BOOKS.

MOSES MARGOLIOUTH's PILGRIMAGE TO THE LAND OF MY FATHERS.*

Meneoerourn is a Polish Jew, who was converted to Chris- tianity. He came to this country, studied for the church, took orders, and (probably not meeting with preferment to his mind) be- came a missionary to the Jews of Palestine. He proceeded to the Holy Land by way of Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Leghorn, and Malta ; whence he diverged to Tunis, to inquire into the state of the Tunisian Jews. From Barbary he went to Constantinople, and thence to Syria. His tour lasted from 1847 to the present year ; and from each place he went to, and frequently en route, he wrote copious epistles to his friends. It is a selection from these letters, and not, we should imagine, a very critical one, that con- stitutes the two volumes before us ; though the writer says he could readily have doubled the quantity had he not been restricted in the matter of tomes.

Mr. Margoliouth from the moment of his reaching Paris be- gan business by inquiring into the condition of the Hebrews, and feeling his way towards the prospect of converting some of them. In the pursuit of this object he had great and peculiar ad- vantages, in his knowledge of Hebrew, his acquaintance with its Talmudic and general literature, and his familiarity with the man- ners and usages of the Jews. He also carried letters of introduc- tion from numerous persons, including the Archbishop of Canter- bury, Lord Palmerston, the Duke and Duchess of Manchester, and several other influential people ; nor does he seem very backward in introducing himself. The book, however, is not equal to the means and opportunities of the writer. His let, ters are awfully longwinded ; and though this may be tolerable enough in private correspondence, where the writer addresses him- self to the peculiar tastes or hobbies of the people he is writing to, such letters would before publication require a revision amount- ing to recomposition. As long as this minute fulness refers to the main purpose of his journey—the present condition of the Jews, and the success of the missionary in inducing them to listen to him—it is all very well; though the reader may desiderate a more close and comprehensive account. But Mr. Margoliouth intro- duces himself too much upon many occasions ; and the more striking incidents connected with the appearance, manners, and customs of the Jews in Palestine, have already been given to the world by his fellow traveller Mr. Woodcock, in his Scripture Lands, and with a more graphic pen. At the same time, though there is a good deal of stuffing in the book, it is not bookmaker's stuffing. The reverend writer pours himself out in good faith, even when he is transcribing formal documents relating to Hebrew or Mahometan practice, in which only persons of the class of his correspondents will feel greatly interested ; or when he is strug- gling to be facetious—as in the account of his own and Mr. Davis's journey from Tunis to Biserta.

The object and race of Mr. Margoliouth, however, stood him in good stead, and they impart a character to his book which a com- mon tour through such places would never attain. With all unso- phisticated people, especially the Orientals, there is a freedom and frankness of communication between strangers, which to our highly artificial condition is repugnant and "in bad taste." The Jews, as being in trouble, are perhaps more accessible than even the. Orientals generally, especially when addressed by one familiar with their language and customs. Mystery and wonder, too, might have their influence. When the poor despised Jew, looked down upon alike by Mahometans and Christians, found himself ad- dressed in his own tongue by an authoritative person in the garb of a clergyman of the Church of England, he was naturally flattered by the attention, and wondered how it all came about. Mr. Margo- Elith's controversial tactics were well adapted for purposes of immediate effect. He seems to have relied' a good deal upon what the military call " a surprise." He made his approaches warily in the uniform of a friend, and then assailed the fortress by a coup- de-main. He listened to their quotations from Scripture or He- brew writings ; he joined in their readings ; he displayed his own ; he- referred °to the.New Testament; and when curiosity was ex- cited by all this, he claimed for himself the character of the ge- nuine Israelite, and not only overwhelmed them with learning, (rather than logic, it strikes us,) but used the argumentum ad hominem, pointing to their present plight as proof of the Christian verity. The poor peoplegenerally took this and the g

books he distributed in part, and sometimes renewed the acquaintanceship when opportunity offered. Whether the seed thus sown will really fructify, it must be left to time to discover. Mr. Margoliouth does not seem to have been very successful in realizing converts. The only place where anything like a row occurred was at Constantinople, at the funeral of a venerable Rabbi ; and this the missionary provoked by intimating that the de- ceased was by no means in comfortable quarters.

"I was fortunate enough to procure a place not far from tho landing- place, on a little elevation, so that I could see every one before me, as well as be seen by every one. The long-looked-for object arrived at last. Sad and melancholy hymns began to be chanted. The coffin was carried sometimes by ten, sometimes by twelve, and the bearers changed places continually, as it it Counted a pious deed to carry the coffin of a good man. Every Jew, there- fore who thought—and I dare say every one there thought so—that he might purchase a piece of heaven by carrying awhile Rabbi E.'s coffin, struggled A' Part* utri to the Land of My Fathers. By the Reverend Moses Margoliouth, Author of " The Fundamental Principles of Modern Judaism Investigated," &c. &c. In two volumes. Published by Bentley. very hard to lay hold, or even to touch the bier : so that whilst one .portion of the community rent the air with their weepings and lamentations, an- other portion of the same did so with their squabbluigs and scufilings. Now and then a shout was heard, reproaching the women for looking out of the windows, and commanding them to hide their faces. The Rabbis do not allow women ever to witness a funeral procession, as they entertain the monstrously strange notion that when women are present nothing can keep the Devil from joining the procession. Somehow or other, I uncon- sciously uttered the words, Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die, 0 house of Israel ? ' But it seems that I did it in so loud a voice, that several Jews who passed by me, beating on their breasts and shedding copious tears, overheard' me. They dopped, and inquired of me who I was. I told them that I was a Christian, and felt exceedingly solicitous for the salvation of the house of Jacob. But who are you, to tell us, Turn ye, turn ye; why will ye die ?' was their interrogation. I replied, that I did not remember having said sq. My guide confirmed their charge. I then perceived that I must liave ex- cliimed this exhortation unwittingly. I said therefore to my brethren, 'This convinces me that I came here by the will of God, and that the Al- mighty put these words into my mouth, in order to warn you of escaping the great condemnation which hangs over the Jewish nation." What do you mean by the condemnation ? ' was my auditors' next angry and frowning inquiry. mean the condemnation, was my reply, of being called Lo Arnim,' and 'Le Ruhamah ' ; the condemnation of your prayers remaining unanswered for the last eighteen centuries, and of your dying without any prospect of salvation.' My hearers vehemently exclaimed, Do you mean to say that this great luminary of the world, the pillar of the universe, the powerful hammer, who was able to root up mountains and grind them together by his great reasonings, do you mean to say that such a man died without any prospect of salvation ?" I knew not the man,' was my rejoinder,- but this I do know, that whosoever believeth in our Lord Jesus, even the Messiah, shall be saved ; and he that believeth not, be he ever so wise and clever, the Bible tells us, cannot be saved. The Lord is no re- specter of persons. He does not say, son, give me thy head, and let thy talents grind mountains into powder,' but rather, My son, give .me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.' " The little circle that surrounded me became outrageous, and made use of several blaspheming terms against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Argument or discussion was quite out of the question : I therefore cut them short by the following brief exhortation—' Blaspheme not : behold you co& fin,' (it had already proceeded some distance, and the mass of the people 'was already out of the place,) ' it contains the body which was but yesterday in- habited by a soul ; that soul is now culled before the bar of a just God ; that soul may already mourn for having pierced Jesus, either in thought, word, or deed ; it may already wish that its relatives on earth should repent of their unbelief. I repeat again, he that believeth on the Son of God shall be saved, and he that believeth not cannot be saved.' Whether my stern tone 'of voice, in which I warmly indulged at the time, or my hearers' anxiety to join their foregoing brethren, induced them not to prolong their remarks, one simply asked, But whence do you draw such teachings ?" From your own books,' I replied : in your Old Testament, these doctrines are taught by types and parables; and in your New Testament the types and parables are beautifully, explained.' I took out a copy of the New Testament from my pocket, and said, This is the latter book I mentioned to you.' The last inquirer snatched the book out of my hand, and said, We have no time to read it now; we must defer doing so till another occasion': and thus one and all ran away to join the crowd, and left me, with my cicerone, by ourselves:" According to the narratives of our author, we infer that the Jews generally may be ranged in two classes—the indifferent or sceptical, and the superstitious. In Western Europe, especially in France, where legally the Jew is on an equality with the so-called Christian, scepticism prevails very extensively. In Tunis, sup&- stition is rife, if a blind adherence to forms, sometimes Mahometan, is to be called superstition. The Jews of Palestine, and pilgtithi on their route thither, appear to be the most devout and the most really liberal. The stir of a comine.p movement seems to be taking place among them, if we may judge from the attention with which many of them listened to the arguments of our author, and the calmness with which they discussed the subjects,—unless, -indeed, a politic courtesy was at the bottom of it all. It is curious to observe how persecution operates upon faith, in the present ease of the Jews. The men who can face death and defy torture practically renounce their creed when in perfect safety and legal equality, and those who would not have shrunk from tor- ments or legal degradation shrink from a social slight. In Tunis the Jews are confined to a certain quarter, compelled to dress in a cer- tain way, liable to be inselted or beaten by a true believer, and plun- dered at the will of the Government; and in Tunis the Jew boldly avows his creed in defiance of odium and persecutions. It was the same at Algiers, till the French established their "'equality before the law " ; when neglect and French literature are said to have turned nearly the whole of the Algerine Jews into Infidels. In France, one would suppose that the Jews had nothing to complein of either legally or socially ; but it seems that a prejudice against them still remains, and the Jew cannot stand it. The respectable converts to Christianity, of whom Mr. Margolionth says there are a good many in Paris, carefully conceal their Jewish descent. He fell in with some German students whom he suspected of being Jews ; but when taxed they denied the fact. However, it came out on their visit to a cathedral. " The reason they did not like to be recognized as Jews was, that in France, with all the boasted strides of civilization and liberality, the JeW was still held in execration. They spoke the truth." In fact, in the provinces, it would seem that, in spite of philosophy and law, the feeling affects the Jew's livelihood: "Whilst at the inn at Roanne, I was particularly struck with the 'servant who waited upon me. I took him to be a Jew, and therefore addressedlim as such in the lingua Franca of the Jews. The poor fellow coloured up te the very roots of the hair of his head, and entreated me not to notice him, as he would assuredly lose his place ; for such is the dislike to the captive children of Israel in this country, especially in the interior, as to be intolerated under any circumstances whatever. I talked very seriously to him, and remonstrated with him on account of the wretchedly unsafe life he was leading: under such a hypocritical garb. He cried bitterly, and said that conscience -many a time whispered the same expostulation in his ears, and made him very un- happy and miserable. I pitied the poor man very much indeed. There could be no mistake about his state of mind ; his -face betrayed-hint ' a most wretched object."

In towns, probably, this prejudice is leas, or concealed ; with these results at Marseilles.

"The candlestick learning does no more illuminate the Jews of the city. They are no more zealous for their nationality, nor for the literature of their own sages, Persecution in many instances proved more beneficial to the ' republic of Hebrew letters than prosperity. In the Middle Agee, when the name Jew was execrated in France, the Hebrew basked in the sunshine of learning, whilst the native Frenchman groped in the darkness of superstition and ignorance ; now that the Jew seems to be tolerated, and apparently courted by infidel France, the Hebrews of this country have given up to trouble themselves about the cultivation of learning in their own national literature. They begin to apply themselves more to the works of the natives ; and as those works are generally of an Infidel or Deistical tendency, the Jewhili mind,therefore, generally speaking, in this country, is marred and biassed by Infidelity and Deism. This observation applies to the Jews of Marseilles, as well as to those of Paris, Strasbourg, Lyons, &c. " The generality of the Jews here are imbued with the principles of Voltaire and Volney, as well as of other writers of the same atamp. The Rabbi himself is a rank Rationalist, scruples not to deny the histbry of the fall of man, and literally calls 'bitter sweet' ; for he asserts that the curse on the ground' was a blessing. You would call him a rare specimen' of a Biblical ex- positor : he asserts that the promise of the 'new heart' means nothing more or less than an improved mind. If such be the notions of the head of the congregation, you can easily imagine the ideas of the members of the Mar- seillian Jewish community. The Rabbi makes no secret of his utter unbe- lief in any of the Talmudical writings as inspired records. Some parts of the Talmud, Shulchan Aruch, &c. &c., he denounced as too filthy and dis- gusting for the most barbarous savages. Indeed, the passages he referred to were justly entitled to the denunciation the Rabbi of Marseilles uttered against them. They are by no means fit for translation : find no fault, therefore, for not giving you the passages that you might judge for yourself. I will not soil this clean sheet of paper with those filthy and immoral pas- sages. There are however, some Jews here who are vehemently addicted to the traditions of the fathers, and even venture to excommunicate in their heart of hearts, their Rabbi as an arrant heretic, chosen by a set o1 infidels."

• "To give you an idea of the laxity of some of the Jews in this place, is to tell you that many of the stalls at the fair, which is at present taking place ' here, are kept by Jews : and what do you think the majority of them exhi- bit as articles for sale ? Why crosses, crucifixes, and all sorts of Roman Catholic household gods. Well might a Jewish 'teacher call them wor- shi rs of the golden calf.' Many young Jewesses keep confectionary stalls, and as they happen to be pretty, vast numbers of the Marseilhian hope- fuls crowd around them, to the utter disgust of decency and order. With which feeling I am about to leave France; for, taking it as a whole, it is a disgusting country."

The Rabbis appear to have great power ; though of course it is only by influence, except in Turkey, where, we believe, they exer- cise a civil rule over their people. There is an indication of this power among the following miscellanea from Constantinople. ,

I visited the principal Jewish bookseller; in whose shop I had an oppor- tunity of ascertaining the literary condition of the Constantinople Hebrews. The Rabbinical and Cabbalistic books are more in demand than any other by the great mats of the s*espective congregations. The chief Rabbi, how- ever, is suspected—but no one dare give expression to the suspicion—of stu- dying the Chizonim, i. e. secular authors. He is, moreover, accounted the haughtiest man in Turkey, and presumes much on the dignity bestowed upon him by the Sublime Porte, of a Bashaw of three tails. " March 23d.—Visited Hass Kieu again. A gentleman, Mr. Woodcock by name, who came with me from Malta, accompanied me. We went from synagogue to synagogue, and from school to school ; in all of which I had lengthy conversations. It is really surprising how accessible the Jews are to conversation. The moment they are convinced that one knows something of

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their history and character, and is therefore able to sympathize with them, that moment their hearts draw towards such a one, notwithstanding such an individual happens to be a Christian. What is stranger still, the Jews them-. , selves will introduce Christianity as a grateful topic for conversation and dis- cussion, provided their visitor betrays some knowledge of their sacred Ian- guage and of their literature ; otherwise they stand gaping and staring upon an intruding stranger. I had therefore many opportunities of discussing the ' questions at issue between Jews and Christians, and that in the most ami- cable terms. I was listened to attentively. Whilst speaking with the prin- , cipals in the schools on the evidences of Christianity, the students listened with the most profound attention, and seemed to treasure up every passage I quoted in support of the truthfulness of the Messiahship of Jesus. There is also a Caraite synagogue in that place, which is indeed the nicest of all. I found in it several Hebrew Bibles published by the Bible Society. The Ca- raite Jews kindly allowed me to take a roll of the law from its sanctum, which unfolded, and preached the gospel te those present. "The Caraite sews are more accessible than any class of the children of Israel.- They have an air of independence about them, which renders them exceedingly well-looking, and almost noble in their gait and bearing. They pity their brethren, who are traditionists ; for the Caraites derive their ap- pellation from telp (Cam), the root of WOO (Miekra), which signifies Scriptures ; and hence they boast of being Scripturalists, and indulge now and then in some puns against their Talmudical brethren. For instance, the Caraites look upon phylacteries as a rabbinical and human invention ; they call, therefore, the Jews who wear those appendages Dsnra w-nurr (Chamourim M'thooguini), bridled asses.'"

In the passage from Constantinople, the steamer was crowded, as'is usual, with passengers of all nations ; and a few Protestants being on board, Mr. Margolienth proposed service on Sunday.

"The engineer was delighted at the idea, and promised even to raise the tune, should we be disposed to have a couple of chants. We communicated to the Greek Patriarch our intentions ; and he politely left the cabin to and betook himself, with his priests, on deck.. As soon as we commen service; however, he slipped down, and hastened, unobserved he fancied, into an unoccupied apartment, and there he sat listening—to hint an unknown tongue—till the end of our worship; so that as far as that dignitary was concerned we experienced no interruption. We were doomed, however, to be disturbed twice by our Effendi's harem, which occupied one whole side of the cabin ; a description of which I have given in a letter to Lady Adelaide from Smyrna. As soon as we commenced, the whole tribe of the Turk's wives left their prison, some yashmaked, and others yet unveiled, to see what was- going on. We should have had no objection to allow them to be present could they have managed to be quiet ; but this seemed hopeless. ney made suave clatter, and set up such a laughing, that I was obliged to threaten that I would send for their husband. This produced such a rush to their pen, that not a few of the veiled ones came down with such vio- lence that-we-were obliged to run -to their help. As soon as we settled them comfortably in their little haitin, we recommenced our service ; but by de- grees they came out, one by one from their shell, and we observed a • Barton tohiYour-uraWitli a -seliodedition of their merriment:- We were- ged to order them peremptorily to return to the harem, or else Effendi mustaffa should forthwith be sent for. They then returned quietly to their ungrateful prison, and our engineer turned the key of their enclosure ; and we enjoyed peace during the remainder of our worship. "During our service, all the Greek priests who accompanied the Patriarch came down and joined their head in his little hiding-place, and tried to dis- tinguish some words in the extraordinary language we conducted our wor- ship. in. When all was over, they came out, and the Patriarch, addressing me in very polite terms, asked for a description of the prayers and sermon. As he was well conversant in the Arabic language, I put into his hands copy of the liturgy in that language, and pointed out to him the morning prayers, the collects, the psalms, the lessons, &c. ; all of which he read and admir. I then offered to make him a present of the volume ; which he affectedly declined. He evidently expected that I would press him to take it ; however, I was not in a humour to do so. The Jews in the mean time

congregated on that part of the deck which is over the cabin, and listened with breathless attention to what they did not understand, expect- ing, as they told me, to hear some few Hebrew expressions in our prayers. I told them the time for the fulfilment of Zephaniah's prophecy has not yet arrived : I referred them to Zeph. iii. 9. They asked me, however, to give them an idea of the prayers we made use of. I went down into the cabin, opened one of my boxes, and took out a Hebrew translation of our Liturgy, and handed it to my Jewish friends, and said, ' This is our Common Prayer Book.' The loan of it was immediately asked, and great was the gratifica- tion when the request was granted. Every collect was rigorously examined; and no fault could the examiners find, except the mediatorship of Jesus Christ, and the wording of the creeds, which.,' said they, if omitted, the book might have been used in every synagogue in the world.'

" This unexpected critique induced me to indulge in rather a lengthy dis- quisition on the Scriptural warrant for the mediatorship of Jesus, as well as for the doctrine of a Triune Jehovah. To my surprise, as well as to that of my English and Dutch companions, I was listened to with great deference and attention. In the mean time, our Gentile fellow passengers (pilgrims- from all parts of the world, bound for Jerusalem) looked upon me with as:" tonishment. The poor Jewish pilgrims were despised by common consent by all parties ; me they took for an English Christian, and I was therefore looked upon by many of the Polish, Russian, and Austrian pilgrims, as a madman."

It is possible that what is called liberality is, after all, personal knowledge. The ignorant hate or contemn everything strange; and the more enlightened are not altogether free from the feeling, though they may not express it so strongly. The Mahometan hates the hat, and is not soothed by the imperfect language or no- language of the Giaour ; if the Infidel appeared in a turban and costume to match, with a pure style of speech, he might be better received. Mr. Margoliouth had the hat, but he had also the tongue, and the Moollah was on board a French steamer.

"The Pasha's favourite wife and her suite were also on board, returning home to Alexandria. I asked the Mullah who attended her to read a little Arabic with me : he very kindly said, if I had any Arabic beak he would be pleased to comply with my request. I produced, therefore, my Arabic New Testament—the only Arabic book I could readily lay my hand upon. I chose Matt. v. vi. The Arab, after reading with me for about an hour, said to me, without any compunction, Give me this book,' looking at the same time steadily and anxiously at me. I hesitated for a moment—for it was the only Arabic New Testament I had with me—but could not find in my heart to refuse the request. The pleasing expression of his flue Arab features on receiving that sacred volume was really charming. I wish very Much it could have been transferred to canvass. lie thanked use heartily for the book, pressed his forehead and lips on the back of my hand, as if I had been a pasha, and disappeared with his prize."