extremity, not only of Famine and nakednesse (that of 700 Widows, 400 were famished out-right) but also by the imprisonment and scourgings of their Elders and Rabbyes, by their cruell Creditors, being the principal men of the Land to whom the Jews were indebted 20000 Rialls of Eight, which if the Ryall be 4s. 8d. a piece, it is 4666l. 13s. 4d. for the liberty of dwelling there, etc. which they extorted with great rigor and exaction, resolving to sell them all for slaves, in case payment was not speedily made." p. 70: "This befel the onely then Germane Jews at Jerusalem, for the Congregation of Portugal Jews were relieved by the Alms of their Rich Brethren in Portugal." p. 70: "4. The only Anchor the miserable Wretched and distressed Persons had, was to Implore succour from their Brethren in other parts, to which end they sent Letters to Venice, Amsterdam, and by Rabbie Nathan Levita, an Elder, and Cabalist: But all they got from them served only for payment of Interest of Debts: so that they had still perished, if the bowels of Christians in Holland, had not compassionated their State, who sent them 500. Rix Dollars, and by Letters did earnestly press Mr. H. J. to further a Collection in England. "To which he made some demurs till he obtained full satisfaction of the truth of the Relation, and certainty of safe conveyance of the money that Charity might not be abused; for the first, the Messengers from Jerusalem brought Commissions signed by their Elders, which Commissions were sent to the Synagogues in Germany, and in the Netherlands to be examined; who assured that they knew the hands, and that those men would not subscribe to an untruth, and that they themselves had contributed upon the same Information. And as for Conveyance, two Noted Merchants of Francford, would return the mony, and give Bond for so much; till they procure a Receipt from the Elders of Jerusalem, as they had done for the above named summe of 500. Rix Dollars; and had a Letter returned from Jerusalem to the Charitable Christians of Amsterdam, both in way of Receipt and Gratitude with Original Hebrew Letter with the Messengers, Commissioners, and other necessary Instructions being sent to Mr. Jessey, removed all scruples, so that immediatly informed divers London Ministers, by whose assistance, together with his own private Friends and Interest, the some of 300l. Sterling was in short time gathered and sent, and a Bill of Receipt, with thankfulness returned some of it being also sent to distressed Iews at Vilna and other places in Poland.” p. 67: "When their liberty of returning and trading in England (as they did in Germany, Poland, Russia, Portugal, Netherlands etc.) was moved, disputed and debated for and against; He laboured that it might be granted, with such limitations, (as our Merchants yielded unto, viz) that they should be seated in some decayed Port Towns, and pay Custome for Goods, thence transported into other parts of the Nation, besides what they should pay there for exporting English, and importing forreign Commodities: such a tollerating of their trade might not onely be beneficial several ways to our selves, but be some satisfaction for the unhandsome dealings of our Nation against that people in the days of King Rich. I. King John and Edward the first, for the space of 100 years till their final Banishment, An. Dom. 1290. with those circumstances of cruelty, that our own Histories do not seem to approve of ; XXXIV "THE GLORY OF JEHUDAH AND ISRAEL-DE HEERLICHKEYDT . . VAN JEHUDA EN ISRAEL," BY HENRY JESSE. THE Glory of Jehudah and Israel is referred to in the concluding paragraph of "The Humble Addresses." Manasseh Ben Israel writes :— . . . Now, having prooved the two former Points, I could adde a third, viz. of the Nobility of the Iewes: but because that Point is enough known amongst all Christians, as lately yet it hath bene most worthily and excellently shewed and described in a certain Booke, called, The Glory of Iehudah and Israel, dedicated to our Nation by that worthy Christian Minister Mr. Henry Iessey, (1653. in Dutch) where this matter is set out at large: The Life and Death Of Mr Henry Jessey," page 79: .. Mr. H. J. seconded his Almes with divers Consolatory Letters to the dispersed seed of Jacob, having before in 1650. wrote a compleat Treatise yet extant, and called (the glory & Salvation of Jehudah, and Israel) tending towards the reconciliation of Jews and Christians, . . .' J. C. Wolf, in his Bibliotheca Hebræae, 1733, vol. iv., p. 901, in his biography of Manasseh Ben Israel, incidentally refers to "De Heerlickheid en heyl van Jehuda en Israel" written in Flemish (Belgice) by Henr. Jesse. It is apparently very rare, the only copy that has been traced is mentioned in "Catalogue De La Bibliothèque de literature hebraique et orientale et d'Auteurs hebreux De Feu Mr Leon V. Saraval Trieste . . . 1853.”1 [I. S.] N°. 619" JESSE HENRY de Heerlichkeydt en Heyl van Jehuda en Israel (en langue flamande, traduit de l'anglais.) Amst. 1653 in 8°. . . tres-rare. XXXV OF THE LATE PROCEEDS AT WHITE-HALL, CONCERNING A Narrative | Of the late Proceeds at | White-Hall, | Concerning The Jews: Who had desired by R. Manasses an agent for them, that they might return to | England, and Worship the God of their Fathers here in their Synagogues, etc. | Published for satisfaction to many in several parts of Eng-| land, that are desirous, and inquisitive to hear the Truth thereof. London | Printed for L: Chapman, at the Crown in Popeshead-Alley. 1656.| (4to. Il. +14 pp.)" [I. S.] p. II: "Here followeth part of a Letter written at Ligorn, 1652. and sent by the Preacher in the Phoenix Frigot, to a friend in London. Ligorn, aboard the Phoenix, 19 of the 1, 1652. Dear Brethren: . . ." p. 12: A Postscript, To fill up the following Pages, that else had been vacant: Containing, I The Proposals of R. Manasses ben Israel, more fully. 2 Part of his Letter written Anno 1647. 3 The late progress of the Gospel amongst the Indians in New-England. A translation appeared in: Neue Schwarmgeister=Brut Oder Historische Erzehlung (8°. 24 ll. +223 pp. +1 l.) 1 In 1853 the Saraval library was purchased for the Breslau seminary. A translation appeared in : Neue Schwarmgeister Brut Oder Historische Erzehlung. v. Die Bekehrung der Indianer in New Engeland . . . (8°. 24 ll. +223 pp. +1 l.) [I. S.] XXXVI BISHOP THOMAS NEWTON AND THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL "THE preservation of the Jews is really one of the most signal and illustrious acts of divine Providence. They are dispersed among all nations, and yet they are not confounded with any. The drops of rain which fall, nay the great rivers which flow into the ocean, are soon mingled and lost in that immense body of waters and the same in all human probability would have been the fate of the Jews, they would have been mingled and lost in the common mass of mankind; but, on the contrary they flow into all parts of the world, mix with all nations, and yet keep separate from all. They still live as a distinct people, and yet they no where live according to their own laws, no where elect their own magistrates, no where enjoy the full exercise of their religion.... No people have continued unmixed so long as they have done, not only of those who have sent forth colonies into 'foreign countries, but even of those who have abided in their own country. The northern nations have come in swarms into the more southern parts of Europe; but where are they now to be discerned and distinguished? The Gauls went forth in great bodies to seek their fortune in foreign parts; but what traces or footsteps of them are now remaining any where? In France who can separate the race of the ancient Gauls from the various other people, who from time to time have settled there? In Spain who can distinguish exactly between the first possessors the Spaniards, and the Goths, and the Moors, who conquered and kept possession of the country for some ages? In England who can pretend to say with certainty which families are derived from the ancient Britons, and which from the Romans, or Saxons, or Danes, or Normans? The most ancient and honorable pedigrees can be traced up only to a certain period, and beyond that there is nothing but conjecture and uncertainty, obscurity and ignorance but the Jews can go up higher than any other nation, they can even deduce their pedigree from the beginning of the world. They may not know from what particular tribe or family they are descended, but they know certainly that they all sprung from the stock of Abraham. And yet the contempt with which they have been treated, and the hardships which they have undergone in almost all countries, should one would think, have made them desirous to forget or renounce their original; but they profess it, they glory in it and after so many wars, massacres, and persecutions, they still subsist, they still are very numerous : and what but a supernatural power could have preserved them in such a manner as none other nation upon earth hath been preserved ? Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the destruc tion of their enemies, than in their preservation. For from the beginning who have been the great enemies and oppressors of the Jewish Nation, removed them from their own land, and compelled them into captivity and slavery? The Egyptians afflicted them much, and detained them in bondage several years. The Assyrians carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel, and the Babylonians afterwards the two remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epiphanes, cruelly persecuted them: and the Romans utterly dissolved the Jewish state, and dispersed the people so as they have never been able to recover their city and country again. And where are now these great and famous monarchies, which in their turns subdued and oppressed the people of God? Are they not vanished as a dream, and not only their power, but their very names, lost in the earth? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians, were overthrown, and entirely subjugated by the Persians; and the Persians (it is remarkable) were the restorers of the Jews, as well as the destroyers of their enemies. The SyroMacedonians were swallowed up by the Romans and the Roman empire, great and powerful as it was, was broken in pieces by the incursions of the northern nations; while the Jews are subsisting as a distinct people to this day." XXXVII "A CALL TO THE CHRISTIANS AND THE HEBREWS" "You are at length to be restored to the land of your forefathers, where, after ages of dispersion and suffering, you will find rest and enjoyment; and will restore, surpass and enjoy, for ever, all that you have ever known, or conceived of happiness and glory.... Ye have sown in tears, ye shall reap in joy." (Psalm cxxvi, 5.) They who deny that you will be restored and re-established in your ancient inheritance, may better deny that you are dispersed; for as certainly as the prophecies of your dispersion and preservation have been verified, so shall the numerous prophecies of your restoration be realized and fulfilled." "Will the British who preside over the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Seas assume the glorious enterprise, and conduct the Hebrews from Tarshish and the various coasts of their dispersion? "This island has given birth to the Bible Society, through whose labours the glorious work has been undertaken and sustained of circulating the sacred scriptures, among the various nations of the earth in the respective languages. ... 1 Dissertations on the Prophecies... By Thomas Newton, D.D., . . . vol. i., London... MDCCLIV. pp. 216–219. |