MARGOLIOVTH'S HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN GREAT BRITAIN. * THE Reverend

Moses Margoliouth somewhat miscalculated his powers when he attempted history. The diffuse gossip, the turn for minute facts, the egotistical though well-meaning garrulity, Which might pass muster in autobiographical narrative of mis- sionary travels, are out of place in a history of any kind. Grasp of subject, elevation of mind, philosophy of view, and breadth of style, are desirable in the historian, if not necessary. If he can- not rise to the height of his subject, he should not change its na- ture; he must at least possess the critical faculty to perceive the true characteristics of his theme, so that he diall avoid speculations which are useless, and adapt his treatment to the prominent nature of his materials.

The questions, whether Jews came to Britain in company with Trim, Carthaginian, or Spanish merchants—whether they served under Ctesar in his invasion, or settled in the country after the Ro- mans conquered and colonized it—may all be passed by ; the notices of their domieiliation under the Saxons are too slight and scanty to claim much space or attention from the historian,— though the laws of Edward the Confessor distinctly establish that Jews were considered as aliens without constitutional rights of any kind, deriving all their protection from the King's grace, whose property in a certain sense they were. The history of the Jews in this country properly begins with the Norman line : from William Rufus, till their expulsion under Edward the First, perse- enticni and suffering is the main feature of their story, varied by pictures of manners, and by glimpses of consideration shown to in- dividuals, either from religious indifference in some kings, or from the sort of feeling with which the ignorant regard professors of the black art, whom they dread and fawn upon yet despise. During the three centuries and a half between their expulsion under Ed- ward the First and their return under Cromwell and Charles the Second, individual Jews could doubtless have been found in England, but they were too few and too little noticed to furnish matter for history. With the immigration of Peninsular Jews under the Stuarts, and of Dutch or German Sews with William of Orange, the causes of their expatriation, their settlement in various localities, and the characters of the principal men among them, are the topics of prominence. As the National Debt and the monied interest grew into importance with the wars of Anne and the accession of the house of Brunswick, the Jew stockjobber comes upon the scene, and particular men or " firms " take the pas, from Walpoie's protégé Sampson Gideon, the ancestor of the house of Eardley, to the days at the Goldsmids, Rothschilds, and Ricardos. The spiritual condition of the chosen people in this country, and any laws affecting their social status, would of course form a feature in the narrative, as well as the history of the efforts made for their conversion, and the success.

The subject, however, is so bare of materials, and so little interest- ing in itse. that it would require very rare powers of mind and viva- city of manner to render the history attractive, till the narrative came down to the "anecdotes," often, perhaps, apocryphal, of the various great Jew money-dealers. These qualities Mr. Margoliouth is very far from possessing; nor does he even exhibit such qualities as might be fairly looked for. The nature of his materials compels him to exhibit the successive features of his subject alter a hodgepodge fash- ban, but without any clear perception of their bearing on an orderly treatment of his theme. He does not appear to have exerted himself zealously in research ; since a considerable authority for the Stock Exchange part of the subject is the gossipy book of Mr. Francis, and the account of the attempts to give the Jews a seat in. Parliament consists of little more than newspaper reports of speeches. Some curious but useless Hebrew reading—it cannot be called learning—will be found in the volumes, as well as a list of synagogues and charities, with traditional stories or curious facts, which the author's Jewish antecedents have enabled him to pick up. Some of them argue great superstition and ignorance ; but it is not really greater than is exhibited by the peasantry of this and other countries, only it is displayed in a different way.

• The History of the Jews in Great Britain. By the Reverend Moses 'Margo- Eouth, Author of .• A Pilgrimage to the Land of 34y Fathers," he. Ste. In three vo- lumes. Published by Bentley.

" Anionget tha.many traditions earrent amongst the Jewish people at home and abroad respecting their ante-expulsion brethren, there is one of a curious character. It is to the following effect : that the spot in the river Thames where many of the poor exiles were drowned by the perfidy of a master mariner, is under the influence of ceaseless rage, and however calm and serene the river is elsewhere, that place is furiously boisterous. It moreover affirmed that this relentless agitation is situated under the Linden Bridge. There are even, at the present day, some oldfashioned Hebrew families who implicitly credit the outrageous rage of the Thames. A small boat is now and then discovered by a Hebrew observer, filled with young and old credulous Jews, steering towards the supposed spot, in order to see and hear the noisy sympathy of the mighty waters."

This legend of the Goldsmid family is of kindred eharaeter.

"The Yews have a curious legend about the Goldsraid family, which be- trays no small measure of credulity on the part of many English Hebrews even in this our day. The legend is to the following effect. A Bhal Shem, an operative Cabalist—in other words a thannurterjos and prophet—used to live with the father of the Goldsmids. On his deathbed lie srummoned the patriarch Goldsroid, and delivered into his hands a box, which he 'strictly enjoined should not be opened till a certain period which the Bea Shea specified, and in case of disobedience a torrent of fearful calamities would overwhelm the Goldsmids. The patriarch's curiosity was not rimmed for some time ; but in a few years after the Baal Shera's death, Goldsmid, the aged, half sceptic, half curious, forced open the fatal bar, and then the Goldsmids began to learn what it was to disbelieve the words of a Baa/ Sheol. The greatest calamity, however, which some Israelites discover hr the his- tory, of that family, is that one branch has altogether merged into the Christian Church, and that the remainder are the leading members of the Reformed Synagogue. One of the latter has been created :baronet ; in con- sequence, some say, of presenting ten thousand pounds to the London Uni- versity." These particulars touching the latter days of Lord George Gor- don are new to us, in their minutite. The account is a literal translation of a Hebrew letter, written_ by the late Meyer Joseph, who acted as the preceptor of Lord George in judaism. " Lord George Gordon submitted, at an advanced age, to the operation of circumcision. The rite of the covenant of Abraham was administered to him in the town of Birmingham. The name of the individual who per. formed the operation was Rabbi Jacob Birmingham. When Lord G. Gordon recovered from the effects of the circumcision seal, he came to London, (and being already pretty well tutored in Jewish rites and customs, and was also able to read Hebrew with some degree of fluency,) he attended the Ham- burgh Synagogue, where he was called up to the reading of the law, and was honoured with Me Shebayraeh. He presented that synagogue with 1001. He then went to Paris, and wrote a book against Marie Antoinette, Queen of France ; which proved libellous, and subjected his Lordship to imprisonment at Newgate. Whilst in prison, he was very regular in his Jewish obser- vances: every morning he was seen with his phylacteies between his eyes, and opposite to his heart ; every Saturday he had a public service in his room, by the aid of ten Polish Jews. Be looked likes patriarch with his beautiful long beard. His Saturday's bread was baked according to the manner of the Jews, his wine was Jewish, his meat was Jewish, and he was the best Jew in the congregation of IsmeL On his prison-wall were to be seen' first the Ten Commandments, in the Hebrew language, then the bag of the Talith, or fringed garment, and of the phylacteries. The Court re- quired him to bring bail: he brought two poor Polish Israelites as guaran- tees. The Court would not accept them, became of their preereity. The rich Jews would do nothing towards assisting the prisoner, for fear ot a per- secutien. Ile died in 1793, of a broken heart, and was interred in the Gor- don family-vault.'"

Mr. Margoliouth claims to have a particular knowledge of the Rothschild family ; but some of the stories he tells do not seem very veracious. Here is some of his gossip. .

It must be owned, however that his liberality was not commensurate with his wealth ; nay, he was ralher sparing in his charitable actions. There is a Mr. Herman in London an Israelite, a dealer in fine pictures and paint- ings. He used to know Rothschild, when in Manchester. They used fre- quently to meet together at the same dining-rooms. When Mr. H. was subsequently settled in London, he called upon the late chief Rabbi, Dr. Herschel], and asked him for a line of recommendation to Rothschild, with a view of disposing of a couple of most valuable paintings. The Rabbi vouch- safed the recommendation. Mr. Herman called upon the millionaire, his co-religionist; with the precious articles of art. Rothschild seemed startled when Mr. H. asked three hundred pounds for a picture, which was really cheap at that price. 'What! three hundred poundal I cannot afford to spend so much money on pictures : I must buy ponies for my boys, and such lllce things, which are either useful or profitable; but I cannot throw away money on paintings. However, as the Rabbi recommended you to me, I will buy a picture from you for thirty pounds : I do not care what sort of a thing it is . I want to make it a present to some one : choose one from among your collection for that amount, and bring it to me.' Thus spoke a man who counted hi property by millions.

"Yet with all his hoardings Rothschild was by no means a happy man. Dangers and assassinations seemed to haunt his imagination by day and by night; and not without grounds. Many a time, as he himself said, just be- fore he sat down to dinner a note would be put into his hand, running thus= If you do not send me immediately the sum of five hundred pounds, I will blow your brains out.' He affected to despise such threats ; they nevertheless exercised a direful effect upon the millionaire. He loaded his pistols every night before he went to bed, and put them beside him. He did not think himself more secure in his counting-house than he did in his bed. One day, whilst busily engaged in his golden occupation, two foreign gentlemen were announced, as desirous to see Baron Rothschild in propell personfi.

"The strangers had not the foresight to hold the letters of introduction in readiness they stood therefore before the Baron in the ludicrous attitude of having their eyes fixed upon the Hebrew Crcesus, and with their hands rummaging in large European coat-pockets. The fervid and excited ima- gination of the Baron conjured up a multitudinous array of conspiracies. Fancy eclipsed his reason ; and in a fit of excitement he seized a huge /edger which he aimed and hurled at the mustachioed strangers, calling out at the some time for additional physical force. The astonished Italians, however, were not long after that in finding the important documents they looked for, which explained alL The Baron begged the strangers e pardon for the unin- tentional insult, and was heard to articulate to himself, Poor unhappy me! a victim to nervousness and fancy's terrors, all because of my money!

"It must be moreover confessed that the members of the Synagogue gene- tally did not entertain the same respect for him as the foreign Jews de for the Rothschild& of Frankfort. Some thought he might have done more for his brethren than he did; and that if he had only used the influence which he possieased. with Government, and the many friends which he had at Court, all the civil disabilities with which the British Jews continued to be stigma- tized would have been abolished, when the proposition was first mooted.

But Rothschild,' said an intelligent English le* to the writer, was too great a slave to his money, and all other slavery wastonnted liberty in his sight.' "There is a story current amongst the Jews, which must be looked upon art a story in a double sense, to the effect that Baron Rothschild was think- ing of renouncing Judaism and of embracing Christianity. His eldest brother, Ansehn, got to hear of it : he immediately wrote letters to his foot brothers, Solomon, Nathan, Charles, and James, urging upon them to repair with the least possible delay to Frankfort. The brothers obeyed the sum- mons. When all met, Ansehn said, I want you all to accompany me to

ourfather'a grave.' When there, the first-born said, insist upon all of you taking a solemn oath at this solemn plaeer that you will never renounce the religion of your father, nor ever embrace Christianity.' The brothers were taken by surprise, and of course took the required oath. The story is given, as it has been already stated, as an apocryphal narrative ; but it shows that Baron Rothschild was looked upon with suspicion by his brethren, since they could conjure up a fiction of the kind, and give it the widest circula- tion.'

One of the most interesting subjects in the book is the account of the schism under Mr. Marks, which we alluded to when re- viewing that pastor's sermons. The late Chief Rabbi, Dr. }Br- ad/ell, (when he was nearly- superannuated,) took the revision of the service, and some other changes of form effected by the "West London Synagogue of British Jews," in such ill part that he excommunicated the whole congregatiom On Dr. Him,Aell's death, a good deal was expected front his successor, but not mach obtained ; though the liberality of the age seems to be forcing something from him. "On the 12th December 1844, Dr. Nathan /dams Adler was elected Chief Rabbi of England. Great hopes were expressed respecting the new Raidn's liberal spirit, so that the progress of reform would be expedited by his assuming the important office. In fact, Dr. Adler gave the Anglo-He- brews to understand that such would be his policy. The day of installation, July 9th 184,5, at length arrived. Dr. Adler still intimated his readiness to -espouse improvement; and all was gratulation and complacency. Bat be- fore many months elapsed, Dr. Adler treated his flock like a vulture. He ratified the excommunication against the British Jews, which it was fondly hoped died away with the death of the fulminator. Dr. Adler began to carry out the bull in every iota, and actually prohibited matrimonial alliances be- tween the members of the respective congregations. The consequence was, such a general disaatisfaction as was never experienced amongst the Anglo- Hebrews heretofore. The Rabbi gabled no respect by his measure, and was obliged tacitly to retrace his intolerant step. 'The Rabbi rallied a little in consequence of retracting ; but in the course of a couple of years he made another mistake, which gained him neither honour nor respect A very in- fluential member of the Burton Stteet Synagogue died, and Dr. Adler first objected to his being buried in his family grave in the Jewish Cemetery ; and when he found that he could not use his tyranny thus far, he prohibited the burial-service being read by the- proper minister, but permitted the beadle, who ir appointed to read the service over malefactors and suicides, to do it. The indignation was intense, and Dr. Adler had good reason to be crest- fallen. Sir Moses Montefiore espoused the Rabbi's conduct in everything ; by which the Hebrew baronet's popularity suffered considerably amongst his co-religionists.

"He is now endeavouring to redeem his pledge and his character. He is commenting to reform in the liturgy, and the next vestry meeting is to decide the affair. Of course it does not come vrith se good a grace as it would have done at the b g of his ministry. But the Anglo-Hebrews admit the fonie of the adage 'Better late than never,' and they already congratulate themselves that the British synagogues will data a new wra from the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty."