belief, his conviction, greatly distressed him, 
 so much so, indeed, as finally to undermine his 
 health, which he never fully recovered, though 
 he sought repose and temporarily desisted from 
 his mental labours. A few extracts from his 
 letters to Deacon Lavater will best serve to 
 illustrate the tenor of his life, since they will 
 show the calibre of his mind, also proving his 
 utter hopelessness, as a Jew, to gain preferment, 
 besides testifying that he not only earnestly 
 studied his religion, but when once fully satisfied
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 1 3 1 
 
 of its truth, he steadfastly adhered to his faith 
 till finally summoned to his eternal home. He 
 thus wrote, " My scruples against entering into 
 religious controversy have been neltherweakness 
 nor timidicy. I can say that it was not yester- 
 day I began to examine my religion ; for I very 
 early felt the duty of trying my opinions and 
 my actions, and if I have devoted my leisure 
 hours to science and polite literature, it has 
 been almost solely as a preparation to this 
 necessary trial, other motives I could not have 
 had. In my situation, I could not expect the 
 least temporal advantages from the sciences. I 
 knew too well that I could not find prosperity 
 in the world by such means. And pleasure, 
 oh ! my esteemed philanthropist ! the condition 
 to which my brethren in faith are condemned 
 in civil life is so far removed from all free 
 exercises of the powers of the mind, that I 
 certainly could not increase my contentment by 
 learning to know the rights of humanity 
 on their true side. I avoid a nearer 
 explanation on this point. He who knows 
 our condition, and has a humane heart, 
 will feel more than I can express. After 
 the inquiry of many years, if the ''decision
 
 13- The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 had not been perfectly in favour of my religion 
 it would have been necessarily known by 
 a public act. I cannot imagine what should 
 bind me to a religion in appearance so severe 
 and so generally despised, if I were not in my 
 heart persuaded of its truth. . . . And I 
 here testify in the name of the God of truth, 
 your and my Creator and Father, by whom you 
 have in your dedication conjured me, that I will 
 retain my principles so long as my soul retains 
 its nature. My remoteness from your religion, 
 which I avowed to you, has, in the meanwhile, 
 in no respect diminished. . . . There are 
 certain inquiries which one must at some time 
 of one's life have ended, in order to proceed 
 further. I may assert that, with respect to 
 religion, I have done this several years ago. 
 I have read, compared, reflected, and held fast 
 to that which I thought good. . . . My 
 religion, my philosophy, my situation in civil 
 life, all give me the strongest motives to avoid 
 all religious disputes, and in public writings to 
 speak only of those truths which are equally 
 important to all religions. ... I wish to 
 be able to destroy the contemptuous opinion 
 which is generally formed of a Jew ; not by
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 133 
 
 "" controversial writings, but by virtue. . . 
 Various are the motives which my religion and 
 my philosophy furnish, and induce me carefully to 
 avoid religious disputes, added to the domestic 
 situation in which I live amongst my fellow- 
 men. I am a member of an oppressed 
 people, who must implore shelter and protection 
 from the ruling nation, and even this it obtains 
 not everywhere, and nowhere without limita- 
 tions. My brethren in faith are willing to re- 
 nounce liberties which are granted to all other 
 classes of men, and are contented if they are 
 tolerated and protected. They esteem it no 
 small act of beneficence in the nation which 
 receives them only on tolerable conditions, since, 
 in many states, even residence is refused them. 
 , . . But the solemn appeal of a Lavater 
 compels me, at last, openly to declare my mode 
 of thinking, that no one may interpret a silence 
 too long preserved, into confession or con- 
 tempt." And truly the acts of Mendelssohn 
 corresponded with his words, for he sedulously 
 .sought to promote the instruction and well- 
 being of his people ; he showed himself deeply 
 anxious that the rising generation should gain 
 the esteem of the Christian population, and
 
 134 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 thus be admitted into society ; in a word, he 
 laboured to do the largest amount of good he 
 could, and met his reward in so far that he 
 secured many valued friends (Lessing foremost 
 among them) and at his death in the 5/th year 
 of his age (1786) was followed to the grave by 
 many eminent statesmen and scholars, as well 
 as by a large body of his co-religionists. To 
 this day the Jewish nation honour the name of 
 Mendelssohn, and regard the memory of this 
 truly learned, worthy, and pious Jew with feelings 
 of love, admiration, and gratitude. 
 
 Having thus brought to a close this short 
 biographical sketch of one of the brightest 
 luminaries in Israel, it may be well, in conclusion, 
 to remark, that reference to the last hundred 
 years of Jewish history is as unnecessary as 
 unadvisable, since the fair and impartial views 
 entertained by many enlightened and un- 
 prejudiced Christians in regard to the character 
 of our nation will be found in cxtenso in the 
 third portion of the next chapter. 
 
 Without a blot on our escutcheon, and with so 
 many gratifying testimonies to Jewish worth 
 from such high sources, the Jew of the present 
 day has indeed little to fear, but much, very
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 135 
 
 much to hope, if only he remains as in the past, 
 true to himself, true to his religion, true and 
 faithful to his God.
 
 136 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 It may be as serviceable as interesting now 
 to take a review of the opinions of some of the 
 most enlightened and learned Christians on 
 three of the subjects under consideration : 
 istly, The Unity of God; 2ndly, The beauty 
 and usefulness of the Mosaic laws ; and 
 3rdly, The Jewish characteristics, moral, in- 
 tellectual and physical ; again, those extracts 
 may with advantage be supplemented by others 
 taken from works penned by Jews of acknow- 
 ledged literary eminence, and noted for their 
 historical research. Among those Christian 
 writers who have treated on the Unity of God, 
 we may mention the name of 
 
 JOHN LOCKE, who thus wrote : " Non 
 Trinitas Because it subverteth the Unity 
 of God, introducing three Gods. Because 
 it is inconsistent with the rule of prayer ; 
 for, if God be three persons, how can 
 we pray to Him through His Son for His 
 Spirit ?" And again, " There be a multitude
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 137 
 
 "" of texts that deny those things of Christ which 
 cannot be denied of God, and that affirm such 
 things of him that cannot agree to him if he 
 were a person of God." And in his Essay on 
 the Human Understanding, we read, "Among 
 all the ideas that we have, as there is none 
 suggested to the mind by more ways, so there 
 is none more simple than that of Unity or One. 
 It has no shadow of variety or composition in 
 it ; every object our senses are employed about, 
 every idea in our understandings, every thought 
 in our minds, brings this idea along with it, 
 and, therefore, it is the most intimate to our 
 thoughts, as well as it is in its agreement to all 
 other things, the most universal idea we have." 
 Again, " Every deity that the heathen world 
 owned above one, was an infallible evidence of 
 their ignorance of Him, and a proof that they 
 had no true notion of God, where unity, infinity, 
 and eternity were excluded." 
 
 MILTOX has thus written, " It is evident from 
 numberless passages of Scripture, that there is 
 but one true, independent, and supreme God ; 
 one such as the Jews, the people of God, have 
 always considered Him." Again, "Since Christ 
 not only bears the name of the only begotten
 
 The Jcivish Armoury. 
 
 " Son of God, but is also several times called 
 in the Scriptures, God, notwithstanding the 
 universal doctrine that there is but one God, it 
 appeared to many that there was an incon- 
 sistency in this, which gave rise to an hypothesis,, 
 no less strange than repugnant to reason, that 
 the Son, although personally and numerically 
 another, was yet essentially one with the Father, 
 and that thus the Unity of God was preserved. 
 But unless the terms Unity and Duality be not 
 signs of the same ideas to God which they present 
 us, it would have been to no purpose that God 
 had so repeatedly inculcated the First Com- 
 mandment, that He was the one and only God, 
 if another could be said to exist besides, who 
 also himself ou^ht to be believed in as the 
 
 o 
 
 one God. . . . Unity and Duality cannot 
 consist of the one and the same substance. 
 God is one ens, not two, one essence, and if 
 two persons be assigned to one essence, it 
 involves a contradiction of terms, by represent- 
 ing the essence as at once simple and compound. 
 If one divine essence be common to two persons, 
 that essence or divinity will either be in a 
 relation of a whole to its parts or of a genus to its 
 several species. . . Nothing can be more clear
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 139 
 
 " than that it was the opinion of the Scribes as 
 well as of the other Jews, that by the Unity of 
 God is intended the oneness of His person." 
 . "It was fitting and highly agreeable 
 to reason, that what was the first, and conse- 
 quently the greatest, Commandment, scrupulous 
 obedience to which was required by God, should 
 be delivered in so plain a manner, that nothing 
 ambiguous or obscure in its terms could lead 
 His worshippers into error, or keep them in 
 suspense or doubt. And thus the Israelites, 
 under the Law and the Prophets, always under- 
 stood it to mean that God was numerically one 
 God, that besides Him there was no other, 
 much less an equal. For those disputants of 
 the school had not yet appeared, who, depending 
 on their own sagacity, or rather on arguments- 
 of a purely contradictory tendency, cast a doubt 
 on that very unity of God which they pretended 
 to assert. But as the Diety can do nothing 
 which involves a contradiction, so also, nothing 
 can be said of the one God which is inconsistent 
 with His unity, and which implies at the same 
 time the unity and plurality of the Godhead. 
 Though all this be so self-evident, it is wonder- 
 ful with what futile subtleties, or rather, with
 
 140 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "what juggling artifices, certain individuals have 
 endeavoured to obscure or elude the plain 
 meaning of passages proclaiming the Father 
 alone as a self-existent God." And in his 
 " Paradise Regained," Milton makes these words 
 proceed from the mouth of the Deity, " This 
 perfect man, by merit called my son ; " and 
 again, when addressing God, he says, " Him 
 second to Thee, offered to die, &c." 
 
 SIR ISAAC NEWTON also thus refers to the 
 Unity of God, " In all that vehement, universal, 
 and lasting controversy about the Trinity in 
 Jerome's time, and both before and long enough 
 after it, this text of " the Three in Heaven," 
 was never once thought of. It is now in every 
 body's mouth and accounted the main text for 
 the business, and would assuredly have been 
 so too with them, had it been in their books." 
 Again, " Even Cyprian's own words do plainly 
 make for the interpretation (three distinct 
 Beings) as it is in the baptism ; the place from 
 which they (the Christians) tried at first to 
 derive the Trinity." And again, in alluding to 
 I. Tim. ch. 3, v. xvi., ' God was manifest in the 
 flesh,' he says, "In all the times of the hot 
 and lasting Arian controversy it never came
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 141 
 
 " into play, though now that those disputes are 
 over, it is thought one of the most pertinent 
 texts for the business." As has been observed, 
 " Newton could hardly have written thus had he 
 not regarded these doctrines as gross corrup- 
 tions of the primitive Christian Faith." 
 
 From the Christian Examiner: "We can 
 now bring forward the three greatest and noblest 
 minds of modern times, and we may add of the 
 Christian era, as witnesses to the great truth of 
 the Divine Unity, and with Milton, Locke, and 
 Newton, in our front, we want no others to 
 oppose to a whole array of great names on the 
 opposite side. They came to this subject in 
 the fullness of their strength, with free minds- 
 open to truth, and with unstained purity of life. 
 They came to it in an age when the doctrine of 
 the Trinity was instilled by education and up- 
 held by the authority of the Church and by 
 penal laws. * And what did these great and 
 
 In the Toleration Act passed in 1688, before 
 Newton had sent his dissertation to Locke, an exception 
 was made of those who wrote against the doctrine of the 
 Trinity (I. William and Mary, ch. xviii., s. 17). In the 
 act for the suppression of blasphemy and profaneness, it 
 was provided that whoever, by printing" or advisably 
 speaking, denied any one of the persons of the Holy 
 Trinity to be God, should, for the first offence be disabled 
 to have any office or emolument, or any profits apper- 
 taining thereunto.
 
 142 The Jewish Armoiiry. 
 
 " good men discover in the Scriptures ? A triple 
 divinity ? three infinite objects of worship, 
 three persons, each of whom possesses his own 
 distinct offices, yet shares in the Godhead w r ith 
 the rest ? No ! Scripture taught them to bow 
 reverently before the One Infinite Father, and 
 to ascribe to Him alone, supreme, self-existent 
 divinity." 
 
 CHANNIXG in a discourse on this subject, 
 says, " We believe in the doctrine of God's 
 Unity, or that there is one God, and one only. 
 To this truth we give infinite importance, and 
 it seems to us exceedingly plain. We object 
 to the doctrine of the Trinity, that whilst 
 acknowledging in words, it subverts in effect, 
 the unity of God. According to this doctrine 
 there are three infinite and equal persons, 
 possessing supreme divinity, called the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost. They performed 
 different parts in man's redemption, each having 
 his appropriate office, and neither doing the 
 work of the other. The Son is Mediator and 
 not the Father. The Father sends the Son, 
 and is not Himself sent ; nor is He conscious, 
 like the Son, of taking flesh. Here, then, we 
 have three intelligent agents, possessed of
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 143 
 
 " different consciousness, different wills, perform- 
 ing different acts, and sustaining different 
 relations, and if these things do not imply and 
 constitute three minds or beings, we are utterly 
 at a loss to know how three minds or beings 
 are to be formed. We are astonished that any 
 man can read the New Testament and avoid the 
 conviction that the Father alone is God, and 
 we protest against the irrational and un- 
 scriptural doctrine of the Trinity. Were it 
 true, it must, from its difficulty, singularity and 
 importance, have been laid down with great 
 clearness and stated with all possible precision. 
 But where does this statement appear ? We 
 ask for one, one only, passage, in which we are 
 told that He is a threefold being, or that He is 
 three persons ; on the contrary, in the New 
 Testament He is always spoken of in the 
 singular number. We have further objections 
 to this doctrine, drawn from its practical in- 
 fluence. We regard it as unfavourable to 
 devotion, by dividing and distracting the mind 
 in its communion with God. It is a great ex- 
 cellence of the doctrine of God's unity, that it 
 offers to us one object of supreme homage, 
 adoration and love. . . . True piety, when
 
 144 Th e Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " directed to an undivided Deity, has a chaste- 
 ness, a singleness, most favourable to religious 
 awe and love. . . . But the doctrine of 
 the Trinity injures devotion, by taking from 
 the Father the supreme affection, which is His 
 due, and transferring it to the Son. This is a 
 most important view. That Jesus Christ, if 
 exalted into the infinite Divinity, should be 
 more interesting than the Father, is precisely 
 what might be expected from the principles of 
 human nature. Men want an object of worship 
 like themselves, and the great secret of idolatry 
 lies in this propensity. ... A God clothed 
 in our form, and feeling our wants and sorrows, 
 speaks to our weak nature more strongly than 
 a Father in heaven, a pure spirit, invisible and 
 unapproachable, save by the reflecting and 
 purified mind. Again, we complain of the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, that, not satisfied with 
 making God three beings, it makes Jesus Christ 
 two beings, and thus introduces infinite con- 
 
 O * 
 
 fusion into our conceptions of his character. 
 . . The doctrine that one and the same 
 person should have two consciousnesses, two 
 wills, two souls, infinitely different from each 
 other, this we think an enormous tax on human
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 145 
 
 " credulity, and if a doctrine so strange, so 
 difficult, so remote from all the previous con- 
 ceptions of men, be indeed a part and an 
 essential part of revelation, it must be taught 
 with great distinctness, yet we do not find any 
 plain, direct passage where Christ is said to be 
 composed of two minds, yet constituting one 
 person. . . . Thus, for the purpose of re- 
 conciling certain difficult passages ascribing to 
 Jesus Christ human and other divine properties, 
 we must invent an hypothesis vastly more 
 difficult, and involving gross absurdity. We 
 are to find our way out of a labyrinth by a clue 
 which conducts us into mazes infinitely more 
 inextricable. And again, in the Scriptures our 
 Heavenly Father is always represented as the 
 sole original spring and first cause of our salva- 
 tion, and let no one presume to divide His glory 
 with another." Many other passages to like 
 effect might be selected from the writings of this 
 eminent Unitarian, but here is surely ample to 
 show that enlightened men of the Christian 
 faith do not run counter to the grand, the 
 fundamental principle of Judaism. 
 
 We proceed next togive in a few words the views 
 of another and yet higher authority in Divinity.
 
 146 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 DR. PRIESTLY wrote: "The Hebrew Scriptures 
 declare that God is one, and that there is no 
 God besides Him. This was a truth well known 
 to the Jews from the earliest times. Jesus 
 taught nothing new when he upheld this great 
 doctrine. The answer made by the Jewish 
 scribe, ' Master, thou hast said the truth, for 
 there is One God, and there is none other but 
 He,' shows that Jesus and his hearers were 
 agreed on this point." Again, " The most 
 essential articles of pure Christianity I consider 
 to be the proper unity of God and the proper 
 humanity of Christ. The Unity of God is a 
 doctrine on which the greatest stress is laid in 
 the whole system of revelation. To guard this 
 most important article was the principal object 
 of the Jewish religion. And again, Paul giving 
 what may be called the Christian Creed, says, 
 Tim. ch. 2, v. v., * There is one God and one 
 Mediator between God and men, the man 
 Christ Jesus.' He does not say, 'the God, the 
 God-man,' but simply 'the man Jesus,' and 
 nothing can be alleged from the New Testa- 
 ment in favour of any higher nature of Christ, 
 except a few passages interpreted without any 
 regard to the context."
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 147 
 
 The Rev. J. W. Fox, in a Lecture on this 
 subject, says, " The doctrine of the Divine 
 Unity is the centre of religious truth, the source 
 of light and goodness in the heart. There can 
 be but one God, but one omnipotent, infinite, 
 uncaused Being. This truth is the religion of 
 the Bible. Unitarians are not and have not 
 been of one opinion about any but this funda- 
 mental doctrine. This one doctrine they find 
 taught through the whole of Scripture. Judaism 
 is Unitarian; its teachings in the Old Testament 
 are strongly Unitarian. The New Testament 
 teaches it by direct assertions, as well as by the 
 absence of all contradictions of it. The Ma- 
 hommetans are strictly Unitarians. In India and 
 China there have been philosophers who taught 
 a pure worship of one God. The wisest and 
 best philosophers of Greece and Rome rose 
 above the superstitions of their age, and taught 
 that there was really but one God." 
 
 SELTON on Hindus Worship : "All that has 
 been handed down by oral tradition seems to 
 confirm the hypothesis that the Hindus were 
 worshippers of one God only, whom they 
 designated ' the Breathing Soul,' a Spiritual 
 Supreme Being, coeval with the formation of
 
 148 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 the world, everlasting, permeating all space, the 
 beneficent disposer of events." 
 
 Rev. G. VANCE SMITH : " There are three 
 passages in the New Testament in reference to 
 the Trinity, one of them, however, being the 
 worthless interpolated verse in the First Epistle 
 of John. Thus there are left two passages 
 which are usually supposed, clearly and unques- 
 tionably to express the doctrine of three Divine 
 persons ; two only, be it remembered, out of 
 the whole extent of the Bible. . . . Throughout 
 the Biblical writings, where is there any trace of 
 a radical change in the mode of conceiving of 
 the Oneness of God ? Where do we find some 
 positive declaration, plainly announcing the new 
 doctrine ? When and where precisely in the 
 teachings of Scripture is the new idea of a Divine 
 plurality, a Divine threeness, first distinctly in- 
 troduced as the correction or completion of the 
 older doctrine ? Where is the ancient idea of 
 One'Jehovah besides whom there is no other God,, 
 modified and changed into a trinity of persons, 
 each of whom is God as much as either of the 
 others ? Can any one say : 'Here the doctrine 
 of the threefold nature of the Godhead was first 
 revealed ? ' &c."
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 149 
 
 EARL RUSSELL in his "Essays on the History 
 of the Christian Religion," writes thus : " The 
 first thing we should wish to learn is the 
 character assumed by Christ Himself, and we 
 cannot but be struck with the consistency of 
 this declaration, whether made to the Jews or 
 to his faithful and intimate disciples the unity of 
 God, declared by Moses, "I am the Lord thy God, 
 thou shalt have none other gods but Me," a doc- 
 trine embraced by Socrates, by Plato, by Cicero, 
 and by the most enlightened of the Pagans." 
 
 The Rev. H. HARRIS remarked on this doctrine: 
 " Not once in the pages of the Bible is the word 
 Trinity to be found, and the only passage which 
 speaks of three persons making one is undoubt- 
 edly spurious. After many years of doubt and 
 hesitation, the good Dr. WATTS became con- 
 vinced of the error of his early faith and took 
 up in its stead the doctrine of the unity of God." 
 And again : " For the first 1 50 years the opinions 
 of the Christians were strictly Unitarian. From 
 that time till the Council of Nicea in 325, various 
 corruptions were added to Christianity. ... If 
 these then be facts, let us be among those who 
 hold fast to what Sir Isaac Newton justly called 
 the ' long lost truth ' of the Unity of God."
 
 150 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 The Trinity, so called, was never acknow- 
 ledged in any manner whatever by our Society 
 (The Quakers), the very term even is disallowed 
 by our body, as being nowhere to be found in 
 the Holy Scriptures. Monthly Repository, 
 vol. 8. 
 
 MARTIN LUTHER thus wrote (Postil Major, 
 fol. 282): "The word Trinity sounds oddly and 
 is a human invention. It were better to call 
 Almighty God, God, than Trinity." 
 
 Finally JOHN CALVIN (Tract Theol. pp. 796) 
 says : " I like not the prayer, O, holy, blessed 
 glorious Trinity. It savours of barbarity. The 
 word Trinity is barbarous, insipid, profane, a 
 human invention, grounded on no testimony of 
 God's word." 
 
 With these two particularly strong and all im- 
 portant protests against the Trinity we conclude 
 this subject, although it would be easy to add 
 very many more extracts to like effect, embracing 
 the forcible argument that only two verses in the 
 New Testament express the doctrine of three 
 Divine persons, viz. : Mat. ch. 28, v. xix, and 
 2 Cor. ch. 13, v. iv, while not only the Old 
 Testament abounds in passages emphatically 
 declaring the Unity of God, but even in the
 
 The Jezuish Armoury. 151 
 
 Gospel itself are to be found numerous texts 
 inculcating that doctrine, and perhaps none more 
 clearly, more explicitly, than that in Mark 
 ch. 17, v. xxix. : "And Jesus answered (the 
 Scribe) thus : ' The first of all the Command- 
 ments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is 
 one Lord.' ' 
 
 We will now proceed to our second subject, 
 and give brief extracts from the writings of 
 several eminent Christians on the beauty and 
 usefulness of the Mosaic laws. 
 
 PRIESTLY thus alludes to them : "There are, it 
 is acknowledged, several articles in the institu- 
 tions of Moses for which we are not able to assign 
 satisfactory reasons, but this cannot be thought 
 extraordinary, considering that their antiquity is 
 so great, and that they were adapted to a state 
 of manners, opinions, and other circumstances 
 of those remote times with which we are but 
 imperfectly acquainted. Neither are we able 
 fully to satisfy ourselves with respect to many 
 particulars in the system of nature, which, not- 
 withstanding, we have no doubt came from God. 
 And the more attention we give to both, the 
 more reason do we discover for those circum- 
 stances which at first appeared the most objec-
 
 152 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "tionable. The better we understand them both, 
 the more reason do we see to admire them, and to 
 be satisfied that they were ordained by a wisdom 
 more than human." Again: " The great object 
 of the Hebrew religion was to preserve in the 
 world, the important knowledge of the Unity of 
 God and of His administration of the affairs of 
 the world in opposition to the universally prevail- 
 ing polytheism and idolatry." . . "The ultimate 
 aim of this extraordinary dispensation was by 
 no means the honour or advantage of one par- 
 ticular nation, but by their history and discipline 
 the great universal Parent gives the most 
 important lessons to all His offspring of mankind. 
 By means of this one nation, have all other 
 nations that have acquired the knowledge, been 
 taught the great doctrine of the Unity of God, 
 and the purity of His worship. In no case has 
 the mere reason of man been sufficient for this 
 salutary purpose. By this means the Supreme 
 Being has preserved upon the minds of men a 
 sense of their dependence on Himself and of 
 their obligation to Him . . . . of their common 
 relation to one God and Father, and thereby to 
 consider each other as brethren entitled to every 
 kind office that they can render to each other."
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 153 
 
 PROFESSOR NEWMAN says : " From the Jews 
 the Christians derive nearly all that is valuable 
 in their religion." 
 
 I. SAAcD' ISRAELI thus wrote: "The law of Moses 
 can never fall into neglect while the principle of 
 Judaism acts on its people, for it possesses a 
 self-regenerating power. The Law is not locked 
 up in a clasped volume, to be consulted only by 
 the administrators of the Law, but it is thrown 
 open among the people. It is one of the 
 thoughts of Pascal, to show the distinction 
 between a false and a true revelation, that 
 Mahomet, in order that his own code might 
 subsist, prohibited its reading, but Moses, that 
 his own should subsist, ordered that all the world 
 should read it." 
 
 LELAXD, in his work, " Divine Authority of 
 the Old and New Testament," thus sums up, 
 " At the time when the Law was given, idolatry 
 had made very great progress, things were 
 growing worse and worse, and it is highly pro- 
 bable that, if God had not extraordinarily inter- 
 posed, true religion would have been lost among 
 men. It pleased Him, therefore, in this state of 
 things, to select a nation to Himself, among 
 whom the knowledge and the worship of the
 
 154 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "true God should be preserved. And to that 
 end He first exerted his own Almighty power 
 and goodness in delivering that nation from a 
 state of slavery, and then caused the most pure 
 and excellent laws to be given unto them, which 
 were promulgated with the greatest solemnity, 
 and attested by the most amazing and un- 
 paralleled miracles. And in order the more 
 effectively to answer the main design He had 
 in view, it pleased Him to enter into a peculiar 
 relation to that people, and to take them for 
 His own, by a solemn public act or covenant. 
 And if we enquire into the nature of 
 the Laws that were given them, the main 
 design seems evidently to be this, to preserve 
 them from idolatry and wickedness, and to 
 engage them in the worship of the only true 
 God and the practice of righteousness. They 
 are therein strictly commanded to worship and 
 serve the Lord God and Him alone, the Eternal 
 and self-existant Jehovah ; to love Him with all 
 their hearts and souls, to fear Him and to dread 
 His displeasure above all things, to put their 
 whole trust and confidence in Him, to submit 
 themselves cheerfully to His rightful authority, 
 and to obey all His commands. And as the
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 155 
 
 "Law of Moses directs and instructs them in the 
 duties they more immediately owe to God, so 
 also in those they owe to one another. It- 
 forbids in the strongest manner all malice,, 
 wrath, and bitterness ; all injustice, fraud,, 
 violence, and oppression ; all fornication,, 
 adultery, and uncleanness ; all falsehood, guile, 
 deceit, and even all covetousness ; it not only 
 requires exact truth and fidelity, a strict in- 
 violable honesty in oiir dealings toivards all men, 
 but it expressly requires us to love our neighbours 
 as ourselves ; to be ready to do good to one 
 another on all occasions, yea, even to our 
 enemies themselves ; to show mercy to the poor r 
 the indigent and destitute, strangers, and 
 servants. These moral precepts are such, as if 
 duly practised and obeyed, could not fail to make' 
 that nation happy. Moses might, therefore, 
 justly represent these laws and statutes as 
 sufficient to make them ' a wise and under- 
 standing people,' and exclaim, ' What nation is 
 there so great, that hath statutes and judgments 
 so righteous, as the law which I set before you 
 this day ?' " 
 
 Quoting again from PRIESTLEY'S Institutes, 
 " An habitual regard to God and a peaceful
 
 156 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "trust in Him is taught in the Bible as the best 
 .support under the difficulties of life ; we meet 
 there with feelings of hope and joy in trial, such 
 .as the heathens, from the want of an enlightened 
 faith in God to rest them on, could have no 
 idea of. Thus the Hebrew religion builds its 
 moral teachings upon a knowledge of God's 
 character. It gives us for our measure of 
 excellence, God's own perfection ; it enforces 
 our endeavours to do right by the command of 
 .a righteous God who loves righteousness and 
 spurs us forward by placing before us his 
 affection to us, his encouragement of our 
 efforts." 
 
 By COLLIN DE PLANCY : " The Jewish religion 
 is a venerable mother, whose age is lost in the 
 obscurity of time. She has given birth to two 
 daughters, the Christian religion and the 
 Mahommetan. They glory in being descended 
 from her, and desire nothing so much as to see 
 her exterminated. They approve all she has 
 done before being a mother, and condemn all 
 she has done since, although her conduct has 
 been always nearly the same ; in a word, they 
 have for her at the same time, admiration and 
 horror."
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 157 
 
 We meet in the writing of the Rev. H.. 
 JOHXSTONE, the following :J' I^hope that some 
 day human society may be so far improved as- 
 to be able to follow the dictates of the Divine- 
 given Jewish Code. It is a sad error to suppose 
 that the Lord, having once thought the Jewish 
 laws good, could think them so no longer. 
 Taking into consideration the difference in the 
 climate or in the ages, I cannot hesitate in 
 believing that wherever our civil laws disagree 
 with those that have received the sanction of 
 God, we ougJit to count them as imperfect and 
 open to amendment. And if our actual social 
 condition impedes all amendment, that condition- 
 is a deplorable evil." 
 
 PASCAL: "The Jewish religion must assuredly 
 be divine, considering whence it proceeded, its 
 duration, its perpetuity, its high moral, its 
 practicability, its doctrines, and its results. 
 Again, the religion of the Jew may seem to 
 draw its strength from its founder, Abraham, 
 its ceremonies, the Temple at Jerusalem, c. ; 
 but I say that it solely derives its vitality from 
 the love of God /" 
 
 We conclude this portion of our subject with 
 a brief extract from " Lectures in the East," by
 
 158 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 DEAN STANLEY : " There is the humanity which 
 ran through the Law of Israel, and which 
 so rarely appears in the ancient Egyptian 
 religion. The sons of Israel were, by the very 
 recollection of their own bondage, entreated to 
 be kind to all those in inferior condition to 
 themselves. In the version of the Ten Com- 
 mandments in Deuteronomy, this is the reason 
 given for observing the rest of the Sabbath, 
 ' That thy man-servant and thy maid-servant 
 may rest as well as thou.' And again, ' It was 
 reserved for Moses to make the high truth of 
 One Presiding Spirit the inheritance of all 
 classes alike. That all should know that there 
 is One and the same God for all, . . . and that 
 we may have endless comfort in the thought that 
 we are in the hands of One overruling God, 
 who makes all things work together for the 
 best." 
 
 Passing to the 3rd subject ; The Christian 
 view in regard to the Jewish people and to their 
 characteristics, moral, intellectual, and physical, 
 we extract the following from a speech delivered 
 by Monsr. de TALLEYRAND : " There can be no 
 difference between the Jews and ourselves but 
 in the exercise of their religious worship ; take
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 159 
 
 "that away, what can we. see in them but fellow 
 citizens and brothers ? Were it otherwise, it 
 would be religion that gives civil and political 
 rights ; but it is birth, domicile or property that 
 confers them. If we reject the Israelites as 
 Jews, we punish them for being born in one re- 
 ligion rather than another ; this is a manifest 
 infraction of all laws, human or civil." 
 
 BURDER (On Religious Ceremonies) : "Doubt- 
 less important designs are to be answered by 
 the providence of God in preserving the Jews in 
 so extraordinary a manner. When we meet with 
 one of the sons of Abraham (and in what place 
 are they not to be met with ?) we see a miracle 
 a living confirmation of the Divine veracity 
 a proof that the Bible is true, and an indubitable 
 testimony that there is a God who judgeth the 
 earth." 
 
 Count de MIRABEAU thus wrote : " Why 
 should not the Jews think themselves the 
 greatest of men, when, by a miracle greater than 
 those of their ancient history, they exist still, 
 despite the tyranny and oppression of every 
 nation ! Few can, even in favour of great talent 
 and eminent virtues, forgive to a Hebrew the sin 
 of being born a Jew, although it is from their
 
 160 The Jp.zoish Armoury. 
 
 "Sacred Book that nations have borrowed all 
 their dogmas. . . . Those only who would 
 themselves permit fraud towards a Hebrew, 
 accuse him of daring in virtue of his faith to 
 practise deception towards the followers of other 
 religions, and the bigotted priests who have col- 
 lected calumnious tales concerning the Jews, 
 have only betrayed their own prejudices." 
 
 The Rev. JOHN MILLS thus spoke at a public 
 meeting : " We owe the Jews a greater debt 
 than that of common humanity. We owe a 
 debt to every nation which has added to the com- 
 forts, and aided in the improvement of the 
 human race. Who can reflect, for example, 
 upon the poets, the historians, the philosophers, 
 and artists of ancient Greece without feeling, 
 gladly feeling, that futurity will ever be indebted 
 to them ? Well, how much more to the fcics ."' 
 They gave us the Bible, the book of books, 
 which independent of its inspiration, is a more 
 effective instrument to strengthen the intellect 
 as well as to improve the heart, than any other 
 work the world ever saw. This blessed Book 
 was first written and promulgated by the Jews, 
 and we sympathize, deeply sympathize, with the 
 children for the Father's sake."
 
 The Jewish Armoiiry. 161 
 
 From the writings of the Rev. THOS. RAFFLKS : 
 " We are laid under the deepest obligation to 
 the Jews. There is nothing grand or good 
 that we possess, but we are indebted to that 
 people. The most ancient and most authentic 
 of all historians was a Jew, and what poets, for 
 sublimity and grandeur, can compare with theirs ? 
 But these are minor considerations and matters 
 of trivial moment compared with those spiritual 
 blessings for which we are indebted instrument- 
 ally to them. . . . We may not forget that for 
 all the light and religion, for all the peace and 
 joy, for all the hopes and anticipations we 
 derive from the Bible, we owe to the Jews." 
 
 The Rev. CHAS. VOYSEY has thus written : 
 " I am thankful to have gained an insight into 
 the most venerable and most simple of all creeds. 
 My firm belief is the Jews will never lose their 
 nationality in their indelible and inimitable 
 characteristics." 
 
 Extracts from Rev. Father IGNATIUS' Dis- 
 course : " It might be said the Jewish people 
 were an insignificent nation, but I assert it was 
 a most important one. . . . One of the chief 
 characteristics of a nation's greatness and a 
 people's power, consists in a rightly balanced
 
 1 62 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 "legislation. Now, if we compare the legislation 
 of Moses with that of any other race of people, 
 either of modern times or times gone by, we find 
 that it stands out with a strange uniqueness that 
 startles us. The legislation of Moses, thou^Ii it 
 has existed for thousands and thousands of years, 
 has never been added to, never been abstracted from, 
 never been tampered with, or changed to suit the 
 continual changes of nations and politics. The 
 Jewish legislation began and ended in Moses. 
 They might say this unchangeableness was be- 
 cause the people were content to be over- 
 ridden and kept down. No. If ever there was 
 a nation which possessed the determination to 
 exist, to be free, it was the Jewish nation. 
 Remember the battering rams of Titus and 
 Vespasian against the walls of Jerusalem, where 
 millions of Jews were ready to pour out rivers, 
 nay, oceans of blood for liberty, which is the 
 noblest thing, which is the thing God's spirit 
 teaches us to crave for above all else, because 
 it is the divine right of man. . . . No, the 
 "Jews could not be accused of being a cowardly 
 and slavish race ; we could not so account for 
 the unchanged existence of their legislation for 
 fifteen centuries, which was a mighty monu-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 163 
 
 " ment of an Almighty hand, a practical proof of 
 the Omnipotence of the voice which spoke in 
 thunders on Mount Sinai and in lightning on 
 the peaks of Oreb." 
 
 Australian Paper: "What a walking en- 
 cyclopaedia and history is the Jew ! What a 
 stretch of imagination just to think that one of 
 the unknown throng of swart Israelites, who 
 listened to the song of Miriam on the Red Sea 
 triumph, should be the progenitor of a people 
 who is intimately associated with the nineteenth 
 century civilisation, and has become one of the 
 principal factors of the greatness and prosperity 
 of unborn nations and communities ! Their 
 blood is uncontaminated, their race has a spot- 
 less escutcheon ; there is no bar sinister in 
 his shield, for no people have ever been so correct 
 in their morals as the Jews, and so careful not 
 to contract degenerate alliances. No race 
 seems to have possessed such a wonderful 
 power of recuperation. Driven from their own 
 land, persecuted in every age, driven from 
 country to country by Pagan and by Christian 
 hate, they have survived the sword, the gibbet, 
 and the stake, and are perhaps more numerous 
 to-day than ever they were in the world's
 
 164 The Jeivish Armoury. 
 
 " history. A faithful and historic people ; who 
 can but admire them ?" 
 
 The REV. J. M. WISE, of Chicago thus 
 delivers himself in a lecture " Like lofty 
 mountains crowned with azure tints and celestial 
 rays, Israel's prophets, bards, kings, heroes, sages, 
 and saints, appear to the watching eye of the 
 devout investigator standing upon the watch- 
 tower of human reason. . . . It is with 
 reverence and awe only that we can approach 
 the history of Israel, while it is impossible to do 
 justice to their vast and deep revelation. 
 During the first period, which terminates with the 
 dispersion among the Assyrians and Babylonians, 
 Israel occupied the position of a pupil under 
 the tuition of the Most Hio-h. During 
 
 o o 
 
 nearly nine centuries it studied, and studied 
 well, the lessons of religion, ethics, and politics, 
 and obtained in these abstract sciences, that 
 perfection which the Bible represents. It must 
 have exercised some influence on the surround- 
 ing nations by its army, wealth, and eloquence, 
 especially during the reigns of David and 
 Solomon. . . . During the second period, 
 which begins with the first dispersion, and ter- 
 minates with the last, under the Romans, Israel
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 165 
 
 " occupied the position of the teachers among the 
 nations, and understood its vocation and duty, 
 its great and sublime mission. Historians have 
 hitherto failed to point out the influence of the 
 sons of Israel upon the events which then 
 revolutionized the political and religious institu- 
 tions over the vast territory over which they 
 were dispersed, but beyond a doubt they were 
 powerful agents, mighty engines in the hands of 
 Providence, to effect and carry out those 
 important revolutions which impelled the 
 human family onward to light and right and 
 forward to truth and justice. . . . In the third 
 period of its history, which begins with the final 
 dispersion and is not yet ended, Israel occupied 
 the position of a guardian of truth, a truth 
 which it had studied during the first period of 
 its history and taught during the second the 
 divine truth in and for which it lived, struggled 
 and died a thousand deaths, was the only 
 treasure it saved from the ruins of the 
 grandeur which was no more; but this, the only 
 treasure which Israel saved was adamantine. 
 , . . The Jew took his Bible everywhere, 
 and without his stiff-neckedness and obstinacy, 
 that is, without his firmness, fortitude, consis-
 
 1 66 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " tency, and resolution, without his determination 
 to sacrifice everything except his belief, his con- 
 viction, and the sacred heritage which God 
 entrusted to his care and safe keeping, it would 
 most certainly have been lost to the world, and 
 the dark ages must have extended over many a 
 century longer, probably to our very days." 
 SOUTHEY : " When literature had crone to 
 
 o 
 
 decay throughout Christendom, the Jews did 
 not partake of the general degradation. They 
 had many professors, whose everlasting lamps 
 were kept trimmed amongst them, and burning 
 clearly, when the light of the Gospel had grown 
 dim in the socket, and monkery and popedom 
 had well nigh extinguished it." 
 
 MACAULEY : " There is nothing in the national 
 character of the Jew which unfits him for the 
 highest duties of citizens. In the infancy of 
 civilisation, when our island was as savage as 
 New Guinea, when letters and arts were still 
 unknown to Athens, this condemned people had 
 their splendid Temple, their fleet of merchant 
 ships, their schools of sacred learning, their 
 great statesmen and soldiers, their philosophers, 
 historians and poets. What nation ever con- 
 tested more manfully against overwhelming
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 167 
 
 "odds for its independence and religion ? What 
 nation ever, in its last agonies, gave such signal 
 proofs of what might be accomplished by a 
 brave despair ? Let none presume to say there 
 is no genius among the countrymen of Isaiah, 
 no heroism amoncf the descendants of the 
 
 o 
 
 Maccabees, while it is the Jewish religion 
 which first taught the human race the great 
 lesson of universal charity." 
 
 G. C. LEWES (in his "History of Philosophy") : 
 " The part played by the Jews as physicians, 
 merchants, or bankers, has often been appre- 
 ciated. The part played by them as thinkers has 
 been less frequently mentioned, yet it has been 
 considerable. Ignored by society, the learned 
 Jews gave themselves up to science and to study. 
 Hated and persecuted though they were, their 
 ability and perseverance made them everywhere 
 necessary to princes and to nobles. . . . The 
 learned unsuspectingly submitted their minds to 
 Hebrew thinkers. The facility with which they 
 mastered language made them ready interpreters 
 between Musselmen and Christians. It was 
 through their translators and through their 
 original thinkers that the West became leavened 
 with Greek and Oriental thought."
 
 1 68 TJie Jewish Armoury. 
 
 BASIL MONTAGU : " Of the acuteness of the 
 Jewish intellect it cannot be necessary to adduce 
 proof. It appears in their daily intercourse 
 with us and with each other. Of their affections, 
 who can doubt ? The Englishman's fireside is 
 proverbial for domestic happiness, but of all 
 firesides, the Jews', as far as relates to their 
 affections, is the most abundant in good feeling, 
 from the most opulent to the most indigent. 
 Next, as to their orderly conduct as members 
 of society, they are regular and industrious in 
 their habits, cultivating those branches of trade 
 committed to them, and increasing the pros- 
 perity of their country by enlarging its com- 
 merce. They have ever been loyal subjects 
 and anxious to assist their country, cheerfully 
 pouring out their hoards when the State re- 
 quired it, while one and all, when the occasion 
 arose, enlisted, and would have proved them- 
 selves descendants of the noble Maccabees." 
 
 Edinburgh Review : " The Jews have been 
 thickly planted in the chief rising seats of 
 civilization and commerce, and in almost every 
 well-known city, we hear of Hebrew settle- 
 ments more or less considerable in number. 
 Nor is it too much to say, that the influence of
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 169 
 
 " these widely dispersed Jews must have been 
 everywhere felt. In the case of the Jew alone 
 was religion bound to a law of moral purity. 
 The Jew only had a conscience in the better 
 and hio-her sense." 
 
 O 
 
 FLEURY : " The people God chose for the 
 purpose of preserving the true religion, form 
 an admirable model, whether it be in their 
 manners, their mode of living, their industry, 
 their urbanity. ... If w r e compare the 
 Israelites of old with the Romans, the Greeks, 
 the Egyptians, and the other ancient people 
 most esteemed, our prejudices against them 
 vanish away. We find in them a noble sim- 
 plicity, and while they had all the good qualities 
 of other nations, they were exempt in a great 
 measure from their defects, for they based their 
 conduct on the true religion which is the foun- 
 dation of all morality." 
 
 Chamber s Cyclopedia : " To enumerate names 
 of those who were and are illustrious in general 
 literature, in law, philosophy, medicine, philo- 
 logy, mathematics, and belles lettres, we cannot 
 even attempt, since there is not one country in 
 Europe which does not number Jews among 
 the foremost and most brilliant representatives
 
 i/o The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 " of its intellectual progress. Of Germany- 
 considered to be in the vanguard of European 
 learning the greater part of the professors at 
 its universities are Jews or of Jewish origin: 
 certainly a most startling fact. Another extra- 
 ordinary fact is that the European press, no less 
 than the European finance, which means the 
 freest developments of all the resources of soil 
 and science for the gigantic enterprises of our 
 day, are to a great extent in their power, while 
 numerous are the names of those who shine in 
 all branches of art, music, sculpture, painting, 
 the drama, &c., all proving how unjust is the 
 reproach of their being an " abstract " people. 
 Briefly they are, by the unanimous verdict 
 of the historians and the philosophers of our 
 times, reckoned among the chief promoters of 
 the development of humanity and civilization. 
 And what has been their reward ? . 
 If there be a gradation in suffering, Israel has 
 reached the highest acme ; if the long duration 
 of sufferings and the patience with which they 
 are borne, ennobles, the Jews defy the high born 
 of all countries ; if a literature is called rich 
 which contains a few classical dramas, what 
 must be said of that tragedy which lasted
 
 The Jewish Armoury, 171 
 
 "a millennial and a half, and was composed and 
 enacted by the heroes themselves ?" 
 
 JOHN LOCKE : "If Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob, from whom the Jewish nation had their 
 originals, were holy, the branches also that 
 spring from this root are holy, and if those 
 were taken in and engrafted, and have partaken 
 of the blessings promised to Abraham and his 
 seed, be not so conceited of thyself as to show 
 any disrespect to the Jews. If any such vanity 
 possess thee, remember that the privilege which 
 thou hast in being a Christian is derived to thec 
 from the promise which was made to Abraham 
 and his seed, but not that accrues to Abraham 
 and his seed from thec'' 
 
 Edinburgh Review : " A singular testimony 
 to the worth of the Jews as citizens, was- 
 recorded in the Court of Justice at Nismes, to 
 the effect, that for ten years no one Jew had 
 ever appeared before that Court for either a 
 misdemeanour or a crime, and that as to the 
 accusation of usury, so freely brought against 
 them, only two Jews were prosecuted for this- 
 offence in the whole of the South of France,, 
 when a thousand Frenchmen had been cited 
 and punished as usurers, and even the criminal
 
 The Jeivish Armoury. 
 
 *' tables here in England show a smaller propor- 
 tion of Jews brought to justice than of most 
 Christian denominations." And again, "In all 
 countries the Jews have advanced the arts of 
 peace and affronted the national vanities by the 
 success of their undertakings. Their perse- 
 vering labour, when converted into money, has 
 given them a superiority which has at once 
 roused the envy and the cupidity of the natives, 
 so that their sufferings have been in proportion 
 to their social excellence. It is impossible to 
 say how much the active habits of English 
 trade owe to the example and competition of 
 .this people since they have been allowed to 
 settle freely amongst us." 
 
 JUDGE MELLOR (1873), summing up a case 
 .of offence which, as he said, was calculated 
 to excite the prejudice and violence of the 
 ignorant, thus addressed the Jury" No man 
 need be ashamed of being a Jew, but under 
 some circumstances (as in the present instance) 
 the name was used as a word of reproach. A 
 Jew had a lineage to be proud of, if anybody 
 had, and the Jews, of all persons in the world, 
 had, in point of race, influenced the destinies 
 of mankind more than any other race. But
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 173- 
 
 " independently of Scriptural knowledge, every 
 one should think that there was no impeach- 
 ment of reproach in the name of Jew." 
 
 In the same year, thus spoke at a public 
 meeting the EARL OF SHAFTESBURY : " I 
 have come most gladly to pronounce openly 
 what I have ever felt in secret, that is, my 
 profound veneration and love for the whole 
 mass of the Jewish people. . . . They are 
 the remnants of an ancient nation of great note 
 and fame, who occupied a most distinguished 
 position in the pages of the world's history, and 
 whose glories have never been surpassed. 
 They are remarkable for their industry, their 
 truth, and their submission to all the principles 
 of just government, in whatever country they 
 may be placed. They are not behind in any- 
 quality that dignifies and adorns men and 
 women in any walk of life, and we should all 
 have a deep interest in the millions of Jewish 
 people who are making their way in every part 
 of the world." 
 
 "With this high encomium from one of the 
 most distinguished statesmen of the day, we 
 may conclude these extracts which have been 
 gleaned exclusively from Christian sources
 
 i/4 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 glad in the thought that so many men of 
 enlightenment, discerning excellent qualities 
 in the Jewish people qualities which are 
 .assuredly the fruits of a strict adherence to their 
 sublime laws have cast aside all prejudice and 
 generously avowed their recognition of those 
 virtues. 
 
 It would be altogether superfluous to enter on 
 the subject of the Unity of God under a 
 Jewish point of view, as it has had our attention 
 in the first chapter of this work, while also the 
 second subject has been treated on at some 
 length in the 4th chapter, thence we proceed 
 at once to give some few extracts from Jewish 
 Authors in regard to the last, and these may be 
 brief, since they could contain little else than a 
 repetition of those facts which have received 
 their due acknowledgment from the many 
 eminent Christians whose remarks and opinions 
 we have quoted in the preceeding pages. 
 
 Now the Jews having been frequently accused 
 of lukewarmness in religion at about the time 
 of Jesus Christ, it may be well to hear what the 
 able Historian Joscphus says on this score, for 
 we may thus be enabled to refute so unjustifi-
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 175 
 
 able a charge ; we read, " And there came 
 many ten thousands of the Jews to Petronius 
 to offer their petitions to him, that he would not 
 compel them to transgress and violate the law 
 of their forefathers ; but if, said they, ' thou art 
 entirely resolved to bring this statue and 
 erect it, do thou first kill us, for while 
 we are alive, we cannot permit such tilings as 
 are forbidden us to be done by our Legislator' 
 Then on Petronius angrily rejecting their peti- 
 tion, they said, ' Since, therefore, thou art so 
 disposed, O Petronius ! that thou wilt not 
 disobey Caius' epistles, neither will we trans- 
 gress the commands of our laws, and as we depend 
 upon the excellency of our laws, and by the 
 labours of our ancestors have continued hitherto 
 without suffering them to be transgressed, we 
 dare not by any means permit ourselves to be 
 so timorous as to transgress those laws out of the 
 fear of death. . . . we should incur the great 
 anger of God, who, even thyself being judge, 
 is superior to Caius.' . . . ' Then Petronius 
 said to them, ' Will you then make war with 
 Caesar without considering his great prepara- 
 tions for war and your own weakness ?' They 
 replied, ' We will not make war with him, bid
 
 1/6 77ic Jewish Armoury. 
 
 still we will die before we sec our laws trans- 
 gressed' So they threw themselves down on their 
 faces and stretched out their throats and said they 
 were ready to be slain, and this they did for forty 
 days together, and in the meantime left off the 
 tilling of their ground, and that, while the season 
 of the year required them to sow it. Thus 
 they continued firm in their resolution, and pro- 
 posed to themselves to die willingly rather than to 
 see the dedication of the statue." Lukewarmness 
 to their religion indeed ! Where in the annals 
 of history do we read of any people showing 
 such unflinching courage, such determination 
 to resist oppression, such fidelity to their faith 
 and their God ? And, again, when Caesar 
 ordered that a statue should be placed in the 
 Temple they insisted on the observance of their 
 laws and said, ' We offer sacrifice twice every 
 day for Caesar and for the Roman people, but 
 if he w r ould place the images among them, 
 he must first sacrifice the whole Jewish 
 nation, and that they were ready to expose 
 themselves, together with their children and 
 wives, to be slain. At this Petronius was 
 astonished, and pitied them on account of the 
 inexpressible sense of religion the men were
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 177 
 
 under and, that courage of theirs which 
 made them ready -to "die for it, so they were 
 dismissed." 
 
 Hebrew Review (1831) / " The Jewish people 
 may fearlessly offer themselves to the strictest 
 scrutiny of their fellow-men, and may feel confi- 
 dent of coming out of it with honour. They have 
 ever shown the qualities of mercy and humanity, 
 and these are the basis on which a large propor- 
 tion of their virtues are built. They certainly 
 preserve them from the commission of many 
 dreadful crimes and cause them to practice 
 many of those virtues which God has 
 commanded them, and on which the sustaining 
 of the social system so much depends. It is 
 well known that they make the best husbands 
 and wives. Domestic discord is scarcely known 
 amonof them. Their affection and tenderness 
 
 O 
 
 towards their offspring is proverbial. Sobriety 
 is so general among them, that it is rare to see 
 a Jew in the shameful state of inebriation. A 
 Jew homicide is so rare that we almost doubt if 
 a single instance can be adduced of one in this 
 country for nearly an entire century, and that 
 it is equally so in all countries where 
 they dwell, we believe we may assert with 
 
 N
 
 178 The Jewish Armoury. 
 
 truth. And be it said, the above remarks 
 apply equally to the humble as to the wealthy 
 class." 
 
 On many scores we think it well not to quote 
 any Jewish writer on the subject of the character 
 of the Hebrew people at the present day ; this 
 indeed, speaks plainly for itself far more plainly 
 than any words, in their home, in their in- 
 stitutions, in the busy mart, and in the Temple 
 of Worship, but we may, in conclusion, give 
 one extract from a foreign source ; it is from 
 Judge NoaJis address to his Christian country- 
 men of New York, and speaks volumes for the 
 moral character of our transatlantic brethren. He 
 said : " Dismiss from your hearts all prejudice 
 which still lurks there against our people. 
 They are worthy of your love, your confidence 
 and respect, and that feeling simply arises from 
 your early education. Dismiss it then ; be 
 better acquainted with the Jew and learn to 
 estimate his virtues. See him in the bosom of 
 his family, the best of fathers, and the truest 
 of friends. See children, dutiful, affectionate, 
 and devotedly attached, supporting their parents 
 with pride and exultation. See wives the most 
 faithful, mothers the most devoted. Go with
 
 The Jewish Armoury. 1.79 
 
 me into the haunts of misery, where the 
 daughters of misfortune walk the streets of this 
 great city, and see if among them all you find 
 one Jewess. Come with me to the prisons 
 where crime, riots, and vice abounds, and 
 examine whether a Jew is the tenant of a 
 dungeon. Go into your almshouses, and ascer- 
 tain how many Jews are recipients of your 
 bounty. See them all, the friends of virtue and 
 of temperance, obedient to the laws, and 
 devoted to the country that protects them. 
 Are we not, then, worthy of your confidence 
 and esteem, discharging, as we do, every moral 
 obligation imposed upon us ? "