Sir George Jessel on Wednesday attended an anniversary festival in
aid of the funds of the Jewish Hospital, and made a speech showing how rapidly Jewish disabilities had been swept away. Twenty years ago he could only practise by sufferance, no Jew being admissible to the Bar, and now he had been made a Judge without serious opposition from anybody. His elevation, was not, however, he said, due to his own merit, but to Mr. Gladstone's toleration, for the late Premier could have passed him over on the ground of his faith without having any con- sequences to dread. He believed there was social prejudice still existing which might injure a Jew professionally, but there was now no legal barrier to his advancement. There are still, how- ever, some serious disabilities to be removed, if any one likes to exert himself to remove them. A Jew cannot, we believe, be Lord Chancellor, cannot hold Church patronage officially—though he may buy all the livings he likes—and cannot be a guardian of the poor or a justice of the peace, the latter a gross absurdity, when he can sit on the Bench. The Peers, too, though empowered to abolish the oath which would prohibit a Jew Peer from taking his seat, have never done so.
Previous page
