CONTENTS.

PUBLISH YE, PRAISE YE, AND SAY, O LORD, SAVE THY PEOPLE, THE REMNANT

OF ISRAEL.-Jer. xxxi. 7

OFFICE:-96, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, BLOOMSBURY SQUARE.

No. 253.]

JANUARY 1, 1867.

[Price ld.

ON THE JEWS IN GERMANY DURING THE LATE WAR.

(Communicated by a Missionary.)

Mr. JACOBI, after referring to the immediate causes of the war, and the relative positions of the rival parties, remarks:

It is a riddle never yet solved by any statesman. When there is an evil boding, when threatening clouds, rising on the national horizon, as at the beginning of the Crusades, or at the time of the Great Plague in Germany, are not always the Jews the sufferers, the scape-goats? Were they not recently the innocent sufferers, when the people in Bavaria were displeased with the government, and with its way of carrying on the war? Israel has not the position due to the "chosen people,” since it cast away Jehovah's voice; Deuteronomy, xxviii. 15; 'If thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord;" it has become a proverb, a scorn to all other nations, idem 37, " And thou shalt become a byword to all others." In spite of the much-praised emancipation of the Jews, there is an idea in the minds of the people, that since they have cast away the Messiah, they have no right to exist; they are the despised of God, and allowed to be badly treated. But this conduct will not go unpunished. The same Czechen (the natives of Bohemia), who had 80 shamefully treated the Jews, had to see, a few weeks later, how the fury of the war was destroying the soil, the fertile soil, of their country, and how thousands of their brethren were weltering in their blood. Thus, God sometimes uses a Pharaoh, a Nebuchadnezzar, as a scourge for Israel; but His anger will destroy the Scourge, when it raises itself above the Lord.

When we come to speak about the participation of the Jews, concerning the war, we shall not treat, in any way, the question, what party did they join? It was drawn out for them by their respective position; and they well remember Jeremiah's word, xxix. 7, "And seek the peace of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captives." We shall only prove the fact of the rising power of the Jewish people in this our eventful time. The Jews have a horror for bloody war and murder; their love for trade, the oppression they are suffering, make them antagonists to any warfare. Peace is the character of Judaism, so says Rabbi

VOL. XXVII.-NEW SERIES, VOL. XIII.

Dr. Philippson. "The more to be praised is the bravery and faithfulness of the Jews in the late war. 25 to 30,000 Jews served in the Austrian army; 8 to 10,000 in the Prussian, and a great number in the South-German armies. In all these armies they have fought with bravery; distinguishing themselves as much as the best of their Christian fellow-soldiers." So says an Austrian paper. From the town of Cologne, forty men and youth, of Jewish extraction, left for the war. The lists of the wounded and dead show us that many Jews have fallen. In one of the Rhenish towns, there were 35 Jewish families in mourning for their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers. And what heroic deeds are done by some of the Jewish soldiers. The Crown Prince of Prussia promoted a certain Jaeger, a common Jewish soldier ! to the rank of Lieutenant, even on the battle-field at Königgratz, for having re-conquered a Prussian flag, taken by the Austrians in the Seven Years War, at the time of Frederick the Great. The Jewish serjeant, Suskind, from Breslau, took an Austrian flag in the battle of Skalitz, and therefore was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, and got besides the prize-money of 150 Prussian dollars, offered by a Jewish merchant from Breslau, to any Jewish soldier taking an Austrian flag, and getting the rank of an officer, as a reward for personal bravery. The Jewish Lieutenant Michaelis, from Westphalia, died of his wounds, after the battle near Kissingen. The Austrian Lieutenant Airoldi, a Jew, was decorated with the military order for bravery, as a reward for his heroism. A Hessian Jewish soldier was promoted to the rank of an officer on the battle-field at Aschaffenburg. In the Italian war there were also distinguished Jewish soldiers and officers. Dr. Friedlander, from Magdeburg, being a Prussian military physician, was made prisoner at the moment when he was dressing the wounds of an Austrian; and not he alone, other Jewish surgeons, too, have done their duty in the battle-fields and the hospitals. In Neisse, there was formed a so-called "Hungarian Legion," out of Hungarian prisoners; General Klapka was their leader, and they wanted to join the Prussians. Amongst these 1500 Hungarians there were sixty Jews; these latter refused to enter the legion, they preferred the hard lot of prisoners to becoming faithless to the Emperor of Austria and their oath. It was the particular merit of a Jewish hussar, who gave to the others the courage to resist General Klapka's challenge, and when, by his vivid words, he had succeeded in keeping his comrades faithful to their oath, they gave him a heartfelt hurrah!

We cannot deny our approbation to such a noble courage. If we think it extraordinary, nay, even incredible, as we are used to consider the Jews for cowards, according to the prophecy of Moses (Lev. iii, 26, 36), "And upon them that are left alive of you, I will send a faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them, and they shall flee, as fleeing from a 'sword, and they shall fall, when none pursueth,”- -we ought to remember that the Jews were fighting under Christian ensigns, that ensign of which Isaiah speaks, xi. 12; "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." Being thus enrolled in an army of Christian warriors, it inspired them with true spirit and courage. When they were oppressed they became fainthearted, but by giving back to them their natural rights, self-esteem and confidence returned; under the influence of Christian love and charity, the brave spirit of their forefathers is awakened, and we plainly see what power and courage had been slumbering in them. Israel, the warrior of God, has to fulfil a great task. When the Lord, the Redeemer, will call the people, after

their penitence and conversion, to gather round his standard, as did Moses, Every man by his own standard," then these great prophecies shall be fulfilled; according to Micah v. 7, 8, " And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the gentiles, in the midst of many people, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver." But Israel, gathered round the standard of the Cross that it had trodden so low, shall raise it again, and obtain the last decisive victories.

Meanwhile, the Jewish party is still divided in several different parts. In Vienna prayers were said in the Jewish synagogues, and prayers were said in those of Berlin; the first were for the Austrians, the latter for the Prussians. The fast-day on the 27th of June, that had been ordered by the king, was kept likewise by the Jews; though the words of the king referred to the atonement through Christ, we only hear of an alteration in the prayer, made by the Rabbi in Cologne, who, instead of the words "by the merit of our Saviour," put in the words, "by the merit of our forefathers;" showing therewith, that the Jew also refers to the merit of another, when asking God to hear his prayer.

war.

The Jews have fought in the war, and they have likewise helped with their money. A rich banker in Vienna has paid the expenses of 150 soldiers during the whole We cannot say what sort of influence the Jewish bankers in Frankfort have had in the outbreak of the war; certain it is that their money has been acting no unimportant part during the war, and not less certain that the town, the seat of the Jewish Croesus, Rothschild, and of Jewish wealth in general, has had to pay its short-lived enthusiasm for the confederate army with painful mortifications. As to the newspapers edited by Jews, the two most read religious papers sided with the peace party; one of them even went so far as to be unpatriotic. However, there were also many Jewish publications and orators in South Germany, who were violent in their war-preaching. The most violent antagonism against Prussia broke forthin a certain meeting at Mayence. There was Mr. M——, from SchleswigHolstein, a very gifted orator, much cheered by the crowd; but, had the cheering crowd known that Mr. M- was a Prussian and a Jew, their enthusiasm would have changed into disgust. So we see the Jews becoming the tools of the opposing parties, and influencing the people by means of money and their intellect. Many acknowledge the danger of such a state of things, and we hope that Israel will have been taught, by this war, where to seek for help. Hosea xiv. 4, “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for mine anger is turned away from him."

Praiseworthy as the conduct of the Jews has been in the field of battle, so was their sympathy and their generosity towards the wounded and suffering. In Vienna, Lemberg, and Worms, there were Jewish Ladies' Associations for the wounded; and in Coblentz and Vienna they received the wounded into the Jewish hospitals. A Jewish gentleman, Mr.Reichenheim, in Silesia, established a private hospital on his estates. Baron A. Rothschild gave to the Austrian government 10,000 florins, to be spent in charitable purposes. Another Jewish gentleman, from Prague, did the same; and the banker, Mr. Oppenheim, from Cologne, gave 3,000 thalers for the benefit of the wounded. In Vienna a committee was formed to provide the Jewish soldiers with good meat. In Pesth, the good management of

the ward in the Jewish hospital, attracted the attention of the Empress, who came to visit it. Wherever collections were made during the war, the Jews gave most generously, and went themselves about to ask for contributions. The government in Vienna approved of the demand made, to send two Jewish Rabbis to the army; one to the north army, the other to the south army! The Prussian government refused to do the like, but a Silesian Rabbi went to the Prussian army, paying his own expenses. Certainly we are to be thankful for so many heroic and charitable deeds, and we cannot, by any means, give up a nation that, in spite of religious decay, is still capable of such noble feelings. How would it be, if Israel would acknowledge Him, by whom it was loved, even to death? What would then be Israel's love ?

The Missions.

I.

NOUTH AFRICA.

EXTRACTS from the Rev. A. BEN OLIEL'S account of his voyage to Nemours :

On Saturday, the 10th inst., I embarked on a French steamer bound to Nemours, Gibraltar, and Tangiers. As soon as I got on board, I had the pleasure to find among the passengers five Jews from Tangiers, returning to their native place. Four of them, young men belonging to some of the most respectable families, had been on a trip to Oran. It appears that since the war between Spain and Morocco, and, more so, since Sir Moses Montefiore's visit to the Emperor, the Jews have acquired greater liberties than they ever enjoyed. They are no longer oppressed and despoiled by the local representatives of his Sherifian majesty. Those inhabiting the sea ports are allowed to adopt the European costume, to ride in the towns, to pass before the mosques and saints' tombs with shoes on, to treat the Moors on terms of equality, to quit the country for foreign lands without paying a special tax or giving sureties, and several other advantages. They described to me the great changes that have taken place in the manners and abits of the people, and the wonderful docility of the Moslems. The town itself has been greatly improved, and commerce is flourishing. They attributed much of it to the good offices of the representatives of Christendom, and more especially to the great influence exercised by the British, French, American, and Spanish ambassadors. From all they related, I should conclude there has been a complete transformation for the better, and that I need entertain no apprehensions of opposition from the Rabbis, for their powers of control over the people have been greatly circumscribed, since most families are under the protection of the several consulates. I had received similar information before, and it has been fully confirmed by parties recently arrived from Tangiers and Tetuan. I think, therefore, the time has arrived when I may venture to extend my labours to the coasts of Morocco; and I am contemplating a tour into those parts ere long. Having derived from them all the information I required, I directed the conversation to religious topics. Their questions gave it the turn I generally prefer on first interviews with my brethren, namely, a narrative of the means by which,