JEWISH HATRED OF IMAGES. 263 rative shows.* The style is altogether popish. "There was a certain rich Jew, having his abode and house at Berkhamstede and Wallingford, Abraham by name, not in faith, who was very dear to Earl Richard, who had a very beautiful wife, and faithful to him, Flora by name. This Jew, that he might accumulate more disgrace to Christ, caused the image of the Virgin Mary, decently carved and painted, as the manner is, holding her son in her bosom, to be put in an indecent place, and which is a great shame and ignominy to express, blaspheming the image as ifit had been the very virgin herself, threw all sorts of dirt upon her, days and nights, and commanded his wife to do the like. But Flora's It is to be noticed, however, that the Jew here alluded to was a most unprincipled man. His hatred did not arise out of conviction that his religion was the only true one. It is remarkable, that to this very day, the most ignorant and wicked Jews are the most hostile to Christianity. 264 ABRAHAM MURDERS HIS WIFE, FLORA. delicate feelings so much revolted at the injunction, that she not only refused to be partner in the indecent act, but secretly removed the filth from the image as often as it was covered. Which when the Jew her husband had fully found out, he therefore privily and impiously strangled the woman herself, though his wife.* But when these wicked *This most impious and wicked man, doubtless, thought he did God service, and fulfilled a plain positive Mosaic precept, namely, "If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: but thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people." (Deut. xiii. 6-9.) Poor Flora did not entice him to worship the image. The whole Jewish congregation, therefore, justly considered Abraham as a murderer, and worthy of death. IS CONVICTED OF THE MURDER. 265 deeds were discovered, and made apparent, and proved by his conviction, although other causes of death were not wanting, he was thrust into the most loathsome castle of the Tower of London. Whence to get his freedom, he most certainly promised that he would prove all the Jews of England to have been most wicked traitors. And when as he was greatly accused by almost all the Jews of England, and they endeavoured to put him to death, Earl Richard interceded for him. Whereupon, the Jews grievously accusing him both of the clipping of money and other wickedness, offered Earl Richard a thousand marks, if he would not protect him; which, notwithstanding, the earl refused, because he was called his Jew. This Jew Abraham therefore gave the king seven hundred marks, that he might be freed from perpetual imprisonment, to which he was adjudged, the earl assisting him therein." Whilst this Abraham was imprisoned, he promised to the king that if his liberty were granted to him, he would discover to N 266 ACCUSES HIS OWN NATION. his majesty, his brethren's misdemeanors, stating that they had a great deal of wealth concealed from the king. Accordingly, as soon as he was set free, a royal search was instituted for all the Jewish estates, and was conducted in the most barbarous manner, inasmuch as that unprincipled Abraham went along with the commissioners appointed for that purpose, and urged them to make diligent search, threatening them, if at all lax, to inform against them to the king. This man proved to them a source of immense trouble. It is a gratifying fact that no Jewish convert caused them willingly any trouble whatever.* I am almost ashamed to proceed with my monotonous lecture. I have once more to tell you that the king was in trouble for * See p. 250. It is an unjust insinuation on the part of Mr. Moses Samuel, in his "Address on the Position of the Jews in Britain," p. 27, that the Jewish converts as he peevishly calls them apostates-of that time were "breeding mischief against the sons of Judea, and vituperating their holy religion." Oh, no, Mr. Samuel; the unconverted Jews breeded mischief against each other, but not the converted ones. HENRY NEVER SATISFIED. 267 want of money. He determined, once moré, to see what the Jews could do for him. To begin with, they were obliged to furnish the king with 5,000 marks previous to his leaving for Gascony.* Whilst there, a match was made up between Prince Edward and Eleanora of Castille. The intended marriage was necessarily attended with extravagant expenses. The king, therefore, commissioned his brother Richard to extort from the luckless Jews the sum required for the nuptial festivities of his heir.† But Henry was insatiable; he wanted more money, for which he applied first to the barons, conjuring up a pitiable tale, viz., that he apprehended a Spanish invasion. * W. Prynne. "As soon as Henry received the glittering fruits of this iniquity, he sent for Eleanor to assist him in squandering it away in the light and vain expenses in which they mutually delighted, and to grace with her presence the bridal of their eldest son, Prince Edward. King Henry waited at Bourdeaux to receive his son's bride. He had prepared so grand a festival for the reception of the young Infanta, that he expended 300,000 marks on her marriage-feast, to the indignation of his English peers."-A. Strickland. |