PUBLISHED FOR THE PROPRIETORS, AT THE HEBREW REVIEW OFFICE, 17, MILLMAN STREET, BEDFORD ROW; AND BY SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND CO., STATIONERS' HALL COURT. MDCCCXXXVI, Chronological Statement of the most Remarkable Events, &c. 15, 29, 45, METAPHYSICS AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE RABBIES. Sepher Ikkarim, by R. J. Albo, 11, 26, 40, 73, 90, 107, 154, 169, 187, THE MISHNA. Mesecheth Aboth: "Ethics of the Fathers," 17, 43, 54, 65, 101, 129, I. ON THE SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE JEWS. the repository of every virtue which ennobles our kind: and even where the iron hand of fanaticism ground him to the dust, or the soul-slaying venom of contempt preyed on his mind; even there he strove to preserve those better feelings, which alone render man worthy of that designation. Even there he became not so completely debased as his oppressors would fain have rendered him,-as his detractors would fain make him appear. THE subject of our present in quiries is not only of paramount importance to us Jews as individuals, and as a body, but has almost equal claims on the serious consideration of those among whom we dwell; for as society is now constituted, it is impossible that exceptional laws should be applied to any class of men, singling them out, rating them below the rest of their fellow citizens, and denying them a participation in rights enjoyed by all around them: It is impossible that such a state of things should exist without in some (consider to extend to able) degree impairing the harmony of the social system. Accordingly in every age, and in every country, the condition of the Jews has excited the attention of the reflecting part of the community; for there is no land which does not, or did not at some former period, number Jews among its inhabitants. In the north as in the south, in the east as in the west, the scattered descendants of Jacob sought, and sometimes found, an asylum. Wherever civilization dispenses its blessings, the Jew is either its forerunner or immediate follower. Wherever commerce spreads its sails, the Jew stands ready to cement that bond which unites the most distant nations. Wherever the dignity of human nature was respected in him, wherever he was treated as a man and a brother, he proved that he too is made in the image of God,*—that his bosom too can be * Vide Heb. Rev. Vol. II. p. 177, et seq. An investigation into the fate and condition of the Jews ought every clime and to every age, for in every clime the Jew is, or has been, located; but the limited space of our pages does not permit us to attempt so gigantic an undertaking. Our re. searches must be confined to Europe; to what has been-what is the actual condition of our people, amongst the various nations which rank highest in the scale of civilization; and if it should appear that the treatment which the Jew did-or does experience from some of them, is directly the reverse of what reason dictates and justice commands, let us impartially examine whether the Jews have done or do any thing to provoke such treatment. If they are guiltless, what may be the cause why among nations, the avowed assertors and actual possessors of civil and religious liberty, the creed of the Jew should alone be penal? and if guilty of having, in any degree, caused this anomaly, what course ought they to adopt to remove B |